Providence

Well, if you want to keep your Bibles in front of you,

that would be helpful as we walk through the text together.

It's already been read to us.

For those who didn't catch it before, we're in Genesis 39 and 40.

I think I'm carrying on a series that you've been doing in Genesis.

What's this one, the third?

Second?

Third.

So it doesn't matter if you haven't been to the other ones.

This will stand independently,

but hopefully fit nicely into what you've been learning through Genesis.

Shall we ask for the Lord's help?

In this, as we come to look at his word, let's do that now.

Father God, we thank you for the words of that hymn,

because they remind us that you are a God who is faithful to us.

And when we look back on our lives, we can see just how faithful you've been.

The fact that we're standing here today,

praising your name still shows that you have preserved us

through the ups and downs of life.

And we thank you that he who began a good work

and as we'll bring it to completion one day.

And we'll always have his hand upon us.

And Lord, we thank you that we have your words to look at this evening.

We thank you that it is living and active, Lord.

I pray that you'd help us to understand the text we're going to be looking at.

I pray for anyone who's feeling particularly tired on this Sunday evening.

I pray you give us ears to really listen to what you have to say to us.

And I pray that as I preach, Lord, that I might do it faithfully to you.

And that by your spirit, you might speak to each one of us.

I pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

So I wonder if you've ever been in a place in your life

where you feel like life is just all over the place

and you don't know what God is doing.

If life's all over the place, you don't know what God is doing.

It might be that something difficult has happened to you.

There's some sort of suffering or it might be that you've had a plan in your head

and hasn't gone quite as you maybe planned out for it to happen.

It's just like life has hit you right in the face

and suddenly it's like, where is God?

What's going on?

What's he doing?

It's like that couple that you've read in the news

went up Mount Everest for their honeymoon a few weeks ago

and then the earthquake hit.

And suddenly their honeymoon is not so joyous anymore

as their camp is filled with snow all around them.

Life just hits.

Happens to us, doesn't it?

Well, imagine how Joseph felt

as he shipped down the road by his brothers.

Imagine that.

He was daddy's favourite, wasn't he?

With the coat.

He had these mad dreams about him becoming great.

Life seemed good.

Joseph had plans for the future.

God's blessing was on his life.

God was going to sort him right out going forwards.

But as we find ourselves in chapter 39,

all those dreams seem crushed, don't they?

I mean, Joseph is a slave in Egypt, the text says.

And that would have been a pleasant experience.

It's easy to skirt over the details.

That would have been difficult for Joseph.

I mean, he's away from his family,

his place of security.

He's away from the land that God had promised to his ancestors.

He's in a pagan country

where they literally would worship every god under the sun.

And he's a slave in a ruthless society.

Life has hit him in the face.

Life is all over the place for this young teenager.

But the key in this text that we see throughout

is that although Joseph's life is difficult here,

God is with him.

Throughout this chapter,

we see that although Joseph goes through very difficult circumstances,

God's hand is on Joseph.

Just look at verse 2.

It says there,

the Lord is with Joseph

and he became a successful man

and he was in the house of his Egyptian master.

And at the end of a chapter,

it says,

but the Lord

was with Joseph

and showed his steadfast love

and gave him favor.

That's verse 21.

So even though Joseph is a slave

and then later on he's in prison,

the God of the Bible

is with him.

And the word here for the Lord

is the word Yahweh.

Which is his personal name

with which he reveals himself to his people.

It's his covenant-keeping name.

And it's interesting,

as you read through Genesis,

the word Yahweh hasn't been used

for the last 10 chapters.

Hasn't been used.

It's only when he gets down to Egypt

in this godless society

as a slave

that again Yahweh has used this word,

his covenant-keeping name.

What does this show us?

This shows us that the God of the Bible

is with his people

in the most difficult

and godless situations.

When people's lives are all over the place

and things are all at sea,

God is with his people.

And this is the kind of language

that is used throughout

the Old Testament and the New.

Even just before in Genesis,

in Genesis chapter 26,

Genesis 26:24

verse 24,

God says to Isaac this,

I am the God of Abraham,

your father.

Fear not,

for I am

with you.

Fear not,

for I am with you.

A bit later on

to his father,

Jacob,

he says this,

Behold,

I am with you

and will keep you

wherever you go

and will bring you back

to this land

for I will not leave

until I have done

what I have promised you.

