Resurrection Lutheran Church: Faithful Life in Pandemic
Devotions in Quarantine
Devotions and Encouragement, September 21, 2020
This Week’s Theme:
Prayer
So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.
(Luke 11:9)
Thought
Jesus invites us into something pretty incredible. To ask is to dare to approach someone. To search usually requires time. To knock is to risk annoyance. Dare, he says. Dare to approach the Creator of Heaven and Earth. Keep seeking the movement of God’s hand in your life. Keep knocking, even when it seems God doesn’t answer. It is God’s will to respond to our asking; to be present to our seeking; and to open the door, as we knock.
Quote
We should seek not so much to pray but to become prayer. –St. Francis of Assisi
Question
How might you ask, seek, and knock today?
For Children
Have your children ask something of you today, look for something today, and
knock at a door, as you open it. Jesus promises that God will hear us as we ask, seek, and knock.
Prayer
Give me courage to ask, O God;
Restlessness to search;
And fortitude to knock
Amen
.
Devotions and Encouragement, September 22, 2020
This Week’s Theme:
Prayer
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words.
(Romans 8:26)
Thought
You’re not alone if you think that you don’t really know how to pray. Most of us wonder the same thing, at least some of the time. What do we ask for? How do we ask? What words do we use? Is there a proper tone of voice, a proper way to ask?
Romans 8:26 gives a word in this: To pray is first of all not be consumed with how to do it—and let the Spirit intercede.
Quote
Prayer is not asking. Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God, at His disposition, and listening to His voice in the depth of our hearts.”
–Mother Teresa
Question
What might it mean for you to let the Spirit “intercede” for you?
For Children
Play a game: ask your children to keep quiet as you count to 10. Jesus prays for us when we can’t find the words to speak. That’s how much Jesus loves us!
Prayer
When I have no words, O God,
Through the Spirit, given in your Son,
Speak for me.
Amen
Devotions and Encouragement, September 23, 2020
This Week’s Theme:
Prayer
Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
(Philippians 4:6)
Thought
To live without worry is hardly possible. It’s none other than Job, in the Old Testament, who says that we are born to trouble, “as the sparks fly upward.” If we care for or about life, we are going to worry!
One key in all of it is to not leave worry by itself. Paul, in Romans, calls us to bring “prayer and supplication” right beside it. With every worry is a reason to pray. Our care for life is nothing, in the face of the care and mercy of God.
Quote
Pray, and let God worry.
-Martin Luther
Question:
How has prayer strengthened your response to stress and worry?
For Children
Play a game: Have your children sit on the ground. When You say the word, “worry,” have them jump up, and then sit down again. When you say the word pray, have them stand up to the count of 10 before sitting down again. Play this a couple times. Every time we worry, Jesus invites us to pray.
Prayer
For every request I pray, O God,
Let me remember that for which I give thanks.
Amen
Devotions and Encouragement, September 24, 2020
This Week’s Theme:
Prayer
Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving.
(Colossians 4:2 )
Thought
It’s interesting that we “devote” ourselves to prayer, or stay consistently in it, as we keep “alert” in “thanksgiving.” Remembering how we have seen God’s hand at work in our lives through Christ propels us ahead to keep praying. Even thanking God simply to thank God- given no apparent reason for the thanksgiving—propels us into further prayer. If it does nothing else, thanksgiving reminds us of what Jesus says of God and reveals of God, over and over again. God is for us, not against. God is on our side, not in opposition to us. God’s first and final will is to shower us with mercy and grace, love and life. It is precisely in that promise and hope that we have reason for and hope to pray.
Quote
If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough. -Meister Eckhart
Question
What would it mean for you to “keep alert” in prayer “with thanksgiving?”
For Children
Teach your children this prayer. When they say the words, “Keep my eyes open!” invite them to put their hands toward their eyes and pretend to use them to keep their eyes open.
When I worry, dear Jesus,
Keep my eyes open
To see your love.
