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 Kate
Romans 15:13
I pray that the God who gives hope will fill you with much joy and peace while you trust in him.
Romans 15:13a (NCV)
God, help us to remember Your Word.
Today we’re REFLECTING on a funny moment when Jesus said something to His disciples and they completely missed the point!
Read by Kate
Mark 8:14-16 (NCV)
Mark 8:14-16
[Jesus’] followers had only one loaf of bread with them in the boat; they had forgotten to bring more. Jesus warned them, ‘Be careful! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.’ His followers discussed the meaning of this, saying, ‘He said this because we have no bread.’
The disciples thought that Jesus was telling them off about not bringing enough bread, but He was actually talking about yeast and bread to explain something completely different. Jesus used examples like this a lot.
Yeast is very small, but as it spreads through dough it causes it to grow and turn into bread. Jesus was warning his disciples to not let negative things (even small things) spread and grow inside them, like the Pharisees and Herod did. He wanted them to focus on His good teaching and His good example and let things these spread and grow inside them instead.
Let’s press pause and talk about today’s question, which is: What’s the best thing that we’ve ever put onto bread?
And now, we ASK God to help us and others.
Father God, You sent Jesus to show us the way that You want us to live. Help us to hear and feed on the good things that He said and let them grow in us, like yeast in dough.
Father God, there are too many people in the world who don’t have enough food. We ASK You to help organisations and governments to work together and put an end to food poverty, whether that’s in our own country or somewhere far away.
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 8:14-16
Mark 8:14-16 (NCV)
[Jesus’] followers had only one loaf of bread with them in the boat; they had forgotten to bring more. Jesus warned them, ‘Be careful! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.’ His followers discussed the meaning of this, saying, ‘He said this because we have no bread.’
What word or phrase stood out from today’s Bible verses?
And now, let’s say YES to God together.
Loving God, the Bible encourages us to think about ‘whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable.’ (Philippians 4:8) We say YES to all of this. May these good things be like yeast in our lives, spreading and growing and changing us from the inside out.
After enjoying this time with God and each other, let’s say our memory verse together:
Romans 15:13
I pray that the God who gives hope will fill you with much joy and peace while you trust in him.
Romans 15:13a (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.
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.
Kate is 11 and lives in Melbourne Australia, with her parents, younger sister, and puppy Leo. Kate loves visual arts, reading, playing basketball and spending time with her family.
