Week: Easter
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 died for us but You came back to life again and You’re alive now. We’re ready to meet with You in new ways today.
We REJOICE and celebrate God’s goodness with this week’s memory verse:
Read by Selah
Matthew 28:20
[Jesus said] ‘Teach [people] to obey everything that I have taught you, and I will be with you always, even until the end of this age.’
Matthew 28:20 (NCV)
God, help us to remember Your Word.
Yesterday, we read and prayed around Jesus’ promise to be with us, always. Today, we’re REFLECTING on another promise Jesus made to His disciples.
Read by Selah
Acts 1:3-5
After his death, he showed himself to them and proved in many ways that he was alive. The apostles saw Jesus during the forty days after he was raised from the dead, and he spoke to them about the kingdom of God. Once when he was eating with them, he told them not to leave Jerusalem. He said, ‘Wait here to receive the promise from the Father which I told you about. John baptized people with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’
Acts 1:3-5 (NCV)
After being brought back to life by God, Jesus spent forty days meeting and talking with many of His disciples, reminding them of all the things that He’d taught them about God’s love and God’s ways to live well.
But then, instead of sending the disciples straight out to ‘tell the world’, Jesus said something unexpected. He gave them one final instruction, one that they weren’t expecting at all. He simply said, ‘wait’.
Let’s press pause and talk about today’s question, which is: What are we waiting for at the moment?
When Jesus told His disciples to ‘wait here to receive the promise from the Father,’ He meant the Holy Spirit. Jesus knew that the disciples would need the Holy Spirit to guide them, strengthen them and give them special gifts so that they could live their lives the way God wanted. And we need the Holy Spirit for all this too.
So, let’s pray…
Come, Holy Spirit. Like the disciples, we wait for You. We ASK You to fill our lives with Your presence. Give us all we need to live our lives the way God wants.
At the beginning of the book of Acts, we read the story of the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit filled the waiting disciples. It was the day when Jesus’ Church was born, and thousands of people joined in.
Loving God, we pray for the churches in the towns and cities where we live. We ASK You to fill us all with Your Holy Spirit. Fill us to overflowing. Fill us in ways that change us from the inside out. And may thousands of people come to know Jesus because of the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit’s activity in us. Come, Holy Spirit.
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.
Acts 1:3-5
After his death, he showed himself to them and proved in many ways that he was alive. The apostles saw Jesus during the forty days after he was raised from the dead, and he spoke to them about the kingdom of God. Once when he was eating with them, he told them not to leave Jerusalem. He said, ‘Wait here to receive the promise from the Father which I told you about. John baptized people with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’
Acts 1:3-5 (NCV)
What word or phrase stood out from today’s Bible verses?
Let’s close our eyes and wait for a moment.
Pause
Now, let’s say YES to the Holy Spirit by repeating this simple prayer three times together.
Holy Spirit, we say YES, come and fill us.
Holy Spirit, we say YES, come and fill us.
Holy Spirit, we say YES, come and fill us.
After enjoying this time with God and each other, let’s say our memory verse together:
Matthew 28:20
[Jesus said] ‘Teach [people] to obey everything that I have taught you, and I will be with you always, even until the end of this age.’
Matthew 28:20 (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.
Liliwyn lives in Kansas City, USA, with her parents, sisters and dogs. She is a good friend and enjoys designing, music, traveling, math and watching American Football (especially the KC Chiefs).
