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.
In the paths of the wicked are snares and pitfalls, but those who would preserve their life stay far from them. (NIV)
If you love your life, stay away from the traps that catch the wicked along the way. (GNB)
Proverbs 22.5
The tricky thing about snares and pitfalls is that they’re easy to miss.
We might not realise consciously that something is a snare. Or we might realise, but not be paying enough attention to spot a pitfall! A simple analogy is walking on the hillside: when the grass is long, it’s hard to spot rabbit holes, and easy to get your foot stuck and break / twist an ankle in one. And, if you get up a head of steam and you have your head up admiring the view, it’s easy to trip over a stone or rock that’s in plain sight – you just weren’t looking!
A rather old-fashioned phrase you may have heard is ‘besetting sins’. These are sins that we are ‘set’ in (as in ‘set in our ways’) – i.e. they are tough to stop doing, and sometimes we may not even identify them as sins because they seem so normal to us.
But they are snares and pitfalls, trapping us, tricking us, tripping us up. They cause us to stumble along the way.
The challenge is: do we spend time identifying them, and paying attention to our lives so we can avoid them?
The encouragement is: in Jesus and his gift of the Holy Spirit God gives us the power to overcome even the most set of besetting sins. Don’t try in your own strength, but with God’s help. ‘Not by might, not by power, but by my Spirit’ God says (Zechariah 4.6).
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:
Irene Davies, Alan & Joyce Page, Rita Harris
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: Local Councillors
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.