Week: Mark's Gospel
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
Jesus, we hear Your invitation, and so we choose to follow You, with all our hearts, with all our minds, with all our souls and with all our strength.
We REJOICE and celebrate God’s goodness with this week’s memory verse:
Read by Annika
John 8:12
[Jesus] said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’
John 8:12 (NIV UK)
God, help us to remember Your Word.
When Jesus was baptised, God’s voice came from heaven saying, ‘You are my Son, who I love very much.’ Immediately after this wonderful moment, Jesus was led into the desert, where He experienced some of the biggest challenges of His life.
Read by Annika
Mark 1:12-13
Then the Spirit sent Jesus into the desert. He was in the desert forty days and was tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and the angels came and took care of him.
Mark 1:12-13 (NCV)
The Bible doesn’t say much about the Devil, but in these few verses he is described as ‘Satan’, which means ‘the enemy’ or ‘the troublemaker’, and that’s exactly what he is. While Jesus was in the desert for 40 days, Satan made as much trouble as he could for Jesus, testing Jesus and tempting Him to turn His back on God. But even though Jesus was tired, hungry and alone, He didn’t give in to Satan at all.
It’s unlikely that we’ll ever be alone in a desert like Jesus was, but sometimes it feels like we’re being tested or tempted to stop following Jesus or believing in God’s words, like we heard yesterday – that God loves us and is pleased with us.
In today’s passage, it says that Jesus was with the wild animals. Let’s press pause and chat about today’s question, which is: What’s our favourite wild animal?
In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus taught us to pray, ‘Deliver us from evil, lead us not into temptation.’ (Matthew 6:13)
Our Father in heaven, we ASK You to deliver us from evil, to set us free from the tests and the temptations to stop living Your way.
In today’s Bible verses, Mark says that angels came and took care of Jesus. Who do we know – maybe someone in our home, our church or our community – that might need God’s angels to come and look after them right now?
Loving God, we ASK You to send angels to take care of them and give them whatever 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.
Mark 1:12-13
Then the Spirit sent Jesus into the desert. He was in the desert forty days and was tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and the angels came and took care of him.
Mark 1:12-13 (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 living Your way, and we say NO to every temptation from the enemy to stop believing in your love for us.
After enjoying this time with God and each other, let’s say our memory verse together:
John 8:12
[Jesus] said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’
John 8:12 (NIV UK)
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.
Annika lives in Melbourne, Australia with her parents and older brother and sister. Annika enjoys playing Cricket and Aussie Rules Football and loves going to watch her favourite team play football. Annika also learns the drums and enjoys making up her own beats!
