Daily Share-a-Prayer w/e 09/03/2025
Derek Mill
Worship Leader, All Saints Church, Belton
Sunday 9th March
Heavenly Father, my youngest son and his family are visiting this weekend. A great privilege for Jane and me. I know there are many families that are broken and visits rarely, if ever, take place. I received a text message as they travelled telling me my grandson had said: “I can’t wait to see grandad! Do you think he’ll be waiting for us at the door?” I was able to reply: "He will!!" Barring any unforeseen circumstances I knew I would be
Through the wonders of modern technology I was not only able to receive and send the text, but through the GPS, 'Global Positioning System' I was able to track their exact position as they travelled. As they got close to the arrival time, I watched every turn, and when they turned left and left again into the road where we live I was there standing at the door. Watching their journey on my phone was as close as I could be until they arrived home
Father, You too have a kind of GPS, but it is not through the wonder of modern technology; it is by something much more wonderful, the power of Your Spirit. You cannot only see where I am at any moment of the day or night, but You can see everything I am doing and You can hear every word I speak; in fact You even know what I am thinking!
Your Word tells me: "You have searched me, Lord, and You know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue You, Lord, know it completely." Should this worry me?
I know You are not some kind of cosmic policeman waiting to pounce on me, You are a loving Father, waiting to hold me close, waiting to guide me when I ask You, waiting to forgive me when I turn to You in repentance. Hold me closer to You each day
Lord Jesus, I know You will be waiting at the door for me, when I finally come home. Thank You
Amen
Songs for today:
Lord look upon my need
O Lord I will sing
Hold me closer to You each day
I stand amazed in the presence
Holy Forever
Saturday 8th March
Heavenly Father, I was asked a question: "Did God create man or did man create God?" My answer was:" If man did create God, then who created man to create God. God eternal, uncreated, infinite in wisdom and power, the One Creator, and we were but dust until He created us
No doubt there are many gods, who are no gods at all, created by us in our image and other images. "Bowing down to a block of wood..." etc. If we don't believe in God, we don't believe in nothing, we believe in anything". This is part of the ongoing debate but You speak about this in Your Word. Isaiah 44 is where You speak of this matter
Thank You for making it so clear! "This is what the Lord says - Israel's King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty: I AM the first and I AM the last; apart from Me there is no God". To paraphrase the rest: A man takes a tree, cypress or oak, cuts it down, uses part for fuel, over fire bakes bread, fashions a God, makes an idol and bows down to it, burns the wood, he roasts meat over the fire, eats, warms himself, he prays to it, bows down and worships, and says "Save me! You are my God!"
We don't make mountains, or seas, or stars or moons! King David recognised You in creation: "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands"
Lord Jesus, Your power, demonstrated in Your miraculous life on earth also created the universe. Help me to keep believing and speaking Your Truth wherever and whenever the opportunity arises. Your Truth has set me free to believe the Truth. Jesus is Lord creation's voice proclaims it! The heavens are telling the glory of God! Thank You
Amen
Songs for today:
Jesus is Lord creation's voice proclaims it
The heaven's they preach
The heavens are telling the glory of God
Friday 7th March
Heavenly Father, I watched an episode of 'The West Wing' recently where the main characters, all White House aides, pledged their allegiance by stating: "I serve at the pleasure of the President of the United States". Or words to that effect. In this context the words mean until such time as the President no longer wants the aide to serve and they are dismissed. The slang phrase: "Don't dis me" can mean "Don't dismiss me" or "Don't disrespect me"
Lord, even though I may fail You, in many ways disrespect You or dismiss You, You never 'dis' me, because You are faithful and true to Your Word. I can therefore say, every day, knowing You will never leave me nor forsake me: "I serve at the pleasure of the King of kings. I serve at the pleasure of the Lord of lords. I serve at the pleasure of the Son of God. I serve at the pleasure of the Creator of the universe. I serve at the pleasure of the Saviour of the world. I serve at the pleasure of the Lion of Judah. I serve at the pleasure of the Lamb of God. I serve at the pleasure of God"
I could go on and on. But in saying this, I don't mean until I am no longer required to serve; I mean I serve because it gives You pleasure. It pleases You when I worship Jesus. It gives You pleasure when I give praise to His Holy name. It pleases You when I am obedient to Your Word. In fact, You delight in me! Not my words, Your Word!
