Week: Mark's Gospel
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, we hear You inviting us, and so we choose to follow You, with all our hearts, with all our minds, with all our souls and with all our strength.
We REJOICE and celebrate God’s goodness with this week’s memory verse:
Read by Jackson J
Psalm 107:1
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures for ever.
Psalm 107:1 (NIV)
God, help us to remember Your Word.
Jesus told His disciples that they would all ‘stumble in their faith’, that they would feel scared and confused and that they would all run away. Today we’re REFLECTING on how upset Peter was about this.
Read by Jackson J
Mark 14:29-31
Peter said, ‘Everyone else may stumble in their faith, but I will not.’
Jesus answered, ‘I tell you the truth, tonight before the rooster crows twice you will say three times you don’t know me.’
But Peter insisted, ‘I will never say that I don’t know you! I will even die with you!’ And all the other followers said the same thing.
Mark 14:29-31 (NCV)
Peter was one of Jesus’ closest friends, and he did lots of amazing things that show us just how much he believed in, and trusted, Jesus. For example, one time he even stepped out of a boat and walked on the sea to reach Jesus! As we will see next week though, when Jesus was arrested, even Peter ‘stumbled in his faith’ – he felt scared and confused and he denied even knowing Jesus just to protect himself. Peter loved Jesus, but even he found it difficult to follow Jesus sometimes.
Jesus tells Peter that he will deny Him three times before the rooster crows. Let’s press pause and each do our best rooster crow impression. If we don’t know what one sounds like, let’s quickly Google it first. Whose ‘crow’ is the best?
It doesn’t matter how much we love Jesus, we all stumble a bit sometimes, especially when we feel scared or confused. And we might even feel like we don’t want other people to know that we follow Jesus.
Jesus, we’re sorry for the times when we let our feelings take over and take the place of our faith in You. Thank you that even though our feelings change, Your love for us never changes. We ASK for a bit more courage to follow You this week.
And Jesus, we pray for other Christians too. We ASK You to give them courage and boldness to talk about You, and to live their lives for You, wherever they are.
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.
Read by Jackson J
Mark 14:29-31
Peter said, ‘Everyone else may stumble in their faith, but I will not.’
Jesus answered, ‘I tell you the truth, tonight before the rooster crows twice you will say three times you don’t know me.’
But Peter insisted, ‘I will never say that I don’t know you! I will even die with you!’ And all the other followers said the same thing.
Mark 14:29-31 (NCV)
What word or phrase stood out from today’s Bible verses?
And now, let’s say YES to God together.
Lord Jesus, thank you for believing in us, for never stumbling in Your faith is us and Your love for us. We say YES to trying to stumble less and stand a bit stronger.
After enjoying this time with God and each other, let’s say our memory verse together:
Psalm 107:1
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures for ever.
Psalm 107:1 (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 he lives in Chichester, on the south coast of England, with his parents and his sister. He loves Pokemon (who doesn’t?), music and having fun with his friends.
