Week: Authentic Prayer
As usual, 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’s Psalm, written by the sons of Korah, is a very different kind of prayer. The situation was that the Israelites had been defeated by the Babylonian armies and they had been taken away from their land.
Read by Jackson R
Psalm 44:23-26
Wake up, Lord! Why are you sleeping?
Get up! Don’t reject us forever.
Why do you hide from us?
Have you forgotten our pain and troubles?
We have been pushed down into the dirt;
we are flat on the ground.
Get up and help us.
Because of your love, save us.
Psalm 44:23-26 (NCV)
One thing you might notice about the Psalms is that they are often really honest – expressing lots of different types of emotions. David, the sons of Korah, and the other writers are honest with God about how they feel when good and bad things happen. They know that God will be OK with them not being OK, because God really, really loves them.
Bad things happen in our lives too, and when they do, we might feel sad or hurt, afraid, even angry. It’s important to remember that God is OK with us not being OK, too – we can pray and talk with God about how we feel, because God really, really loves us too.
Let’s press pause and each grab a piece of paper and a pen and draw a few emoji faces that show how we’re feeling today… whether it’s a grin or a grimace, a smirk or a smile. Now let’s go round and each show one of the emoji faces we’ve drawn, and explain why.
Let’s look at the emojis that we’ve drawn – especially any that we chose not to tell anyone about just now.
Loving God, other people may only see the outside, but You see what’s going on inside of us too. We offer all that we’re feeling to You now and, like the sons of Korah did in today’s Psalm, we ASK You to help us.
Maybe someone else came into our minds as we reflected on today’s Bible passage and drew our emoji faces? Who do we know that feels sad or hurt, afraid or angry at the moment?
Holy Spirit, the Bible describes You as a Comforter and a Counsellor. We ASK You to be with those we know who feel like this. Because of Your great love, we ASK You to help them…
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 44:23-26
Wake up, Lord! Why are you sleeping?
Get up! Don’t reject us forever.
Why do you hide from us?
Have you forgotten our pain and troubles?
We have been pushed down into the dirt;
we are flat on the ground.
Get up and help us.
Because of your love, save us.
Psalm 44:23-26 (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, and to talking with You about all that we’re feeling… even when we’re not feeling OK.
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.
