RevTim: May 2023

Wednesday 31 May 2023

Wednesday 31st May 2023 Prayers

Welcome to this time of prayer

Today's Readings

Psalm 113

Luke 1: 39- 49

Hymn: Heaven shall not wait ( Singing the Faith 701)

Before or after the video you might like to watch:

Tell Out My Soul

Friday 26 May 2023

Friday 26th May 2023 Prayers

Welcome to this time of prayer

Today's Readings

Psalm 51

Acts 20: 17 - 24

Hymn: Holy Spirit we welcome you ( Singing the Faith 385)

Before or after the video you might like to watch:

Spirit Of God Unseen As The Wind

I will be on leave on Monday so the next prayers will be on Wednesday 31st May.

God bless

Rev Tim

Wednesday 24 May 2023

Wednesday 24th Mat 2023 Prayers

Welcome to this time of prayer

Today's Readings

Psalm 130

Galatians 4: 1 - 7

Hymn: Make us your prophets , Lord. ( Singing the Faith 665)

Before or after the video you might like to watch:

Abba Father by Nathaniel Bassey

Monday 22 May 2023

Monday 22nd May 2023 Prayers

Welcome to this time of prayer

Today's Readings

Psalm 48: 1 - 8

Acts 17: 15 - 35

Hymn: Lord of creation, to you be all praise ( Singing the Faith 449)

Before or after the video you might like to watch:

O Jesus I Have Promised

Friday 19 May 2023

Friday 19th May 2023 Prayers

I am afraid that the Covid still lingers. Hope to be back with video on Monday.

In the meantime here are today's readings.

Take care and God bless

Rev Tim

Psalm 44

¹We have heard with our ears, O God, our ancestors have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old:

²you with your own hand drove out the nations, but them you planted; you afflicted the peoples, but them you set free;

³for not by their own sword did they win the land, nor did their own arm give them victory; but your right hand, and your arm, and the light of your countenance, for you delighted in them.

⁴You are my King and my God; you command victories for Jacob.

⁵Through you we push down our foes; through your name we tread down our assailants.

⁶For not in my bow do I trust, nor can my sword save me.

⁷But you have saved us from our foes, and have put to confusion those who hate us.

⁸In God we have boasted continually, and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah

PRAYER

For this new day we give you thanks our powerful and gracious God.

Help us to appreciate the beauty of the world.

Show us Your hand at work in creation,

and bless us in Christ's name. Amen

Acts 16:1-15

16Paul went on also to Derbe and to Lystra, where there was a disciple named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer; but his father was a Greek. ²He was well spoken of by the believers in Lystra and Iconium. ³Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him; and he took him and had him circumcised because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. ⁴As they went from town to town, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. ⁵So the churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in numbers daily.

⁶They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. ⁷When they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them; ⁸so, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. ⁹During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” ¹⁰When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them. ¹¹We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, ¹²and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. ¹³On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. ¹⁴A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. ¹⁵When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.” And she prevailed upon us.

To think about:

- Why do you think the Spirit of Jesus stopped Paul from going to Bithynia?

- How does the Spirit of Jesus guide us?

- Are there times when we may want to do something but feel God is telling us to do something different?

PRAY FOR THE WORLD

- For those caught up in the flooding in Italy

- For the leaders of the world that they will hear God's guidance.

- For peace in Ukraine and The Sudan.

- For those we know who are unwell in any way.

Hymn: (Click on link below to see)

Will You Come And Follow Me

O consuming fire, O Spirit of love, descend into our hearts and there transform us until we are fire of your fire, love of your love, and Christ himself is formed within us. Amen.

Elizabeth of Schonau (d.1184)

Wednesday 17 May 2023

Wednesday 17th May 2023 Prayers

I am still laid up with Covid at the moment.

Hope to be back with a video Friday but here are today's readings, sort prayers and a link to a hymn:

Take care and God bless

Rev Tim

Psalm 46

¹God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

²Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;

³though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult. Selah

⁴There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.

