Week: Me and Others
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, You came to bring peace and healing, and because of You we can now be reconciled with God, with ourselves, with other people and with the whole world. We’re ready for You to restore our relationships a little bit more today.
We REJOICE and celebrate God’s goodness with this week’s memory verse:
Read by Kumi
Colossians 3:14
Clothe yourself in love. Love is what holds you all together in perfect unity.
Colossians 3:14 (NCV)
God, help us to remember Your Word.
Today we’re REFLECTING on the role that God has given us in helping others to be reconciled to God.
Read by Kumi
2 Corinthians 5:17-19
Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.
2 Corinthians 5:17b-19 (NLT)
Last week we were exploring how to be reconciled to ourselves – how to love and accept ourselves as God loves us. This week is all about being reconciled with others – learning to love people… and not just the ones that we like!
Paul, who wrote this letter to the early church in Corinth, explains that helping other people to be reconciled to God and each other is not just a nice thing to do – it’s an important, wonderful job that God has given to each of us so that other people can also be reconciled with Him, and have a friendship with Him.
Paul wrote lots of letters to churches, and some of them are in the Bible. Let’s press pause and talk about today’s question, which is: Who would we like to write a letter to?
And now let’s ask God to help us and others.
Loving God, as we explore how to be reconciled with others this week, we ASK You to help us see all the people around us more like You do.
When we think about being reconciled to others – brought back together – is there someone that comes into our thoughts that we could start this week by praying for?
Father God, You are full of love, and You want to be reconciled – brought back together – with everyone. As we think about the people we know who may need this, we ASK You to reach out to them this week.
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.
2 Corinthians 5:17-19
Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.
2 Corinthians 5:17b-19 (NLT)
What word or phrase stood out from today’s Bible verses?
And now, let’s say YES to God together.
Loving God, we say YES to being the new person that You made us to be, and YES to sharing Your message of reconciliation and love to all the people around us.
After enjoying this time with God and each other, let’s say our memory verse together:
Colossians 3:14
Clothe yourself in love. Love is what holds you all together in perfect unity.
Colossians 3:14 (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.
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.
Kumkanikazi (Kumi) is 12 years old, and lives In Johannesburg, South Africa with her parents and 4 siblings.
You’ll often find her in a stylish outfit, baking up a storm or creating videos.
