65B*
A Call to Worship
Pentecost 24B [Ordinary 32B] or [Proper 27B] 2012
Psalm 127

Holy God, we come together to acknowledge our dependence on you.
We give thanks that our Steadfast God is present and totally reliable.

Comforting God, we come together to celebrate our confident hope in you.
We give thanks that God is our Quiet Centre, who blesses our living.

Pilgrim’s God, we come together to share that our trust and faith is in you.
We give thanks that God gives us meaning and purpose in love and
life; for as God’s beloved ones, we can quietly rest in God’s presence. Amen.

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Prayers of Thankfulness and Trust
Pentecost 24B [Ordinary 32B] or [Proper 27B] 2012
Psalm 127

Dependable God, we give thanks this day for your reliability, your abiding
presence with us, and the reassurances you give us through your timeless
promises. We can confidently say that without our trustworthy God at the
centre of our life, all else seems to be fleeting and without meaning. With
trusting hope in our hearts and minds, our commitments, our work, even our
life itself seems almost irrelevant without you as our Guide, our Mentor and our
Friend to travel with us and direct us along our paths to fullness of life in God.
Unless our God is central to our life - other things seem to be temporary.

Holy God, the Fountain of all Grace, we give thanks for the blessings in
life that you gift to us. We give thanks that we were part of a family when
we were born – however lasting that situation may have been – and that
we were gifted with abilities, strengths and weakness that were quite unique.
We give thanks for the personal developments in understanding what is
important to value in life; and for the skills and opportunities to explore the
potential of each individual person as they grow and develop to maturity.
We acknowledge that many people do not have the freedom to follow their
own preferred way of life and living, and we pray that they may at least know
justice, and a fair opportunity to live life with dignity and a sense of self-worth.
Unless our God is central to our life – living can lose its value and purpose.

Loving God, we praise and thank you that you created us in and through
your love, and placed us in a world designed and created in love as an
open expression of the Godhead. We give thanks that the Lord our God
gifted humanity with the capacity to love and forgive; and to build deep
and trusting relationships in life; and to make commitments to people and
causes. Living and loving within those secure circumstances, we are
blessed to receive from God, “the beloved’s rest” –peace of soul and mind.
Unless our God is central to our life - love loses its roots and goal. Amen.

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A Personal Meditation
Pentecost 24B [Ordinary 32B] or [Proper 27B] 2012
Psalm 127

Following the death of King David, his son Solomon dreamed that God
asked him what he most wanted to help him rule his people, because
he was an inexperienced leader. In his dream he asked God for wisdom
and understanding for the best way to govern his people. Throughout the
centuries, King Solomon has always had a reputation for the wisdom he
received in abundance from God. Whoever has God as the centre and
focus of life, will be just as blessed a was King Solomon with the necessary
gifts and graces they require to do God’s work, and to bear witness for God.
I, along with countless numbers of needy people have asked God for the
bestowing of the necessary gifts on me to help me meet evolving challenges.



King Solomon lived in an era when it was of prime importance to secure
political and international relationships through marriage, and the begetting
of suitable heirs for his kingdom, to fulfil its destiny as God had promised.
Solomon’s prayer of thanks for his children was honest and earnest, as he
sought God’s guidance for his royal role and responsibilities. He understood
that, even in his exalted situation, without God’s influence and blessings in life,
he would not be able to raise up good leaders for the benefit of God’s people.
Solomon prayed for guidance in all sincerity, as he understood, that like arrows
that have left the bow and the hand, their direction cannot be changed—
and so it is with children once they leave the influences of home and family.



The founding parents of many of the nations of the world have also discovered
for themselves the joys and privileges, as well as the challenges and even the
pains and heartaches, of bringing children into the world, to fulfil a special role
in the development of their new nation. Contented and blessed are the parents
who go to their rest each night giving thanks for the facts that they have children
for whom they are proud. Those people who have God as the central focus of
their life are also the ones who go to their rest confident in God’s abiding mercy.

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Acknowledgements:
Unless stated otherwise, all Bible readings and extracts used in these weekly Prayers and Meditations are from
‘The New Revised Standard Version’ Copyright © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council
of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

*The additional weekly numbering is from the Revised COCU Indexing Scheme
COCU = ('Consultation on Church Union'); as it offers an easy sequential numbering
for the Revised Common Lectionary for the Church Calendar.

If any part of these Prayers and/or Meditations is used in shared worship, please provide
the following acknowledgement:
© 2012 Joan Stott – ‘The Timeless Psalms’ RCL Psalms Year B. Used with permission.

jstott@netspace.net.au

Download/view a pdf file of this document here: pentecost24[32]b_2012.pdf

© 2012 Joan Stott - " The Timeless Psalms" RCL Psalm Year B