PrayerBits for Sunday

PrayerBits

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

Sunday

Scripture lesson: John 20:19-31 The Holy Spirit

Time to Reflect: [By the way, the John of the Gospel of John is a different John from John of Patmos, the writer of Revelation. John was a very popular Jewish name – they were everywhere.] Acts has the Holy Spirit coming on the Apostles at Pentecost, John in an private meeting between the resurrected Jesus and the Apostles. There is no reconciling the two stories. What is important is that they did receive the Holy Spirit. The underlying Hebrew and Greek terms translated as “Spirit” also translate as “wind” or “breath.” Note that Acts plays on the “wind” meaning of the term and John on the “breath” meaning. Ultimately, “Spirit” in all of its meanings is life giving. Theologically, receiving the Holy Spirit means the apostles and their successors have God's “breath” within them.

Moving through the day: Consciously breathing in and out, picture God entering your body and strengthening you.

 Scripture:

John 20:19-3

Jesus Appears to His Disciples

 19On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

 21Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." 22And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."

Jesus Appears to Thomas

 24Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!"
      But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it."

 26A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 27Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."

 28Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"

 29Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

 30Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31But these are written that you may[a] believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

PrayerBits for Saturday

PrayerBits

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

Saturday

Scripture lesson: Revelation 1:4-8 “the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come.”

Time to reflect: This phrase is unique to the writer of Revelation and is an odd construction in the original Greek is very striking in the Greek and is a wonderful expression of God's eternal nature. At every moment in time we can look back on the God who was always there and forward to the God that will always be here.

Moving through the day: What does having an eternal God mean to you?

 4John,
      To the seven churches in the province of Asia:

   Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits[a] before his throne, 5and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

   To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
 7Look, he is coming with the clouds,
      and every eye will see him,
   even those who pierced him;
      and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen.

 8"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."

PrayerBits for Friday

PrayerBits

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

Friday

Scripture Lesson: Psalm 118:14-29 “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it”

Time to reflect: Many Psalms seem to skip and round or take sudden shifts. There are probably several reasons for these, including the other parts of a dialog with the prophet being one of these. Also, the psalmists often have extreme confidence in God in spite of their being in dire straits.

Moving Throughout the day: All day today remind yourself of the phrase: “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it”

14 The LORD is my strength and my song;
       he has become my salvation.

 15 Shouts of joy and victory
       resound in the tents of the righteous:
       "The LORD's right hand has done mighty things!

 16 The LORD's right hand is lifted high;
       the LORD's right hand has done mighty things!"

 17 I will not die but live,
       and will proclaim what the LORD has done.

 18 The LORD has chastened me severely,
       but he has not given me over to death.

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

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

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

 22 The stone the builders rejected
       has become the capstone;

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PrayerBits for Thursday

PrayerBits

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

Thursday

Scripture lesson: Acts 5:27-32 Who is our boss

Time to Reflect: As with Peter, we should answer to God before any human.

Moving Through the Day: Think of a time or times when you knew what God's response would be. Did you follow God or the humans?

Scripture:  

 27Having brought the apostles, they made them appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. 28"We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name," he said. "Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man's blood."

 29Peter and the other apostles replied: "We must obey God rather than men! 30The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead—whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. 31God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. 32We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him."

PrayerBits for Wednesday

PrayerBits

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

Wednesday: Psalm 150 Praise God

Scripture lesson: We modern people are not very good at praising God. Thanking God, yes, praising God, no.

Time to reflect: Read this Psalm as a prayer, but between verses 2 & 3 add in some things about God that you think are spectacular and worthy of praise.

 1 Praise the LORD. [a]
       Praise God in his sanctuary;
       praise him in his mighty heavens.

 2 Praise him for his acts of power;
       praise him for his surpassing greatness.

 3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
       praise him with the harp and lyre,

 4 praise him with tambourine and dancing,
       praise him with the strings and flute,

 5 praise him with the clash of cymbals,
       praise him with resounding cymbals.

 6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
       Praise the LORD.

PrayerBits for Tuesday

PrayerBits

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

Tuesday

Scripture lesson: Isaiah 55:6-13 God is way beyond our understanding

Time to reflect: There is a lot of good material in this passage, but to hone in on 8 & 9: If God is God and the creator of the universe, then we're talking about someone way beyond anything we can possibly understand, comprehend or second guess. The only way we know anything at all about God has been deliberately revealed to us by God through the Bible. This revelation can only be a tiny bit of the divine.

Moving through the day: Dwell for a moment or two about the extreme “otherness” of God and God's willingness to make some knowledge of God available to us.

6 Seek the LORD while he may be found;
       call on him while he is near.

 7 Let the wicked forsake his way
       and the evil man his thoughts.
       Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him,
       and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

 8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
       neither are your ways my ways,"
       declares the LORD.

 9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth,
       so are my ways higher than your ways
       and my thoughts than your thoughts.

 10 As the rain and the snow
       come down from heaven,
       and do not return to it
       without watering the earth
       and making it bud and flourish,
       so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
       It will not return to me empty,
       but will accomplish what I desire
       and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

 12 You will go out in joy
       and be led forth in peace;
       the mountains and hills
       will burst into song before you,
       and all the trees of the field
       will clap their hands.

 13 Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree,
       and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
       This will be for the LORD's renown,
       for an everlasting sign,
       which will not be destroyed."

PrayerBits for Monday

PrayerBits

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

Monday

Scripture lesson: Isaiah 40:1-5 Restoration and the coming of God

Scripture lesson: This promise was originally to the exiles in Babylon and was fulfilled with the return to Jerusalem. The valleys were not literally lifted up but all obstacles to the return fell away and the return was suddenly easy. That is how God works. These promises are for us also. At some time our valleys will be lifted up.

Time to reflect: Pray for that day.

 Comfort for God's People

 1 Comfort, comfort my people,
       says your God.

 2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
       and proclaim to her
       that her hard service has been completed,
       that her sin has been paid for,
       that she has received from the LORD's hand
       double for all her sins.

 3 A voice of one calling:
       "In the desert prepare
       the way for the LORD [a] ;
       make straight in the wilderness
       a highway for our God. [b]

 4 Every valley shall be raised up,
       every mountain and hill made low;
       the rough ground shall become level,
       the rugged places a plain.

 5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed,
       and all mankind together will see it.
       For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."