Week: Hospitality - having open hearts and open homes
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
Loving God, You make Your home in our hearts. We are excited to explore more of what it means to open our hearts to the world.
We REJOICE and celebrate God’s goodness with this week’s memory verse:
Read by Asaph
Matthew 25:35
Jesus said, ‘I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was alone and away from home, and you invited me into your house.’
Matthew 25:35 (NCV)
God, help us to remember Your Word.
Today, we are REFLECTING on the first letter that Peter, Jesus’ disciple, wrote, in which he encouraged the Christians to love each other well.
Read by Asaph
Romans 12:15-16
Be happy with those who are happy, and be sad with those who are sad. Live in peace with each other. Do not be proud, but make friends with those who seem unimportant. Do not think how smart you are.
Romans 12:15-16 (NCV)
Loving people well – opening our hearts to them – involves being interested in what’s going on in their hearts and their lives too. It means celebrating with our friends when they’re happy – when good things are happening in their lives. And it also means comforting them and being sad with them when things aren’t going well. That’s what loving friendship is like. That’s what it means to be hospitable towards others.
In today’s verses, Paul encourages us to ‘live in peace with each other’. Let’s press pause and talk about today’s question, which is: What do we think it means to ‘live in peace’ with other people? Maybe we could think of some examples from school or work?
Let’s close our eyes and think about our friends. Let’s ASK the Holy Spirit to highlight one of these friends who we can pray for.
Let’s whisper their names and pray our own prayers for them right now.
In today’s verses, Paul encourages us to ‘be sad with those who are sad’. Let’s take a moment to pray specifically for someone we know who may be feeling sad? Or if we don’t know anyone personally, let’s pray about something we’ve seen on the news recently where people are sad.
Lord Jesus, we know that You understand what everyone is going through, and that You promise to comfort those who are sad. We ASK You to be especially close to the people that we are thinking about right now. Comfort them and give them the strength that they need.
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.
Romans 12:15-16
Be happy with those who are happy, and be sad with those who are sad. Live in peace with each other. Do not be proud, but make friends with those who seem unimportant. Do not think how smart you are.
Romans 12:15-16 (NCV)
What word or phrase stood out from today’s Bible verses?
And now, let’s say YES to God together.
Loving God, we say YES to loving the people in our lives – in our homes, in our schools and workplaces, in our neighbourhoods too. We say YES to doing our best to open our hearts to everyone and loving them well.
After enjoying this time with God and each other, let’s say our memory verse together:
Matthew 25:35
Jesus said, ‘I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was alone and away from home, and you invited me into your house.’
Matthew 25:35 (NCV)
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.
Unathi lives in Johannesburg, South Africa, with her husband and 5 kids; and has a passion for seeing families thriving.
You’ll most likely find her homeschooling the tribe, reading, writing, or dreaming about the next DIY project.
She also loves good coffee, dark chocolate and hiking.
Asaph is 9 years old. He lives in Portland, Oregon with his younger sister Adelina, father and mother. He enjoys riding his bike, camping, reading, playing flag football and watching Bible Project videos. Asaph is kind and smart and loves hanging out with friends!
