Week: Holy Spirit Adventures
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
Holy Spirit, like the disciples in the upper room on the day of Pentecost, we’re patiently waiting for You to fill us with Your power and with Your presence. We’re ready for You to send us on new adventures.
We REJOICE and celebrate God’s goodness with this week’s memory verse:
Read by Annika
Romans 8:15
The Spirit we received does not make us slaves again to fear; it makes us children of God. With that Spirit we cry out, ‘Father.’
Romans 8:15 (NCV)
God, help us to remember Your Word.
The Christians in Tyre and the prophet Agabus had warned Paul that things would be difficult for him in Jerusalem. Today we’re REFLECTING on just how difficult it got!
Read by Annika
Acts 21:28,30-31,33,36
[The religious leaders] shouted, ‘People of Israel, help us! This is the man who goes everywhere teaching against the law of Moses, against our people, and against this Temple.’ All the people in Jerusalem became upset. Together they ran, took Paul, and dragged him out of the Temple. While they were trying to kill Paul, the commander of the Roman army in Jerusalem learned that there was trouble in the whole city. The commander went to Paul and arrested him. He told his soldiers to tie Paul with two chains. The whole mob was following them, shouting, ‘Kill him!’
Acts 21:28,30-31,33,36 (NCV)
The religious leaders were furious with Paul and they accused him of teaching ‘against Moses’ (by this they meant the laws of the Old Testament), ‘against the people’ (by this they meant the Jewish people) and ‘against the Temple’ (by this they meant their religious community). But Paul wasn’t really teaching against anything – he was simply teaching for Jesus. Jesus was all he wanted to talk about. Sometime later, when he wrote to the church in Corinth, he said, ‘I decided that while I was with you I would forget about everything except Jesus Christ and his death on the cross.’ (1 Corinthians 2:2, NCV)
Paul travelled to Jerusalem, in spite of the warnings that the Christians in Tyre and the prophet Agabus had given to him because he knew that God was for the people of Jerusalem, not against them. God loved them, and so did Paul.
Let’s press pause and talk about today’s question, which is: How can we show that we are ‘for’ other people instead of ‘against’ them?
And now, let’s ASK God to help us and others.
Loving God, we ASK you to help us show other people that we are ‘for’ them – that we believe in them and care for them, that we want to cheer them on and help them in any way that we can.
And God, we also ASK you to help us not to be ‘against’ people in an unkind way. It’s easy to get caught up when our friends are spreading stories and saying unkind things against someone else. Please give us the courage not to join in.
In today’s Bible reading, the commander of the Roman army said that there was ‘trouble in the whole city’. Let’s think for a moment about a city or some other place somewhere around the world where we’ve heard there is a lot of trouble.
Merciful God, we ASK you to calm the troubles around the world. We ASK for peace where there is conflict and violence. And please protect those who are the most vulnerable.
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.
Acts 21:28,30-31,33,36
[The religious leaders] shouted, ‘People of Israel, help us! This is the man who goes everywhere teaching against the law of Moses, against our people, and against this Temple.’ All the people in Jerusalem became upset. Together they ran, took Paul, and dragged him out of the Temple. While they were trying to kill Paul, the commander of the Roman army in Jerusalem learned that there was trouble in the whole city. The commander went to Paul and arrested him. He told his soldiers to tie Paul with two chains. The whole mob was following them, shouting, ‘Kill him!’
Acts 21:28,30-31,33,36 (NCV)
What word or phrase stood out from today’s Bible verses?
And now, let’s say YES to God together.
Holy Spirit, we say YES to going on adventures with You. We say YES to being ‘for’ all the things that you are ‘for’, like love and kindness and generosity and hope and forgiveness. And we say NO to all the things that you are ‘against’, like hate and greed and selfishness.
After enjoying this time with God and each other, let’s say our memory verse together:
Romans 8:15
The Spirit we received does not make us slaves again to fear; it makes us children of God. With that Spirit we cry out, ‘Father.’
Romans 8:15 (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.
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.
Annika is 10 years old and lives in Melbourne, Australia with her parents and older brother and sister. Annika enjoys playing Cricket and Aussie Rules Football and loves going to watch her favourite team play football. Annika also learns the drums and enjoys making up her own beats!
