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.

PrayerBits for Saturday

PrayerBits

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

Saturday

Scripture lesson: 1 Timothy 2:1-7 Pray for everyone

Reflections: It is a part of our Christian duty to pray for others, including political leaders.

Moving Through the Day: Do so now.

Scripture:

 1I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— 2for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time. 7And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles.

PrayerBits for Friday

PrayerBits

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

Friday

Scripture Lesson: Psalm 79:1-9 The Unburied

Time to reflect: Ancient Middle East societies viewed being left unburied and unmourned as the greatest humiliation, insult and desecration. Conquering armies routinely did the things listed in this Psalm. The Psalmist, naturally wanted revenge (remember that it is a psalmist saying these things, not God), for he was horrified by the situation.

Moving through the day: Warfare brings out the worst in a person and a people. My Lai and Abu-Gharib show that even we can resort to this kind of behavior and attitude. Pray that our society may not have to be involved in warfare and when we do that we do so honorably.

Scripture:

A psalm of Asaph.

 1 O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance;
       they have defiled your holy temple,
       they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.

 2 They have given the dead bodies of your servants
       as food to the birds of the air,
       the flesh of your saints to the beasts of the earth.

 3 They have poured out blood like water
       all around Jerusalem,
       and there is no one to bury the dead.

 4 We are objects of reproach to our neighbors,
       of scorn and derision to those around us.

 5 How long, O LORD ? Will you be angry forever?
       How long will your jealousy burn like fire?

 6 Pour out your wrath on the nations
       that do not acknowledge you,
       on the kingdoms
       that do not call on your name;

 7 for they have devoured Jacob
       and destroyed his homeland.

 8 Do not hold against us the sins of the fathers;
       may your mercy come quickly to meet us,
       for we are in desperate need.

 9 Help us, O God our Savior,
       for the glory of your name;
       deliver us and forgive our sins
       for your name's sake.

PrayerBits for Thursday

PrayerBits

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

Thursday

Scripture lesson: Jeremiah 8:18-9:1 A Balm in Gilead

Time to Reflect: Since originally prophetic utterances were done live in dramatic presentations it would have been easy to determine “stage directions” and when a speech was from God and being quoted by Jeremiah and when a speech was Jeremiah was speaking for himself, as he often did. I believe that this particular passage came from Jeremiah and was his lament over his people's situation. Even though he proclaimed the destruction that came upon his people, he suffered in their behalf.

Moving Through the Day: When one person condemns another it should be out of love and compassion, not hatred, jealousy, or ethno-centricity. Pray caringly for an enemy.

Scripture:

18 O my Comforter [a] in sorrow,
       my heart is faint within me.

 19 Listen to the cry of my people
       from a land far away:
       "Is the LORD not in Zion?
       Is her King no longer there?"
       "Why have they provoked me to anger with their images,
       with their worthless foreign idols?"

 20 "The harvest is past,
       the summer has ended,
       and we are not saved."

 21 Since my people are crushed, I am crushed;
       I mourn, and horror grips me.

 22 Is there no balm in Gilead?
       Is there no physician there?
       Why then is there no healing
       for the wound of my people?

Jeremiah 9

 1 Oh, that my head were a spring of water
       and my eyes a fountain of tears!
       I would weep day and night
       for the slain of my people.

PrayerBits for Tuesday

PrayerBits

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

Tuesday

Scripture lesson: Amos 2:3-8 Social Injustice and Idolatry

Time to reflect: The two recurring themes in the writing prophets, that which God condemns, is social injustice, as outlines with examples in Amos 2:6 and the first half of verse 7, and Idolatry – worshiping other gods, as expressed with examples in the second half of verse 7 (temple prostitutes) and verse 8.

Moving through the day: Meditate on what God would consider social injustice and idolatry in our society.

Scripture:

 3 I will destroy her ruler
       and kill all her officials with him,"
       says the LORD.

 4 This is what the LORD says:
       "For three sins of Judah,
       even for four, I will not turn back {my wrath}.
       Because they have rejected the law of the LORD
       and have not kept his decrees,
       because they have been led astray by false gods, [a]
       the gods [b] their ancestors followed,

 5 I will send fire upon Judah
       that will consume the fortresses of Jerusalem."

Judgment on Israel

 6 This is what the LORD says:
       "For three sins of Israel,
       even for four, I will not turn back {my wrath}.
       They sell the righteous for silver,
       and the needy for a pair of sandals.

 7 They trample on the heads of the poor
       as upon the dust of the ground
       and deny justice to the oppressed.
       Father and son use the same girl
       and so profane my holy name.

 8 They lie down beside every altar
       on garments taken in pledge.
       In the house of their god
       they drink wine taken as fines.