That was 28.15

if you're taking notes.

And so no matter

what we go through in life,

in the ups and downs,

the lefts and rights,

God is with his people.

He never leaves them

nor does he forsake them.

And while Joseph

is at Potiphar's house

as a slave,

God's hand is upon him

as we see in the text.

And it says that he rises

through the ranks.

God is with him

and so he allows

his child to prosper.

The text says that

Joseph found favor

in Potiphar's sight

and he made him

overseer of the house.

He trusted Joseph

with everything.

Just look at verses 5 and 6.

From that time

that he made him

overseer in the house

and over all that he had,

the Lord blessed

the Egyptian's house

for Joseph's sake.

The blessing of the Lord

was on all that he had

in house and field.

So Potiphar,

he left all that he had

in Joseph's charge.

And because of him

he had no concern

about anything

but the food he ate.

That's big,

that's amazing, isn't it?

He's a slave

and he's a foreigner

and yet

because God's hand

is upon him

he is put in charge

of this house.

How did Potiphar

see that God's hand

was on him anyway?

Well one,

Joseph must have been

sharing his religious convictions

with Potiphar.

He must have been

telling him about Yahweh

and how he'd been

leading his people

and the promises

that he had kept.

But two,

Joseph as we see

throughout these chapters

is a man of integrity.

As we see later on

he's a man who is faithful.

He's a man who is trustworthy.

He's a man who doesn't

cut corners.

He works hard

for his boss.

And if you think again

about the circumstances

this is an amazing reaction

from Joseph, isn't it?

I mean,

rather than getting bitter,

rather than getting depressed

with his new surroundings

which would have been

difficult for him

as we've seen,

what does Joseph do?

He gets on with the job.

He doesn't moan.

He doesn't complain.

He doesn't sulk.

Throughout the next

two chapters

we see that despite

what is thrown at Joseph

he's faithful to his God.

That's a challenge

to us this evening,

isn't it?

Because often when

things don't go our way

we go off in a little huff,

don't we?

We act like toddlers.

We get impatient.

We get angry.

We sulk.

We get frustrated with God.

Oh,

it hasn't worked out

as I wanted it to.

But Joseph shows us

what to do

in difficult circumstances,

does he not?

Stay faithful to God.

Maybe you're in a situation

this evening

where things haven't worked out

as you planned

for whatever reason.

Maybe you're going

through a difficult time

in your life

as we do.

The key is not to sulk

and get bitter

with our circumstances

but to stay faithful to God.

To get on with

what God has called us to

because he's with us

even if it's difficult.

Anyway,

things are going well

for Joseph

and part of his house.

He's risen through the ranks

and God's hand is upon him

but as we see

throughout the Bible

whenever there's times

of prosperity

the devil is lurking

in the background,

isn't he?

He's always trying to tempt

and destroy the people of God.

It's been like that

since the garden

and Joseph is no different.

The text says that

Joseph was a bit

of a good looking guy.

Look at verse 6b.

The scene shifts

slightly, doesn't it?

Now Joseph

was handsome

in form and appearance.

Apparently he was a bit

of a Brad Pitt.

A few girls like Brad Pitt,

I don't know.

Good jawline,

nice abs.

Good looking guy.

Stephen knows

what I'm talking about.

Apopha's wife

takes a bit of a shine

to the young lads.

In fact,

she is full of lust for him

and she ain't shy about it.

The text says that

day after day after day

she gets him to try

and lie in bed with him.

Now think about it.

The circumstances

that we just built up

in our heads.

You're Joseph.

You're a young man.

You're full of testosterone.

You're away from home.

You're in a foreign land

and you have a beautiful lady

offering you sex.

What would you do,

lads,

if you're honest with yourself?

Most men

would jump straight

into bed with her.

That's a major bit

of temptation

that Joseph's facing.

And it would have been easy

for him to justify

it in his head,

wouldn't it?

Just a quick one.

No harm done.

I deserve this little bit

of joy after all the

difficult things

I've been going through.

I mean, I'm a slave.

Or maybe this will help

me get ahead even more

and fulfill God's plan.

It would have been easy

for him to justify

it in his head.

But how does Joseph react?

He's a man of integrity.

He's a man of purity.

Look at verses 8 and 10.

But he refused.

He refused.

