Silence
1. Put on your “brakes” and stop for a moment of silence
2. Wait for God. Breathe deep for God's peace. Exhale your worries.
Praise and Thanksgiving
1. Think through your day, all the times that made you smile
2. Thank God for all those moments, and for all those people3. Open your heart to praise the Lord
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies. Psalm 18:2-3
Confession and repentance
1. Pray for the Holy Spirit to work in you:
“Dear Holy Spirit, shine your light into the places of darkness in my life. Show me my sins, everything that blocks me from encountering God. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”
“Dear Holy Spirit, shine your light into the places of darkness in my life. Show me my sins, everything that blocks me from encountering God. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”
2. Through the Holy Spirit, examine yourself for a short silence and then pray:
"Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for our sins and being victorious over death and sin. I confess my sin to you(pause, to tell Jesus what the Holy Spirit has shown you). Forgive my sins by your blood and help me follow you. Holy Spirit, fill me that I may be able to receive your gift to love God and His people. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen."
"Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for our sins and being victorious over death and sin. I confess my sin to you(pause, to tell Jesus what the Holy Spirit has shown you). Forgive my sins by your blood and help me follow you. Holy Spirit, fill me that I may be able to receive your gift to love God and His people. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen."
The Word
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
Let's have a time to be still and give the Holy Spirit space to speak through the passage of scripture we have just read. Offer this time up to Jesus as you listen to him, while listening to "Gabriel's Oboe"
My Listening
Today's passage draws a conclusion to the purpose of the three standard obligations: giving, praying and fasting.
Bishop N.T. Wright says :
The important point, here and all through, is the question: is your eye fixed on God, or on someone (or something) else? What is your priority?
How can one do this? Well, the whole chapter so far gives us the clue. Learn to live in the presence of the loving father. Learn to do everything for him and him alone. Get your priorities right.
N.T. Wright. Matthew for Everyone, Part 1. Louisville,KY:Westminster John Knox Press, 2004, p.62, 63.
The purpose of giving, praying and fasting is for us to live in the presence of the loving father so that we can do everything for him and him alone. What are three situations that prevent us from giving, praying and fasting?
1. Store up treasures on earth
2. Keep our eyes on earthly things but not God
3. Money bosses you around rather than Jesus being your Lord
Have you failed to follow Jesus as your Lord so that giving, praying and fasting are not your priorities at all?
What I received from Jesus today is a very simple message:
1. If Jesus is not your Lord, then you'll spend all your time to store up treasures on earth and let money boss you around.
2. If Jesus is your Lord, then you will give more, pray more and fast more.
Saying that Jesus is your Lord is so simple. But you have to choose to be on his side if you are willing to let Jesus be your Lord. Which side are you on actually? Jesus, or money?
Jesus says, "Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is near." Matthew 4:17
Dear Lord Jesus,
Lead us to be willing to let you to lord our lives so that we can give more, pray more and fast more. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
Reflect on these questions:
1. What are the situations blocking us from giving, praying and fasting more?
2. Who/what are the "lords" of your life that control your day-to-day actions?
3. In all honesty, do you think money or Jesus governs you more in the decisions that you make in your day-to-day living?
Family Corner:
1. How does your family treat money? Is it something you stress over, or is it a commodity that you simply spend? What kind of priority does it have in your family?
2. Think of one time where your family chose to be give generously (to anybody). How did that feel and what did you experience? If you have never given generously, why not?
1. How does your family treat money? Is it something you stress over, or is it a commodity that you simply spend? What kind of priority does it have in your family?
2. Think of one time where your family chose to be give generously (to anybody). How did that feel and what did you experience? If you have never given generously, why not?