PrayerBits for Tuesday

PrayerBits

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

Tuesday

Scripture lesson: Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4 If it seems to tarry, wait for it

Time to reflect: Only by looking at history in the broad do we see the work of God and the failure of evil people and destructive forces. God's world is not structured to always favor individuals but over time humanity as a whole and people in large groups are preserved and good eventually prevails. So if things don't work out for us, it is enough that it works out for humanity.

Moving through the day: Pray that you and people remain hopeful and patient.

Scripture:

Habakkuk 1

 1 The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet received.

Habakkuk's Complaint

 2 How long, O LORD, must I call for help,
       but you do not listen?
       Or cry out to you, "Violence!"
       but you do not save?

 3 Why do you make me look at injustice?
       Why do you tolerate wrong?
       Destruction and violence are before me;
       there is strife, and conflict abounds.

 4 Therefore the law is paralyzed,
       and justice never prevails.
       The wicked hem in the righteous,
       so that justice is perverted.

Habakkuk 2

 1 I will stand at my watch
       and station myself on the ramparts;
       I will look to see what he will say to me,
       and what answer I am to give to this complaint. [a]

The LORD's Answer

 2 Then the LORD replied:
       "Write down the revelation
       and make it plain on tablets
       so that a herald [b] may run with it.

 3 For the revelation awaits an appointed time;
       it speaks of the end
       and will not prove false.
       Though it linger, wait for it;
       it [c] will certainly come and will not delay.

 4 "See, he is puffed up;
       his desires are not upright—
       but the righteous will live by his faith [d] -

PrayerBits for Monday

PrayerBits

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

Monday

Scripture lesson: Lamentations 3:19-26 Being a refugee

Time to reflect: The Book of Lamentations are set of poems by Judaean exiles from Jerusalem bewailing their fate. They are actually, in the Hebrew, amazing pieces of literature.

Moving Through the Day: Pray from all the refugees around the world – regardless of why they are refugees and the politics involved.

Scripture:

19 I remember my affliction and my wandering,
       the bitterness and the gall.

 20 I well remember them,
       and my soul is downcast within me.

 21 Yet this I call to mind
       and therefore I have hope:

 22 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
       for his compassions never fail.

 23 They are new every morning;
       great is your faithfulness.

 24 I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;
       therefore I will wait for him."

 25 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
       to the one who seeks him;

 26 it is good to wait quietly
       for the salvation of the LORD.

PrayerBits for Sunday

PrayerBits

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

Sunday: Luke 16:19-26 The Parable of the rich man and the poor man

This is a parable and the name Lazarus is not connected to the story of Lazarus in John. The point of the parable is in verses 30-31: If someone isn't inclined to believe there is nothing that will convince them.

Moving through the day: Pray for those who seem to have a hard time accepting the Gospel – what humans can't do (bring people to Christ) God can do.

Scripture:

The Rich Man and Lazarus

 19"There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

 22"The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23In hell,[a] where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'

 25"But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'

PrayerBits for Saturday

PrayerBits

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

Saturday

Scripture lesson: 1 Timothy 6:6-16 What are your priorities?

Reflections:There are a lot of things to think about in this passage.

Moving Through the Day: Focus on either or both the ways you might be “trapped by many senseless and harmful desires” caused by money or the list of things we should be pursuing in verse 11.

Scripture:

 6But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Paul's Charge to Timothy

 11But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 12Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you 14to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.

PrayerBits for Friday

PrayerBits

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

Friday

Scripture Lesson: Psalm 91:1-6,14-16 God is our sustainer

Time to reflect: A straight forward Psalm of praise. The Psalmists had an amazing ability to trust God no matter how bad things got. They didn't just wish or plead for God's help, they had complete confidence in it.

Moving through the day: Pray a prayer where you express confidence in God's love.

Scripture:

Psalm 91

 1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
       will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. [a]

 2 I will say [b] of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress,
       my God, in whom I trust."

 3 Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare
       and from the deadly pestilence.

 4 He will cover you with his feathers,
       and under his wings you will find refuge;
       his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

 5 You will not fear the terror of night,
       nor the arrow that flies by day,

 6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
       nor the plague that destroys at midday.

14 "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him;
       I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

 15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
       I will be with him in trouble,
       I will deliver him and honor him.

 16 With long life will I satisfy him
       and show him my salvation."

PrayerBits for Thursday

PrayerBits

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

Thursday

Scripture lesson: Jeremiah 32:1-3a,6-15 Jeremiah was full of surprises

Time to Reflect: After a life time of negative prophesies of doom and gloom, while the predicted destruction of Jerusalem was being carried out and Jeremiah was soon to be kidnapped by his friends to go to Egypt, Jeremiah gives a prophesy of hope and restoration, symbolized by his buying a piece of property in the soon to be ruined city.

Moving Through the Day: Even the worst of situations are temporary (even, we Christians believe, death is temporary). Think of past times of despair, then subsequent times of joy. If you are currently suffering, find a way of symbolizing your future hope, like Jeremiah's property.

Scripture:

Jeremiah 32

Jeremiah Buys a Field

 1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. 2 The army of the king of Babylon was then besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was confined in the courtyard of the guard in the royal palace of Judah.

 3 Now Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him there, saying, "Why do you prophesy as you do? You say, 'This is what the LORD says: I am about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.

 6 Jeremiah said, "The word of the LORD came to me: 7 Hanamel son of Shallum your uncle is going to come to you and say, 'Buy my field at Anathoth, because as nearest relative it is your right and duty to buy it.'

 8 "Then, just as the LORD had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard and said, 'Buy my field at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. Since it is your right to redeem it and possess it, buy it for yourself.'
      "I knew that this was the word of the LORD; 9 so I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel and weighed out for him seventeen shekels [a] of silver. 10 I signed and sealed the deed, had it witnessed, and weighed out the silver on the scales. 11 I took the deed of purchase—the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions, as well as the unsealed copy- 12 and I gave this deed to Baruch son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel and of the witnesses who had signed the deed and of all the Jews sitting in the courtyard of the guard.

 13 "In their presence I gave Baruch these instructions: 14 'This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Take these documents, both the sealed and unsealed copies of the deed of purchase, and put them in a clay jar so they will last a long time. 15 For this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.'

PrayerBits for Monday

PrayerBits

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

Monday

Scripture lesson: Hebrews 5:7-6:2 Keep growing and learning

Time to reflect: [Melchizedek is from Gen 14 and was the King/Priest of Jerusalem from the time of Abraham. Not much is said and so he became an object of speculation in the intertestamental period. Hebrews uses the figure as a precursor symbol for Christ.] We are called on here to keep working at our theological understanding, not accepting easy answers nor giving up and deciding we know all we need to know.

Moving Through the Day: Make a plan for expanding your knowledge and being challenged, theologically this year.

Scripture:

  7During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him 10and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

Warning Against Falling Away

 11We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. 12In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

Hebrews 6

 1Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death,[a] and of faith in God, 2instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.