He said to his master's wife,

Behold,

because of me

my master has no concern

about anything in the house

and he has put everything

that he has in my charge.

He is not greater

in this house than I am,

nor has he kept back

anything from me

except yourself

because you are his wife.

How then can I do

this great wickedness

and sin against God?

And as she spoke to Joseph

day after day,

he would not listen to her

to lie beside her

or to be with her.

He says,

basically,

I can't sleep with you

because it will dishonor

your husband

and my master

and more importantly,

it will dishonor

the Lord.

God's.

He knows that God

is with him

and he knows

that this is a great wickedness.

Reminds us of Psalm 51,

isn't it?

After David sinned

against Bathsheba

and he said,

only against you.

Against you only

have I sinned.

That's his main thing.

That's his main

drive in life.

He wants to honor the Lord.

He wants to stay faithful

to him as we've seen.

And how different

is his reaction to us?

He says,

this is really

a great wickedness

against you,

the Lord.

Often when we

want to sin,

what do we do?

We sweep the seriousness

of the sin

under the carpet.

Push it to the sides.

Speak to ourselves,

well this sin,

it's not that bad.

God won't mind that much

if I do this or that.

What harm am I doing anyway?

I deserve it.

But Joseph knows

the Bible.

Joseph knows

that God is a God

of holiness

and that he takes sin

very, very seriously

and so he says no.

The thing is

with Joseph

that I admire,

he doesn't just say no once,

but day after day

she's after him

and he says no again

and again

and again

and again

and again.

And on that final encounter

when she actually

pulls his cloak,

he runs from her.

Reminds us of

the New Testament

where Paul writes

in 1 Corinthians 6

1 Corinthians 6:18

verse 18,

flee.

Flee

from sexual

immorality.

In other words,

run away from sin.

That's what we've been

called to do as Christians.

The problem with us

sometimes as Christians

is this,

we don't run away from sin,

we run straight into it.

Sometimes when our hearts

going off

away from the Lord,

we look for it,

don't we?

We don't guard against sin.

In fact,

we dishonor the Lord.

But if we're going to be

people of integrity,

we're going to be people

who follow like Joseph,

then we need to run

from temptation,

not straight into it.

We need to know

the seriousness of sin,

the great wickedness

that it is against the Lord.

Don't sweep under a carpet.

Remember that God

is the holy,

holy,

holy God

and creator

who has called us

to holiness as well.

We need to know

that our sin leads

and has difficult

and bad consequences

in our lives.

It leads to death.

A famous guy

called John Owen

writes this,

Do you mortify?

Prosh word for

do you kill sin?

Do you make it

your daily work?

Be always at it

while you live.

Cease not a day

from this work.

Be killing sin

or it will be killing you.

Be killing sin

or it will be killing you.

You see,

the Bible says run.

The Bible says flee.

The Bible says kill sin.

The Bible says

don't play with it.

Don't play with it.

Don't be like a dog

that constantly returns

to its vomit.

As the proverb writer says,

kill sin

or it will literally

kill us spiritually.

And it's interesting

that as you look at Joseph

here in verse 10

that it's the opposite

of Adam and Eve

in the garden.

So in the garden,

what does Satan do?

He tempts.

Then with the one thing

they're not allowed.

They've got everything

that they could want

and need.

But God says one thing.

Don't eat of the tree

of knowledge

of good and evil.

What do they do?

They disappear

with that one thing.

But here,

Joseph has been given

all things by his master

as he says in verse 9.

Except that one thing,

his wife.

And what does he do?

He rejects it.

He's a man of integrity

and he has the honour

of the Lord

at the forefront

of his mind.

And in his actions,

he points forward

to the Lord Jesus,

doesn't he?

Hebrews 4.15

says this,

we do not have

a high priest

who is unable

to sympathise

with our weaknesses,

but who in every respect

has been tempted

as we are yet

is without sin.

I mean,

Joseph is faithful

to God

in this moment.

And God uses him

to complete

his plan of salvation

for his people,

doesn't he?

You know that

from a couple of chapters

later on.

What did the Lord Jesus do?

He resisted temptation

against temptation

against temptation.

He was without sin

and he was able

to buy our salvation.

Joseph points to the better

and greater Joseph

which is Jesus.

Let me challenge you

this evening.

Maybe you've been

dabbling with sin

a little bit in your life.

