Lord Help the Poor and the Needy...



I'm not preaching or leading worship this Sunday, but one of the areas of worship-leading I have greatest difficulty with is preparing appropriate prayers of intercession and petition (or as we call them in our local church "Prayers for Others and Ourselves")... part of that is my developing undertanding of how prayer "works" and what happens when people do (or don't pray). A misreading of the lectionary reading from a couple of Sunday's ago (Luke 18: 1-8), the story of the unjust judge and the persistent widow, might suggest that we have to pester God with our prayers. However, one of the more helpful statements that I have come across in recent years is this quotation in the late lamented Dennis Lennon's book "Fuelling the Fire" which we studied in our book group last year:


"We must not conceive of prayer as an overcoming of God's reluctance, but as a laying hold of his highest willingness."

Archbishop Richard Chenevix Trench (9 September, 1807 – 28 March, 1886)



This chimes well with the doxology to Paul's prayer for the Ephesian Church:

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Ephesians 3:20-21 (ANIV)

But I do wonder what would happen if, when leading worship some Sunday I were to simply introduce the prayers of intercession, and then play this track from Tom Jones' latest album? (I did warn you that you'd hear more about this album in coming weeks)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Woman of no Distinction

Don't often post other people's stuff here... But I found this so powerful that I thought I should. It's a performance poem based on John 4: 4-30, and I have attached the original YouTube video below. A word for women, and men, everywhere... "to be known is to be loved, and to be loved is to be known."


I am a woman of no distinction
of little importance.
I am a women of no reputation
save that which is bad.

You whisper as I pass by and cast judgmental glances,
Though you don’t really take the time to look at me,
Or even get to know me.

For to be known is to be loved,
And to be loved is to be known.
Otherwise what’s the point in doing
either one of them in the first place?

I WANT TO BE KNOWN.

I want someone to look at my face
And not just see two eyes, a nose,
a mouth and two ears;
But to see all that I am, and could be
all my hopes, loves and fears.

But that’s too much to hope for,
to wish for,
or pray for
So I don’t, not anymore.

Now I keep to myself
And by that I mean the pain
that ke…
Read more

I am the True Vine

Image
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful... Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples."


John 15:1-8 (ANIV)





In the mid 19th century, while Ireland was laid waste by potato blight, imported from America, France was devastated by another American pest…
Read more

Psalm for Harvest Sunday

Image
A short responsive psalm for us as a call to worship on Harvest Thanksgiving Sunday, and given that it was pouring with rain as I headed into church this morning the first line is an important remembrance that the rain we moan about is an important component of the fruitfulness of the land we live in:

You tend the land and water it
And the earth produces its abundance.
You crown each year with your bounty,
and our storehouses overflow with your goodness.
The mountain meadows are covered with flocks
and the valleys are filled with corn;
Your people celebrate your boundless grace
They shout for joy and sing.

from Psalm 65
Read more