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:

The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.

Isaiah 9.2 (NIV)

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 19.5

This is a Proverb that tells us how things should be – not how things are. As I write, Donald Trump is refusing to concede the election he lost, continually claiming there was mass electoral fraud, without any substantiated evidence. Two days ago four of his lawsuits were dismissed by election officials. But then last night there was a huge rally of his supporters in Washington DC, many of them sporting signs and making hand gestures in support of the QAnon conspiracy, which alleges that there is a cabal of Satan-worshipping paedophiles who are running a massive global child sex-trafficking operation, and that Donald Trump (alone) is fighting them.

Closer to home, Boris Johnson and others lied and lied and lied again about Brexit – remember the bus and the ‘£350m a week’ we send to the EU? The real figure is less than half that, once you take out our rebate and the grants we receive from the EU’s funding programmes – it’s actually £171m a week. Then 12 months ago during the election campaign he was talking about the ‘oven-ready trade deal’ he had with the EU – and now, here we are, six weeks away from Brexit, still without a trade deal.

Lies, lies, and more lies. Now, I realise that more politicians lie than just Boris and Trump. Lies are all around us, from false marketing claims to the ‘little white’ lies we tell each other (and ourselves?) every single day.

The hardest thing about lies? When people get away with it – and when other people start to believe those lies.

Today I would like us to pray that the truth would triumph – the truth that is only found in Jesus (‘I am the truth,’ he said). And that one day God would right all these wrongs and sort out all the lies – including yours.

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:

Rose Swaddle, Linda Dearne, Simon Dearne

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: Evangelism & Outreach

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.