Day 12 – Micah 6 verses 6 – 8 (I am listening to the Lord)
Bible Reading – Micah 6 verses 6 – 8
6 With what shall I come before the Lord
and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousand rivers of olive oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
Opening Prayer
Loving Giod, as we read your words today may we be filled with the Holy Spirit. We pray that you will give us the opportunities to be your hands and voice in the world today. Help us to see opportunities and have the courage to speak of you. Amen.
Reflection
As some of you will know, I have been leading a “Prayer and Praise” service on the first Sunday of the month for over 15 years.
It is an opportunity for us to come together and sing more modern worship songs and pray together in a very relaxed atmosphere, I always ask if there are songs folk would like to sing or whether they would like to share with us what God has been doing in their lives, since the last time we met.
That sharing of our individual very real experience of God is the most powerful of testimonies. It can be easy to keep quiet or to think that it was luck or fortuitous timing which has rescued us from some problem we have found ourselves in or placed us in just the right place to help someone else.
I know I have left the “time for your own reflection” in each day of this series but I do feel that it is important that we share our promptings and experiences with others. As I say it may be the exact thing the person you share with needs to hear.
In these stories of our experience of love and mercy, we tell of our walk with God and build each other up as we do so. It is a real working out of the answer to the question posed in our passage today “with what shall I come before the Lord…”. We will come with the experiences we have shared as we walk humbly with God.
A time for your own reflection
Read the passage again and spend a little time thinking of how the passage speaks to you. The wonder of scripture is that there is always something new to discover and each passage speaks to us in our own need and circumstances.
Only if you feel you want to – share your thoughts with someone. God inspires our thoughts and you never know, the person you share with may be waiting to hear what you have to say.
Song
Here is the next song –
“I am listening to the Lord”
A nice bouncy “country” style song tune today. Simple lyrics – where do we hear, see and experience God – in everything! God uses everyone to demonstrate his love for each of us. In our times of worship he continually reveals more of himself to us.
I am listening to the Lord
Words: Chris Hancock
Music: Generated on Suno.com
Voice: A.I.
[Verse 1]
I am listening to the Lord, in all the world around,
I can hear his caring voice, in creations every sound,
I am watching for the Lord, in all the world around,
I can see his caring hand, in all it can be found.
[Chorus]
You speak, through the words of friends and strangers,
You act through, the hands of those who care,
You help through, love expressed by others,
You reveal yourself in our praise and prayer.
[Verse 2]
I am listening to the Lord, in all the world around,
I can hear his caring voice, in creations every sound,
I am watching for the Lord, in all the world around,
I can see his caring hand, in all it can be found.
[Chorus]
You speak, through the words of friends and strangers,
You act through, the hands of those who care,
You help through, love expressed by others,
You reveal yourself in our praise and prayer.
[Bridge]
I am looking for the Lord, in all the world around,
I can see the love of God, in all it does abound.
[Instrumental]
[Chorus]
You speak, through the words of friends and strangers,
You act through, the hands of those who care,
You help through, love expressed by others,
You reveal yourself in our praise and prayer.
[Outro]
I am looking for the Lord, in all the world around,
I can see the love of God, in all it does abound.
Prayer
Loving God, we pray knowing that you call us to walk humbly with you. Help us on that walk to live lives filled with justice and compassionate mercy. Let our lives be filled to overflowing with your love that those around us will know you through our words and actions.
Lord, we want to be your servants in the world. Fill us with the Holy Spirit that our words may be inspired by you and our actions reflect your glory.
At every opportunity enable us to talk of our experience of your love in our lives through Jesus. Help us not to be timid in expressing that our actions are prompted by your presence in our lives and our faith.
Let justice and mercy flow freely in the world for in everything in creation your love does abound. Amen
Copyrights
Reflections and Prayers
By Chris Hancock
Songs
Words of the songs are by Chris Hancock
Music generated on Suno.com
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Bible Readings
Bible readings are from the New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Images
Images where used are from pixabay.com and free for commercial use no attribution required.
