Week: Lent
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, You’re our champion, the one we want to follow and so we fix our eyes on You. As we draw near to You, would You draw near to us. Our faith depends on You, from beginning to end. (Hebrews 12:2)
We REJOICE and celebrate God’s goodness with this week’s memory verse:
Read by Jackson R
Psalm 42:1
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.
Psalm 42:1 (NIV)
God, help us to remember Your Word.
Today, we’re REFLECTING on what Jesus said about how we should do things for other people. It’s not just what we do, but it’s how we do it that matters.
Read by Jackson R
Matthew 6:1,3-4
[Jesus said] ‘Be careful! When you do good things, don’t do them in front of people to be seen by them. If you do that, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the poor, don’t let anyone know what you are doing. Your giving should be done in secret. Your Father can see what is done in secret, and he will reward you.’
Matthew 6:1,3-4 (NCV)
While some people decide to put things aside – to give things up – during the season of Lent, others decide to start doing things. Good things like helping out at home, spending more time with God, maybe doing Lectio for Families every day for Lent (if we don’t already!), or sending encouraging messages to different people each day.
Whatever good things we do, Jesus tells us to keep them quiet. Don’t brag about them, just get on and serve others, being kind and generous, in secret if possible.
Let’s press pause and talk about today’s question, which is: What are some things we could take up or start doing this Lent?
Let’s close our eyes and pause for a few moments.
Lord Jesus, we’ve been talking about some of the things that we’d like to do for others. But is there something that You would particularly like us to do for someone else?
In today’s verses, Jesus said ‘when you give to the poor…’ not ‘if you give to the poor.’ Jesus expects His followers to be generous, and that includes our time, our money and the other things we have.
Lord Jesus, there are probably lots of people in our neighbourhood who have needs – people who don’t have a job or a home, people who are hungry or lonely. We ASK You to care for them, and we also ASK You to show us how we can be generous towards them too.
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 6:1,3-4
[Jesus said] ‘Be careful! When you do good things, don’t do them in front of people to be seen by them. If you do that, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the poor, don’t let anyone know what you are doing. Your giving should be done in secret. Your Father can see what is done in secret, and he will reward you.’
Matthew 6:1,3-4 (NCV)
What word or phrase stood out from today’s Bible verses?
And now, let’s say YES to God together.
Father God, it feels good when other people see that we’ve done something kind or generous and they say ‘well done’. But it feels even better when You say ‘well done!’ So we say YES to the way that You want us to do good things, even if no-one else knows that we’ve done them except You.
After enjoying this time with God and each other, let’s say our memory verse together:
Psalm 42:1
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.
Psalm 42:1 (NIV)
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.
Jackson is 11 and lives with his younger brother and parents in Surrey. He loves pretty much all sport but his favourites are football, golf and jumping off high stuff into water! He enjoys gaming and is always ready to build something on Minecraft.
