Week: 3 Loves, 6 Practices
As usual, 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, as we start this new year together, we remember that You are with us. Our minds are ready to learn more about You, our hearts are ready to receive more from You, and our hands are ready to do more for and with You. Come, Lord Jesus.
We REJOICE and celebrate God’s goodness with this week’s memory verse:
Read by Max
1 John 4:16
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
1 John 4:16 (NIV UK)
God, help us to remember Your Word.
The crowds following Jesus grew bigger and bigger. Today we’re REFLECTING on Jesus’ solution to this problem.
Read by Max
Matthew 9:35-37
Jesus travelled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is great, but the workers are few.’
Matthew 9:35-37 (NLT)
Matthew writes that Jesus had ‘compassion’ on the crowds. The original Greek word for ‘compassion’ is – are we ready for this? – ‘splanchnizomai’, which describes a deep down, gut-aching feeling. Jesus loved people and He wanted to help them so much that His gut ached with compassion for them. That’s a lot of compassion!
Jesus was willing to give His life to save the world and everything in it, all because He deeply, desperately loves us.
Let’s press pause and talk about today’s questions, which are: Firstly, can we all say ‘splanchnizomai’? And secondly, who do we feel compassion for at the moment? Maybe it’s a friend who isn’t well, or someone who’s having a difficult time?
After telling His disciples that ‘there are only a few workers to help’, Jesus then told them to ‘…pray to the Lord’ and ‘ask him to send more workers.’ (Matthew 9:38, NLT)
Father God, we ASK You to send people – give them courage – to tell others about Jesus. Send people in every country around the world, in every language and culture. And we ASK You to send us too – fill us with courage and deep compassion for people.
Let’s pick up our pieces of string. At the start of this week, we prayed for a couple of friends who don’t yet know Jesus. As we think about them again, and maybe one or two others, let’s tie a knot for each of these people into the string.
Lord Jesus, as we hold each of the knots, we ASK that these friends would come to know You.
Let’s keep our pieces of string somewhere safe to remind us to keep praying for our friends.
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 9:35-37
Jesus travelled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is great, but the workers are few.’
Matthew 9:35-37 (NLT)
What word or phrase stood out from today’s Bible verses?
And now, let’s say YES to God together.
Father God, You loved the world and everyone in it so much that You sent your Son, Jesus, on a mission to save it. We say YES to playing our part by loving the world and everyone in it too.
After enjoying this time with God and each other, let’s say our memory verse together:
1 John 4:16
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
1 John 4:16 (NIV UK)
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.
Unathi lives in Johannesburg, South Africa, with her husband and 5 kids; and has a passion for seeing families thriving.
You’ll most likely find her homeschooling the tribe, reading, writing, or dreaming about the next DIY project.
She also loves good coffee, dark chocolate and hiking.
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!
