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.
Discipline your children, for in that there is hope; do not be a willing party to their death. (NIV)
Discipline your children while they are young enough to learn. If you don’t, you are helping them destroy themselves. (GNB)
Proverbs 19.18
This is perhaps a difficult one to write because a) parent guilt is a terrible thing, and it means parents are often defensive when they feel someone is telling them they’ve got something wrong, and b) I don’t have (biological) children. However, I am a child, and here I’m sharing my own observations, and the Bible’s wisdom not my own.
We can’t escape the fact that no parents are perfect, which means all parents need to listen to the Bible’s wisdom about bringing up children. Discipline here I think is about setting boundaries, and letting children learn the consequences of their actions and their mistakes.
The thing is, like all humans, children are inherently selfish and self-centred. They want to have what they want, and they want to do what they want. Too many parents give in to that, so effectively the children run the family, not the parents – why? I suspect because it’s easier (though only in the short term), or you want to feel loved, or maybe even sometimes to be the ‘favourite’ parent? Indeed, I often hear parents complain about other parents indulging and spoiling and giving in to their children – while doing exactly that to their own children.
Parents – do you need to hear this wisdom, and act accordingly? Don’t simply ignore this Proverb – please pause, and listen to God in this area.
Children – for that is all of us – we are all messed up in some way by our parents, because none of us has / had perfect parents! It’s much harder to unlearn bad patterns of thought and behaviour as adults – but it is not impossible. God’s power is all-surpassing, and can help us learn and change and be transformed. Parents and/or children: we all need that power to change us.
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:
Robins Family (Daniel, Joanna, Rachel, Steve)
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: PCC & Standing Committee
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.