Week: Creativity - God's creativity in us
Each day we will simply pray (P.R.A.Y.) together.
P: PAUSING to be still.
R: REJOICING with a Memory Verse and REFLECTING on some verses from the Bible.
A: ASKING God to help us and others.
Y: saying YES to God’s ways.
We start by pausing and taking a deep breath:
In and out.
In and out.
We remember that God is here, and so together we prepare ourselves to be with God.
Pause
Creator God, You formed us from dust, breathe in us again. We’re ready for the new things that You want to show us and say to us and even create through us today.
We REJOICE and celebrate God’s goodness with this week’s memory verse:
Read by Bea
Psalm 104:24
Lord, you have made many things; with your wisdom you made them all. The earth is full of your riches.
Psalm 104:24
God, help us to remember Your Word.
Previously, we learned about how Paul described the church as a love letter to the world. Today, we are reflecting on another picture he used for the church.
Read by Bea
2 Corinthians 2:14b-15
God uses us to spread his knowledge everywhere like a sweet-smelling perfume. Our offering to God is this: We are the sweet smell of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are being lost.
2 Corinthians 2:14b-15 (NCV)
Did you know that smells, which are gases, spread through every room until they can’t find anywhere else to go? That’s why we can smell our favourite dinner cooking from the next room, or a chocolate bar when we unwrap it… or if someone’s done something stinky!
Paul says that people in the church are to be really smelly – not bad smelly, but good smelly – like a beautiful smell that makes people want to find out where it’s coming from.
Let’s press pause and talk about today’s question, which is: What are our favourite smells? What are the smells that we really don’t like?
We know some of what Jesus is like from a passage in Galatians (v22-23a, NCV) where Paul describes God’s nature like fruit. As we read it together, let’s think about what each one might smell like to those around us. ‘But the Spirit produces the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.’
Holy Spirit, we ASK You to grow these fruits in us. Help us to smell more like Jesus.
Let’s pray for our church to smell just like Jesus by bearing the fruit of His Spirit.
Holy Spirit, we pray for our church. We ASK that people would smell the fruits of love, joy, peace, kindness… and all the others, in us. And we ASK that many people would encounter Jesus through us.
As we read the Bible again, let’s listen for a word or a phrase that the Holy Spirit might want to say to us from today’s verses.
2 Corinthians 2:14b-15
God uses us to spread his knowledge everywhere like a sweet-smelling perfume. Our offering to God is this: We are the sweet smell of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are being lost.
2 Corinthians 2:14b-15 (NCV)
What word or phrase stood out from today’s Bible verses?
And now, let’s say YES to God together.
Lord Jesus, we say YES, we want to be a sweet smell in the world – we want to smell like You!
After enjoying this time with God and each other, let’s say our memory verse together:
Psalm 104:24
Lord, you have made many things; with your wisdom you made them all. The earth is full of your riches.
Psalm 104:24 (NIVUK)
Let’s put a hand on our heart.
Father God, fill us with Your love. Help us to love You, and everything that You’ve made.
Let’s point to our eyes.
Lord Jesus, help us to see You, and to see others the way that You see them too.
Let’s point to our ears.
Holy Spirit, help us to hear You, and give us courage to do what You say.
Phil lives close to a beach in the north of England with his wife, his daughters and his dogs. Phil works for 24-7 Prayer, mostly doing Lectio stuff, and helping to run Prayer Spaces in Schools. He runs a lot, usually for long distances. He likes curry, mountains, reading books and he still plays Pokemon Go.
Bea is 14 and she lives in Hampshire, in the UK, with her family. Her favourite football team is Manchester United, even though she lives a loooong way from Manchester. Bea likes horse riding and running, and when she’s older, she wants to become a vet, or a professional horse-rider.
