Week: Justice and Righteousness
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 it today.
We REJOICE and celebrate God’s goodness with this week’s memory verse:
Read by Eli
Philippians 4:8
Brothers and sisters, think about the things that are good and worthy of praise. Think about the things that are true and honourable and right and pure and beautiful and respected.
Philippians 4:8 (NCV)
God, help us to remember Your Word.
Today, we’re REFLECTING on some important advice around how to treat other people.
Read by Eli
Leviticus 19:15-16
Be fair in your judging. You must not show special favour to poor people or great people, but be fair when you judge your neighbour. You must not spread false stories against other people, and you must not do anything that would put your neighbour’s life in danger. I am the Lord.
Leviticus 19:15-16 (NCV)
There’s a lot of ‘fake news’ doing the rounds. ‘Fake news’ means stories that are made up about people, or about situations, just to make them look bad or to lie about them. Sometimes we get caught up in spreading ‘fake news’ too, when we say things about people that aren’t true or fair. And sometimes we can be victims of ‘fake news’, when someone says something untrue or unfair about us. It can hurt when this happens.
The Bible is really clear that we mustn’t spread ‘fake news’, or ‘false stories’ as it says in today’s Bible reading. We need to be fair and loving towards people.
Let’s press pause and talk about today’s question, which is: What news stories have we heard recently, maybe on the radio, on television, on social media, or maybe from someone else? How do we know if these stories are true or fake?
And now we ASK God to help us and others.
Heavenly Father, we know that You are real, true, and good. We ASK that Your Holy Spirit would help us to say and do the right thing when we talk about people, and not to gossip or spread ‘fake news’ about them. With Your help we want to be honest and fair.
Some people become celebrities because of what they do or what they have. Other people often spread rumours and ‘fake news’ about them. Even though they are famous, this can be hurtful.
Loving God, we know that celebrities are normal humans, just beings like us, and that you love them just like us too. As we think of a celebrity that we know about, we ASK you to be with them. Give them strength and comfort, especially when other people spread rumours and ‘fake news’ about 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.
Leviticus 19:15-16
Be fair in your judging. You must not show special favour to poor people or great people, but be fair when you judge your neighbour. You must not spread false stories against other people, and you must not do anything that would put your neighbour’s life in danger. I am the Lord.
Leviticus 19:15-16 (NCV)
What word or phrase stood out from today’s Bible verses?
And now, let’s say YES to God together.
Creator 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 we say YES to being fair in what we think and say about others, and an absolutely massive YES to always telling the truth.
After enjoying this time with God and each other, let’s see if we can remember our memory verse and say it together:
Philippians 4:8
Brothers and sisters, think about the things that are good and worthy of praise. Think about the things that are true and honourable and right and pure and beautiful and respected.
Philippians 4:8 (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.
Eli is 11 and lives in Melbourne, Victoria with his mum, dad and two younger sisters. He enjoys music, reading, riding his skateboard and playing soccer.
