{"id":17862,"date":"2024-01-13T00:01:37","date_gmt":"2024-01-13T00:01:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mwib.org.uk\/?p=17862"},"modified":"2024-01-10T08:13:25","modified_gmt":"2024-01-10T08:13:25","slug":"prayer-for-the-week-13th-january-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mwib.org.uk\/index.php\/2024\/01\/13\/prayer-for-the-week-13th-january-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Prayer for the Week – 13th January 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Samuel 3:10 NIVUK
\nThe Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, \u2018Samuel! Samuel!\u2019
\nThen Samuel said, \u2018Speak, for your servant is listening.\u2019<\/p>\n

John 1:45-46 NIVUK
\nPhilip found Nathanael and told him, \u2018We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and
\nabout whom the prophets also wrote \u2013 Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.\u2019
\n\u2018Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?\u2019 Nathanael asked.
\n\u2018Come and see,\u2019 said Philip.<\/p>\n

Excerpt from the Methodist Covenant Prayer (modernised)
\nI am no longer my own but yours.
\nPut me to what you will,
\nrank me with whom you will;
\nput me to doing,
\nput me to suffering;
\nlet me be employed for you,
\nor laid aside for you,
\nexalted for you,
\nor brought low for you\u2026
\nI freely and wholeheartedly yield all things
\nto your pleasure and disposal\u2026<\/p>\n

Two of the lectionary readings this week are about calling. We have God calling Samuel in the night,
\nand Yeshua calling Phillip and Nathanael. These readings made me think not just of calling, but also
\nof commitment \u2013 just in time for the Covenant Services our churches are leading this month.
\nThe words of the covenant prayer that we read at this time each year were written by John Wesley,
\nwho certainly knew a thing or two about calling and commitment. There is something very uprooting
\nand unsettling about covenanting ourselves to God, who (I AM WHAT I AM, I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE) is as
\nmuch a movement as He is a personality.
\nAs the worldwide church, the Body of Christ, we are very much a movement, too; a movement away
\nfrom the accepted norms of the world, away from judgement and greed and indulgence, toward
\nself-discipline, humility, love, and generosity. In each of us is reflected I AM and in all of us is reflected
\nI WILL BE.<\/p>\n

Personal commitment is the foundation on which communal commitment is built; the body made up
\nof lesser parts, the church made up of individuals who each wrestle with their own calling.
\nThe society in which we live exults the individual over the community, which is why we tend to
\nidolise great figures like Saint Paul, John Wesley, or Billy Graham. It\u2019s easy, in this environment, to
\nlook at those larger-than-life personalities and think, \u2018I\u2019m only me; I can\u2019t do anything\u2019.
\nDid you know that you are larger than life?
\nDid you know that the God who created the whole universe, from molecules to galaxies, has made
\nyou His dwelling place because He loves you?
\nI spent far too much time wishing that I could speak or pray like so-and-so, sing like her-off-the-TV or
\nchange lives like what\u2019s-her-name.
\nI am a member of a Body that can do those things \u2013 that can speak and pray and sing and change the
\nworld, and has, and will again.
\nMy sister, how I love the feeling of your hand in mine. How I praise God, knowing that I cannot fall so
\nlong as you\u2019re holding onto me. You mean more to me than Saint Paul or John Wesley ever could,
\nbecause it\u2019s you who smile at me every Sunday morning, when I hurtle through the church doors
\nstressed and ruffled. It\u2019s you who spoke God\u2019s name over my life. It\u2019s you who loved me in His name.
\nThis is our calling, and we fulfil it together.<\/p>\n

Father God, King of the universe,
\nHow You rejoice to see Your people living in unity!
\nThank You so much that You drew us from the ends of the earth,
\nInto Your eternal embrace, made real in our lives in the arms of our siblings in Christ.
\nThank You that we never face our futures alone,
\nBut that You strengthen us to uphold one another,
\nAnd make our love as deep and real and earth-shattering
\nAs the love You showed to us in Yeshua.
\nIn the beautiful and powerful name of God,
\nThe Holy Spirit who binds us together,
\nThe Son who leads the way,
\nAnd the Father from Whom all things come and to Whom all things return,
\nWe pray all blessings and strength on those You have chosen.
\nAmen.<\/p>\n

Madeleine Reed – Helen Kim Memorial Scholar<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Samuel 3:10 NIVUK The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, \u2018Samuel! Samuel!\u2019 Then Samuel said, \u2018Speak, for your servant is listening.\u2019 John 1:45-46 NIVUK Philip found Nathanael and told him, \u2018We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote \u2013 Jesus of Nazareth, the son of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9120,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[349,44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-prayer","category-prayer-for-the-week"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-15 06:07:16","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mwib.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mwib.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mwib.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mwib.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9120"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mwib.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17862"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mwib.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17862\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mwib.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mwib.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mwib.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}