Weekly Prayer Points

Week commencing Sunday 30th June 2024

How many of your prayers are about the future, or events that are yet to happen?  If you've taken more than a milli-second to consider that question, here’s another.  How much of the Lord’s Prayer is about the future and/or about events that are yet to happen?

Interestingly, all of the verbs in Matthew 6:9-13 are in the present tense, perhaps suggesting that Jesus is keen that we focus our prayers more on the matters of today, and the quality of our walk with God today, without fixating quite so much on tomorrow.

Time flies at such a pace that many of the things we prayed about last week are already yesterday’s news, and other prayers are prayers about topics which will concern us far into the future.  Indeed, as this week begins, many will be praying about the outcome of the General Election and by the time the week finishes, we will have already started praying for a new Government whose identity we don’t even know as of today.  So, let’s live close to the Lord today not least because, as everyone knows, ‘tomorrow never comes’, does it.

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow,  for tomorrow will worry about itself.”  Matthew 6:34 

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Lord of today, we thank You for your steadfast and unchanging nature, and for Your wholly reliable character and promises.

We thank You that You walk beside us, inspire us and carry us every day of our lives, and continue to do so.

Lord, thank You for the jobs and roles You have placed us in within education.  We thank You for the children and young people You have placed under our tuition and care.  We thank You that You love them and long for them to turn to You while they are still young, and so we pray that the words of our mouths and the quality of our actions might point these young people to You. 

Lord, we thank You for providing us with our daily bread through employment, and yet for teaching us what is of greatest vlaue in life and for eternity.

Lord, we thank You for the refreshment, rest and worship available to us on Sundays, and for those who have ministered to us today.

We pray today for those who currently hold Government authority, and for those destined to take it up soon, that they would know today the awesome responsibility which the prospect of such office brings.  Lord, may they somehow sense that no-one would hold any position or power unless it was granted to them by You, and may all of our nation's leaders have a burning sense of service rather than an unquenchable thirst for power.

And Lord, may we live today and everyday in the awesome reality that today may be the day when You return to the earth or call us to be with Yourself; may we therefore be sure that our eyes are always fixed on You and our hands are always busy for Thy Kingdom.