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:
‘Where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also.’
from Matthew 6.21 (Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount)
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.
The name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe. The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it a wall too high to scale. (NIV)
The Lord is like a strong tower, where the righteous can go and be safe. Rich people, however, imagine that their wealth protects them like high, strong walls around a city. (GNB)
Proverbs 18.10-11
If you read the Old Testament in particular, often you will come across the phrase ‘the name of the Lord’ (when written as ‘Lord’ it translates the Hebrew YHWH or ‘Yahweh’).
But what does that mean? How can God’s ‘name’ be a ‘fortified tower’ that keeps us ‘safe’?
One of the most important principles in Christian theology is that who God is and what he does are the same thing. That is not the case for us: I might be a Christian, but sometimes I do some un-Christian things; I might be (mostly) passionate and hard-working, but sometimes I am lazy. We are inconsistent and changeable, but God is not.
Therefore, although my name is no guarantee of anything, God’s name is like a seal of authenticity, guaranteeing certain things:
- Jesus is with his people always (Matthew 28.20 – also Deuteronomy 31.8, Psalm 23.4, Isaiah 43.2, etc)
- His love endures forever (1 Chronicles 16.34)
- He gives strength to the weary (Isaiah 40.32)
- When we turn to God in prayer and thanksgiving, his peace will guard our hearts (Philippians 4.6-7)
- and so on…
Only God can keep us truly safe. That doesn’t mean bad things will never happen or that harm will never come to us – it means they won’t have the last word. Money may give us the illusion of safety and security, but the tragedy of this year is showing how close many of us are to having all that taken away.
Let us praise and give thanks to God, whose name is Faithful and True, the God of Mighty Armies, the Helper, the Rock, the Amen.
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:
Peter & Jane Sheppard, John & Cathy Ward
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: Tamworth Christian Churches (TCC)
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.