PrayerBits for Thursday

PrayerBits

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

Thursday

Scripture lesson I Samuel 17:57-18:5 David and Jonathan

Time to reflect: For clarity, Jonathan and David were of different generations and the language here and elsewhere is of a “sword bearer” which is equivalent to a modern aide-de-camp which was a “General in Training.” Jonathan, the heir apparent for the Throne, was retiring from the field and letting David prepare to take over military command for him. Things get complicated later.

Moving through the day: To ponder: David came a long way in a short time and would soon end up be anointed in place of Saul and Jonathan. Is this a sign that God is with him, or favorable circumstances that in retrospect show God at work?

Scripture:

As soon as David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul, with David still holding the Philistine's head.

"Whose son are you, young man?" Saul asked him.
      David said, "I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem."

1 Samuel 18

Saul's Jealousy of David

  After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return to his father's house. And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.

  Whatever Saul sent him to do, David did it so successfully that Saul gave him a high rank in the army. This pleased all the people, and Saul's officers as well.

PrayerBits for Wednesday

PrayerBits

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

Wednesday

Scripture lesson:1 Samuel 17:32-49 David and Goliath

Time to reflect: Once again God changes the odds. Although David was equipped and skilled he was no match for Goliath. His killing of Goliath required, as he acknowledged, God's help.

Moving through the day: Meditation on how and when you include God in what you do.

 Scripture:

David said to Saul, "Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him."

  Saul replied, "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth."

  But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine."
      Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you."

  Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.
      "I cannot go in these," he said to Saul, "because I am not used to them." So he took them off. Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.

  Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. He looked David over and saw that he was only a boy, ruddy and handsome, and he despised him. He said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. "Come here," he said, "and I'll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!"

 David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give all of you into our hands."

  As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.

PrayerBits for Tuesday

PrayerBits

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

Tuesday

Scripture lesson: Psalm 9:9-20 “the cry of the afflicted”

Time to reflect: A problem most of us in the “First World” have in reading the Bible is that a lot of it is addressed to oppressed, downtrodden, or suffering people. We can't really relate to those passages directly. (Most of our “troubles” do not come close to comparing to the people being addressed in this Psalm or so many other passages in Scripture.)

Moving through the day: Pray and meditate on how to appropriate and apply passages like this. Pray for people for whom it applies directly.

The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed,
       a stronghold in times of trouble.

  Those who know your name will trust in you,
       for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.

  Sing praises to the LORD, enthroned in Zion;
       proclaim among the nations what he has done.

  For he who avenges blood remembers;
       he does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.

  O LORD, see how my enemies persecute me!
       Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death,

  that I may declare your praises
       in the gates of the Daughter of Zion
       and there rejoice in your salvation.

  The nations have fallen into the pit they have dug;
       their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.

  The LORD is known by his justice;
       the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands.
       Higgaion. Selah

  The wicked return to the grave,
       all the nations that forget God.

  But the needy will not always be forgotten,
       nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish.

  Arise, O LORD, let not man triumph;
       let the nations be judged in your presence.

 Strike them with terror, O LORD;
       let the nations know they are but men.
       Selah

PrayerBits for Monday

PrayerBits

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

Monday

Scripture lesson: Matthew 15:29-31 The Messiah has come

Time to reflect: Along with the surface meaning of this report, there is an underlying significance for the people of Jesus' time. The kinds of people listed here are viewed as those that would be healed by the Messiah, once he came. By simply reporting this, Matthew was making it clear who Jesus was.

Moving Through The Day: What aspects of Jesus makes him the “Messiah” for you?

 Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand

 29Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. 30Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. 31The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.

PrayerBits for Sunday

PrayerBits

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

Sunday

Scripture lesson: Mark 4:26-34 Mustard Seed faith

Time to reflect: The “Black Mustard Seed” was grown as a condiment, but it was sown in wild fields, not in gardens. A very small seed (although not the “smallest”) when grown wild in this fashion could grow as tall as a human. The process of a plant growing from a seed was very mysterious to the ancient world and was viewed as quite miraculous but also unpredictable.

Moving through the day: We could paraphrase with an modern image: The kingdom of God is like a peaceful settlement of strife. You never know when Peace will break out and we don't know why, but isn't it amazing when it does?”

Scripture:

The Parable of the Growing Seed

 26He also said, "This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come."

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

 30Again he said, "What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? 31It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. 32Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade."

 33With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. 34He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.

PrayerBits for Saturday

PrayerBits

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

Saturday

Scripture lesson: 2 Corinthians 5:6-10 Wherever we are, serve God

Time to reflect: In this passage Paul reflects the ancient Hebrew idea that we are called to serve God wherever we are, whatever our circumstance. That we are to try to live as long as possible so we can serve God as long as possible. That we are never without a way of serving.

Moving through the day: Pray that you may make the most of every moment of life.

Scripture:

6Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7We live by faith, not by sight. 8We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

PrayerBits for Friday

PrayerBits

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

Friday

Scripture Lesson: Psalm 20 Pray for our President

Time to reflect: This is a “Royal Psalm” a set of psalms written to be prayed/sung annually in behalf of their ruler.

Moving Throughout the day: Pray this for your President (or head of your government, if you are not an American citizen).

 Scripture:

 May the LORD answer you when you are in distress;
       may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.

  May he send you help from the sanctuary
       and grant you support from Zion.

  May he remember all your sacrifices
       and accept your burnt offerings.
       Selah

  May he give you the desire of your heart
       and make all your plans succeed.

  We will shout for joy when you are victorious
       and will lift up our banners in the name of our God.
       May the LORD grant all your requests.

 Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed;
       he answers him from his holy heaven
       with the saving power of his right hand.

  Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
       but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

  They are brought to their knees and fall,
       but we rise up and stand firm.

  O LORD, save the king!
       Answer us when we call!