Daily Prayer for Tuesday, September 1, 2020

“Take my silver and my gold, not a mite would I withhold.”        
                                    —-Frances Ridley Havergal, 1874

Preparation for worship
Sit in a relaxed position. Take a slow, deep breath (or 2 or 3 or as many as needed) until you feel your body, mind, and soul begin to relax and rest in the Spirit.  Take time to reflect as you move through this time of worship…

Opening Sentences                                                              Hebrews 13:16
Do good and share what you have,
for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

Prayer                                                                   Prayer of a Nigerian Christian
God in Heaven, you have helped my life to grow like a tree.  Now something has happened.  Satan, like a bird, has carried in one twig of his own choosing after another.  Before I knew it he had built a dwelling place and was living in it.  Tonight, my Father, I am throwing out both the bird and the nest.

Hymn of the Day
There Was Jesus, by Zach Williams and Dolly Parton.  Listen and pray. 

Reading of the Day                                                                   1 John 4: 1-6
1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. And this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming; and now it is already in the world. 4 Little children, you are from God, and have conquered them; for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore what they say is from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us, and whoever is not from God does not listen to us. From this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Prayers for self and others
Please pray today for those who are being affected by COVID 19 and by its side effects in our world. Please pray for Mark Sabala, working with Covid patients as a nurse, Marcy Szeliga, working as a case investigator and contact tracer, for Sylvia Washer, for Jeanette and her family who’ve been heavily impacted, and for all who have been recently diagnosed with- or are recovering from- the virus.  Pray for the safety and health of those impacted by Hurricane Laura, who try to avoid infection in the midst of the disaster.  As we hear of more friends who are directly affected, or who are working in high risk places, we will list them here.  Use this time to lift your joys, concerns, and hopes to God.

Benediction
Love one another; serve the Lord;
live peaceably with all.
Amen.