It's been quite a week hasn't it? In fact it's been quite a couple of weeks or so in our nation and for those of you who are with us on Wednesday evening at our prayer meeting you'll know we spent some time on Wednesday praying for our new Prime Minister and her cabinet and praying for God to be with them.
By Thursday evening we were praying for our new king. I guess the death of Her Majesty the Queen was obviously expected at some point. It's not a surprise to us is it? You know she was elderly; she was frail but yet it still seemed to come as a shock to us, both individually and collectively as a nation.
She gave us a great example of what it means to follow Jesus and to be true to his call! A great example of Christian faithfulness, of service, a life dedicated to what she was called to and it was her Christian faith, that we know she had so strongly, that was the bedrock to her life.
It's interesting isn't it, to hear so many commentators in the last few days talk about this! They’ve talked about what it meant to her, such a solid foundation, that she had, was her relationship with Jesus Christ.
If like me you watch the Christmas addresses each year, you'll have heard, especially over recent years had talked more and more about her faith in Jesus. Saying things like:
“for me the life of Jesus Christ the Prince of Peace whose birth we celebrate today, (Christmas) is an inspiration and an anchor in my life” she said.
[Queen Elizabeth II – Christmas Broadcast – 2014]
Another year she said:
“Although we're capable of great acts of kindness, history teaches us that we sometimes need saving for ourselves, from our recklessness or our greed. God sent into the world a unique person, neither a philosopher nor a general, important though they are, but a saviour with the power to forgive!”
[Queen Elizabeth II – Christmas Broadcast – 2011]
So in a moment we're going to stand and we're going to pray. We're going to remember and we're going to thank God for her life. And then we're going to come and worship, we might think well how can we go from one thing to the other? We can because we come remembering her great faith in Jesus, and we come worshipping the same king today!
We can come rejoicing that we have received his love into our hearts. We can come confidently into his presence, because of his grace. I don't know about you but I've imagined her entering the presence of Jesus, I think been even a few pictures of her laying down of her crown at the feet of the King of Kings and I can imagine her receiving a well done given faithful servant. But before we worship we're going to pray. Scripture teaches us that Paul says to Timothy “I urge then first of all that petitions, prayers, intersession and Thanksgiving be made for all people, for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all Godliness and holiness”.
So, let's stand together and move in prayer. Let's just have a moment of quiet and thank God personally for the life and dedication and service of Her Majesty the Queen.
[PAUSE]
A Prayer For Our Nation
Lord God, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, we thank you today for the life and dedication and service of Her Majesty the Queen. We thank you for all that she stood for, thank you for decades of faithful dedication, to what you had called her to, we thank you for the example she gave us. Lord we pray for her family, would you be so real to them and Lord we pray for others in this nation and around the world who mourn today, mourning the loss of her and all that she meant to them. We pray even Lord for those of us who may never have met her, yet still feel that sense of loss, we pray today that God of great comfort, you would come close and comfort them, that you would comfort us.
We pray too Lord for our new king, we thank you for King Charles and we pray for him today. We pray for your anointing to rest on him, we pray God that his relationship with you would come alive in a new way. Lord even as he spoke of his faith this week, I pray God in the coming days it would deepen and become more and more real to him. Father, we read in scripture of kings like Solomon who you came and revealed yourself to. I pray God that you would come to him and reveal yourself to him (King Charles), give him the wisdom that Solomon had, and Lord may he govern in the way that you have for him.
Lord we pray too for our nation, we pray at this time that there might be many who are open to receiving your love into their hearts and lives, and Lord as we talk about these things together we pray Lord that your love and your presence would be so real and so tangible.
So Father we pray, be at work in our nation, be at work. Let there be many who come to know you in the coming days, we ask it in Jesus name. Amen.
So now dear friends we're going to come and worship, and we're going to come and worship not just her King but our King. We're going to come and worship the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, The Creator of All. Amen! Because he is due our worship and he is worthy of our praise, and so let's worship him and declare our love for him.
Footnotes:
Christmas Broadcast 2011 – Her Majesty The Queen - Published 17 November 2015
Christmas Broadcast 2014 – Her Majesty The Queen - Published 25 December 2014
Image Source: The Queen at 90 © by Danny Lawson | The Queen at 90 - PRESS ASSOCIATION / Danny Lawson.