Tag: Week of Prayer

Day Three :: Beauty is Dignity and Inclusion / World YMCA Week of Prayer 2021

Since 1904 the World YMCA has been calling its members and leaders to a week of prayer, along side the World YWCA, and this year the theme is: Beauty from Brokenness

“Although we may be easily broken, the light of Christ within us can heal brokenness and burst through, reaching out to those around us.”

Join us for a week of prayer in your heart at noon each day this week!

Jesus acts to include and dignify the “outsider,” reaching out cross-culturally and across gender divides

He says, “Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.

Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Jesus of Nazareth, Gospel according to John, 4:14

Division. Exclusion. Shame.

All over the world and in our own communities, we see how divided and separated we are.

Wherever you go, it seems that there are insiders and outsiders.

Sometimes we ourselves have been the outcast and felt the pain of exclusion.

What is it that humanity is thirsting and longing for?

What will finally fix what is so clearly broken

God said through the prophet Jeremiah saying: “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” (Jeremiah 2:13)

As long as we insist on our own cisterns, we will continue to struggle as a society and as individuals.

Without God, we are broken and cannot put ourselves back together.

The good news is that God came to repair our hearts and heal every- thing that divides us.

Through Jesus Christ, God offers living waters of healing and welcomes the outsiders and restores dignity to the outcast.

REFLECTION POINTS

When you think about your own community, what are the sources of greatest division?

What are some examples of people who are often excluded, isolated, and outcast?

When you think about your own life, how have you felt separated from others before?

Who is someone who reached out and made a difference?

When you think about your own heart, what are the things that have separated you from God?

What are you thirsting and longing for?

What does it look like to receive Living Water?

PRAYER OF BLESSING

Dear God,

Thank you for coming to seek us out and bridge the divide that separates us from you.

Thank you for restoring the brokenness of our lives and bestowing dignity on us in Christ.

We confess that there are many things that divide us from one another and give rise to hatred or indifference.

Lord, give us eyes to see those who are excluded and alone.

Give us a heart that is transformed by your grace like the Samaritan woman.

And give us the courage to reach out and share your love with others.

We ask you for a dramatic shift in our society– that even long-held animosity and strife may be healed.

Help us to be instruments of your peace and bringers of Living Water so that others may drink deeply from a relationship with you.

We ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Please share any thoughts, insights or recorded actions that come as a result of today’s devotion on social media using the hashtag: #WWOP21
Writing Team: Rev. Bjorn Dixon, USA; Christine Becker, Germany; Nicole Kaul, England; Matt Merkling, USA; Ephraim Nashaat, Egypt.

If you are on Instagram, I highly recommend you follow @ymcairelandchaplaincy – they post inspiring content and are participating in the World Week of Prayer with daily posts and videos.

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Day Two :: Beauty is Healing and Restoration/ World YMCA Week of Prayer 2021

For over a 100 years the World YMCA has been calling its members and leaders to a week of prayer, along side the World YWCA, and this year the theme is: Beauty from Brokenness

“Although we may be easily broken, the light of Christ within us can heal brokenness and burst through, reaching out to those around us.”

Join us for a week of prayer in your heart at noon each day this week!

When we approach God with our brokenness, God offers rest, restoration and healing.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Christ Jesus, Gospel according to Matthew, 11:28-30

“The world has been shaken by the Covid-19 pandemic, in one way or another.

Many of us have been exposed to a situation that has likely left us with some degree of trauma and brokenness.

Many of us have lost either parents, friends, co-workers, siblings, or at least we know someone that has lost someone.

Some of us have been sick, most of us have been locked-in at home, and many have even lost their jobs and businesses.

Many women, young girls and children have suffered abuse. Isolation has affected the mental health of many.

Our relationships with our loved ones may have been broken by the lockdown situation.

The pandemic has prevented us from gathering with family and friends.

Strict lock- down restrictions have prevented many from going to our places of worship.