Maybe you're bitter

with your circumstances

and you've been

justifying your little sins.

Maybe you haven't been

taking sin seriously

in your life.

Maybe you've been

running to sin

and not away from it.

Well, the call here is

follow Joseph

and receive life.

Follow Joseph

and run away from sin.

Leave it behind.

Leave it behind.

Because if you live

a half-hearted

Christian life,

it leads to misery.

That's all it leads to.

When we walk

with the Lord

of integrity of heart,

we are blessed

and we receive

great joy.

And know that

if you are in sin

this evening,

that there is great hope

for each one of us.

And that's through

Jesus Christ,

isn't it?

Because when we run

away from sin,

we can run into his arms

and receive mercy

and find grace

for our time of need,

as the writer

of the Hebrews

later says.

So what does Joseph

get for his troubles

of rejecting

the temptation?

Does he get a nice

pat on the back?

A little hug

from his wife?

No, he gets

prisoned for his troubles.

Pot of his wife,

angry at the rejection,

she calls rape.

She tells the guards

and tells Potiphar

himself.

She plays on the fact

that Joseph is a foreigner.

Potiphar is obviously

outraged

and so he throws

Joseph in prison.

Sometimes the reward

for a godly life

leads to what?

Persecution.

Look to that.

This morning in Nidri,

Matthew 5, 8,

Blessed are those

who are persecuted

for righteousness' sake,

for theirs is the

kingdom of heaven.

When we stand up

for the truth,

don't always expect

a pat on the back

for your troubles,

but expect persecution

and opposition.

People will revile

and reject

and slander

and throw us

into prison

for our faith

in Jesus Christ.

And that's what's

happened to Joseph.

Man,

this is a rollercoaster

for him,

isn't it?

This is a rollercoaster

for Joseph.

He's in slavery,

doesn't know

what's going on,

but then he rises

through the ranks,

God's hand is upon him

and now he's back

at the bottom

of the pile again

in such a brief

amount of time.

In fact,

he's even in a worse

scenario than he was

when he began.

I mean,

prison would not

have been a nice place

back in the day

in Egypt.

It's not like it is

in the UK

if you've ever visited

a prison full of TVs,

running hot water,

three square meals a day,

even if the meals

were not that nice.

But this prison

would have been dank,

this prison would have

been dark

and full of hunger.

Just flick ahead

to Psalm 105,

gives us a little insight

into what Joseph

must have been feeling

as a psalmist

commentates

on his life.

Psalm 105,

18 says this,

his feet

were hurt

with fetters,

talking about Joseph,

his neck

was put

in a collar

of iron.

That wasn't a hotel

he was in

when he was in prison.

Literally,

he was chained

by the neck

and his feet.

And the question is,

again,

as you're walking

through the text

and you're walking

through Joseph's life,

is what is God doing?

How can this man

be blessed by God

after he had

all those dreams?

It seems like

Joseph is a million miles

away from fulfilling

the dreams that God

gave him all those years ago.

It feels like God

is not there.

Where is he?

Again,

as we walk

through the text

and we walk

through Joseph's life,

it says in verse 21

again,

but the Lord

was with Joseph.

You see,

this is all part

of God's plan.

You see,

God is going to

use this situation

as we find out

in chapter 40

for Joseph

to interpret

the dreams

of the cupbearer

and baker.

And the cupbearer

will get reinstated

at Pharaoh's palace.

And when Pharaoh

gets dreams later on,

the cupbearer

will recommend

that Joseph

interprets them.

And then Joseph

is going to interpret

the dreams

and be made

a powerful figure.

And his brothers

will come along

and he will feed them

and he will save

his family.

You see,

right now,

he doesn't know

what God is doing,

but when you read

a couple of chapters

down the line,

you know what God

is doing.

God hasn't abandoned

his servant Joseph

even though he's in prison.

God is sovereign

and God is working

behind the scenes.

The question is,

as I was thinking

through this,

why does Joseph

have to go through

these dark times

to get there though?

Why couldn't just

God on his

bing, bing, bang thing

and just got him

straight to Pharaoh

instead of going

through the prison stuff?

Well, God is preparing

Joseph for the future.

God is going to use

these circumstances

to refine his character

back to Psalm 105

briefly.

The psalmist gives us

a bit more insight

in verse 18 and 19.

