PrayerBits for Wednesday

PrayerBits

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

Wednesday

Scripture lesson: 2 Corinthians 9:6-15 Stewardship

Time to reflect: It is hard for a minister to comment on this passage objectively.

Moving through the day: Think through and pray through what this passage means to you.

 

Scripture:

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written:
   "He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor;
      his righteousness endures forever."Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

 This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

PrayerBits for Tuesday

PrayerBits

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

Tuesday

Scripture lesson: Psalm 65 God is in charge

Time to reflect:

God is the creator and sustainer of this universe. It would all fall apart if God allowed it. Aren't we glad God has not yet chosen to allow it?

Moving through the day: Verses 9-13 are agricultural allusions. Can you apply this underlying sentiment to our modern lives?

Praise awaits you, O God, in Zion;
       to you our vows will be fulfilled.

  O you who hear prayer,
       to you all men will come.

  When we were overwhelmed by sins,
       you forgave our transgressions.

  Blessed are those you choose
       and bring near to live in your courts!
       We are filled with the good things of your house,
       of your holy temple.

  You answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness,
       O God our Savior,
       the hope of all the ends of the earth
       and of the farthest seas,

  who formed the mountains by your power,
       having armed yourself with strength,

  who stilled the roaring of the seas,
       the roaring of their waves,
       and the turmoil of the nations.

 Those living far away fear your wonders;
       where morning dawns and evening fades
       you call forth songs of joy.

You care for the land and water it;
       you enrich it abundantly.
       The streams of God are filled with water
       to provide the people with grain,
       for so you have ordained it.

  You drench its furrows
       and level its ridges;
       you soften it with showers
       and bless its crops.

 You crown the year with your bounty,
       and your carts overflow with abundance.

  The grasslands of the desert overflow;
       the hills are clothed with gladness.

  The meadows are covered with flocks
       and the valleys are mantled with

PrayerBits for Monday

PrayerBits

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

Monday

Scripture lesson: Deuteronomy 8:7-18 The danger of affluence

Time to reflect: This passage warns against a tendency in human nature to take affluence for granted, to forget really bad times of the past (how does today's situation compare to the Great Depression? So far, not at all!) and to assume that we somehow “deserve” the things we have.

Moving Through The Day: Take time to be grateful to God for the good things you enjoy.

For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills; a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.

  When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you. You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.

PrayerBits for Sunday

PrayerBits

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

Sunday

Scripture lesson:        Matthew 25:31-46 Sheep and Goats

Time to reflect: Familiar passage that is preached on a lot, but not a popular story. We don't like thinking about a negative Judgment Day. (This is one of the leading cautions to the old, incorrect, saw that the OT is the testament of law and the NT is the testament of love...) Regardless of our theology of grace,salvation, sanctification, and all the rest, this is at least a graphic command to take care of those in need.

Moving through the day: In what ways have you served each of the groups listed in this passage in the last month?

Scripture:

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

 "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

 "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

 "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

 "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

 "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

 "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

PrayerBits for Saturday

PrayerBits

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

Saturday

Scripture lesson: Ephesians 1:15-23 “Far above”

Time to reflect: It is hard to express in human language the gap between human things and divine things. “Far” is such a pale term in this regard. “Far” is also too physical a term. “Far” would be the distance between Earth and the furthest star in the furthest galaxy. But in the context of this passage from Ephesians it is like measuring the distance between Earth and 10000AD or Earth and Eternal Love. The gap is unmeasurable with God being both supremely removed and supremely intimate with us.

Moving through the day: How would you express the difference between humans and God?

Scripture:

For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

PrayerBits for Friday

PrayerBits

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

Friday

Scripture lesson: Psalm 100 “A Psalm of thanksgiving”

Time to reflect: Nothing to explain.

Moving Throughout the day: A couple of times today stop and read/recite/sing this Psalm.

 Scripture:

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.

 Worship the LORD with gladness;
       come before him with joyful songs.

 Know that the LORD is God.
       It is he who made us, and we are his
       we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
       and his courts with praise;
       give thanks to him and praise his name.

 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
       his faithfulness continues through all generations.

PrayerBits for Thursday

PrayerBits

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

Thursday

Scripture lesson: Ezekiel 34:11-6, 20-24 Fat Sheep

Time to reflect: The classical prophets were constantly railing against the Israeli/Judean upper classes and government for social injustice: taking care of themselves at the expense of the poor and weak. This passage is one of those diatribes. These are in the Bible because they don't just apply to one people and one time but are critiques that need to be reapplied, if applicable, to any ruling class, including America.

 

Moving through the day: Pray for the nation that it will be aware of the requirement from God to protect and take care of the poor and weak of our society.

 

Scripture:

'For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign LORD. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.

'Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says to them: See, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your horns until you have driven them away, I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another. I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the LORD have spoken.