Our church building may be closed, but God’s eyes are open and his ears are attentive to our prayers (2 Chronicles 7.15).

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Opening

Speak these words out loud:

The Lord has established Zion,
and in her his afflicted people will find refuge.

from Isaiah 14.32

Today’s Proverb

Read the proverb through three or four times, slowly. Pause in-between, maybe write it out by hand – savour the words, let them speak deeply to you.

Proverbs 15.2

Do you know anyone that, when they speak, you shut up and hang on every word? People who are so thoughtful and wise you wish you had pen and paper whenever they talk so you can write do what they’re saying? Today, why not spend some time giving thanks for people like this, because wisdom is precious, and we should learn more and more to pay attention to it.

Then there are the people that you simply long to shut up…! They speak such drivel – ‘spouting nonsense’ is the right phrase. One of my teachers once told me exasperatedly that I had ‘verbal diarrhoea’… I wouldn’t shut up, and what was coming out of my mouth wasn’t worth listening to.

Whether or not that is still the case (!) this proverb commends to us the first of those two pictures. The problem is, it’s hard to learn wisdom. It comes from experience, but most of all from prayer and listening to God through the Bible, because that is where true wisdom comes from.

And, for me at least, one of the first steps is learning to listen to yourself, and try to stop the verbal diarrhoea from pouring out…

Prayers

Pray for Five – pray for your five friends / family from Thy Kingdom Come.

Our daily prayer sheet includes the names of everyone for whom we have a signed church family directory form – and local parishes and senior church leaders. Today we are praying for:

Bibbey Family (Craig, Jonathan, Shaunnagha)

Father, please bless them with your peace, and a deep awareness of your presence with them, every day and in every way.

We also pray for: Home Groups

Please pray for our leaders and healthcare workers, and all those working to keep us safe, well, and fed. Please pray that people would unselfishly put others before themselves.

Church Family Prayer

Come Holy Spirit,
and make us one in heart and action,
so that we can serve God faithfully:
abounding in love,
maturing in holiness,
and seeking out the lost.
Help us grow as disciples of Jesus –
in commitment, in depth, and in number –
that we may be a blessing to Amington;
to the glory and praise of God the Father.
Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.

Closing Prayer

Unless the Lord builds the house,
the builders labour in vain.
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus
the only way to the Father.

Psalm 127.1, Hebrews 12.2 & John 14.6

May Christ our Saviour give us peace.
Amen.