¹ Shout for joy to God, all the earth!
² Sing the glory of His name; make His praise glorious.
³ Say to God, “How awesome are Your deeds!
So great is Your power that Your enemies cringe before You.
⁴ All the earth bows down to You; they sing praise to You,
they sing the praises of Your name.
Come and see what God has done,
His awesome deeds for mankind!”
~ Psalm 66

When did you last shout for joy? The psalmist is not just happy for himself, or even the Church to shout for joy. He wants the whole Earth. Do you not think that our country and community could do with a little more joy? Then we need to know the God of joy.

“If there were armies of prayers as there are armies of men,
we would see the streams of things turned another way.
A few Moses’s in the Mount would do more good than many soldiers in the valley.
If we would lift up our hearts and hands to God, He would lift up our faces.”
~ Sibbes

Petition: Please join with us in praying for:

1. The World – The number of confirmed cases is 26,980,731 (up 1,848,411 from last week).
There have been 881,314 deaths of people with Covid-19 (up 36,220).
The rise in the number of cases is steady, but there is a decline in the death rate and also hospitalisation.
The is seen especially in the Europe and the UK.
India has set daily records in the past few days – for the number of cases.
But the number of deaths has not risen as highly.

2. Australia – now has had 26,279 cases (up 609 compared with 858 in the previous week), with 753 deaths (+142 compared with 107 the previous week).

There are 311 people in hospital (-190), with 26 in intensive care (-6).
6,657,348 tests have been carried out, with 0.4% being positive.
22,464 people have recovered. There are 2,062 (-980) active cases.
We are thankful that these are all significantly down in the past two weeks.
The main issue is how the States are responding and the statistics we are not reporting — how many jobs lost, how many lives damaged and all the other sides effects of the ‘cure’ for the disease.
Pray for our political leaders who have to make such difficult decisions.

3. Vaccine and Cures – India is another country which is developing a vaccine which they say will be ready by the new year. Australia is now saying that we will have 80 million dozes of a vaccine by the beginning of the year – subject to successful trials. This article helps explain where things are in terms of a vaccine.

4. Church – Again especially, remember churches in Victoria, who have been told they cannot meet until at least November – and possibly until well after that. The requirement of zero cases according to the road map seems a somewhat difficult one!

5. Personal and Family – Pray for those who have lost loved ones in care homes (where the majority of deaths have been) and those who are concerned about their elderly relatives. Especially remember those who suffer from dementia.

A Prayer of Repentance:
Lord, if we had cherished sin in our heart, You would not have listened.
But sometimes we have. So, we ask for forgiveness for this.
And we plead with You to listen to our plea. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

A Prayer of Thanksgiving:

⁸ Praise our God, all peoples, let the sound of His praise be heard;
⁹ He has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping.
¹⁰ For You, God, tested us; You refined us like silver.
¹¹ You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs.
¹² You let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and water,
but You brought us to a place of abundance. Amen.
~ Psalm 66:8-12