PrayerBits for Sunday

PrayerBits

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

Sunday

Scripture lesson: Matthew 16:13-20 Peter's confession

Time to reflect: This is the center and core of the Book of Matthew. The point the book has moving toward and will now flow from through the death to the resurrection. It needs to be the center and core of our lives. Jesus can be defined as many things, some true, some not true, some irrelevant. The only definition that really matters is “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.”

Moving through the day: Meditate on the meaning of that sentence in your life.

Scripture:

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"

 They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."

 "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"

 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

 Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.

PrayerBits for Saturday

PrayerBits

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

Saturday

Scripture lesson: Romans 12:1-8 No summary possible

Time to reflect: This is one of the most thought provoking and important passages of Scripture. But is is the case with a lot of Paul's writing, there is way too much important material in here for a “PrayerBit.” More like a “Prayer gigabyte.”

Moving through the day: Read through the passage and pick out one verse that strikes you and meditate on that single verse.

 

Scripture:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his ^faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

 

 

 

PrayerBits for Thursday

PrayerBits

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

Thursday

Scripture lesson: Exodus 1:8-2:10 The birth and adoption of Moses

Time to reflect: You can't thwart (great word) God's plans. Rulers, and people in general, think they are in charge of things, but God finds surprising ways of getting things done.

 

Moving through the day: Think of and thank God for some surprises in your life.

 

Scripture:

Then a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt. "Look," he said to his people, "the Israelites have become much too numerous for us. Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country."

  So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites 13 and worked them ruthlessly. They made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their hard labor the Egyptians used them ruthlessly.

 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, "When you help the Hebrew women in childbirth and observe them on the delivery stool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live." The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, "Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?"

  The midwives answered Pharaoh, "Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive."

  So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.

  Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: "Every boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live."

Exodus 2

The Birth of Moses

Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.

  Then Pharaoh's daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the river bank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her slave girl to get it. She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. "This is one of the Hebrew babies," she said.

  Then his sister asked Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?"

  "Yes, go," she answered. And the girl went and got the baby's mother. Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you." So the woman took the baby and nursed him. When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh's daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, "I drew him out of the water."

 

 

 

 

PrayerBits for Wednesday

PrayerBits

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

Wednesday

Scripture lesson: Psalm 138 “... regards the lowly

Time to reflect: Although God is worshiped by Kings and Presidents and CEOs and so many other powerful people, God cares about the humble and lowly. Do we?

Moving through the day: If the all powerful can care about the powerless how can we do any less. Meditate on what this might mean for your life.

 

Scripture:

I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart;
       before the "gods" I will sing your praise.

I will bow down toward your holy temple
       and will praise your name
       for your love and your faithfulness,
       for you have exalted above all things
       your name and your word.

  When I called, you answered me;
       you made me bold and stouthearted.

  May all the kings of the earth praise you, O LORD,
       when they hear the words of your mouth.

  May they sing of the ways of the LORD,
       for the glory of the LORD is great.

  Though the LORD is on high, he looks upon the lowly,
       but the proud he knows from afar.

 Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
       you preserve my life;
       you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes,
       with your right hand you save me.

 The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me;
       your love, O LORD, endures forever—
       do not abandon the works of your hands.

 

 

 

PrayerBits for Monday

PrayerBits

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

Monday

Scripture lesson: Matthew 11:1-6 The signs of the Messiah

Time to reflect: The list of Jesus' activities was a list of standard expectations for the coming Messiah. John would have gotten the message.

Moving Through The Day: Pray a prayer of thanksgiving for Jesus and Jesus' role as Savior and Redeemer.

Scripture:

 After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee.

 When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples to ask him, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?"

Jesus replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me."