MONDAY MARCH 18, 2024
DAILY SCRIPTURE:
PSALM 23
JOHN 17:1-5
This past Sunday, Pastor Clark preached from John 17. This week we will have a daily Psalm to pray and a passage from John 17 along with a daily discipline, reflection, meditation, poem, or prayer.
DAILY MEDITATION: FROM THE COMMUNITY
WHAT AN EXAMPLE
Lonetta Key, FPCH COMMUNITY
“I have glorified You down here on the earth by completing the work that You gave me to do” (John 17:4)
Wow what an amazing declarative statement—emphatic, unequivocal.
Jesus had honored God in every aspect of His life “down here on the earth”. He had glorified His Father as He “went about doing good ”. So Luke tells us in Acts 10:38. From the moment of birth Jesus knew what His work was. He was confident of the mission His Father had sent Him on. And He never lost sight of His goal, even though that encompassed enduring indescribable pain and suffering on the cross.
Luke also includes two important factors in the same verse. “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power.” These were essential ingredients in enabling Christ to make His assertion in our text.
And the last part says, “for God was with him.” Note that even the Son of God required the power derived from the Holy Spirit and His Father’s Presence to successfully culminate His purpose.
Each of us has a divinely appointed mission. But it is imperative that we rely on God to define that work for us as we petition Him in prayer. And that we daily invite the Holy Spirit’s fresh anointing and the indwelling, abiding presence of God. It is also essentially crucial that we are committed to finish our assignment.
How enormously fulfilling and rewarding to be able to duplicate Jesus’ assertion by saying with unwavering surety, “I am completing the God ordained work He has given me. I am bringing honor and glory to His Name. I am going about doing good as I serve the Lord. By the transforming power emanated by the Holy Spirit, I am being guided into the completion of the objective for which I have been consecrated.”
Dear Brother and Sister no other accomplishment can come close to comparison
TUESDAY MARCH 19, 2024
DAILY SCRIPTURE:
PSALM 89:1-13
JOHN 17:6-12
DAILY DISCIPLNE: MEDITATION ON SCRIPTURE
Today we will provide a Meditation and Reflection during the Lenten Journey.
LET’S BEGIN:
SIT IN YOUR QUIET SPACE:
READ SCRIPTURE:
Read slowly and allow the words to penetrate.
JOHN 17:6-12
SILENCE:
If you would like to set a timer for 5 or 10 min. If you haven’t practiced mediation or it has been a while maybe start with 5 minutes.
Find a posture as you sit with a straight back; I like to think a tall back. Pretend a string is coming down from ceiling and is attached to the top of your head.
Not rigid and not too relaxed.
CENTERING PRAYER:
“Jesus, let me feel your love.”
Repeat 3-4 times.
SILENT MEDITATION:
Once you feel centered begin:
Sit in silence. If your mind begins to wonder don’t stress. Come back to the breath and the centering prayer 2 or 3 times.
If images or words come to mind. Don’t focus to hard on them just make a note of it and get back to the breath and centering prayer.
Once the timer has gone off you may open your eyes.
READ SCRIPTURE A SECOND TIME:
John 17:6-12
CENTERING PRAYER:
Eyes open or closed.
Begin Centering Prayer
Breathe in … “Lord have mercy,”
Breathe out… “Christ have mercy.”
Or whichever prayer you choose.
SOLITUDE AND SILENCE:
Sit in silence before the Lord another 5- 10 minutes.
CLOSING:
Pray the Lord’s Prayer
Amen.
WEDNESDAY MARCH 20, 2024
DAILY SCRIPTURE:
PSALM 89:14-29
JOHN 17:13-19
DAILY PRACTICE: POETRY
The haiku is a Japanese poetic form that consists of three lines, with five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, and five in the third.
This haiku is Holy Spirit inspired from John 17:
By Maria Monetta
Christ’s prayer for us all,
Unity in God’s embrace,
Love’s eternal call.
Take some time and read through our scripture in John or the Psalm and write your own Haiku, or a poem on something that stood out to you, or just write freely what the Holy Spirit brings to you.
THURSDAY MARCH 21, 2024
DAILY SCRIPTURE:
PSALM 89:30-37
JOHN 17:20-23
DAILY EXERCISE: LECTIO DEVINA
Today’s practice will be Lectio Divina, the literally meaning “divine reading,” but better translated as “spiritual reading.”
Lectio Divina is broken up into 5 separate sections:
- SILENCO – Silence (we can use our Centering Prayer to help prepare.) Take 60 seconds (or more) in silent preparation for sacred reading.
- LECTIO – Listen to the text by reading out loud slowly and repeat 3 times.
- MEDITATO – Meditation – Reflect on what word, words, phrase or sentence that speaks to you from the text, then write it down.
- ORATIO – Pray – Pray as responding to the words, phrases, sentence that God has stirred in you.
- CONTEMPLATIO – Rest in the presence of God, allowing the words revealed to take root.[1]
LET’S BEGIN:
- SILENCIO – 60 seconds or more of silence
- LECTIO – Scripture read out loud slowly and repeated 3 times.
- John 17:20-23
- MEDITATIO – Reflection on a word, words, phrase, or sentence that speaks to you from the text. Hold onto it or write it down.
- ORATIO – Pray as responding to the words, phrase sentences that God has stirred in you.
- CONTEMPLATIO – Rest in the presence of God allowing the words revealed to take root: 3 to 5 minutes.
- AMEN
FRIDAY MARCH 22, 2024
DAILY SCRIPTURE:
PSALM 89:38-45
JOHN 8:51-59
DAILY REFLECTION:
BY Robert Barron
Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus asserts his pre-existence by declaring that “before Abraham came to be, I AM.”
There has been a disturbing tendency in recent years to turn Jesus into an inspiring spiritual teacher. But if that’s all he is, the heck with him. The Gospels are never content with such a reductive description. Though they present him as a teacher, they know that he is infinitely more than that. That something else is at stake in him and our relation to him.
Scripture clearly teaches that Jesus is divine. He once declared, “Have faith in God; have faith also in me.” We can easily imagine other religious founders urging faith in God, but we’d be hard pressed to imagine them urging the same faith in themselves!
But on Jesus’ lips, the two are parallel.
As C.S. Lewis so vividly saw, this means that Jesus compels us to make a choice the way no other figure does. Either you are with Jesus, or you are against him. There is no other way to take in this language. To get this wonderful paradox is to come close to the heart of what it means to be a Christian.
Refect: Reflect on this statement: “Either you are with Jesus or You are against him.” Where do you stand?
SATURDAY MARCH 23, 2024
DAILY SCRIPTURE:
PSALM 89:46-52
JOHN 17:24-26
DAILY DISCIPLINE: STAURDAY EXAMEN
PRAYER OF EXAMEN
The following practice is called The Examen where one simply pauses to prayerfully reflect on your week with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
What has brought new life and joy this week?
Where have you seen Jesus revealed in a new or fresh way?
What has surprised or disturbed you this week?
Share with God an encounter that changed, challenged, or comforted you.
Ponder times when you may have resisted God’s guidance. What has stopped you from being wholehearted? Speak with the Lord about this.
Pray for the week to come, for God’s guiding hand in your life and your interactions with others.
Are there any Spiritual Disciplines you have committed to practice throughout Lent? Ask the Lord for grace to remain faithful in those disciplines.
Closing Prayer
You have given all to me.
To you, Lord, I return it.
Everything is yours; do with it what you will.
Give me only your love and your grace,
[1] My.lectiodivinajouranl.com