Daily Share-a-Prayer w/e 11/05/2025
Derek Mill
Worship Leader, All Saints Church, Belton
Sunday 11th May
Heavenly Father, You don't half get a lot of stick, a lot of criticism. You seem to get blamed for everything that is wrong with the world, but get very little credit for what is right. How often do we cry out: "Why doesn't God do something?"
And yet, for all we know things could be a lot worse! "For all we know..." That's an interesting thought! I wonder how many times You intervene in the world and we know nothing about it? We know You do sometimes step in unexpectedly. We know about Saul, on the road to Damascus to persecute and arrest Christians, blinded, stopped in his tracks, and transformed by Jesus to write many letters of the New Testament under his new name, Paul
We know about Simon Peter, miraculously released from prison: "Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. 'Quick, get up!' he said, and the chains fell off Peter's wrists... They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him"
We know our knowledge is limited. You asked Job: "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand... Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades? Can you loosen Orion's belt? Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the bear with its cubs? Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God's dominion over the earth?"
As we know from Paul, "We know in part and we prophesy in part... For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known". I don't know what I don't know, but I have a real feeling that You intervene to help us in times of trouble far more than we know. "Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgements, and His paths beyond tracing out!" You truly are "our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in time of trouble"
Thank You for all the unseen things You do for us
Amen
Songs for today:
The perfect wisdom of our God
In the Potter's hands
I know my Lord will make a way
Saturday 10th May
Heavenly Father, thank You for so many people and things that have been an encouragement and a strength to us in these past few days and weeks; my family and friends, emails and texts, my devotional, the verse of the day from my church, songs, even my calendar; and of course You, by Your Spirit and Your Word
My calendar yesterday had a passage which read: "Our world, obsessed with beauty and perfection, sends out a crippling message. It tells us that we must achieve perfection in order to be worthy of love. People are longing to be told a different, more powerful truth: we are infinitely worthy of love, even with all our bumps and flaws. When we believe that we are worthy of love, no matter what, it helps others to believe that they are worthy of love too"
Lord Jesus, it was Your love that brought You into our world; it was Your love that saw You wash feet and hug lepers; it was Your love that saw You go to the cross; it was Your love that saw You ask for forgiveness for us from that cross; it is Your love that tells us today that we are worthy. Your Spirit clothes us in robes of righteousness making us acceptable to God, our Father. Isaiah prophesied: "I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For He has clothed me with garments of Salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with jewels"
And Lord Jesus, You enable this to happen: "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God"
Jesus, I need You in everything. I trust You with everything: "So do not fear, for I AM with you, do not be dismayed, for I AM your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." Thank You
Amen
Songs for today:
Jesus I need You in everything
No fear
Friday 9th May
Lord Jesus, thank You for the very simple Way You gave us to remember You. At the Last Supper You: 'took bread, gave thanks and broke it'. You gave it to the disciples and said to them: "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me". In the same Way after supper You took the cup and said: "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you"
I wonder if the disciples were wondering what this was all about, tentatively eating the bread and looking into the cup, thinking, 'Blood’? Now, in hindsight we can see the symbolism of what You did. At every meal, when we eat and drink, we say 'grace' coming from the Latin word 'gracia' meaning favour or thanks, and so we can remember the sacrifice You made for us
I met a few people at the hospital over the last few days. One told me he was a Baptist, another that they went to Christchurch, the others didn't say anything about their place of worship. I told them I go to the local church here in Belton. It doesn't matter to me whether a Christian is a Protestant or Catholic, Methodist or Baptist, Pentecostal or C of E; what matters is that they know Jesus as Lord
What matters is that they love God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love their neighbours the same. What matters is that they remember what You have done for us. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here. All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation"
Thank You Lord, that we are all ministers, ministers of reconciliation, with or without a special collar, who can celebrate together in complete freedom. Help me to remember what is important; what You have done for us
Amen
Songs for today:
True Joy
I am a new creation
Remember Me
Thursday 8th May
Heavenly Father, sometimes life can seem like an awesome responsibility. Sometimes there seems like there is no way we can cope with the daily onslaught of pressure. We can feel bombarded by one thing after another. It is no surprise that sometimes we feel that we want to escape
This can happen to anyone; it certainly happened to some people in Your Word; it happened to me! Adam and Eve hid in the garden after they had sinned, the start of 'the great escape’! Moses ran away after killing the Egyptian. David was constantly 'on the run' from King Saul. Elijah ran away, You found him hiding in a cave where You said to him: "What are you doing here, Elijah?" You told Jonah to go and speak to the people of Nineveh, but instead he ran away in the opposite direction!
