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PRAY NOW: TODAY'S PRAYER
Relationships of Power - Sarah and Hagar
Abram said to Sarai, 'Behold, your maid is in your power; do to her as you
please.' Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.
Prayer
Power, for us, is such a tricky business.
We ascribe it slickly to you - God of power
and might -
And instantly you challenge us,
Revealed in the flux of worldly power
As the powerless, crucified
God.
But power, and who has it, still shapes our relationships - our lives.
We expertly read its flows, its peaks and troughs.
A shake of filings on a sheet of paper reveals the field of a magnet.
A sprinkling of people in a story
Reveals to us the field and play of power.
We are not innocent, or naïve, where power is concerned.
It is Sarah's house; she writes the rules, sets the emotional thermostat.
That is power! The power to make life hell - albeit from sheer insecurity.
Hers is the present, and hers the long past with Abraham.
But pregnant Hagar is tomorrow,
And Hagar has the power of the weak,
And knowledge of the secret, hurting spot.
She knows where to press...
Abraham, the man, pathetic in his formal power.
He cannot placate or console Sarah. He cannot protect Hagar.
He simply abdicates.
The flux of life, the ebb and flow of power, shape our relationships.
We need faith, to be able to entrust to you
Those we love but cannot protect.
We need love enough to love
Those who can absorb all the love we give, and still need more.
We need strength, to be able to stand, gently, against power.
We need courage, to absorb hurt, and break the cycle ...
Readings
1 Corinthians 13
Philippians 2:1-11
Romans 4:1-9
Galatians 5:22-26
Prayer Activity
Take an object - a small stone, a nut, a ball - which fits in your clenched fist.
Grasp it as hard as you can. Imagine someone is trying to take it from you. Resist
them for a few seconds. When you are quite clear that it is your choice to do this,
choose to open your hand, and offer the object. Now, when you are ready, and it
is your choice, put the object down - right out of your hand. Relinquish it. Feel
the power of offering and giving, over the power of seizing and grasping.
Prayer for the Church
Those on the margins of society, the poor, the powerless and the vulnerable
especially the Safeguarding Committee
and its team of staff and volunteers.
Blessing
God make us strong
To stand for the right;
God make us strong
To speak the truth;
God make us strong enough
To lay aside power,
To embrace weakness,
To break the cycle
In the freedom love gives.
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