Week: Authentic Prayer
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
Lord God, we look forward to discovering more of Your wisdom in the Old Testament. Show us the way You want us to live, and help us to walk in Your ways today.
We REJOICE and celebrate God’s goodness with this week’s memory verse:
Read by Jackson R
1 Thessalonians 5:17-18
Pray continually, and give thanks whatever happens. That is what God wants for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 (NCV)
God, help us to remember Your Word.
Today we are reflecting on another Psalm. In this one, we find that King David is in a lot of trouble, and so his prayer is very different…
Read by Jackson R
Psalm 69:13-14,16
But I pray to you, Lord, for favor.
God, because of your great love, answer me.
You are truly able to save.
Pull me from the mud,
and do not let me sink.
Save me from those who hate me
and from the deep water.
Lord, answer me because your love is so good.
Because of your great kindness, turn to me.
Psalm 69:13-14,16 (NCV)
This Psalm is one of many where King David cries to God for help. He was a king, but he still needed God’s help. Sometimes he felt overwhelmed, like his problems were never going to end, and he felt like he couldn’t fix things on his own.
Like David, we all need help sometimes. It’s never easy to ask for help, because it can feel embarrassing – we prefer to try and sort things out on our own. But sometimes we need to admit the truth and pray the most simple prayer of all… “Lord, help!”
Let’s press pause and talk about today’s question, which is: When did we need help with something over the last month? Or when did we last help someone else?
What do we need God’s help with? What feels a bit difficult, or even overwhelming, at the moment?
Loving God, like David, we ASK for Your favour – we ASK for Your help. We know that You love us and that You love to help, and so we ASK You to give us what we need.
In today’s Psalm, King David says, ‘Pull me from the mud, and do not let me sink.’ He’s not talking about sinking into actual mud, of course, but that feeling when everything is going wrong. Let’s pray for anyone who feels like this today – maybe it’s someone we know.
Loving God, we pray for those who feel like they’re sinking today – those who feel like giving up. We ASK You to hear their cries, even if no-one else is hearing them, and we ASK You to help them.
If someone we know has popped into our minds, let’s quietly pray our own ‘help them’ prayer now.
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.
Psalm 69:13-14,16
But I pray to you, Lord, for favor.
God, because of your great love, answer me.
You are truly able to save.
Pull me from the mud,
and do not let me sink.
Save me from those who hate me
and from the deep water.
Lord, answer me because your love is so good.
Because of your great kindness, turn to me.
Psalm 69:13-14,16 (NCV)
What word or phrase stood out from today’s Bible verses?
And now, let’s say YES to God together.
Loving God, thank you for the wisdom that we’ve heard from Your Word today. We say Yes to walking the way that You want us to, trusting that You will help us because of Your great kindness to us.
After enjoying this time with God and each other, let’s say our memory verse together:
1 Thessalonians 5:17-18
Pray continually, and give thanks whatever happens. That is what God wants for You in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 (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.
Jackson is 11 and lives with his younger brother and parents in Surrey. He loves pretty much all sport but his favourites are football, golf and jumping off high stuff into water! He enjoys gaming and is always ready to build something on Minecraft.
