Week: Lent
Welcome to Lectio for Families. This is the first week of the season of Lent, the 40 days leading up to Easter. Lent is celebrated by millions of Christians all around the world as a way to prepare their hearts and minds for Easter. We’re going to join them in prayer this week.
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 Jesus, You’re our champion, the one we want to follow and so we fix our eyes on You. As we draw near to You, would You draw near to us. Our faith depends on You, from beginning to end. (Hebrews 12:2)
We REJOICE and celebrate God’s goodness with this week’s memory verse:
Read by Jackson R
Psalm 42:1
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.
Psalm 42:1 (NIV)
God, help us to remember Your Word.
Today, we’re REFLECTING on some of the surprising things that Jesus said to those who wanted to follow Him.
Read by Jackson R
Luke 9:23-25
Jesus said to all of them, ‘If people want to follow me, they must give up the things they want. They must be willing to give up their lives daily to follow me. Those who want to save their lives will give up true life. But those who give up their lives for me will have true life. It is worthless to have the whole world if they themselves are destroyed or lost.’
Luke 9:23-25 (NCV)
Following someone on Instagram, YouTube or TikTok really just means watching their videos and looking at their photos. Or following a sports star we love means watching all their games or matches. When we follow people like this we don’t really get to know them – not properly anyway – and we don’t have to go anywhere or do anything, so it doesn’t really change our lives. Following Jesus means giving up on some other things, but what we get is so much better. Following Jesus does change our lives; we really get to know Him and He shows us how to really live.
Let’s press pause and talk about today’s question, which is: Who are some of the people who influence us or we like to follow (other than Jesus!!) maybe they are a social media star or a sports or pop star?
Let’s wait quietly for a few moments and listen for anything that Jesus might want to say to us about how He wants us to follow Him.
Lord Jesus, we ASK You to give us strength and courage to follow You, even if it means behaving or speaking a bit differently, or changing things about our lives.
Lots of children and young people (and adults too) spend lots of time on social media. They wish they were as good looking, or as popular, or as interesting, or as rich as the people they follow seem to be.
Father God, we ASK You to help everyone – including us – realise that You made each of us unique and amazing. Help us all to learn to love ourselves the way that You love us. We also ASK you to help us give up the things that aren’t good for us or aren’t helping us to live well.
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.
Luke 9:23-25
Jesus said to all of them, ‘If people want to follow me, they must give up the things they want. They must be willing to give up their lives daily to follow me. Those who want to save their lives will give up true life. But those who give up their lives for me will have true life. It is worthless to have the whole world if they themselves are destroyed or lost.’
Luke 9:23-25 (NCV)
What word or phrase stood out from today’s Bible verses?
And now, let’s say YES to God together.
Lord Jesus, it’s not always easy to follow You and to live the way You want us to. Forgiving people isn’t easy. Being generous isn’t always easy. Being humble isn’t easy. But, You never promised that following You would be easy – You just promised that You would always be with us. And so we say YES, Jesus – we will follow You.
After enjoying this time with God and each other, let’s say our memory verse together:
Psalm 42:1
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.
Psalm 42:1 (NIV)
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.
