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.

Proverbs 16.18

This is probably one of the most famous of the Proverbs. Well, the misquote of it is: ‘pride comes before a fall’.

As regular readers will by now hopefully be aware, this is one of the most common themes in Proverbs. The proud person, the arrogant person, won’t listen (no-one else has anything worth saying), won’t take advice (I know best anyway), won’t learn wisdom (I don’t have anything to learn), and so on.

One of the other things the Proverbs do is exaggerate to make a point. Frequently the Proverbs describe the world as black and white, split between ‘the righteous’ and ‘the wicked’, or ‘fools’ and ‘the wise’. In reality though, things are rather disappointing shades of grey. How well we sleep determines how ‘righteous’ or ‘wicked’ we may be on a certain day!

So perhaps instead of describing how we actually are, Proverbs like this are better understood as describing the trend or direction that our behaviour is taking us in. Do you tend to listen to advice, or plough on regardless? Do you tend to think and act as though you are always right?

Do you tend to listen to what God is saying through these Proverbs, or do you ignore his wisdom?

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:

Brown Family (Abbey, Josh, Mike, Sue)

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: Prayer Team

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.