Week: The Advent Voices - Men
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, we are excited to be celebrating Your birth this Christmas. Amongst all the busyness of this season – all the planning and the preparations – please help us to pause and be still. We open our ears to hear You now, and we prepare our hearts to receive You once again.
We REJOICE and celebrate God’s goodness with this week’s memory verse:
Read by Max
Matthew 1:23
[The angel said] ‘She will have a son, and they will name him Immanuel, which means God is with us.’
Matthew 1:23b (NCV)
God, help us to remember Your Word.
When the wise men visited King Herod and told him that they were following a star which they believed would lead them to a new ‘king of the Jews’ (Matthew 2:2), Herod was scared. He sent the wise men to find this new ‘king’, hoping they would report back to him.
Read by Max
Matthew 2:12,16
But God warned the wise men in a dream not to go back to Herod, so they returned to their own country by a different way. When Herod saw that the wise men had tricked him, he was furious. So he gave an order to kill all the baby boys in Bethlehem and in the surrounding area who were two years old or younger. This was in keeping with the time he learned from the wise men.
Matthew 2:12,16 (NCV)
King Herod was a grown man. There’s no reason that he should’ve been scared of a teeny, tiny new-born baby. After all, what could a baby do to a grown man? Give him a headache by crying loudly?
But Herod was scared, because if the wise men were right and there was a new king in town, then Herod might lose all the kingly power and influence that he enjoyed. And Herod was greedy and selfish – he didn’t want to give up being king, nor share it with anyone, especially not a baby!
In today’s Bible passage it says that the wise men tricked Herod to protect Jesus. Let’s press pause and talk about today’s question, which is: When have we played a trick on someone? Was it fun… or did we get into trouble?
And now, let’s ASK God to help us and others.
Father God, it’s not nice to admit this, but we can be a bit greedy and selfish sometimes too. We ASK you to help us share what we have with others, to be generous and kind whenever we can.
In one of his letters to Timothy, Paul writes that we should ‘pray for rulers and for all who have authority so that we can have quiet and peaceful lives.’
Father God, we ASK you to be with the rulers and leaders in our nation. (If we can think of any of their names, let’s whisper them now…) We pray that you would guide them by your Holy Spirit – give them wisdom, and may they lead with kindness and compassion, especially towards those in our nation who are vulnerable or suffering.
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.
Matthew 2:12,16
But God warned the wise men in a dream not to go back to Herod, so they returned to their own country by a different way. When Herod saw that the wise men had tricked him, he was furious. So he gave an order to kill all the baby boys in Bethlehem and in the surrounding area who were two years old or younger. This was in keeping with the time he learned from the wise men.
Matthew 2:12,16 (NCV)
What word or phrase stood out from today’s Bible verses?
And now, let’s say YES to God together.
Heavenly Father, we say YES to continuing to pray for our presidents and prime ministers, for kings and queens, and all the other politicians and the leaders in our nations. Help them to make just and fair decisions, so that the world can be a more loving, peaceful place.
After enjoying this time with God and each other, let’s say our memory verse together:
Matthew 1:23
[The angel said] ‘She will have a son, and they will name him Immanuel, which means God is with us.’
Matthew 1:23b (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.
Joy lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and her dog. She works for Bridgetown Church where she leads kids as they grow, learn, and have lots of fun. Joy loves gardening, summer camp, eating ice cream, and reading her favourite books, The Chronicles of Narnia.
Max is 9 years old and lives in Melbourne, Australia with his older brother and mum and dad. He often rides his bike to school and enjoys being creative by drawing or building with Lego. Max is also learning how to play the electric guitar and loves turning it up loud!
