Daily Prayers Friday, 1 April 2022

Good morning Cornerstone as we greet this new day, this new month, this bright and fresh morning on the way to Holy Week and Easter.

Let’s begin with a Psalm.

Psalm 150  Praise the Lord

Praise God in his holy place, praise him in the mighty vault of heaven;
Praise him for his acts of power, praise him for his immeasurable greatness.
Praise him with fanfares on the trumpet, praise him on harp and lyre;
Praise him with tambourines and dancing, praise him with flute and strings;
Praise him with the clash of cymbals; with triumphant cymbals praise him.
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!

We thank you God for the blessing of this Friday morning at the very beginning of April. AMEN

Suddenly our street is candy-floss pink – the cherry trees are in full bloom and the shy and retiring magnolia is shouting its glorious presence to the world. Their beauty is fleeting and if the snowy days and frosty nights continue, the blooms will be gone before the bees have really commenced their duties. Today is a good day to be slow in our looking, to take more than a moment to drink in the beauty of early spring with wide open eyes.

We thank you God for the blossoms and the awakening life they signify. May they bring us hope. AMEN

This time last year the snow was falling thick and fast, yet the year before, the blossoms were fading in a heat wave. The changeable nature of early April can be unsettling: inconstant climate in an ever-changing world, a world yearning for constancy and reliability.

We pray to you, reliable God, for a calm spirit in the face of uncertainty, for the courage to rely on your unchanging, unfailing support, your constant love. May we live in confidence. AMEN

All across Europe the grass is moving, flowers are venturing out, the grip of winter is letting up and softer days are coming. But the sound of this world is noisy with war, loud with the lament for loss, awash with the tears of refugees for homes lost and cultures crushed.

We pray to you God that this new month may bring peace in huge pieces to places broken by war, that this new month may make the powerful bullies pause in their pursuit of limitless power and bow to the pleas of the hurting to JUST STOP. Enfold them all in your compassionate arms. AMEN.

Thus far the prayers have rambled round this first morning in April from praise in springtime pink to mourning the brokenness of conflict. Through this whirlwind Christ forms the quiet centre. He holds us together and in him we are made one people, one body in fellowship. Unreliable life becomes hopeful in him.

We pray to you God in the hope of this new month that we may live as people full of your hope, unified in faith, determined to share our hope with everyone around us. AMEN

As Paul would say to the Romans:
May we maintain our hope with perseverance. May God, the source of all perseverance and all encouragement grant that you may agree with one another after the manner of Christ Jesus and so with one mind and one voice may praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So, let’s enjoy the day – in whatever springtime colour you like the most!

Cheryl Montgomery