PrayerBits for Friday

PrayerBits

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

Friday

Scripture lesson: Psalm 31:9-16 A person in distress

 

Time to reflect: From time to time life gets really, really hard. None of us are ever really “ready” for these tough times. However, this suffering Psalmist continued to hold onto God for comfort and strength.

Moving Throughout the day: Focus on what it means to rely fully on 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 A teacher – even when inconvenient

Time to reflect: Isaiah and other prophets were tempted to keep their messages to themselves because some of them were going to be very unpopular – perhaps even get them killed. But they gave their messages anyway.

Moving through the day: Pray that when you have an important message that you feel is from God (in keeping with Scripture) you have the courage to give it.

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: Matthew 27:11-54 Pilate and Jesus

 

Time to reflect: From other sources we know that Pilate was a ruthless and violent leader who had no hesitation in crucifying anyone. The washing of his hands may have historically been more of an act of indifference – what's one more crucifixion to him. The crucifixion was an act of the Roman government and the Jewish leaders that were friendly to the Roman occupiers.

Moving through the day: Indifference and complicity have killed millions if not billions of people. Pray that we do not ever fall into this attitude.

 

Scripture:

Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?"
      "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied.

 When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. Then Pilate asked him, "Don't you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?" But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor.

 Now it was the governor's custom at the Feast to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, "Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?" For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him.

 While Pilate was sitting on the judge's seat, his wife sent him this message: "Don't have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him."

 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.

 "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" asked the governor.
      "Barabbas," they answered.

 "What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?" Pilate asked.
      They all answered, "Crucify him!"

 "Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate.
      But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!"

 When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. "I am innocent of this man's blood," he said. "It is your responsibility!"

 All the people answered, "Let his blood be on us and on our children!"

 Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

The Soldiers Mock Jesus

 Then the governor's soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. "Hail, king of the Jews!" they said. They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.

The Crucifixion

 As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. They came to a place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull). There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. Above his head they placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Two robbers were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, "You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!"

 In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. "He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself! He's the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, 'I am the Son of God.' " In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

The Death of Jesus

 From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, ama sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

 When some of those standing there heard this, they said, "He's calling Elijah."

 Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, "Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to save him."

 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

 When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, "Surely he was the Son of God!"

 

PrayerBits for Tuesday

PrayerBits

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

Tuesday

Scripture lesson: Psalm 118:1-2,19-29 Happy the person...

Time to reflect: Study after study has shown what the first two verses of this Psalm asserts: that those who try to do what is right and what is in keeping with God's will are just happier.

Moving through the day: Pray about the things you might be striving for to make you happy and compare with what this Psalm implies.

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 Monday

Scripture lesson: Matthew 21:1-11 Palm Sunday

Time to reflect: This is an ironic situation: The people were proclaiming Jesus King and they were right but grossly misunderstood what that meant and soon would turn on him when he didn't turn out to be the kind of king they wanted.

Moving Through The Day: Pray about what your expectations are for Jesus. Do your expectations and demands line up with you Jesus really was?

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away."

This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
"Say to the Daughter of Zion,
'See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.' "

The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
"Hosanna to the Son of David!"
"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"
"Hosanna in the highest!"

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, "Who is this?"

The crowds answered, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee."

PrayerBits for Sunday

Scripture lesson: John 11:1-45 The raising of Lazarus

Time to reflect: We tend to get hung up on the miracle part of the story but we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that Lazarus was a best friend for Jesus. In John he is the only one other than the unnamed “disciple who Jesus loved” that is referred to as being loved by Jesus. Jesus was just as distraught as Lazarus' sisters at his death. (Read the story for Jesus' emotions.) Jesus really cared about these three siblings. What does that say about Jesus' being a real person as well as the Christ that could raise his friend from the dead?

Moving through the day: Picture Jesus being such a good friend of you that he would weep for you. How does that make you feel?

Scripture:

Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. So the sisters sent word to Jesus, "Lord, the one you love is sick."

When he heard this, Jesus said, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it." Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.

Then he said to his disciples, "Let us go back to Judea."

"But Rabbi," they said, "a short while ago the Jews tried to stone you, and yet you are going back there?"

Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world's light. 1It is when he walks by night that he stumbles, for he has no light."

After he had said this, he went on to tell them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up."

His disciples replied, "Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better." Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.

So then he told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him."

Then Thomas (called Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him."

Jesus Comforts the Sisters

On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.

"Lord," Martha said to Jesus, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask."

Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."

Martha answered, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"

"Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world."

And after she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. "The Teacher is here," she said, "and is asking for you." When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.

When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. "Where have you laid him?" he asked.
"Come and see, Lord," they replied.

Jesus wept.

Then the Jews said, "See how he loved him!"

But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?"

Jesus Raises Lazarus From the Dead

Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. "Take away the stone," he said.
"But, Lord," said Martha, the sister of the dead man, "by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days."

Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"

So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me."

When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."

The Plot to Kill Jesus

Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him.

PrayerBits for Saturday

Scripture lesson: Romans 8:6-11 Spirit vs Flesh

Time to reflect: Rather than picturing this as two natures in us that are warring (“vs”) think of this as two possible attitudes or foci and that we can choose to focus on earthly, physical, self-serving things or heavenly, spiritual, God-serving things. The choice is ours.

Moving through the day: Pray that you may keep spiritual things to the forefront of you thinking an actions today.

Scripture:

The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.