Skip to main content

God gave them up! January 2014 Prayer Column

Image
By
Does God really ever give up on anyone? In one place in the Bible it says three times that he does (Romans 1:18ff). It’s to do with attitudes to truth. If we suppress what we know about God, i.e., deny his existence when the evidence of his creation is all around us, his wrath is revealed from heaven. Our proper role as created beings is to honour the Creator God thankfully, and if we refuse to do so then he gives us up to spiritual blindness of hearts and minds. And when we exchange the truth about God for a lie, and worship the things he has made rather than him as Creator: e.g., the cult of celebrity; outward beauty (primping parlours); star signs; consumerism – then God gives us up to inner debasement, and a dishonouring of self and others. Those who choose to turn away from God are allowed to do so. It may seem a fine step of independence, but it does us no good at all: folly, futility, impurity, baseness, a downward spiral deserving death. Without Jesus there would be no hope at all.

So for what shall we pray in 2014?
  1. That we honour God as God: creator of all that is, including us.
  2. That we recognise his truth, and uphold and honour it in our lives.
  3. That we follow Jesus as Saviour and Lord:
    1. In his calling and purpose, that we may get our focus right;
    2. In his light and active rightness, that we may live richly;
    3. Honouring others as he honours us, hard as we may find it;
    4. In short, praying to find his true life, that he won for us, when he died on the cross in our place, which is why he came at Christmas.
Roy Lorrain-Smith

A prayer for each week

More suicides on January 8th than any other day, as post-festivity credit card bills come in? Father God forgive us for what we have made of Christmas. Please show us how to share the true life of Jesus. Amen.

‘Every day we wake up to a world we did not make.’ Creator God, who still keeps hold of the world when it totters, help us to marvel at your handiwork, and worship you as Creator, through Jesus the Word. Amen.

‘...every prospect pleases, and only man is vile.’ Saviour Lord, who sent Jesus into the world to re-enlist us into your cadre of creation carers, help us honour you by keeping your charge in Team Earth-manager. Amen.

What are you doing in Bradford North, Lord, among your people in all this ethnic mix? Shepherd God, who knows the way and leads, through Jesus, help us follow faithfully and honour one another in the going. Amen.

Your own prayers

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Holy Saturday

By
Read John 19.31-42 Near to the place of crucifixion is a garden, where the body of Jesus is taken to be buried. Gardens play a significant role in the telling of scripture. In Genesis, the garden is celebration of God’s creation and a place of harmony between God and humanity. It is also the place of broken relationships, showing human limitations and failure.  In the New Testament, the garden of Gethsemane is a place where burdens are brought, and tears are shed. And the garden of Jesus’ burial is, of course, also the setting for resurrection, where the risen Christ is himself mistaken for a gardener.  At this time of year, many of us will be venturing out into our gardens once more. In the strange circumstances of our current crisis, the garden may be one of the few places where we can enjoy being outside and exercise. The garden in springtime is a place of new life – with buds showing and plants growing. This picture of new life can illustrate for us the truth ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Virtual Worship - Easter Sunday 12 April 2020

By
Today’s the day - everything is changed. Death’s cave is empty, save linen cloth as calling card for Love. That life has won, and hope’s made whole, thank God! Alleluia! Christ is risen. He is risen indeed, Alleluia! Holy and risen Lord, we come to worship you on this special Easter Day. We thank you for all you have done for us. We lift our eyes to honour you, living Lord Jesus. You have overcome death; fill us with your joy and new life. Amen You might like to read, sing or listen to an Easter hymn. Perhaps  Christ the Lord is risen today, or Low in the grave he lay (H&P 193/202, StF 298/305). This is perhaps the strangest Easter Sunday we have experienced in most of our lifetimes. Not able to gather as God’s people on this holiest of days. Not able to spend time with family and friends. Not able to visit dale or coast. Yet even as restrictions bite, we affirm God’s love in Christ Jesus, and seek to help each other hear the Easter message. We gather in ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Rock Solid

By
Rock Solid is the new youth club for 9-13 year olds at Wilsden Trinity Church . It aims to provide a group for older children to follow on from Wilsden Trinity’s other youth club, Friends and Heroes. Every Tuesday we meet for games, Bible stories, sweets, crafts and chats. Highlights so far include wrapping people up as mummies, making ice cream sundaes, playing Zip Zap Boing (which is as confusing as it sounds), building Easter gardens and making lava lamps. We set aside a good amount of time just for chatting, and each week we have a “Millstone, Milestone” section – each person can say if they’ve had a difficult week (millstone) or a brilliant week (milestone) and why. This has been a platform for many entertaining anecdotes and tales that the group has shared together. Rock Solid started in March 2017, and so far numbers are low. Our small group has fun, but we would love to welcome some new members! All children and young people between the ages of 9-13 can join. It is £2 on the ...
Post a Comment
Read more