You tell me: "The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in His love He will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing"
Thank You Lord, that I can serve at Your pleasure. Not because of what I do or have done, but because of what You have done for me, through Jesus and the Holy Spirit
Amen
Songs for today:
The Father's Song
Thank You for the cross
Do something new Lord
His grace will carry you
In Your hands
Thursday 6th March
Heavenly Father, today is 'World Book Day'; a day where children are encouraged to read, and judging by the pictures sent on my phone this morning, a day when children are encouraged to dress up as their favourite book characters, which are often film characters too. It is perhaps odd to think that we need reminding to read books, but You know us well and You give us reminders of all kinds of things
Your book, the Bible is full of reminders. So we know what sin is, You wrote on two stone tablets Ten Commandments. When various events happened You told the Israelites to build altars in different places: Noah built an altar after the flood; Abraham built an altar at Bethel, as did Jacob; Moses built one at the foot of Mount Sinai; Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal; there was an altar in the Tabernacle and in the Temple in Jerusalem
As a reminder of the Commandments You told Your people: "Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates"
Lord Jesus, at the last supper You took bread, gave thanks, broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take and eat; this is my body". Then You took the cup of wine and gave it to them and said: "Drink from it all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in remembrance of Me"
Thank You for this, and for the cross, a permanent reminder of what You have done for us
Amen
Songs for today:
Remember Me
Thank You for the cross Lord
Wednesday 5th March
Heavenly Father, there is a film called 'My Girl' about two young children who have a great friendship. The boy goes to look for a ring she lost and while looking kicks a bees’ nest which had previously fallen down from a tree. He thought the bees had flown but they hadn't. While watching I was thinking, "Don't kick the bees nest. Don't kick the bees nest"
We sometimes use the phrase: "Stir up a hornet's nest" when we know that something that is said or done will cause a lot of trouble. It is also a phrase used to warn us that something we are about to say or do will cause us a whole heap of trouble, pain, and misery
Jesus told a story about a lost sheep, which I thought about the other day, asking myself: "Why did the sheep stray?" Perhaps it thought the grass was greener on the other side of the hill. Perhaps it saw another sheep from another flock and went to follow it. Perhaps it wasn't happy in its own flock for some reason; perhaps some sheep 'baa'd' in a tone it didn't like. Or perhaps it just got careless, lost in its own little world and didn't notice that it had wandered into dangerous territory, alone and unprotected. Whatever the reason, it was of no concern to the shepherd! He just wanted his sheep back and so he left his other ninety-nine sheep and went to find it
There are all sorts of temptations to 'kick the bees nest' or 'stir up a hornet's nest'. Whatever temptations I face, help me to resist them. I know that sometimes I fail, and 'get stung' but I know You love me and have come looking for me as Jesus, the Good Shepherd. I know that You will pick me up and carry me until I am safely home
Thank You for the depth of Your love and care, but help me to not kick the bees nest in the first place
Amen
Songs for today:
Good Shepherd of my soul
The Baa Baa Song (The Good Shepherd)
Never be afraid
Shepherd me O God (Psalm 23)
Tuesday 4th March
Heavenly Father, thank You for being a God of love. The Bible tells me this: "God is love". As simple as that, three words. The only shorter verse I can think of is: "Jesus wept". And again, that was about love; Jesus' love for Lazarus
Jesus talked about loving our neighbour, when asked: "Who is my neighbour?" He told the story we know as 'The Good Samaritan'. In the parable a man is attacked by robbers, an aggressor taking what did not rightfully belong. I see this happening in the world today, and we have seen it happening in the past. The man was unable to defend himself and left half dead could not help himself. Two religious men, men who would claim that God was on their side, who would claim God as their protector and Saviour, a priest and a Levite, saw the man and did nothing to help; they "passed by on the other side". They didn't kick him while he was down, but it must have felt like it. Then a foreigner passed by, a Samaritan, and seeing the man, beaten and bloodied, half dead, stops to help him. He uses his own wealth, his bandages, wine and oil to tend the wounds, and places the weakened man on his own transport, his donkey and takes him to a safe place. But he doesn't stop there, he pays for the man to be looked after, and promises to pay my extra required when he returns. What an incredible story, telling of such love
Father, fill my heart with this kind of love, Your love. It would be wonderful if I could tell the story of the good Samaritan to someone today. Someone who helped and continued to help the oppressed, bloodied, beaten and half dead. Perhaps a rich and powerful businessman, or even a President . Will I find such a man?
Amen
Songs for today:
Such love
What kind of love is this?
God of the impossible
Monday 3rd March
Heavenly Father, I remember back in my high school days going to the Empire Theatre in Sunderland, not to see a show, but to take part in a spectacle; my school's speech day
Part of this ceremony was a re-enacting of a famous naval scene: a young lad and local hero, Jack Crawford, climbing up the mast of his ship to fasten the colours to mast to show the battle was still on and the British were not defeated. His statue is in Mowbray Park in Sunderland. A ship identified itself by flying its colours, to lower its colours was a signal of defeat
Sometimes a ship, particularly a pirate ship would, disguise itself and 'fly under false colours' later 'revealing its true colours'. Another part of the event was the school song, 'Jerusalem,' which we sang with great gusto. A new song we learned for that evening was 'Kumbaya' a west African hymn. We were told the word meant "Come by here" and I remember the words and tune to this day. "Someone's praying Lord... Someone's crying Lord... Someone's singing Lord... Kumbaya"
All this came flooding back because a good friend reminded me of the song and suggested I might include it with my prayer! Strangely enough, 'Kumbaya' was the second song given to me yesterday! The other song was 'Longing for Light'. Both songs are prayerful, quite different, but powerful. We may pray, then weep, then sing in worship, praise and adoration. We may long for you to act, and ask You to intervene in our lives and in our world. Today, Lord Jesus, kumbaya, and touch our lives again
Amen
Songs for today:
Kumbaya
Longing for light
Jerusalem (And did those feet)
all songs (usually with lyrics) and talks courtesy of YouTube
|