⁵God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved; God will help it when the morning dawns.

⁶The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts.

⁷The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah

⁸Come, behold the works of the Lord; see what desolations he has brought on the earth.

⁹He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire.

¹⁰“Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth.”

¹¹The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah

PRAYER

Gracious God,

We thank you for this new day and all the opportunities it gives us.

Thank you for a world full of goodness and light even when

we see shadows around us.

Bless us and those we hold dear today and always.

Amen

Acts 14:8-20

⁸In Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet and had never walked, for he had been crippled from birth. ⁹He listened to Paul as he was speaking. And Paul, looking at him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, ¹⁰said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And the man sprang up and began to walk. ¹¹When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!” ¹²Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. ¹³The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates; he and the crowds wanted to offer sacrifice. ¹⁴When the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting, ¹⁵“Friends, why are you doing this? We are mortals just like you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. ¹⁶In past generations he allowed all the nations to follow their own ways; ¹⁷yet he has not left himself without a witness in doing good—giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, and filling you with food and your hearts with joy.” ¹⁸Even with these words, they scarcely restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice to them.

¹⁹But Jews came there from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowds. Then they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. ²⁰But when the disciples surrounded him, he got up and went into the city. The next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe.

To think about:

- How can faith help us when we are sick or troubled?

- How should we treat those in leadership roles in the church and society?

PRAY FOR THE WORLD

- For those who are leaders

- For peace in Ukraine

- For those caught up in cyclone Mocha

- For those who are unwell in mind , body or spirit

Hymn:

I Will Sing The Wondrous Story

Accept the hearts that lie open before you, O God most glorious. Receive the prayers of those who come to you in penitence, O God most loving. Pardon the sins of those who come seeking your forgiveness, O God most holy.

Prayer of a Kenyan Christian (traditional)

Monday 15 May 2023

Monday 15th May 2023 Prayers

I am laid up with Covid at the moment.

Hope to be back with a video Wednesday or Friday but here are today's readings, sort prayers and a link to a hymn:

Take care and God bless

Rev Tim

Psalm 15

¹O Lord, who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy hill?

²Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right, and speak the truth from their heart;

³who do not slander with their tongue, and do no evil to their friends, nor take up a reproach against their neighbors;

⁴in whose eyes the wicked are despised, but who honor those who fear the Lord; who stand by their oath even to their hurt;

⁵who do not lend money at interest, and do not take a bribe against the innocent. Those who do these things shall never be moved.

PRAYER

Loving God

We thank you for this new day and the many blessings you bring us.

Guide us by the Holy Spirit as we travel through today so that in all we do we will feel Christ's presence with us. Amen

Acts 1:15-26

¹⁵In those days Peter stood up among the believers (together the crowd numbered about one hundred twenty persons) and said, ¹⁶“Friends, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit through David foretold concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus— ¹⁷for he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” ¹⁸(Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. ¹⁹This became known to all the residents of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their language Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) ²⁰“For it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘Let his homestead become desolate, and let there be no one to live in it’; and ‘Let another take his position of overseer.’ ²¹So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, ²²beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us to his resurrection.” ²³So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. ²⁴Then they prayed and said, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen ²⁵to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” ²⁶And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.

To think about:

- What do you make of what happened to Judas in the light of what Peter says?

- What do you think is the best way to choose a leader in the church or the world?

PRAY FOR THE WORLD

- Those who are chosen to be leaders in the church and the world

- For peace and Justice

- For those caught up in cyclone Mocha

- For those who are unwell

HYMN: Amazing Grace

Come, O Christ the Light, and lead us. Come, O Christ the Life, and revive us. Come, O Christ the Physician and heal us. Come, O Christ, the Fire Divine, and kindle in our hearts the flame of your love. Amen.

Dimitri of Rostov (1651–1709)