Week: Learning
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, You are the best teacher. As we explore the Bible and listen to You, please help us to understand more about You, and draw closer to You.
We REJOICE and celebrate God’s goodness with this week’s memory verse:
Read by Max
Psalm 25:5
Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you.
Psalm 25:5 (NCV)
God, help us to remember Your Word.
Today is our final day REFLECTING on the longest Psalm in the Bible and on what it has to say to us about learning.
Read by Max
Psalm 119:9-11
How can a young person live a pure life?
By obeying your word.
With all my heart I try to obey you.
Don’t let me break your commands.
I have taken your words to heart
so I would not sin against you.
Psalm 119:9-11 (NCV)
Psalm 119 was originally written as a song, and even though it has 176 verses, it was written to be memorised. That’s probably what the writer means when he says, ‘I have taken your words to heart’. He’s saying that he’s memorised some of God’s teachings, or His promises, and now he can learn to make them part of his life.
For example, maybe we could memorise Joshua 1:9, which says ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go’, and then we could use this whenever we felt a bit fearful. We could use it as a prayer if we needed to… Lord God, we know that You are with us, and so we don’t need to be afraid.
Let’s press pause and talk about today’s question, which is: Which Lectio for Families memory verses from previous weeks can we still remember? Let’s see how many we have taken into our hearts.
And now, let’s ASK God to help us and others.
Lord God, this is a really specific prayer – we ASK You to help us to remember! We really do want to take Your words into our hearts, so that they become part of our lives.
Maybe we could find another verse that we really like and try to memorise that as well this week?
In some parts of the world, it is dangerous to own a Bible. If a person is caught with even one verse from a Bible then they get put into prison. To avoid this, Christians often memorise long passages from the Bible instead – then no-one can catch them with an actual Bible because it is hidden in their hearts.
Father God, we ASK You to be with those who live in places like this. Comfort them and strengthen them, and we pray that many more people start following Jesus, in spite of the dangers and the difficulties.
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.
Psalm 119:9-11
How can a young person live a pure life?
By obeying your word.
With all my heart I try to obey you.
Don’t let me break your commands.
I have taken your words to heart
so I would not sin against you.
Psalm 119:9-11 (NCV)
What word or phrase stood out from today’s Bible verses?
And now, let’s say YES to God together.
Lord God, we say YES to taking Your teachings, Your promises, Your encouragement into our hearts. As it says in today’s verses, with all our hearts we will try to obey You.
After enjoying this time with God and each other, let’s say our memory verse together:
Psalm 25:5
Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you.
Psalm 25:5 (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.
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!