Week: Mark's Gospel
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
Jesus, we hear You inviting us, and so we choose to follow You, with all our hearts, with all our minds, with all our souls and with all our strength.
We REJOICE and celebrate God’s goodness with this week’s memory verse:
Read by Eli
Psalm 103:8
The Lord shows mercy and is kind.
He does not become angry quickly, and he has great love.
Psalm 103:8 (NCV)
God, help us to remember Your Word.
Today, we’re REFLECTING on one of the many times that the religious leaders confronted Jesus.
Read by Eli
Mark 11:27-28
Jesus and his followers went again to Jerusalem. As Jesus was walking in the Temple, the leading priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders came to him. They said to him, ‘What authority do you have to do these things? Who gave you this authority?’
Mark 11:27-28 (NCV)
The religious leaders didn’t like Jesus. And the thing that they didn’t like the most was that the people did like Jesus. Crowds of people followed Jesus everywhere and they listened carefully to everything that He had to say. Jesus’ influence was clearly growing, and the religious leaders were nervous that if this carried on, then they would lose their power and influence over the people.
And so the religious leaders went to ask Jesus about the people that He had healed and the miracles that He had done. ‘Who gave you authority to do these things?’ they asked angrily. Or to put it another way, ‘Who do you think you are?’
Let’s press pause and talk about today’s question, which is: What question would we like to ask Jesus today? (Hopefully ours isn’t as angry as the religious leaders!)
And now, let’s bring these questions to Jesus directly. And if there are any extra questions that we didn’t feel comfortable saying out loud just now, let’s ASK Jesus about them now.
Lord Jesus, as we ASK You our questions, we also choose to make time to listen to what You might want to say to us.
In today’s Bible passage, the religious leaders were becoming upset because Jesus’ influence was growing – more and more people wanted to follow Him.
Lord Jesus, we want more and more people where we live to follow You too. We ASK for Your influence to grow in our schools and Universities. And we ASK the same for our hospitals, businesses, sports clubs, our public services – we want Your influence to grow and people to come to know You everywhere.
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.
Mark 11:27-28
Jesus and his followers went again to Jerusalem. As Jesus was walking in the Temple, the leading priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders came to him. They said to him, ‘What authority do you have to do these things? Who gave you this authority?’
Mark 11:27-28 (NCV)
What word or phrase stood out from today’s Bible verses?
And now, let’s say YES to God together.
Lord Jesus, like the crowds who followed You, we say YES, we want to follow You too, each and every day. We want You to influence and shape our lives.
After enjoying this time with God and each other, let’s say our memory verse together:
Psalm 103:8
The Lord shows mercy and is kind.
He does not become angry quickly, and he has great love.
Psalm 103:8 (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.
Eli is 11 and lives in Melbourne, Victoria with his mum, dad and two younger sisters. He enjoys music, reading, riding his skateboard and playing soccer.
