PrayerBits for Sunday

PrayerBits

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

Sunday

Scripture lesson:Mark 14:1-15 Preparation for Maundy Thursday

Time to reflect: Whoever it is that chooses these passages doesn't always leave clues why a particular passage is chosen for a particular day. Maybe to mix things up a bit to keep away from the obvious. Anyway, this passage, to be read on Palm Sunday is what comes between Palm Sunday and Maundy Thursday. It reflects the preparation of the “Paschal lamb” -- Jesus.

Moving through the day: Contemplate the Biblical idea that Jesus functions as a passover lamb for all of us.

Scripture:

Now the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some sly way to arrest Jesus and kill him. "But not during the Feast," they said, "or the people may riot."

 While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

 Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, "Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year's wages and the money given to the poor." And they rebuked her harshly.

 "Leave her alone," said Jesus. "Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her."

 Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

The Lord's Supper

 On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus' disciples asked him, "Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?"

 So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, "Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. Say to the owner of the house he enters, 'The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there."

PrayerBits for Saturday

PrayerBits

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

Saturday

Scripture lesson: Philippians 2:5-11 An ancient hymn

Time to reflect: Unlike the rest of the book this is in (Greek) poetry form. It was probably a Psalm or Hymn that Paul incorporated because it was familiar to his people and said what he wanted to have said. In stanza one Jesus is a humble, slave-like human and in stanza two Jesus is the exalted Ruler of the Universe. This is an oxymoron of great importance to truly understanding Jesus.

Moving through the day: Meditate on what it means to you for Jesus to be “humble?” Meditate on what it means to you for Jesus to be “exalted.”

Scripture:

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
 Who, being in very nature God,
      did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
 but made himself nothing,
      taking the very nature of a servant,
      being made in human likeness.
 And being found in appearance as a man,
      he humbled himself
      and became obedient to death—
         even death on a cross!
 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
      and gave him the name that is above every name,
 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
      in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
      to the glory of God the Father.

PrayerBits for Friday

PrayerBits

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

Friday

Scripture Lesson: Psalm 31:9-16 A Psalm of Lament

Time to reflect: Psalms of Lament by an Individual are one of the most common Psalm types in the Bible. These are songs that were sung in the Temple by people in distress. They are honest prayers, bold, beseeching, pleading, even bargaining. They help us get comfortable about being honest with God in our prayers. Part of the amazing nature of these Psalms is the hope and confidence they show in God.

Moving Throughout the day: What laments do you have and need to put before God?

 Scripture:

Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress;
       my eyes grow weak with sorrow,
       my soul and my body with grief.

  My life is consumed by anguish
       and my years by groaning;
       my strength fails because of my affliction,
       and my bones grow weak.

  Because of all my enemies,
       I am the utter contempt of my neighbors;
       I am a dread to my friends—
       those who see me on the street flee from me.

  I am forgotten by them as though I were dead;
       I have become like broken pottery.

  For I hear the slander of many;
       there is terror on every side;
       they conspire against me
       and plot to take my life.

 But I trust in you, O LORD;
       I say, "You are my God."

  My times are in your hands;
       deliver me from my enemies
       and from those who pursue me.

  Let your face shine on your servant;
       save me in your unfailing love.

PrayerBits for Thursday

PrayerBits

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

Thursday

Scripture lesson: Isaiah 50:4-9a “The Lord God has given to me...”

Time to reflect: This is another “God is with us” day by day type expression. Isaiah feels that God has graced him with certain blessings and he, Isaiah, needs to use them for God.

Moving through the day: Complete the sentence “The Lord God has given me the ability to...” Pray that you use that ability for the glory of God.

Scripture:

The Sovereign LORD has given me an instructed tongue,
       to know the word that sustains the weary.
       He wakens me morning by morning,
       wakens my ear to listen like one being taught.

  The Sovereign LORD has opened my ears,
       and I have not been rebellious;
       I have not drawn back.

  I offered my back to those who beat me,
       my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard;
       I did not hide my face
       from mocking and spitting.

  Because the Sovereign LORD helps me,
       I will not be disgraced.
       Therefore have I set my face like flint,
       and I know I will not be put to shame.

  He who vindicates me is near.
       Who then will bring charges against me?
       Let us face each other!
       Who is my accuser?
       Let him confront me!

  It is the Sovereign LORD who helps me.
       Who is he that will condemn me?
       They will all wear out like a garment;
       the moths will eat them up.

PrayerBits for Wednesday

PrayerBits

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

Wednesday

Scripture lesson: Psalm 118:1-2;19-29 Sound bites

Time to reflect: This Psalm is full of great quotes that we use all the time in church. However, read it altogether and try to see the flow of the Psalm. Although this originally was written without any reference to Jesus, we tend to apply it to Jesus because it fits so well.

Moving through the day: Read the Psalm twice, once as if you are saying about yourself, then a second time applying it to Jesus.

 Scripture:

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
       his love endures forever.

  Let Israel say:
       "His love endures forever."

Open for me the gates of righteousness;
       I will enter and give thanks to the LORD.

  This is the gate of the LORD
       through which the righteous may enter.

  I will give you thanks, for you answered me;
       you have become my salvation.

  The stone the builders rejected
       has become the capstone;

  the LORD has done this,
       and it is marvelous in our eyes.

  This is the day the LORD has made;
       let us rejoice and be glad in it.

 O LORD, save us;
       O LORD, grant us success.

  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD.
       From the house of the LORD we bless you.

  The LORD is God,
       and he has made his light shine upon us.
       With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession
       up to the horns of the altar.

 You are my God, and I will give you thanks;
       you are my God, and I will exalt you.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
       his love endures forever.

PrayerBits for Tuesday

PrayerBits

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

Tuesday

Scripture lesson: John 12:12-16 Palm Sunday

Time to reflect: The Donkey business is a fulfilling of Zechariah 9:9. Back then the Donkey wasn't the joke it is in our society. Kings rode on Donkeys. As The Oxford Annotated Bible puts it “Warlike kings rode on horses and in chariots; the king of peace, on a donkey's colt”

Moving through the day: Meditate on the meaning for us that Jesus came as a prince of peace.

The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,
   "Hosanna!"
   "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"
   "Blessed is the King of Israel!" Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written,
"Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion;
      see, your king is coming,
      seated on a donkey's colt."

 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him.

PrayerBits for Monday

PrayerBits

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

Monday

Scripture lesson: Mark 11:1-11 The Irony of Palm Sunday

Time to reflect: More and more the church is recognizing and accepting the irony of Palm Sunday: They were expecting and greeting a King and Savior but when he arrived he didn't look or act like one so they rejected him finally, but in reality he was a king and messiah beyond their wildest imagination. They greeting Jesus with “Hosanna in the highest heaven” then proceeded to call for his execution. Jesus accepted their accolades while knowing what was coming. Despite the big deal of the procession, by the time he gets to the Temple it is too late to do anything, so he just goes back to his apartment.

Moving Through The Day: Think of a time when a “religious high” clouded your vision or interfered with your ongoing faithfulness. (Too often the result of a Evangelical experience of being “born again” results in a feeling of being duped by emotion or a desire to be reborn again and again, looking for the religious adrenaline of these experiences). Differentiate such experiences with times when a religious experience instead moved you toward ongoing faithfulness and strength of faith. What was the difference between the two experiences?

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, 'Why are you doing this?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.'

 They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, some people standing there asked, "What are you doing, untying that colt?" They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,
   "Hosanna!"
   "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"
 "Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!"
   "Hosanna in the highest!"

 Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.