Welcome to Lectio for Families. During this Global Week of Prayer, we have been joining with Christians around the world to pray for God’s greatness to be made known everywhere. But, today is our Sabbath, so we’re taking a break from our regular P.R.A.Y. format to pray a little differently.

The Bible tells the story of God making the Universe and everything in it in six days. Every Sunday, we remember the Sabbath, when God rested and enjoyed everything that was made.

Pause

As usual, 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

Reflect

Bible Reading

Let’s listen for a word or a phrase that the Holy Spirit might want to say to us from today’s Bible verses, which are from the book of Acts.

Read by Max
Acts 1:3-5
After his death, [Jesus] showed himself to them and proved in many ways that he was alive. The apostles saw Jesus during the forty days after he was raised from the dead, and he spoke to them about the kingdom of God. Once when he was eating with them, he told them not to leave Jerusalem. He said, ‘Wait here to receive the promise from the Father which I told you about. John baptized people with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’
Acts 1:3-5 (NCV)

What word or phrase stood out from today’s verses?

• OPTIONAL: PAUSE the audio player now and tell each other

Today’s Bible verses describe the moment when Jesus is about to send His disciples into all the world to tell everyone the good news about God’s love and to launch the first churches, but instead of telling them to ‘go’, Jesus says something else… ‘wait’.

Pause

Ask

ASK Prayers

In Psalm 46, God says, ‘Be still and know that I am God.’ (Psalm 46:10, NCV)

Father God, we wait on You. We pause to be still, and we say that You are our only God. Thank you for Your presence with us.

• OPTIONAL: PAUSE the audio player now and pray

Shortly after Jesus had been resurrected, the disciples were hiding in a locked room, when all of a sudden, to their surprise, Jesus appeared in the room with them! ‘Peace be with you,’ Jesus said. (John 20:21, NCV)

Lord Jesus, we wait on You. We thank you for the peace that You give to us, which is so great we cannot possibly understand it. (Philippians 4:7, NCV)

• OPTIONAL: PAUSE the audio player now and pray

After telling His disciples to wait for the Holy Spirit, Jesus explained why… ‘When the Holy Spirit comes to you, you will receive power.’ (Acts 1:8, NCV)

Holy Spirit, we wait on You. We open our hearts to receive You, and we thank you for the power You give to us to live the way that God wants.

• OPTIONAL: PAUSE the audio player now and pray

Let’s press pause and talk about our Sabbath question which is: As our week comes to an end, what was good about it – what are we thankful for? It could be something big or small.

• PAUSE the audio player now

Yes

Memory Verse

After enjoying this time with God and each other, let’s say our memory verse together:

Sabbath Blessing

May this Sabbath bring rest and joy to our hearts and our homes.
May today be a little less go, go, go, and a little more slow… slow… slow…
May we care less about things, and care more for people.
As we relax in God’s love, may we take time to listen and remember that we are all God’s children.

If you would like to find out more about the global week of prayer tap here.