Tag: Prayer

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Deuteronomy 30:11-20 – The word of God is very close to you

Matthew 5:1-12  – Blessed are you

prayer

Blessed are you, God our Father, for the gift of your word in Holy Scripture.

Blessed are you for its transforming power.

Help us choose life and guide us by your Spirit,

so that we can experience the happiness which you want so much to share with us.

go and do

Global: Find out more about the Just Scripture initiative and help organise a session connecting the churches in your area with a community across the world.

Local: What one act of kindness could the churches in your area take together to be a unified blessing in your wider community?

Personal: Read the Beatitudes through slowly (Matthew 5: 3-11). Which of the actions described in the passage are you encouraged to take today?

(see www.ctbi.org.uk/goanddo)

Source: Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2021 Resources

“I do not call you servants any longer.. have called you friends” (John 15:15)

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Romans 8:26-27 – The Spirit helps us in our weakness

Luke 11:1-4 – Lord, teach us to pray

prayer

Lord Jesus, your entire life was prayer, perfect harmony with the Father.

Through your Spirit, teach us to pray according to your will of love.

May the faithful of the whole world unite in intercession and praise, and may your kingdom of love come.

questions

• Jesus lived as an example of what it means to “live in prayer’! If prayer is the foundation of our relationship with God how much time and attention could you give to your personal prayer life?

• What have you learned from praying with other Christians? What might God want you to learn from the practices and traditions of others?

• What specific need in your community can you commit to pray for over the coming year?

Source: Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2021 Resources

“Love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12b)

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Colossians 3:12-17 – Clothe yourself with compassion

John 13:1-15; 34-35 – Love one another

prayer

God our Father, you reveal to us your love through Christ and through our brothers and sisters.

Open our hearts so that we can welcome each other with our differences and live in forgiveness.

Grant us to live united in one body, so that the gift that is each person comes to light.

May all of us together be a reflection of the living Christ.

Source: Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2021 Resources

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Ephesians 3:14-21 – May Christ dwell in our hearts

Luke 2:41-52 – Mary treasured all these things

questions

• The Bible tells us very little about Jesus’ youth and early adulthood, when he seems to have lived an ordinary life in Nazareth. How are you conscious of God’s presence with you in the everyday things of life?

• In your church or group of churches how do you nurture your children and young people to walk with God in their everyday lives, and how could you do this better?

• What does the churches having a ‘presence’ together in the community look like in your area?

Source: Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2021 Resources

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Genesis 12:1-4 The call of Abraham

John 1:35-51 The call of the first disciples

Meditation

The start of the journey is an encounter between a human being and God, between the created and the Creator, between time and eternity.

Abraham heard the call: “Go to the land I will show you”. Like Abraham we are called to leave that which is familiar and go to the place that God has prepared in the depths of our hearts. Along the way, we become more and more ourselves, the people God has wanted us to be from the beginning. And by following the call that is addressed to us, we become a blessing for our loved ones, our neighbours, and the world.

The love of God seeks us. God became human in Jesus, in whom we encounter the gaze of God. In our lives, as in the Gospel of John, God’s call is heard in different ways. Touched by his love, we set out. In this encounter, we walk a path of transformation – the bright beginning of a relationship of love that is always started anew.

“One day you understood that, without your being aware of it, a yes had already been inscribed in your innermost depths. And so you chose to go forward in the footsteps of Christ….

In silence in the presence of Christ, you heard him say, ‘Come, follow me; I will give you a place to rest your heart.’”

[The Sources of Taizé (2000) p. 52]

prayer

Jesus Christ, you seek us, you wish to offer us your friendship and lead us to a life that is ever more complete.

Grant us the confidence to answer your call so that we may be transformed and become witnesses of your tenderness for the world.

Source: Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2021 Resources