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

If you would like to receive these by email, please click here.

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 15.4

Who doesn’t like to be proved right?

In our relationships – with spouse, family, friends – the way we speak makes a huge difference. You know the phrase… ‘It’s not what you said it’s the way you said it’… often we can slip into bad habits, where the actual words we use might not be cruel, but our tone betrays what we really think.

And of course, sometimes our words are cruel as well.

Another way of crushing someone’s spirit is point-scoring: noting someone else’s mistakes, highlighting when they are wrong, pointing out their flaws. Often we belittle others to make ourselves feel bigger. The irony is that in the long run such behaviour makes everyone smaller – and it is poison for relationships (friendship, marriage, parent/child, the lot).

The positive side of this proverb is in many ways so easy! Simply speaking kindly to and about someone brings life. My good friend Simon who died last year used to call it ‘speaking life over someone’. Positive, kind, loving words bring and create life.

Our words have tremendous power. How do you use yours?

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:

Robert Birbeck, Helen Thompson, Ann Birbeck

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: TCHA Tenants & Staff, Starfish

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.