Call to Worship
– Psalm 85:7-11 “Oh Lord, show us thy
true love and grant us thy deliverance.” This was an optimistic start to
our service as we responsively read these few verses with Andrew leading us.
Hymn TIS 56
– “O sing a new song to the Lord, for wonders he hath done” more
optimism here!
Prayers of Praise, Thanksgiving – Yes it was worth getting out of our
warm bed for this!
Confession and Assurance – Through Andrew, we asked - among
other things for the ability to forgive others.
We asked God to allow us to be Ambassadors of Healing.
And the Assurance – God loves without reserve – our sins
are forgiven.
Children’s Address – It was a challenge for Andrew to
get across the concept of the kind of prayer we should pray to such young
children; even when he talked of praying for a fine day so that their outdoor
Birthday Party may be a success – but Mum’s nodding of her head showed that she
understood the temptation to pray for a fine day for the party without
considering that a nearby farmer might need rain to save his crops. The children’s address was certainly relevant
to the adults.
Hymn TIS 648 – “Help us accept each other, as
Christ accepted us
Teach us as sister, brother,
each person to embrace”
Scripture Reading – Luke 11:1-13 Ruth read the scripture passage which is
headed; “About Prayer” in the New English Bible. “… ask and you will receive; seek and you
will find; knock and the door will be opened.” An optimistic end to the scripture reading
lead into Andrew’s Reflection.
Reflection – “Teach
us to Pray” – Andrew
began with a true story about an encounter with a customer at the
Wentworthville Opp Shop where he was volunteering. She was a devout Catholic woman who
complained there was never a Priest available to hear her confession at 9.15
each morning after she dropped her children at school. Was that a reasonable expectation?
William Barclay’s
writings were of help as Andrew explained the three distinct parts of the
prayer that Jesus taught his Disciples to pray.
Luke’s version of these events is quite short but there is praise and
thanksgiving in the first part with, “Father thy name be hallowed; thy
kingdom come.” The second part, “Give
us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins” speaks of supplication
and petition and the third part, “For we too forgive all who have done us
wrong, and do not bring us to the test” - speaks of confessions and
forgiveness and the concern we should have for others.
Andrew told us he is
currently lecturing on the Reformation at the Centre for Ministry and that
Martin Luther, who was a monk, really knew the importance of prayer. He said; “I have so much to do each day I
shall have to spend the first three hours in prayer.” This comment of Martin Luther stopped me in
my tracks. As the daughter of an
Anglican Priest I often questioned the need or even the wisdom of my father’s
long and inflexible twice daily devotion ritual. To my young mind it seemed odd that even when
he was running late and had much to do and a deadline to meet, the bedroom door
was still shut fast and the time was found for his personal devotions no matter
what. So this comment attributed to Martin
Luther really made me think that it is a hard to discipline ourselves and many
of us fall short and short-change God and ourselves in prayer.
“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go
to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.” was another Martin Luther quote
mentioned – and yes! I believe that I
would too! If we lose hope and optimism
we must surely also lose faith.
Andrew returned to William Barclay’s “Plain man’s
book of prayer” to discuss the three “laws” of prayer. We must first be honest. Secondly, we must be definite in prayer and
name the gifts and the sins we are seeking to pray about. Finally, we must be prepared to engage in
self examination.
“When we pray we must accept that God will not do
for us; that which we can do ourselves”, Andrew said. I am sure I was not the only person who
silently echoed that old adage; “The Lord helps those who help themselves.” We can’t expect to pass our exams if we don’t
study! If we have studied it is
reasonable to pray for calm thinking and good memory retention under the stress
of the exam.
The final thoughts were powerful and encouraging.
“Prayer is the co-operation of our effort with the Grace of God” and “Prayer
brings power and endurance”. Here we
were encouraged to think that although when Jesus prayed to be spared the
ordeal of the cross this prayer was not answered – he was given the strength
and endurance to bear the pain of all our sins.
And we must also accept that we don’t always get the answer we
want. We were directed to consider
Proverbs 30 Verse 8 which says; “Put fraud and lying far from me; give me
neither poverty or wealth, provide me only with the food I need.” Here we were invited to think about the
differences between wants and needs and also about our spiritual
sustenance.
Hymn TIS 464 – “Seek
O seek the Lord, while He is near,
Trust him, speak to Him in prayer and He
will hear.”
How
reassuring are these words written by the Australian poet James McAuley. Thanks Grahame for telling us about him
during the announcements.
Announcements – As often happens this became a time
of sharing when we were asked to pray about the nomination and election of
three new elders and the upcoming AGM for the Congregation. We also learned that the final figure raised
by the “Simply Sharing” Tea was $450 for the “Uniting World Project –
Transforming Lives through Leadership”.
Offering and Dedication
Prayers of the People – These Prayers were lead by Chris
who began with Praise, effused Faith and called us to grow to reflect Christ
and to yield to God and take everything to him in prayer. He referred to the “red books” where we list
our prayer requests and carried these requests to God for us.
Hymn TIS 104 – “While morning still is breaking
and day replaces night …
your Spirit pour within
us, and let the gifts of grace - to those good actions win us that best may
show your praise.
Blessing and
Benediction – The
service finished with the singing of:
Now unto Him, who is able to keep
Able to keep you from falling
And present you faultless
Before the presence of His glory
With exceeding joy
To the only wise God our Saviour
Be glory and majesty
Dominion and power
Both now and forever
Amen