We have been broken financially, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

No form of brokenness is worse than another.

God wants to restore, heal and carry our troubles. Jesus comforts us….”

REFLECTION POINTS

When facing different problems, who is the first person you go to, to seek a solution?

Now that you learned that God is omnipresent and seeks to help you, how does it impact your relationship with God ?

Are you currently struggling with something where you feel broken? (You may wish to share this with God in prayer).

Do you have any stories that you can share of God healing your brokenness or that of others?

PRAYER OF BLESSING

“Lord Jesus, we want to thank you because you are amazing and merciful.

We thank you because of everything you have done and spoke.

Thanks for the invitation you give us in Matthew 11:28-30.

You came revealing the kingdom of God and have offered us salvation from sin and its consequences.

Please God, give us the courage to admit our brokenness and acknowledge our wounds, and give us a spirit of discernment to identify the things that don’t heal on their own.

We need you God to heal our hearts and bind up our wounds.

We pray for the future, for ourselves, and for communities to get back together.

We know that you are always there, willing to heal and carry our troubles.

Thank you for the peace and rest you offer to us.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Please share any thoughts, insights or recorded actions that come as a result of today’s devotions on social media using the hashtag: #WWOP21
Team: Mialy Sombiniaina, Madagascar; Rakotondrasoa, Madagascar; Martina Huber, Switzerland; Zinta Akpoko, Nigeria; Santiago Duarte, Colombia.

If you are on Instagram, I highly recommend you follow @ymcairelandchaplaincy – they post inspiring content and are participating in the World Week of Prayer with daily posts and videos.

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Click here for the whole blogpost series.

Day One :: Beauty Is Being Loved By God / World YMCA Week of Prayer 2021

For over a hundred years now the World YMCA has been calling its members and leaders to a week of prayer, along side the World YWCA, and this year the theme is: Beauty from Brokenness

“Although we may be easily broken, the light of Christ within us can heal brokenness and burst through, reaching out to those around us.”

Join us for a week of prayer in your heart at noon each day this week!

“God’s love sees us, knows us and extends to us no matter how we feel or where we are.”

Psalm 139 ‘Oh Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.’

“Whatever others say, each person is a special individual who is known and highly valued by God, with all their struggles, gifts and unique characteristics.

God has promised to walk with us through all the ups and downs of life.

Sometimes God helps us to overcome difficulties and at other times we are given strength and faith to keep walking on.”

QUESTIONS/REFLECTION POINTS

• When was the time you first felt loved by God?

• Have you felt closer or further away from God during the pandemic?

• Is it a good thing or a scary thing that God knows everything we do and think?

• Are we good at trusting God when life becomes hard?

• As you finish the study today, remember always that God loves you, no matter how broken you feel.

PRAYER OF BLESSING

Father God in Heaven, We thank you for the love you show us every day, even when it is us who have messed up.

We thank you for the amazing act of sending your son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins.

As we continue to move out of this pandemic we are so grateful for how you have provided for so many, and shown your love to us all, even while the world seems covered in darkness.

For we know the darkness is not dark to you, you see through it, you see us and our hearts and our struggles and our personal situations, giving us your light and guidance as we find our way through the dark.

And we’re thankful for the eternal hope we have in you that there is a way out of the darkness, and we pray we’d take the steps to get there and help make it even brighter for everyone else.

You are an awesome God, and we thank you for your love every day.

Amen.

Please share any thoughts, insights or recorded actions that come as a result of today’s devotions on social media using the hashtag: #WWOP21 Team of Writers: Matthew Malloch, Scotland; Edwin Mapurisa, Zimbabwe; Franklin Prashanth, India; Ivory Manio, Philippines; Seng Moon Pan Maji, Myanmar

If you are on Instagram, I highly recommend you follow @ymcairelandchaplaincy – they post inspiring content and are participating in the World Week of Prayer with daily posts and videos.

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Click here for the whole blogpost series.