Week: God's Mission
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 Liliwyn
1 Corinthians 1:24
Even the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
1 Corinthians 1:24 (NCV)
God, help us to remember Your Word.
Today, we’re REFLECTING on a prophecy that God gave to Joel:
Read by Liliwyn
Joel 2:28-30,32
[God said] ‘After this,
I will pour out my Spirit on all kinds of people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
and your young men will see visions.
At that time I will pour out my Spirit
also on male slaves and female slaves.
I will show miracles
in the sky and on the earth:
blood, fire, and thick smoke.
Then anyone who calls on the Lord
will be saved.’
Joel 2:28-30,32a (NCV)
God’s heart – His mission, His plan – is for everyone to be saved. God wants everyone to be healed and made whole. Joel makes this really clear – he prophesies that anyone who asks God for help will be saved. It doesn’t matter how good or bad we’ve been, nor how important or unimportant others think we are – we all need to be saved by God. And God does save us, not only from what we’ve been, but into being all that he created us to be.
Sometimes God gives people visions and dreams, like the ones we’ve heard about over the last couple of days, but sometimes our dreams just seem strange! Let’s press pause and talk about today’s question, which is: What’s the strangest dream we’ve had recently?
Let’s close our eyes and ASK God to speak to us, right now – it could be about anything at all. Sometimes God simply wants to tell us how much He loves us, and other times it’s something more specific. And remember, God speaks to us through words, through pictures and through our feelings – so let’s pay attention.
Sitting quietly is hard to do sometimes. Why don’t we try and stay quiet for one minute together, and see if God wants to speak to us.
Father God, we wait for You to speak…
In Joel’s prophecy, he says that God gives his Spirit to all kinds of people.
Father God, we are sorry for the times we’ve felt more important or better than other people, or for the times we’ve ignored other people and not listened to them. As a church, we’ve probably excluded people too, maybe without realising – we’re really sorry about this. Help us to love others, and especially to listen carefully to what You’re saying through 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.
Read by Liliwyn
Joel 2:28-30,32
[God said] ‘After this,
I will pour out my Spirit on all kinds of people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
and your young men will see visions.
At that time I will pour out my Spirit
also on male slaves and female slaves.
I will show miracles
in the sky and on the earth:
blood, fire, and thick smoke.
Then anyone who calls on the Lord
will be saved.’
Joel 2:28-30,32a (NCV)
What word or phrase stood out from today’s Bible verses?
And now, let’s say YES to God together.
Loving God, thank You for the wisdom that we’ve heard from Your Word today. We say YES to walking the way You want us to, dreaming big dreams, and prophesying hope to our world.
After enjoying this time with God and each other, let’s see if we can remember our memory verse and say it together:
1 Corinthians 1:24
Even the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
1 Corinthians 1:24 (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.
Liliwyn is 16 and lives in Kansas City, USA, with her parents, sisters and dogs. She is a good friend and enjoys designing, music, traveling, math and watching American Football (especially the KC Chiefs).
