Sing to the Lord, and praise him! Proclaim every day the good news that he has saved us (Psalm 96.2, GNB).

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Opening

Speak these words out loud:

By his power God raised Jesus from the dead,
and he will raise us also.

1 Corinthians 6.14 (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 21.31

A few days ago we thought about whether the ends justify the means (they don’t), and that our part in life is mostly about how we travel – where we end up is in God’s hands.

This Proverb is another example of that principle. Now, I am no general and wars these days are not fought with horses, but in Solomon’s day if you were facing a fight getting your horse ready for battle was a sensible – even necessary! – thing to do. It would be foolish in the extreme to do nothing, sit back, shrug, and say, ‘Victory is God’s so I may as well not bother.’ It doesn’t work like that, as the many Proverbs about laziness show! A general who acts like that, is a general who loses.

It’s like this: God asks us to try our hardest, to do our best – and leave him the rest. Sometimes we may succeed, sometimes we may fail – but that’s irrelevant (though it can be tough) because what really matters is trusting and travelling with God. It might sound odd, but I find it tremendously releasing because, try as I might, I can’t actually bend the future to my will! Let go, God says, and let me: let me take care of the future, and you concentrate on travelling the road with me.

Have you ever been on a long journey with someone: in space – e.g. to a far-flung part of the world – or in time – e.g. a faithful marriage spanning decades? Good times bring us closer together, but so does getting through the bad times if we stick together.

It’s the same with God. He sticks with us, he holds us fast – and he asks us to do the same, to make our best effort, to ‘get our horse ready for the day of battle’.

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.