Jesus prays in the Spirit

Filled with joy at the Disciple’s return, Jesus
prayed in the Holy Spirit:

Praise You, Father,
LORD of heaven and earth!

From clever people, You have hidden
things You show to those who come to You
like little children.

Yes! How this pleases You!

All things
have been entrusted to Me
by My Father,
for no one but the Father
really knows Who I Am,

and no one really knows
Who You are, Father,
except Your Son
and everyone
to whom I have shown You
and to whom I will make You known.

Luke 10:21-22

© 2014, Mary Harwell Sayler, a poet, writer, and lifelong lover of Christ, the Bible, and the church, researched today’s reading from the Gospels in translations on Bible Gateway before prayer-a-phrasing this poem.

…

Praying in solitude

After Jesus had
dismissed the crowds,
He took a walk
up the mountain
into the hills
by Himself
to pray.
And when
evening came,
He was still there
alone
in prayer.

©2013, Mary Harwell Sayler prayer-a-phrased today’s Daily Bible Reading in Matthew 14:23 after searching scripture in a variety of translations provided online by BibleGateway.com.

…

Jesus thanks God and calls us

And Jesus prayed,
Father, Lord of Heaven and earth,
thank You for showing childlike people
what You have hidden from those who
think themselves wise
for this pleases You.

Father, You have entrusted all things to Me,
and no one knows Me as Your Son
except You, My Father,
and no one really knows You
the Father except Me the Son and those
to whom the Son chooses to reveal You.

May all who tire of heavy burdens,
come to Me, and I will give you rest.
Take My yoke upon you and learn
from Me because I Am
gentle and humble in Spirit, and you
will find rest for your souls.
For the yoke I will give you is easy,
and the load I will put on you is
light enough to be borne.


© 2013, Mary Sayler prayer-a-phrases the Daily Bible Reading from Matthew 11:25-30.

..

Praying with Jesus

Jesus taught us how to pray, saying:

When you’re praying, do not use meaningless phrases as others do when they think they’ll be heard because of their many words. Do not act like that for your Father knows what you need before you ask. Pray then like this:

Our Father in heaven, Holy is Your name.
May Your kingdom come and Your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us for intruding on others
as we forgive those who intrude upon us.
And do not bring us into times of trial,
but rescue us from the evil one.
For You have the kingdom,
and You have the power,
and You are the glory forever. Amen.

If you forgive people for wronging you, our heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive their wrongs, how can things be right with you and our Father?

©2013, Mary Harwell Sayler, prayer-a-phrase of today’s Daily Bible Reading in Matthew 6:7-15

Note from Mary:

Most church denominations and most Christians know a traditional version of the Lord's Prayer or Our Father. Although we might not interrupt some scriptures in the same way, this prayer holds us together as One Body of Christ, united, as we pray all around the world in all time zones, day and night, without ceasing in the Name and power of our Lord Jesus Christ:

Our Father Who art in heaven,
Hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil:
For Thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever. Amen.



~~

Jesus thanks God for what He has

When a great crowd had nothing to eat,
Jesus
called His disciples to Him and said,

“I’m concerned about this crowd. For three days
they’ve stayed with me without anything to eat.
If I send them away
hungry
to their homes,
they’ll faint on the way – and some
have come a great distance.”

The disciples replied, “How can anyone
feed so many people, here
in this desolate place?”

But Jesus (who relied
on more than evidence) replied:
“How much bread do you have?”

“Seven little loaves,” they said.

So Jesus ordered the crowd
to sit down on the ground,
and He took the seven loaves
and gave thanks
for what they had.

Then Jesus broke the bread
and gave the food
to His disciples to distribute.

And they also had a few little fish,
which Jesus blessed
before His disciples distributed that food too.

And it was good.

And it was blessed.

And the little became
more than enough
to feed 4,000
with food left
to fill seven baskets
full.

©2013 Mary Harwell Sayler, prayer-a-phrase of today’s Daily Bible Reading in the Gospel, Mark 8:1-9

~~

Jesus prayed for Himself too

Here on earth, Jesus
prayed to God for help.

The Only Son prayed
with a shout and tears
to the Only One
Who could save Him
from fears of death,
and God heard
this prayer of trust.

Even Jesus,
the Son of God
knew
obedience
through misery.

And because He obeyed –

completely,
perfectly –

Jesus became
our High Priest
like Melchizedek,
and in this way
Christ gave
eternal salvation
to all who obey.

© 2013, Mary Harwell Sayler, prayer-a-phrase poem, Hebrews 5:7-10