“you never know what you’ve got until it’s gone” - we never thought there would come a day when we couldn’t go to church – but here it is, the first of many.
Read Psalm 8 – out loud if at all possible – it does make a huge difference.
If you are following the #LiveLent course then today our ‘hymn of the week’ changes from ‘How great thou art’ to ‘Great is thy faithfulness’ - have a go at singing them - find them on YouTube and sing along.
Psalm 8 reminds us to give thanks to God for who he is - majestic, glorious and creative and the 2 hymns remind us of what God has done for us. Let’s also think about other things to be thankful for, here are 3 which we can all be thankful for:
- The house you live in – what do you like best about it?
- Aspects of creation you can see through its windows – trees? birds? Plants?
- The NHS and those who work in it
You can continue this theme of being thankful by going to www.Opendoorsuk.org underneath the main website picture are 6 smaller pictures - one is a link to: ‘Facing Coronavirus: 7 lessons from the persecuted church’
Finish your prayers of thankfulness by reading again Psalm 8 - perhaps from a different translation of the bible to the one you usually use.
I am being inspired at the moment by a book called ‘How to pray’ by the author Pete Geig, who I recommend to you last year. This latest book, based on the Lord’s Prayer, its intention is “to reassure you that learning to pray really is the least weird, most natural, necessary and wonderful thing you can possibly do…” (Amazon £7.68 / kindle 7.99) It is a really practical book full of examples from everyday life. There are also eight 20 minute videos which cover the same topics as this book www.prayercourse.org. The 8 videos are also on YouTube, but the website offers discussion questions and a resources page (Toolkit). I do really, really encourage you to look at the videos and I thoroughly recommend the book.
On the church website, underneath his letter are prayer requests. Do pass on to the church leader who contacted you any prayer requests or needs which we may be able to help with. Also pass on any scripture or lyrics which you are finding helpful at the moment. I have become more specific in how I am praying at 7am, 1pm & 7pm. On each occasion I am praying for 3 of you – you may get a text telling you I have just prayed for you. If you too are joining me at one or all of those times, perhaps you too would like to simply pray for 3 individuals (if you have a church magazine or directory it may help you).
BBC 1 has altered its schedule so that at 11:45am each Sunday there will be a 30 minute act of worship broadcast (as well as Songs of praise later in the day) Tonight we have the opportunity to identify with other Christians around the nation
by putting a lighted candle in our window at 7pm “as a visible symbol of the light of life, Jesus Christ, our source and hope."
I look forward to sharing with you again on Wednesday - Stephen