ANNOUNCEMENT: Below is our last lesson from Illustrated Media. Next week we will begin a new series for the summer on the Psalms with new videos, games and crafts. There will also be daily family devotionals. Stay tuned!
We invite you to spend some time in prayer. Take a moment to quiet yourself before God and share your thoughts and feelings with him. If you are with others, pray out loud together. If you are alone, know that you are not alone--the body of Christ is praying with you.
Begin by praying the opening prayer. Below that are listed some suggestions for free prayer. Finally, close with the Lord's Prayer and the final prayer.
Lord, we find our safety in you. You are our rock, to whom we can always go. You are our hope and we place our confidence in you. Give us strength to trust in you and to praise you. May we experience the joy of your salvation and the hope of resurrection.
Free Prayer:
for our leaders and decision makers
for medical professionals
for the vulnerable
for uncertainty
for the body of Christ
for resurrection hope and joy
for sharing the good news of the living Jesus
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
Lord God, we pray that our capacity to know and experience life might be magnified in Christ. By your grace set the eyes of our hearts on Jesus, giving us a widened imagination to see everything from your perspective, to live in faith, and to love our Savior. Amen.
Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, 19 for I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. 20 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.22 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24 but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. 25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that through my being with you again your boasting in Christ Jesus will abound on account of me.
27 Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel 28 without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. 29 For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, 30 since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.