Morning Prayer Thursday, 7 July 2022

A reading from the epistle of James

Faith and Deeds

¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? ¹⁵ Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶ If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? ¹⁷ In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

¹⁸ But someone will say, ‘You have faith; I have deeds.’

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. ¹⁹ You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that – and shudder.

²⁰ You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? ²¹ Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²² You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. ²³ And the scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,’ and he was called God’s friend. ²⁴ You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.

²⁵ In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? ²⁶ As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

James 2: 14–26 NIV®

Dear God, we pray that you will strengthen our faith so that we carry out the deeds that you would have us do.
Help us to show our love for you and our faith in you by doing all we can to meet the needs of our fellow human beings.
You love us unconditionally, and if we love you, we must show that love in the same way,
by providing for the needs of all your children.

We know that we have received many gifts from you through the deeds and actions of others,
and we must play our part in bringing your loving gifts to the people around us.
Help us to understand that you work in many ways and through many channels,
and that we do not always recognise the ways in which you work your marvellous will.
May we recognise that we must play our part in channelling your love to those most in need.
May we be always ready to respond to those who seek your help and protection.
Even when we feel unable to meet their demands, we can always pray for them,
that is, we can talk to you and ask what we should do.
But then we must listen to what you are telling us to do.

We praise you and give you thanks for all the opportunities you offer us to serve you and our fellow pilgrims.
Forgive us when we ignore these opportunities or allow our busy-ness to get in the way of what you are calling us to do.
Help us to learn that if you are calling us to do something, then we should not allow anything to get in the way.
You do not ask us to do anything that we cannot do, with your help and guidance.
May we have the patience, in our prayers, to continue listening to your still small voice,
even when at first we do not recognise what you telling us.
May we, in our prayers, as with any other conversation, learn when it is right to stop talking, and to listen with all our attention.
And once we are able to understand what it is you are asking us to do,
give us the resolve, the strength and courage to turn our good intentions
into the good deeds that will show that we are, indeed, your disciples.

We gather these and all our prayers in the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples:

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.

Amen