Week: Who is God?
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
God of rescue and restoration, thank You for Your beautiful mission to save the whole world. Here we are, Lord. Fill us with Your Spirit, and send us so that we can join in with Your mission.
Amy Carmichael dedicated her life to sharing the good news of Jesus with other people. Today, we start by REFLECTING on how Jesus used words from the book of Isaiah the prophet to describe this good news.
READ by Selah
Luke 4:18-19
[Jesus said] ‘The Lord has put his Spirit in me, because he appointed me to tell the Good News to the poor. He has sent me to tell the captives they are free and to tell the blind that they can see again. God sent me to free those who have been treated unfairly and to announce the time when the Lord will show his kindness.’
Luke 4:18-19 (NCV)
Amy Carmichael was born in the North of Ireland in 1867. When she was a young woman she heard a talk by Hudson Taylor, a famous missionary who had been to China. Amy realised that she too wanted to be a missionary, and so she travelled to Japan, and then to Sri Lanka, before finally arriving in India, where she stayed for 55 years, sharing the good news about Jesus with people who hadn’t heard it before.
While she was in India, Amy learned about the Hindu caste system, which separated people into different groups and said that certain groups were more important than others. Amy knew this was wrong and that all people were equally made and loved by God, and so she shared this message with everyone who would listen.
Amy also noticed something awful – young girls and women were being sold by their poor parents to the priests who ran the Hindu temples, where they were being treated very badly. Believing that Jesus had called her to ‘set the captives free’, Amy worked hard for many years to rescue hundreds of these young girls and women.
Let’s press pause and talk about today’s question which is: Amy travelled a very long way from her home. Where is the furthest that we’ve ever been from home? How did it feel to be so far away?
Amy felt God calling her to be a missionary in India, and then to do specific things while she was there. God still calls people to go to particular places and to do specific things. Let’s ASK God to speak with us now.
Loving God, we ASK that you would speak to all of us. Inspire our hearts, minds and imaginations with the places You would like us to go to and the things You would like us to do. And give us the courage to follow your calling.
Amy rescued children who were being treated badly by adults who should have cared for them. Sadly many children around the world still face similar dangers today.
Loving God, we ASK you to help and protect children who are harmed by adults. And please help the organisations who are working to rescue them.
Amy Carmichael said YES to being sent by God to India, and kept on saying YES for 55 years, even when things got difficult. She prayed that the children she rescued and cared for would also learn to trust God in the same way. She wrote the following prayer; ‘Through life’s troubled waters steer them, through life’s bitter battle cheer them, Father, Father, be Thou near them.’*
Pause
And now, let’s say YES to God together.
God of mission, we say YES to going wherever You send us. We want to keep saying YES to You in good or hard times, knowing that You are always with us.
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.
Toward Jerusalem, by Amy Carmichael (1988), CLC Publications
Chris lives in Melbourne, Australia with his wife and two boys. He works for 24-7 Prayer Australia and Red Church and is also a professional musician. When he’s not working or drumming Chris enjoys going on long hikes in the mountains with his boys and playing table tennis.
Selah is 14 and she lives in the middle of The USA in Kansas City, with her parents, sisters and dogs. Selah loves adventures and plays (and watches) all kinds of sports. She also enjoys science and likes inventing and building things…especially if they help others in some way.
