Friday 29 May 2020

Midday Prayers Friday 29th May 2020

Preparation: As I enter prayer now, I pause to be still; to breath slowly; to re-centre my scattered senses upon the presence of God.

[Pause]

Rejoice: I choose to rejoice in the God who heals our brokenness joining with the ancient praise of all God’s people in the words of Psalm 147.

Praise the Lord.
How good it is to sing praises to our God,
    how pleasant and fitting to praise him!
2 The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
    he gathers the exiles of Israel.
3 He heals the broken-hearted
    and binds up their wounds.
4 He determines the number of the stars
    and calls them each by name.
5 Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
    his understanding has no limit.
6 The Lord sustains the humble
    but casts the wicked to the ground.
7 Sing to the Lord with grateful praise;
    make music to our God on the harp.
8 He covers the sky with clouds;
    he supplies the earth with rain
    and makes grass grow on the hills.
9 He provides food for the cattle
    and for the young ravens when they call.
10 His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,
    nor his delight in the legs of the warrior;
11 the Lord delights in those who fear him,
    who put their hope in his unfailing love.

Spend some time praising God.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wBy5KcDcAg 

Ask:

Pray 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.


Now spend some time bringing your five friends and others to God:

Pray for yourself and those others the Lord sends to help show your 5 their route home to God, that they would know the loving father running to greet them.

Pray for those people and situations that are on our WhatsApp prayer board.
Pray that God will use us – whatever that means (e.g. the courage to open our mouths, the strength to be obedient)
Pray for our community and nation as we’re all affected by the impact of Covid-19.
Pray for our government.

Yield:

Lord, we pray that you will show us how you want us to be part of the answer to the prayers that we have prayed.

Father, help me to live this day to the full,
Being true to You in every way.
Jesus, help me to give myself away to others,
Being kind to everyone I meet.
Spirit, help me to love the lost,
Proclaiming Christ in all I do and say.
Amen.

Some background for Sunday

This Sunday as we continue our series looking at Paul's Prayers, we're going to be thinking about Paul's Prayers for those he was writing to - that they would know God better. Our starting point is a passage in Ephesians. 

Throughout this series, we haven't had the time to look at the background of each letter in any detail. But understanding the background helps us in our attempt to understand and apply God's word for us today. We need to understand what Paul was saying to them, before we can understand what God is saying to us.

So, if you want some background on Ephesians, here is the Bible Project video.