PrayerBits for Sunday

PrayerBits

A bite sized devotional program
produced by the West Side Presbyterian Church

Sunday

Scripture lesson: Matthew 10:24-39 What can they do to you?

 

Time to reflect: If we have God's love and salvation, what else matters? Don't fear those people (and things) that can ONLY hurt the body.

Moving through the day: This attitude, of course, is easier said than done, but being “other directed,” focusing on others when we are suffering, makes the suffering less.

 

Scripture:

 "A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebub, how much more the members of his household!

 "So do not be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

 "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.

 "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn
   " 'a man against his father,
      a daughter against her mother,
   a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law -
    a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.'

 "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

PrayerBits for Saturday

PrayerBits

A bite sized devotional program
produced by the West Side Presbyterian Church

Saturday

Scripture lesson: Romans 6:1b-11 Dead to Sin

Time to reflect: Once we realize that we cannot be so good that we earn our way into heaven, but that God, through Grace, has granted us Salvation anyway, the proper reaction is to change our lives into a living thanksgiving setting aside sinful and selfish ways.

Moving through the day: Pray a prayer of confession to illustrate how much God has to forgive, then pledge yourself to live a joyful, thankful life for the day.

Scripture:

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

 If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.

 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

PrayerBits for Friday

PrayerBits

A bite sized devotional program
produced by the West Side Presbyterian Church

Friday

Scripture lesson: Psalm 86:1-10, 16-17 A Psalm of Lament

Time to reflect: The most common Psalm type is the Psalm of Lament – a crying out to God in anguish. Anyone who is critically ill can relate to this Psalm and echo its sentiments.

Moving Throughout the day: Think about times in your life when this Psalm would have well expressed your feelings. Keep these Psalms in mind whenever you need to cry out to God.

Scripture:

Hear, O LORD, and answer me,
       for I am poor and needy.

 Guard my life, for I am devoted to you.
       You are my God; save your servant
       who trusts in you.

Have mercy on me, O Lord,
       for I call to you all day long.

Bring joy to your servant,
       for to you, O Lord,
       I lift up my soul.

You are forgiving and good, O Lord,
       abounding in love to all who call to you.

Hear my prayer, O LORD;
       listen to my cry for mercy.

In the day of my trouble I will call to you,
       for you will answer me.

Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord;
       no deeds can compare with yours.

All the nations you have made
       will come and worship before you, O Lord;
       they will bring glory to your name.

  For you are great and do marvelous deeds;
       you alone are God.

Turn to me and have mercy on me;
       grant your strength to your servant
       and save the son of your maidservant.

 Give me a sign of your goodness,
       that my enemies may see it and be put to shame,
       for you, O LORD, have helped me and comforted me.

PrayerBits for Thursday

PrayerBits

A bite sized devotional program
produced by the West Side Presbyterian Church

Thursday

Scripture lesson: Genesis 21:8-21 The expelling of Hagar

Time to reflect: This is a truly unpleasant story but it sure sounds human. No one's behavior here is being held up as good or divinely inspired. It is just being reported so we can learn about the human condition and that even the Abraham and Sarah can be stupid if not bad. Make a list of all the “sins” you see in this story. Note that the “unchosen” child is taken care of by God, in the end.

Moving through the day: Pray for guidance and protection from these sins you have listed – both as recipient of other people's sin and your own participation in this kind of behavior.

Scripture:

The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast. But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, and she said to Abraham, "Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac."

  The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. But God said to him, "Do not be so distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. I will make the son of the maidservant into a nation also, because he is your offspring."

 Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the desert of Beersheba.

 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. Then she went off and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she thought, "I cannot watch the boy die." And as she sat there nearby, she began to sob.

 God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, "What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation."

 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

  God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt.

PrayerBits for Wednesday

PrayerBits

A bite sized devotional program
produced by the West Side Presbyterian Church

Wednesday

Scripture lesson: Psalm 69:7-10,16-18 For your sake

 

Time to reflect: It has been said that one of the toughest challenges for our faith is that we are not persecuted. If we had to suffer or die because of our faith we would really be sure about what we believed. But how often have we had to suffer from our faith? This Psalm is the psalm of someone about to go under, but willing to because his zeal is for God.

Moving through the day: Think about how you would react if it became dangerous to be a Christian.

Scripture:

For I endure scorn for your sake,
       and shame covers my face.

  I am a stranger to my brothers,
       an alien to my own mother's sons;

  for zeal for your house consumes me,
       and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.

  When I weep and fast,
       I must endure scorn;

Answer me, O LORD, out of the goodness of your love;
       in your great mercy turn to me.

 Do not hide your face from your servant;
       answer me quickly, for I am in trouble.

  Come near and rescue me;
       redeem me because of my foes.

PrayerBits for Tuesday

PrayerBits

A bite sized devotional program
produced by the West Side Presbyterian Church

Tuesday

Scripture lesson: Jeremiah 20:7-13 Is God picking on me?

Time to reflect: In The first part of this the Psalmist expresses the feeling that God is picking on him, but then eventually puts the blame where it belongs (people) and expresses his confidence that God is actually his protector.

Moving through the day: Think about when you've thought God was picking on you (maybe now?) Think about how likely that is and whether the blame actually lies elsewhere (natural causes, other people, yourself?) . Pray verses 11-13

Scripture:

O LORD, you deceived me, and I was deceived ;
       you overpowered me and prevailed.
       I am ridiculed all day long;
       everyone mocks me.

  Whenever I speak, I cry out
       proclaiming violence and destruction.
       So the word of the LORD has brought me
       insult and reproach all day long.

  But if I say, "I will not mention him
       or speak any more in his name,"
       his word is in my heart like a fire,
       a fire shut up in my bones.
       I am weary of holding it in;
       indeed, I cannot.

  I hear many whispering,
       "Terror on every side!
       Report him! Let's report him!"
       All my friends
       are waiting for me to slip, saying,
       "Perhaps he will be deceived;
       then we will prevail over him
       and take our revenge on him."

But the LORD is with me like a mighty warrior;
       so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail.
       They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced;
       their dishonor will never be forgotten.

  O LORD Almighty, you who examine the righteous
       and probe the heart and mind,
       let me see your vengeance upon them,
       for to you I have committed my cause.

 Sing to the LORD!
       Give praise to the LORD!
       He rescues the life of the needy
       from the hands of the wicked.

PrayerBits for Monday

PrayerBits

A bite sized devotional program
produced by the West Side Presbyterian Church

Monday

Scripture lesson: John 3:18-21 Light and dark

 

Time to reflect: Of course none of us like having our errors and imperfections “brought to light.” And so we try to block God out of parts of our lives, just as the people of his time didn't like Jesus, and wanted him to go away.

 

Moving Through The Day: What parts of your life do you need to have God's light shine on?

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."