Friday - stand firm

Prayer:  Great God,  we bring to You today our old hurts,  our worries,  and our concerns.  We ask that You may open to us a world of possibilities of Your love and refreshed energies so that we can carry on the work that You would have us do in Your Son’s name.  Amen.

   

Read St. Luke  21: 10 – 19

 

Do you remember reading the story of Chicken Little as a child?   Poor ol’  Chicken Little thought the sky was falling and the earth would be destroyed.   In fact,  the sky was not falling and the earth was not destroyed.   But what a lot of energy Chicken Little wasted worrying that the sky was falling.

 

Today,  do we spend too much time worrying our world is coming to an end?  Do we spend too  much time in worrying our Church is coming to an end?   Do we spend too much time worrying about the little things and forget to see the big picture?   Do we spend too much time worrying about worrying about worrying?

 

Jesus instructs the disciples (and us too) that we must not worry about the end.  Stuff will happen.   Bad stuff might happen.  But worrying about what may or may not happen in the future uses up the time we could be spending with God in prayer.      Worrying takes positive energy out of us and leaves us exhausted and tired and cranky.

 

Jesus tells the disciples (and us too) to stand firm in our beliefs.    Today,  think about our beliefs.  What are our basic Christian beliefs?  And how will we stand firm in our basic Christian beliefs?

 

Prayer:  Great and Awesome God,  we open our minds to You so that You can help us see Your world clearly.  Great and Redeeming God,  we open our hearts to You so that You can help us love others as ourselves.  Great and Wonderful God,  we open our actions to You this day so that You can help us define what we believe and what we stand for in this community.   Great God,  we are open to receiving and giving love and joy this day and forever more.  Amen.