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.
In a lawsuit the first to speak seems right, until someone comes forward and cross-examines. (NIV)
The first person to speak in court always seems right until his opponent begins to question him. (GNB)
Proverbs 18.17
How true this is! When I read about court cases in the news, after reading the case for the prosecution I usually think, ‘Wow, they’re so guilty, how are they going to explain that?!’ But then the defence team step up and things become a little more balanced, and you see things from a different perspective.
I remember at school being taught the sentence: ‘A woman without her man is nothing’. Do you remember that from your school days? Men will usually fill in the grammar like this: ‘a woman without her man, is nothing’. Women will usually fill in the grammar like this: ‘a woman: without her, man is nothing’.
Maybe that doesn’t do it for you – what about optical illusions, like the classic ‘old woman / young woman’?
The truth is, the way we look at something affects what we see. Wisdom tells us that first, we need to be aware of that so we stop acting as though our perspective is the only right perspective. And second, we need to start learning how to see things from other perspectives.
Perhaps as you pray this morning, you could ask God to show you where you need to see things from a different point of view?
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:
Price Family (Ash, Elsie, Emilia, Matt)
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: Lonely & Bereaved People
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.