PrayerBits for Saturday

PrayerBits

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

Saturday

Scripture lesson: Philippians 4:4-7 Exhortations

Time to reflect: These are commands not gentle reminders...

Moving through the day: Write each of the commands in this section separately on a piece or pieces of paper. Each hour of the day successively take one as the as “theme of the hour.”

Philippians 4:4-7

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.* 5Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 6Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

PrayerBits for Thursday

PrayerBits

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

Thursday

Scripture lesson: Zephaniah 3:14-20 Return from Babylon

Time to Reflect: The future event of this passage is, today, a past event. The restoration of Jerusalem and the return of the people from the Babylon Captivity (verse 20), happened in the 6^th century B.C.E. (B.C.) The promise was fulfilled. This helps us to come to trust the promises of God. Of course the people became unfaithful again (and again) and new cycles of loss and redemption occurred. The once and for all promise, of course is Jesus, the Messiah.

Moving Through the Day:The Bible isn't all just ancient history, nor is it all predictions of the future. It is God's Word to all generations. Meditate on what this means to you.

Scripture: Zephaniah 3:14-20

A Song of Joy

14Sing aloud, O daughter Zion;
   shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
   O daughter Jerusalem!
15The Lord has taken away the judgements against you,
   he has turned away your enemies.
The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
   you shall fear disaster no more.
16On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
Do not fear, O Zion;
   do not let your hands grow weak.
17The Lord, your God, is in your midst,
   a warrior who gives victory;
he will rejoice over you with gladness,
   he will renew you* in his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing
18   as on a day of festival.*
I will remove disaster from you,*
   so that you will not bear reproach for it.
19I will deal with all your oppressors
   at that time.
And I will save the lame
   and gather the outcast,
and I will change their shame into praise
   and renown in all the earth.
20At that time I will bring you home,
   at the time when I gather you;
for I will make you renowned and praised
   among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your fortunes
   before your eyes, says the Lord.

PrayerBits for Wednesday

PrayerBits

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

Wednesday

2 Peter 3:1-9 Keeping things in perspective

Scripture lesson:

We tend to think in a very limited present tense: life is all about what is occurring to us, right now. It is hard for humans to even keep in mind our own personal history and its ups and downs. This is calling us to put even that in perspective to the God of the Universe and all of Time. Maybe, possibly we don't see how it all fits together.

Time to reflect:

Think for a moment about all the people, conditions, circumstances – from the beginning of time – that came together to create you.

Scripture:

2 Peter 3:1-9

The Promise of the Lord’s Coming

3This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you; in them I am trying to arouse your sincere intention by reminding you 2that you should remember the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets, and the commandment of the Lord and Saviour spoken through your apostles. 3First of all you must understand this, that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and indulging their own lusts 4and saying, ‘Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since our ancestors died,* all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation!’ 5They deliberately ignore this fact, that by the word of God heavens existed long ago and an earth was formed out of water and by means of water, 6through which the world of that time was deluged with water and perished. 7But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire, being kept until the day of judgement and destruction of the godless.

8 But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. 9The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you,* not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.

PrayerBits for Tuesday

PrayerBits

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

Tuesday

Scripture lesson: 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 What is our foundation

Time to reflect: Paul was using this analogy in relationship to the church in Corinth, to let it be known that his successor pastor there was legitimate and could be different and do different things, that he, Paul, was only the layer of the foundation. As is typical of Paul, he wanted to draw the attention away from himself and his successor and put the attention on Jesus.

Moving through the day: Apply the analogy to your life. Do you have a solid foundation in Jesus the Christ on which the rest of you life is built? Every building is different, but it takes a solid foundation to hold the building in tact.

1 Corinthians 3:10-15

10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it. 11For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ. 12Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13the work of each builder will become visible, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each has done. 14If what has been built on the foundation survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15If the work is burned, the builder will suffer loss; the builder will be saved, but only as through fire.

PrayerBits for Monday

PrayerBits

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

Monday

Scripture lesson: Luke 5:27-32 Why do you eat and drink with tax collector's and sinners””

Time to reflect: Jesus was always in trouble with his society for hanging out with the “wrong crowd.” However, Jesus was strong enough to influence them rather than vice versa. His being with the “tax collector's and sinner” because he cared about them is different from going along with the crowd and indistinguishable from them. Jesus was clearly non-judgmental and didn't care that he was criticized for this. But he also called the people he was with away from their destructive ways. This is an important message for us all.

Moving Through The Day:Pray for people you need to reach out to and help.

Luke 5:27-32

Jesus Calls Levi

27 After this he went out and saw a tax-collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ 28And he got up, left everything, and followed him.

29 Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house; and there was a large crowd of tax-collectors and others sitting at the table* with them. 30The Pharisees and their scribes were complaining to his disciples, saying, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax-collectors and sinners?’ 31Jesus answered, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; 32I have come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance.’

PrayerBits for Sunday

PrayerBits

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

Sunday

Scripture lesson: Luke 3:1-6 Baptism

Time to Reflect: The rite of Baptism seems to have come from John the Baptist and to be unique with him. It really doesn't line up with the concepts of the Jewish Mikveh or any other predecessor practice. The key to John's baptism was the idea of symbolically washing away confessed sin.

Moving through the day: Pray a prayer of confession, then praise to God for washing away these impurities.

Scripture:

Luke 3:1-6

The Proclamation of John the Baptist

3In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler* of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler* of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler* of Abilene, 2during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 4as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,
‘The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the Lord,
   make his paths straight.
5Every valley shall be filled,
   and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight,
   and the rough ways made smooth;
6and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” ’

PrayerBits for Saturday

PrayerBits

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

Saturday

Scripture lesson: Philippians 1:3-11 Pastor Paul

Time to reflect: Paul is sometimes a controversial character, but one thing that we should always keep in mind was that he was a real Pastor serving real churches. He had to deal with all the things that go on in modern churches. He had good days and bad days. Sometimes his churches exasperated him and sometimes excited him. But through it all, he loved his people and was most concerned about their spiritual well being.

Moving through the day: Picture this passage being read in your church from a former minister.

Philippians 1:3-11

Paul’s Prayer for the Philippians

3 I thank my God every time I remember you, 4constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, 5because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. 6I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. 7It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart,* for all of you share in God’s grace* with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel. 8For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus. 9And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight 10to help you to determine what is best, so that on the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, 11having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.