"The Word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me”. But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord." I think we all know how that turned out
Sometimes running away can lead to dark places; a cave or the belly of a huge fish! People today try to escape in many kinds of ways, some simply disappear, leaving behind their loved ones in despair. Some turn to drugs or alcohol. Some look for new relationships, deserting their husband or wife and children. And some, like Judas Iscariot, hang themselves or take their own life in some other way
Years ago, I ran away into talking to people on the internet, people I didn't really know. It was a very dark time! Thankfully a good friend of mine spoke to me and brought me to my senses; my wife and children forgave me and You strengthened me
The Bible tells us: "My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the Truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their ways will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins"
Thank You, Lord Jesus, for Your saving grace and forgiveness. Help me to be kind today to anyone I meet, as everyone is facing a battle of some sort
Amen
Songs for today:
Thank You for saving me
Jonah-Man Jazz
Wednesday 7th May
Heavenly Father, there is a programme on TV called 'Bargain Hunt' where two teams visit antique shops to try to find objects which they buy with money they have been given, to then auction in other antique shops to try and make a profit. Each team has a specialist, an antique dealer, to help and guide them. If the team makes a profit they keep the money they have earned
I suppose we all love a bargain! What You offer us through Jesus is the most amazing 'bargain' ever! You have already given us life on this earth, with no cost to us, gratis. You then invite us to invest our lives, to find something worthwhile to do with our lives. This is the real 'Bargain Hunt' of life
You are the guide, the specialist, the One who knows the value of everything; the Bible describes You as "The Ancient of Days". You constantly provide for us, showing us where to look. "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands"
Jesus tells us: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it". Jesus was talking about Himself; He is the pearl of great worth
Lord Jesus, You invite us to invest our lives in You, in Your Kingdom. You invite us to spend this finite life, to make a profit, eternal life. And You foot the bill, paying for everything. You give us life, You give us time, You show us the Way; all at Your expense, paid for on the cross
You make life worthwhile. No-one but You, Lord, can satisfy the longing in my heart. Help me, Lord Jesus, to invest the ‘talents’ You have given me wisely, to Your glory, that I may hear You say: "Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness"
Thank You for the life You have given me, help me to invest it wisely, so I can bring more lives back to You
Amen
Songs for today:
Where would I be without You
No-one but You Lord (Only You)
The Pearl of great price
Tuesday 6th May
Heavenly Father, my daughter reminded me the other day of the importance of taking every thought captive to Christ. And my devotional today talked about listening to myself and talking to myself
Sometimes people think that the first sign of madness is talking to our self! But it is clear from scripture that we do, and must, talk to ourselves. The Psalmist talks to himself when he writes: "Why, my soul are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?" And he then instructs himself, telling himself what he must do: "Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Saviour and my God"
Life is difficult, and for some that is most days and for some every day, but there is no one who has no difficulties. Jesus warned us Himself: "In this world you will have trouble... Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own"
Sometimes my mind can run away on its own, visualising all the worst case scenarios. When my loved ones are ill I can find myself thinking "What if..." picturing everything bad thing that might happen. If I am driving to a difficult situation I can find myself not concentrating on the road as I hear myself worrying. It is then that I need to talk to myself, doing what Scripture tells me: "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ"
Help me, Lord Jesus, to say, "No," to the thoughts in my head, and to take control of what I am thinking, making my thoughts obedient to You. Fill my mind with the Truth, with Your thoughts, higher than mine. Help me to remember Your loving kindness and Your faithfulness. I am safe in Your arms for ever. "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord". Thank You
Amen
Songs for today:
May the fragrance of Jesus fill this place
You are my hiding place
Give thanks with a grateful heart
Yet not I but through Christ in me
Monday 5th May
Heavenly Father, thank You for tears. How thoughtful and kind it was of You to provide such a wonderful way to release all kinds of stress and emotion
I rang my sister years ago when our first son was born, after a long battle with a likely miscarriage. When he was born, I rang to tell her, but the emotions of relief and joy overwhelmed me so I simply wept and was unable to speak. She asked me if everything was OK but I couldn't answer, I just kept sobbing. Eventually I managed to say all was well and I'd call later
When a prophetic word I had given was confirmed by a recognised prophetic voice from outside our church, who knew nothing of what I had said, my reaction was to burst into tears. At that time our church was going through a time of change, with much opposition, I felt I heard You say: "I AM telling you the Truth: a grain of wheat remains no more than a single grain unless it is dropped into the ground and dies. If it does die, then it produces many grains." I told this to the Rector at the time, saying I believed this applied to our church. A few days later the prophetess said to the Rector: "I don't know if this is relevant, but I felt the Lord say I should say to you: 'I AM telling you the Truth: a grain of wheat...'" This was true of Your death when You were planted in the tomb, and it proved to be true when we let go of old routines and introduced new fresh ideas in worship; the church grew and we saw miracles
Jesus, Mary, and Martha wept tears of grief over Lazarus. Peter wept over his denial. When we meet Jesus for the first time there are often tears. When we are set free we weep tears of relief. When a friend or relative is given the all clear we weep tears of joy. So tears can flow due to sadness, joy, or frustration; physical pain or irritation; grief or excitement; frustration or anger; relief from stress or anxiety; irritants such as dust, smoke, wind or even onions
Tears help to lubricate and protect the eyes from dryness and infection. But most of all, let us never be ashamed of loving tears. As Your Word tells us: "You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in Your bottle. You have recorded each one in Your book". Thank You for tears
Amen
Songs for today:
Tears
Yeshua You make me whole / Be still
all songs (usually with lyrics) and talks courtesy of YouTube
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