27th. July.2022.Daily Devotions.

Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up. Proverbs 12:25

If you’re like me, then you probably don’t go around telling people how much they mean to you or how blessed you are to have them in your life. Those “words of affirmation” make me very uncomfortable when I receive them, and even more so when I give them. It’s somehow gotten into my mind that offering kind words reveals a chink in my armour, a vulnerability that someone may exploit. And that might be true but protecting myself should not be my primary concern if I trust the Lord to care for me.

God can use other people to lift our anxieties, cheer our heart, help us feel more comfortable in our own skin, and perhaps most importantly, to give that same blessing to others. We may not think we are great at encouragement, but the true value of speaking kind words to another is both a gift to them and an offering to the Lord. When our fear of vulnerability threatens to make us withhold kind words, we should ask the Lord to help us see people as a gift to be cherished and built up.

Can you remember a time when someone’s kind words cheered your heart? How can you extend that gift to one other person today? Look for an opportunity and then do it as an act of worship to God.

Father for some of us, kind words do not always come naturally. Open our eyes to the good qualities and self-sacrifice of those around us. Help us give encouragement and words of genuine affirmation to bolster others. Amen

Praise to you, O Lord, for the jewel of sight, the treasure of hearing and the glory of speech. Open our eyes to your glory, our ears to your word and our mouths to proclaim your goodness; now and for ever. Amen. Thomas Traherne (1636-74)

God of all grace, you do not need us to agree with one another, but you do call us to love one another just as you love us. We know your love to be generous and gracious. You created us to be a part of your diverse creation, richer for being a gift, not a threat, to one another. Give us courage every day, not just to worship you but to follow where your love leads. Amen.

A Children’s Prayer for Ukraine                                                                                     
Loving God, we pray for peace in Ukraine.
Help keep people safe and protect them from being hurt.
Please care for children separated from their families,
Please help people who have had to leave their homes.
We pray for love and peace, everywhere.
In the name of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, Amen.

Prayer for Those in Their Final Days                                                                      
Heavenly Father, I know that all men will die, for this is the nature of life and the cost of sin. I pray for those who are in their last days. Those with cancer, or heart disease, or kidney disease, or malnutrition, or who are grieved by any of the countless diseases and traumas that bring us to our final rest. I know your sympathy for us, for through your Son, you have agonized exactly as we do; by his willing sacrifice, he gave us eternal assurance that you understand our fear and pain.

Bless those in fear of death this day, I pray. Send your Holy Spirit to console and comfort them and those who love them. Let them know the assurance of the wonderful eternity we will know and bring them peace in their final days. In the name of the limitless love of Christ, I pray, Amen.