He says,

his feet were hurt

with fetters,

his neck was put

in a collar of iron

until what he had said

had said come to pass.

The word of the Lord

tested him.

It's interesting,

isn't it?

His feet were hurt,

he was in collar

of iron

until what he had said

come to pass.

The word of the Lord

tested him.

You see,

God was preparing

Joseph for the future

through this time

of suffering.

He was refining

his character.

I mean,

remember,

although Joseph

was a man of integrity

in Pharaoh's life,

sorry,

in Potiphar's,

he was a man of integrity

in Potiphar's house.

Remember that Joseph

was cocky.

Remember that Joseph

was an arrogant young man

as we see earlier

in Genesis.

That's what got

sort of into slavery

in the first place.

His brothers

didn't like his attitude.

Yes,

they were jealous of him

but he didn't help things,

did he?

And so God wanted

to humble him,

God wanted to test him

and God wanted to change him

so he was ready

for the future.

That's the same

for us today,

isn't it?

God always uses

suffering

to humble us

and to make us

more like Christ.

We get this image

in 1 Peter 1

1 Peter 1:6

verses 6 and 7

where Peter writes this,

In this you rejoice,

though now for a little while

if necessary

you've been grieved

by various trials,

so that the tested

genuineness of your faith,

more precious than gold

that perishes

though it is tested by fire,

may be found to result

in praise

and glory

and honour

of the revelation

of Jesus Christ.

In other words,

during times of suffering,

God refines us

like gold.

If you know anything

about the process

of refining gold,

it goes like this,

they get the gold,

they put it in a special pot

called a crucible

and they heat it up

to a very hot temperature

and what happens

is that the heat

melts everything

but it brings the impurities

to the top

and the goldsmith

can wipe away

what's called the dross,

the impurities at the top.

They let it cool down

and they do it again,

they heat it up

to a higher temperature

and the dross comes

and they wipe it away.

And they keep on doing it

until the goldsmith

can see his face

in the actual gold

until it's nice and shiny

like it has in your rings

and your jewellery.

That's what happens

to us, isn't it?

It's the heat

that gets the impurities out

and it's the heat

of suffering

that humbles us

and changes us.

What does it do?

It helps us to cling

to Christ more clearly.

It helps us

to not be proud.

It shows us

our sinful hearts.

It changes us,

doesn't it,

those times of difficulty

as the Lord

walks with us.

Now let me be clear,

I don't want to be trite

about people's sufferings

this evening.

Some of us may be

going through

very, very difficult times.

But in all things

we need to know

that God is in control

and that he's working

for our good

and his glory.

He is our heavenly Father.

Remember,

he's our heavenly Father

who wants good for us.

He's not a cruel God.

He's not a distant God.

He's a God who is good.

He's a God who is loving.

He's a God who is wise.

And he knows

what he's doing

in every season

of our lives.

And the question

for us this evening

is this,

will we be like Joseph

who trusts the Lord

through these difficult times

and is refined

in his character?

Or will we grow bitter

with the circumstances

that we face in life?

You see,

Joseph is an example again

of what we do

when we go through suffering.

We get bitter

with his surroundings

but he stayed faithful.

He trusted in the Lord

and his timing.

I mean,

he was in prison

for a long time

and I want us

to understand that.

Even after he interpreted

his fellow prisoners' dreams

he had to wait

another two years

until he got out.

Two years in prison,

can you imagine that?

I struggle with one day

of suffering

yet alone two years

in prison.

Joseph asked the cupbearer

to remember him,

it says in chapter 40,

after he helped him out.

What did he do?

Did he remember him?

Look at verse 23

of chapter 40.

Yet the chief cupbearer

did not remember Joseph

but he forgot him.

He forgot him.

And yet Joseph knew

that although everyone else

had abandoned him,

the Lord had not.

He knew from his father Jacob

that God does not leave

his people.

He knew that God

was a God

who is faithful

to his people.

And when we go through

times of suffering,

we need to know that

as well,

don't we?

You see,

as Christians,

we need to know

that God works

on a bigger canvas.

In a bigger canvas

that is way bigger

than our lives.

You see,

when we suffer,

we can only see

the small ground level,

can't we?

But God,

God can see into eternity.

It's a little bit like

going on a journey

by a boat.

You're sailing along

on the waters

and a fog hits you.

And you can't see

the way forward.

