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.

He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favour from the Lord. (NIV)

Find a wife and you find a good thing; it shows that the Lord is good to you. (GNB)

Proverbs 18.22

I confess I almost skipped this one. Normally I only skip the ones about speaking to the king – apologies if you are in regular contact with Her Majesty!

But this one will potentially be painful for some of you. Maybe you aren’t married and you’d like to be. Maybe you were once and are no longer. Maybe you are but it isn’t all you hoped for – or worse.

Does this Proverb mean that if you aren’t married (any longer) or are unhappily married, God doesn’t love you? Absolutely not.

God gives different gifts to different people. We may be jealous of the gifts he’s given to others. They may be jealous of the gifts he’s given to us. Such comparisons do no-one any good.

Whatever your marital situation, perhaps this Proverb might be the prompt you need to spend some time saying thank you to God for the things he has given you, rather than complaining about the things he hasn’t.

And if you are blessed with a good wife, make sure she knows it!

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.