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¹ Hear my prayer, LORD; let my cry for help come to You.
² Do not hide Your face from me when I am in distress.
Turn Your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly.
~ Psalm 102:1-2

I love the title of this psalm — “A prayer of an afflicted person who has grown weak and pours out a lament before the LORD.” It is one of the seven penitential psalms — it begins with deep personal lament and sorrow, and then goes on to consider the seemingly desperate state of the people of God. It is possible to be in deep personal distress and yet to trust in the goodness of the God who is not slow in keeping His promises. In prayer we express both our distress and our faith.

Christ is so in love with holiness,
that at the price of His blood He will buy it for us.
~ Flavel

Petition: Please join with us in praying for:

1. The World – The number of confirmed cases is 166,767,496 (+ 4,030,000; -a drop of 20% as the signs are of a decrease worldwide). The number of deaths of people with Covid 3,456,775, (up 82,209; -5%). The death toll in India continues at over 4,000 per day. But remember that India is a massive country, and this is still well below the peak Covid death rate in the UK and US. 22,500 people die in India every day from all causes.

2. Australia — There have been 30,011 cases in total (up 36 compared with 52 the week before).
There have been no locally acquired cases in the past week.

There are 18 people in hospital (+1), with 1 in ICU (-1).
There were 314,744 tests, with 0.2% positive. There are 82 active cases (-72).

3. Vaccine and Cures — There have been 1.63 billion vaccine doses administered (+180 million).
In Australia, 3.5 million vaccines have been administered.
The government now believes that everyone will have had the opportunity to be vaccinated by the end of the year. Data from the UK suggests that the vaccines are effective against the India variant.

4. Church — There has been a disturbing rise in attacks upon Jewish people in the West — most notably in Western Europe (including chillingly in Germany), the UK and the US. The situation in Gaza and Israel appears to be being used as an excuse for the age-old hatred of the Jews. The Church must stand against this. We must also proclaim the Good News to the Jews and pray for the peace of Israel.

5. Personal and Family — As the world slowly emerges from this pandemic, it may be that families face changes regarding work and lifestyle which will be significant. Pray that we will be able to navigate these with the peace that Christ brings.

A Prayer of Repentance:

²⁴ O Lord,
Do not take me away, my God, in the midst of my days;
Your years go on through all generations.
²⁵ In the beginning You laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of Your hands.
²⁶ They will perish, but You remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
Like clothing You will change them and they will be discarded.
²⁷ But You remain the same, and Your years will never end.
²⁸ The children of Your servants will live in Your presence;
their descendants will be established before You. Amen.
~ Psalm 102

Song: Matt Boswell and Matt Papa wrote this beautiful song — so appropriate for our times:
Christ the Sure and Steady Anchor.

A Prayer of Thanksgiving:

¹⁵ The nations will fear the name of the LORD,
All the kings of the earth will revere Your glory.
¹⁶ For the LORD will rebuild Zion and appear in His glory.
¹⁷ He will respond to the prayer of the destitute;
He will not despise their plea.
¹⁸ Let this be written for a future generation,
that a people not yet created may praise the LORD: Amen.
~ Psalm 102