PrayerBits for Friday

PrayerBits

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

Friday

Scripture Lesson: Psalm 34:1-8 I will bless the Lord at all times

Time to reflect: I'm sure that the ancient Psalmist did not find it any easier to “bless the Lord at all times” than we do. But this passage is a pledge to try and an acknowledgment of how much better it feels when we do bless the Lord and rely upon God.

Moving Throughout the day: Set specific times during the day, hourly, if possible, when you will stop and silently bless God and thank God for God's constant presence.

Scripture

1 I will extol the LORD at all times;
       his praise will always be on my lips.

 2 My soul will boast in the LORD;
       let the afflicted hear and rejoice.

 3 Glorify the LORD with me;
       let us exalt his name together.

 4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me;
       he delivered me from all my fears.

 5 Those who look to him are radiant;
       their faces are never covered with shame.

 6 This poor man called, and the LORD heard him;
       he saved him out of all his troubles.

 7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him,
       and he delivers them.

 8 Taste and see that the LORD is good;
       blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

PrayerBits for Thursday

PrayerBits

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

Thursday

Scripture lesson: Job 42:1-6 Oops, I'm human

Time to reflect:

Job humbly admits that maybe there are things beyond his understanding. This is the main point of the book. All our explanations and whining and anger over why bad things happen to good people – and also to us – ultimately are unsatisfying. To whatever extent we can take Job's final attitude, the more peaceful we will be.

Moving through the day: Read this passage as a prayer.

Scripture:

Job Is Humbled and Satisfied

42Then Job answered the Lord:
2‘I know that you can do all things,
   and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3“Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?”
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
   things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
4“Hear, and I will speak;
   I will question you, and you declare to me.”
5I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
   but now my eye sees you;
6therefore I despise myself,
   and repent in dust and ashes.’

PrayerBits for Wednesday

PrayerBits

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

Wednesday

1 Corinthians 15:12-22 Resurrection

Scripture lesson: Paul addresses the common issue of whether or not there is a resurrection. Bottom line in his sequence is that there is no point to life or being a Christian without a belief in a resurrection. There is no hope in the world otherwise. The resurrection does not have to be logical and provable to be true.

Time to reflect: Set aside doubts and questions for a moment and see what it means to you to know that friends and family who have died have been resurrected... and that you and others still alive have that in the future.

Scripture:

1 Corinthians 15:12-22

The Resurrection of the Dead

12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? 13If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; 14and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain. 15We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ—whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. 17If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18Then those also who have died* in Christ have perished. 19If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died.* 21For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; 22for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ.

PrayerBits for Tuesday

PrayerBits

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

Tuesday

Scripture lesson: Matthew 9:18-26 A story inside a story

Time to reflect:

Based on the language, scholars are sure that the “hemorrhaging” was a vaginal discharge. This made her and anything she touched ritually impure and excluded from the Temple. Her touching Jesus was shockingly offensive at the time and should have made Jesus ritually impure. Instead, he made her ritually pure – she was cured. He then clarified, that it was her faith in him that cured her.

Moving through the day: Who are our society's “ritually impure?” Excluded or viewed as a threat? Pray that the Church and you as an individual can see past the “problem” to the person.

Matthew 9:18-26

A Girl Restored to Life and a Woman Healed

18 While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader of the synagogue* came in and knelt before him, saying, ‘My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.’ 19And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. 20Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from haemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, 21for she said to herself, ‘If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.’ 22Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, ‘Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.’ And instantly the woman was made well. 23When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute-players and the crowd making a commotion, 24he said, ‘Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.’ And they laughed at him. 25But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. 26And the report of this spread throughout that district.

PrayerBits for Monday

PrayerBits

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

Monday

Scripture lesson: 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 Status

Time to reflect: No human standard of status has meaning withing Christianity. We're all equal, all have something to contribute.

Moving Through The Day:Pray about what you have to contribute to God's work, no matter what your earthly status may be.

Scripture:

1 Corinthians 1:26-31

26 Consider your own call, brothers and sisters:* not many of you were wise by human standards,* not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, 29so that no one* might boast in the presence of God. 30He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31in order that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in* the Lord.’

PrayerBits for Sunday

PrayerBits

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

Sunday

Scripture lesson: Mark 10:35-45 Who is great?

Time to reflect: “whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.” This is the sum total of the passage. Once again Jesus wants us to be “unnatural” and behave in a way contrary to human nature.

Moving through the day: Pray about how you use power and when/how you need to be a servant of others.

Scripture:

The Request of James and John

35 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, ‘Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.’ 36And he said to them, ‘What is it you want me to do for you?’ 37And they said to him, ‘Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.’ 38But Jesus said to them, ‘You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?’ 39They replied, ‘We are able.’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; 40but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.’

41 When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. 42So Jesus called them and said to them, ‘You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. 43But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, 44and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. 45For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’

PrayerBits for Saturday

PrayerBits

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

Saturday

Scripture lesson: Hebrews 5:1-10 Who is Melchizedek

Time to reflect:Even though it is a side issue, the writer of Hebrews was making a point of connecting Jesus to Melchizedek. At this time (and for centuries before) there were major struggles among several priestly lines, all contending, sometimes violently, that their line was the legitimate one and they should have control of the temple in Jerusalem. The author of Hebrews wanted to use the “High Priest” analogy in relation to Jesus, By connecting Jesus with Melchizedek, he avoids triggering any of these divisive and irrelevant issues. Melchizedek, is mentioned in Genesis 14:17-20, a priest/king of Jerusalem before the time of any of the contending lines of priests.

Moving through the day: We do not need an earthly priest, we can address the High Priest Christ anytime we want. Pray to Christ, acknowledging his power to save.

Scripture:

Hebrews 5:1-10

5Every high priest chosen from among mortals is put in charge of things pertaining to God on their behalf, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2He is able to deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is subject to weakness; 3and because of this he must offer sacrifice for his own sins as well as for those of the people. 4And one does not presume to take this honour, but takes it only when called by God, just as Aaron was.

5 So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest, but was appointed by the one who said to him,
‘You are my Son,
   today I have begotten you’;
6as he says also in another place,
‘You are a priest for ever,
   according to the order of Melchizedek.’

7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus* offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; 9and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, 10having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.