“Praise be to the LORD, who has given rest to His people Israel just as He promised.
Not one word has failed of all the good promise He gave through His servant Moses.
May the LORD our God be with us as He was with our ancestors;
may He never leave us nor forsake us. ⁵⁸
May He turn our hearts to Him, to walk in obedience to Him
and keep the commands, decrees and laws He gave our ancestors. ⁵⁹
And may these words of mine, which I have prayed before the LORD,
be near to the LORD our God day and night, that He may uphold the cause of His servant
and the cause of His people Israel according to each day’s need, ⁶⁰
so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God and that there is no other.
(1 Kings 8:57-60)

The extraordinary thing about the end to Solomon’s prayer is the assurance he has that it is already answered – before he saw the answer. And how he rests his assurance upon the fact that God has promised to answer the prayers of His people, because the Lord keeps His promises and because answered prayer is further evidence that the Lord is God. We pray in the same way.

Petition: Please join with us in praying for:

1. Switzerland – has 22,253 confirmed cases and 821 deaths – 8,704 recoveries. The level of reported cases has dropped in the past week.
2. The Northern Territory – now has 27 cases (up from 16 a week ago) with 0 deaths and 1 recovered. Australia’s cases as a whole have gone up to 5,956 (up 113 – the lowest one-day rise yet). There have been 45 deaths.
3. Xi Jinping – The Chinese leader.
4. The Catholic Church and the whole Church of Christ as the implications of the Cardinal Pell case are worked out. Pray for unity and healing.
5. Single parents – who have it particularly difficult working at home and looking after children.

A Prayer of Repentance: O Lord, forgive us our self-absorption and complacency. Forgive us when, even in coming to You, we have only our own desires and needs upon our hearts and lips. Help us to genuinely love our neighbours as ourselves and You with our whole heart, soul and mind. Amen.

A Prayer of Thanksgiving: Father, we thank You for answered prayer. We thank You that before we call, You answer! We plead with You for Your Name’s sake, and the sake of Your people, that You would hear our cries and heal this land, and our broken hearts, in the Name of Jesus. Amen.