Week: Global Week of Prayer
As always, 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.
Let’s 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
Our Father in heaven, reveal who you are. Set the world right. May your kingdom come and what you want be done in us and in our nation today. (Matthew 6:9-10, MSG & NCV)
We REJOICE and celebrate God’s goodness with this week’s memory verse:
Read by Max
1 John 5:14
And this is the boldness we have in God’s presence: that if we ask God for anything that agrees with what he wants, he hears us.
1 John 5:14 (NCV)
God, help us to remember Your Word.
Today, we are REFLECTING on some verses from Jesus’ famous ‘Sermon on the Mount’.
Read by Max
Matthew 7:7-11
[Jesus said] ‘Ask, and God will give to you. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will open for you. Yes, everyone who asks will receive. Everyone who searches will find. And everyone who knocks will have the door opened.
If your children ask for bread, which of you would give them a stone? Or if your children ask for a fish, would you give them a snake? Even though you are bad, you know how to give good gifts to your children. How much more your heavenly Father will give good things to those who ask him!’
Matthew 7:7-11 (NCV)
Most of the time, prayer is really simple – as Jesus explains, it involves asking, searching and knocking – but there are also times when prayer is a bit more complicated, and we don’t get the answers to our prayers that we want.
Pete Greig, from 24-7 Prayer, suggests three reasons why this happens*;
First, God’s World has basic rules that God will rarely break. For example, if we ask God to stop time because we’re late for school, He probably won’t.
Secondly, God’s War. The Bible says that there is an enemy – the devil – who hates God and hates what God loves the most, which is us. Sometimes this enemy tries to oppose and upset our prayers and God’s plans too.
And thirdly, God’s Will. Sometimes the things that we pray for ourselves aren’t the things that God wants for us. It’s important to remember that God loves us and knows better than we do what we really need.
Let’s press pause and talk about today’s question, which is: If God did stop time and gave us an extra 10 hours to do whatever we wanted today, what would we do?
What have we been praying about that God hasn’t answered in the way that we want yet? How do we feel about that?
Father God, we bring our feelings to You. We ASK You to heal the hurt in our hearts and give us courage to not give up, but to keep on praying.
Let’s think of one friend who doesn’t know Jesus yet, and let’s pray for them, even if we’ve prayed for them many times before.
Lord Jesus, we ASK You to speak to this friend. We really want them to believe in You and receive Your love for 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.
Matthew 7:7-11
[Jesus said] ‘Ask, and God will give to you. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will open for you. Yes, everyone who asks will receive. Everyone who searches will find. And everyone who knocks will have the door opened.
If your children ask for bread, which of you would give them a stone? Or if your children ask for a fish, would you give them a snake? Even though you are bad, you know how to give good gifts to your children. How much more your heavenly Father will give good things to those who ask him!’
Matthew 7:7-11 (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 to keeping on praying, even when we don’t get the answers to our prayers that we want. We will ask and keep on asking. We will search and keep on searching. We will knock and keep on knocking.
After enjoying this time with God and each other, let’s say our memory verse together:
1 John 5:14
And this is the boldness we have in God’s presence: that if we ask God for anything that agrees with what he wants, he hears us.
1 John 5:14 (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.
* The Prayer Course, Session 5: Unanswered Prayer, https://prayercourse.org/session/unanswered-prayer/
If you would like to find out more about the global week of prayer tap here.
Carla lives in the sunny city of Chichester on the south coast of England with her husband, and two kids. She works for 24-7 Prayer helping people around the world learn how to talk with God. She LOVES a good book, eating yummy meals and singing with her friends.
Max is 9 years old and lives in Melbourne, Australia with his older brother and mum and dad. He often rides his bike to school and enjoys being creative by drawing or building with Lego. Max is also learning how to play the electric guitar and loves turning it up loud!