Amen
Prayer
Gracious God,
Keep me alert in prayer,
That I might be alive also to the gifts of faith, hope, and love
Devotions in Quarantine
Devotions and Encouragement, September 21, 2020
This Week’s Theme:
Prayer
So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.
(Luke 11:9)
Thought
Jesus invites us into something pretty incredible. To ask is to dare to approach someone. To search usually requires time. To knock is to risk annoyance. Dare, he says. Dare to approach the Creator of Heaven and Earth. Keep seeking the movement of God’s hand in your life. Keep knocking, even when it seems God doesn’t answer. It is God’s will to respond to our asking; to be present to our seeking; and to open the door, as we knock.
Quote
We should seek not so much to pray but to become prayer.
–St. Francis of Assisi
Question
How might you ask, seek, and knock today?
For Children
Have your children ask something of you today, look for something today, and
knock at a door, as you open it. Jesus promises that God will hear us as we ask, seek, and knock.
Prayer
Give me courage to ask, O God;
Restlessness to search;
And fortitude to knock
Amen
.
Devotions and Encouragement, September 22, 2020
This Week’s Theme:
Prayer
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words.
(Romans 8:26)
Thought
You’re not alone if you think that you don’t really know how to pray. Most of us wonder the same thing, at least some of the time. What do we ask for? How do we ask? What words do we use? Is there a proper tone of voice, a proper way to ask?
Romans 8:26 gives a word in this: To pray is first of all not be consumed with how to do it—and let the Spirit intercede.
Quote
Prayer is not asking. Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God, at His disposition, and listening to His voice in the depth of our hearts.”
–Mother Teresa
Question
What might it mean for you to let the Spirit “intercede” for you?
For Children
Play a game: ask your children to keep quiet as you count to 10. Jesus prays for us when we can’t find the words to speak. That’s how much Jesus loves us!
Prayer
When I have no words, O God,
Through the Spirit, given in your Son,
Speak for me.
Amen
Devotions and Encouragement, September 23, 2020
This Week’s Theme:
Prayer
Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
(Philippians 4:6)
Thought
To live without worry is hardly possible. It’s none other than Job, in the Old Testament, who says that we are born to trouble, “as the sparks fly upward.” If we care for or about life, we are going to worry!
One key in all of it is to not leave worry by itself. Paul, in Romans, calls us to bring “prayer and supplication” right beside it. With every worry is a reason to pray. Our care for life is nothing, in the face of the care and mercy of God.
Quote
Pray, and let God worry.
-Martin Luther
Question:
How has prayer strengthened your response to stress and worry?
For Children
Play a game: Have your children sit on the ground. When You say the word, “worry,” have them jump up, and then sit down again. When you say the word pray, have them stand up to the count of 10 before sitting down again. Play this a couple times. Every time we worry, Jesus invites us to pray.
Prayer
For every request I pray, O God,
Let me remember that for which I give thanks.
Amen
Devotions and Encouragement, September 24, 2020
This Week’s Theme:
Prayer
Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving.
(Colossians 4:2 )
Thought
It’s interesting that we “devote” ourselves to prayer, or stay consistently in it, as we keep “alert” in “thanksgiving.” Remembering how we have seen God’s hand at work in our lives through Christ propels us ahead to keep praying. Even thanking God simply to thank God- given no apparent reason for the thanksgiving—propels us into further prayer. If it does nothing else, thanksgiving reminds us of what Jesus says of God and reveals of God, over and over again. God is for us, not against. God is on our side, not in opposition to us. God’s first and final will is to shower us with mercy and grace, love and life. It is precisely in that promise and hope that we have reason for and hope to pray.
Quote
If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough.
-Meister Eckhart
Question
What would it mean for you to “keep alert” in prayer “with thanksgiving?”
For Children
Teach your children this prayer. When they say the words, “Keep my eyes open!” invite them to put their hands toward their eyes and pretend to use them to keep their eyes open.
When I worry, dear Jesus,
Keep my eyes open
To see your love.
Amen
Prayer
Gracious God,
Keep me alert in prayer,
That I might be alive also to the gifts of faith, hope, and love
Given to me in your Son.
Amen
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