That's what it's like

during suffering,

isn't it?

We cannot see

what's going on.

We don't know

what's happening.

We don't know

where God is.

We can't understand

the suffering we're facing

and how God

could be working.

Life seems all over

the place.

But the thing is,

if you're flying

on a plane

above the fog,

then you can see

exactly where you're going.

And that's like God.

He knows the future

and so we can trust

our lives

into his hands

no matter what

the circumstances are.

And when we trust

in God's total

sovereign care,

we find comfort

in the middle

of life's difficulties.

I hope to say

it's easy.

It never is.

We always have to battle

to get there.

We have to know

that God is

in control

and totally trustworthy.

We have to know

that God

is a God

who never leaves

his people

nor forsakes

his people.

We don't know

what the future

holds, do we?

But we know

who holds the future.

And God is

totally dependable,

utterly trustworthy,

perfectly good

and totally

in control

over all things.

When we get

to the end

of our lives

and we look back

on our life,

we will see

God's hand

on every moment.

Guaranteed.

Do you know

where we can look

when we're doubting

these things?

When we're doubting

God's goodness

and his wisdom

and his sovereignty?

When we feel

that life is all

over the place

and God is no

longer with us?

All we have to do

is look up

at the cross.

All we have to do

is look

at Jesus Christ.

You see,

Jesus was in

the darkest place

in history

as he hung

on the cross.

He was abandoned

by his friends,

he had all the

dark forces

of the world

unleashed against him

and as he hung there

he shouted,

my God,

my God,

why have you

forsaken me?

He was at death's doors.

He was in the darkest

place.

Even God had

turned his back

on him.

But the good news

is that

he was forsaken

so that no matter

how we feel

about our relationship

with God

or the circumstances

we're going through

we can know

that we never,

ever,

ever

will be separated

from the love

of God

in Christ Jesus.

Amen?

Let's finish

by just reading

Romans 8 together.

Romans 8,

Romans 8:34

verse 34.

It's a brilliant

truth in this passage.

Romans 8,

Romans 8:34

verse 34.

Who is to condemn?

Christ Jesus is the one

who died,

more than that,

who was raised.

Who is at the right

hand of God,

who indeed is interceding

for us?

Who shall separate us

from the love of Christ?

Shall tribulation

or distress

or persecution

or famine

or nakedness

or danger

or sword,

as it is written,

for your sake

we are being killed

all the day long.

We are regarded

as sheep to be slaughtered.

Now in all these things

we are more than conquerors

through him who loved us.

For I'm sure that neither death

nor life

nor angels

nor rulers

nor things present

nor things to come

nor powers

nor heights

nor depth

nor anything else

nor creation

will be able to separate us

from the love of God

in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Sometimes life

does not make sense.

Sometimes our heads

are battered.

Sometimes we feel

all over the place.

But in those times

of suffering

we must come back

to the cross

and remember Jesus.

He is our hope

in the day of trouble

because He was forsaken

so that we will never

be forsaken again.

Life is difficult

but the cross proves

that,

this,

that God

is always

with His people.

Amen?

Shall we pray together?

Lord God,

we know that

there's many troubles

in life that we face.

many difficulties,

many ups and downs.

Thank you that you are

the God

who is always

with His people.

We see this

in the life of Joseph

as you walk beside him

and lead him

through slavery

and prison.

Lord,

I pray for anyone

who's maybe

going through

a difficult time

at the moment

for whatever reason,

maybe there's small

things going on,

maybe there's big things,

feeling confused

about the future,

Lord.

I pray that they would know

that you are with them

this evening,

you are leading

and guiding them.

I pray for those

who might be going

through suffering,

Lord,

that although it's difficult

that you might continue

to refine people's characters.

I pray for those

maybe who are having

a good time at the moment,

maybe feel full of joy,

don't feel any of this

suffering or difficulty.

I pray when suffering

comes that they might

be like Joseph

and trust in you.

Thank you for the cross

of the Lord Jesus Christ

that reminds us

that he was forsaken

so that we might not

be forsaken again.

Help us to trust in Christ.

Always remember that

he is good and loving

and wise.

We are his children

and he never puts us

through anything

unnecessary.

Lord,

we need your help

because we can't do this

by ourselves,

so send your spirit

to lead and guide us.

In Jesus' name,

Amen.