Week: Justice - living the right way
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
Mighty God, open our eyes, stir our hearts and teach us how, ‘To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly’ with You today. (Micah 6:8)
We REJOICE and celebrate God’s goodness with this week’s memory verse:
Read by Zoë
Jeremiah 9:24
[The Lord says] What I like best is showing kindness, justice, and mercy to everyone on earth.
Jeremiah 9:24b (CEV)
God, help us to remember Your Word.
This week we will be REFLECTING on the letter that James, the brother of Jesus, wrote to the Jewish Christians who were living outside of Israel.
Read by Zoë
James 1:19-21
My dear brothers and sisters, always be willing to listen and slow to speak. Do not become angry easily, because anger will not help you live the right kind of life God wants. So put out of your life every evil thing and every kind of wrong. Then in gentleness accept God’s teaching that is planted in your hearts, which can save you.
James 1:19-21 (NCV)
In today’s verses, James teaches the followers of Jesus how to live lives of love and justice. One way to understand justice is that it’s when people get what they deserve, and everyone deserves to be treated fairly and with equal value because everyone is made in God’s image.
James begins his teaching with some great advice about how to live lives of love and justice; be quick to listen, be slow to speak and be slow to become angry. Quick, slow, slow. It sounds a bit like dancing steps, doesn’t it? Maybe that’s a good way to remember James’ advice? Quick to listen. Slow to speak. Slow to become angry. Can we remember that?
Let’s press pause and talk about today’s question, which is: What can we think of that’s best to do slowly to do really well? For example, drawing a portrait of someone.
And now let’s ASK God to help us and others.
Lord Jesus, help us to live more like You – to live lives of love and justice.
We ASK You to help us to be quicker to listen.
We ASK You to help us to be slower to speak – help us to think before we speak and to only say kind, encouraging things.
And we ASK You to help us to be slower to become angry too.
Let’s be really specific for a moment. When we prayed those words just now, who did the Holy Spirit bring to our minds? Who haven’t we slowed down enough to listen to recently? Who have we quickly become angry with recently?
Lord Jesus, we’re really sorry. We receive Your forgiveness, and we ASK You to help us to be more loving towards our friends and family.
If there’s an opportunity, we might want to say sorry to the person as well.
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.
James 1:19-21
My dear brothers and sisters, always be willing to listen and slow to speak. Do not become angry easily, because anger will not help you live the right kind of life God wants. So put out of your life every evil thing and every kind of wrong. Then in gentleness accept God’s teaching that is planted in your hearts, which can save you.
James 1:19-21 (NCV)
What word or phrase stood out from today’s Bible verses?
And now, let’s say YES to God together.
Lord Jesus, we say YES to living lives of love and justice. Help us to be quicker to listen, slower to speak and slower to become angry.
After enjoying this time with God and each other, let’s say our memory verse together:
Jeremiah 9:24
[The Lord says] What I like best is showing kindness, justice, and mercy to everyone on earth.
Jeremiah 9:24b (CEV)
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.
Phil lives close to a beach in the north of England with his wife, his daughters and his dogs. Phil works for 24-7 Prayer, mostly doing Lectio stuff, and helping to run Prayer Spaces in Schools. He runs a lot, usually for long distances. He likes curry, mountains, reading books and he still plays Pokemon Go.
Zoë Thandeka (Thandi) is 13 and she lives in Guildford, in the UK, with her family. She loves football (her favourite football team is Liverpool FC), Top Gear and car-spotting. When she’s older, Zoë wants to be a photographer or work with animals in some way.
