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:
Jesus said, ‘You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you;
and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria,
and to the ends of the earth.’
Acts 1.8 (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.
Pay attention and turn your ear to the sayings of the wise; apply your heart to what I teach, for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart and have all of them ready on your lips. So that your trust may be in the Lord, I teach you today, even you. Have I not written thirty sayings for you, sayings of counsel and knowledge, teaching you to be honest and to speak the truth, so that you bring back truthful reports to those you serve? (NIV)
Listen, and I will teach you what the wise have said. Study their teachings, and you will be glad if you remember them and can quote them. I want you to put your trust in the Lord; that is why I am going to tell them to you now. I have written down thirty sayings for you. They contain knowledge and good advice, and will teach you what the truth really is. Then when you are sent to find it out, you will bring back the right answer. (GNB)
Proverbs 22.17-21
This next section of Proverbs is usually summarised as ‘thirty sayings of the wise’. These verses function as the summary of the section, and also the first ‘saying’. Let’s see what it says:
Pay attention. We’ve been reading the Proverbs together for a long time now – this is the 282nd one – are you still paying attention (not to me, but to the Bible!)?
Apply your heart to what I teach. Simply reading the words is not enough. Even paying attention is not enough. No: we must apply them to our behaviour, to our thoughts, to our words, to our actions. This takes daily effort and discipline.
It is pleasing when you keep them. Pleasing to whom? I think it’s deliberately ambiguous – it is pleasing to God when we listen and work hard to follow his ways. But it is also pleasing to other people – and also to ourselves! – when we live the way God made us to live.
Put your trust in the Lord. Again, like ‘paying attention’ and ‘applying your heart’, trusting God is an action, it is something we need to do, not something that simply happens. Do you actively put your trust in God?
Be honest and speak the truth. Time and time again the Proverbs come back to the truth: are we truthful, or full of lies? Even a small lie is still a lie. Learning to speak the truth with grace and humility is a key part of learning to be a disciple of Jesus; and so is learning where to find the truth (and where not to find it).
Friends, truth is not found within, for our hearts are deceitful. Truth is found only in God, revealed to us through the words of the Bible. Jesus said: ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life; no-one comes to the Father except through me‘.
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.