Paul Zach sings, ‘Draw Me In’.

In the hunger of the desert

Let your fast renew my senses

Feed me with the words of heaven

Oh my saviour, draw me in

When my days are endless taking

Anything to fill the aching

Show me all the good you're making

Oh my saviour, draw me in

Draw me in with your tenderness

Speak abundance to my emptiness

Set your table in this wilderness

With the feast I long to taste

Christ, you know my deepest longing

Seeds you've planted now are forming

Let me hear the still voice calling

Oh my saviour, draw me in

Draw me in with your tenderness

Speak abundance to my emptiness

Set your table in this wilderness

With the feast I long to taste

As I stumble through this journey

Restless in my endless searching

Fill me with your love each morning

Oh my saviour, draw me in

Today’s reading is from the Prophet Jeremiah.

Jer 20:10-13

For I hear many whispering:

‘Terror is all around!

Denounce him! Let us denounce him!’

All my close friends

are watching for me to stumble.

‘Perhaps he can be enticed,

and we can prevail against him,

and take our revenge on him.’

But the LORD is with me like a dread warrior;

therefore my persecutors will stumble,

and they will not prevail.

They will be greatly shamed,

for they will not succeed.

Their eternal dishonour

will never be forgotten.

O LORD of hosts, you test the righteous,

you see the heart and the mind;

let me see your retribution upon them,

for to you I have committed my cause.

Sing to the LORD;

praise the LORD!

For he has delivered the life of the needy

from the hands of evildoers.

Take a moment to get a feel and a sense of this passage… are there any particular phrases from the prophet resonating with you?

‘Terror is all around…All my close friends are watching for me to stumble….’ How do you imagine this? Or perhaps you don’t need to imagine… Maybe you have experienced this for yourself…

What was that like? Where was God in this for you?

As you hear the reading again, listen out for the actions of the Lord…

‘Sing to the LORD; praise the LORD!’ As we draw this time of prayer to a close, can you talk to the Lord about your own reasons to sing and praise him?

You have given all to me

To you, Lord, I return it

Everything is Yours

Do with it what you will

Give me only your love and your grace

That is enough for me.

Amen.