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:

Let us build with care,
building on the foundation of Jesus Christ.

from 1 Corinthians 3.10-11

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.

Wisdom’s instruction is to fear the Lord, and humility comes before honour. (NIV)

Reverence for the Lord is an education in itself. You must be humble before you can ever receive honours. (GNB)

Proverbs 15.33

It’s been a while since we had a proverb about ‘fearing’ (or ‘revering’) God. Have you grown in reverence for God? By which – in terms of Proverbs – I mean, are you listening to and learning from his teaching?

You may well find it helpful to reflect on whether or not you have been changing as a result of reading and reflecting on Proverbs. You may be surprised to see you have – think back to the proverbs you’ve found most challenging, and if you’ve grown in that area, thank God for his help, and ask him to keep teaching you his way.

If you haven’t, if you feel like you haven’t grown in wisdom, then it’s likely you’ve got stuck at this first step. Proverbs 1.7 says: ‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.’ If we don’t get this right, we won’t listen to the rest of his teaching.

For me what helps is spending some time in quiet, reminding myself of God’s awesome power and majesty in creation – filtering down to his love and care of me, which blows my mind. That may help you – or it may not – you need to find out, in prayer, a way that does. And of course you can ask God for help in this too!

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.