SONGS FOR PRAYER

reading for: Tuesday Night, 12 september

Matthew 18:21-35

Mercy as a Way of Life at Home

• READ

  Why should we forgive those who hurt us 77 times? Why release those who inflict pain on us even when they don't deserve it?

  Peter, the ever enthusiastic disciple of Jesus asks this crucial question. How many "extra" miles must we go with others? Do we just do it once, twice, thrice or 7 times?

  Jesus answer of 77 isn't meant to be a definitive answer. Meaning, not literally 77 times. Anyone who counted and forgave 77 times would be deemed to be like the Pharisees who lived to the "letter of the law" but not the "spirit". Jesus’ answer of 77 was meant to tell Peter that a disciple of Jesus always forgives.

  Jesus then shares about the example of a King who was owed 10,000 talents. 1 talent would be what an average person could earn after working for 20 years. So 10,000 talents would be 20,000 years of work. In other words, this slave owed so much money, there was 0 possibility of repayment.

  Yet we’re told that when the slave asked for patience to pay everything back (Which was also ridiculous in its claim), this King, didn’t just say yes to his request, but actually completely forgave him. He completely released him of his debt. Meaning, the ridiculous amount he owed was no more!

  Can you imagine that? Imagine someone owed you 4 billion dollars. How much patience would you extend to someone who owed you so much? Yet, it wasn’t just patience that this King gave, he went absolutely beyond and completely canceled that 4 billion dollars debt.

  Why and how could someone do something as ridiculous as that? Simply put, it was because of mercy (v. 33).

  To have mercy is to show kindness to someone whom you have the right to punish. This is what God’s kingdom is about and this is what the King in the kingdom of God is like, therefore what disciples of the kingdom ought to be.

  Be merciful to others, just as He is merciful to us. Be kind to others, even when we have the absolute right to punish them.

• REFLECT

This month as we focus on our relationships at home, what is the status of those relationships?

Are they filled with tension and pain? Sadness and discouragement?

What were some incidents that caused pain and hurt? How did you handle and deal with what happened?

If you were the offended party, you would most likely have felt that you were justified in your feelings and actions. Yet what’s painted to us today isn’t that we are to treat people according to what they deserve. We are called to show mercy, kindness to those who hurt us.

In order to do this, we must first come back to what God our Father has done for us. Despite us owing him a debt we could never pay in our lifetime, he forgave and released us from it. And we are called to ask Him for the same strength and capacity to have mercy on others.

reading for: Wednesday Night, 13 september

Exodus 14:19-31

God’s Extended Hand of Mercy

• READ

  What is the extent of God’s mercy to Israel? How far would God go to show kindness to them?

  We often think of the parting of the red sea as a simple event where the sea just parted in one moment and Israel simply walked through to safety. But reading Exodus 14 today slowly, we will see the details and extent of God’s mercy to Israel.

  First, the angel of God and pillar of cloud moved backwards to protect Israel from the Egyptians (v. 19).

  Second, God didn’t leave Israel in the darkness as night drew closer, he lit the cloud up to give light Israel (v. 20)

  Third, he drove the sea back with a wind that lasted all night and also kept the land dry for Israel (v. 21)

  Fourth, he threw the Egyptian army into panic and clogged their wheels (v. 24-25).

  Fifth, he tossed and drowned the Egyptian army before they could flee (v. 27-28).

  Sixth, he delivered Israel safely onto dry land before closing the sea (v. 29-30).

  Israel, as we know, would quickly go on to complain and turn against Moses, God’s representative (Exodus 15). And they would go on to be known in history as a people who were stiff-necked, refusing to be led and denying their God.

  Yet here we see the extent of God’s mercy to Israel. He didn’t just part the red sea for them, he did many things including destroying the Egyptian army completely.

• REFLECT

  Although the word mercy isn’t used in this passage, Exodus 14 sits between the first revelation of God (Exodus 3:14) and the second (Exodus 34:6) where God follows up with his name “I am who I am” with “a God merciful and gracious”.

  To help you meditate and consider the extent of God’s mercy, read the passage a few times and pick out what you see God does. Which of these things surprises you?

  Remember that this act of mercy isn’t just a 1 time event. Because God is a God who is merciful and gracious, therefore he will continue to act in mercy as that is his character.

  What has been 1 recent experience of God’s mercy that you had in your life?

  Find a time this week to share this experience with your family member..

reading for: Thursday Night, 14 september

Romans 14:1-12

Living unto the Lord First

• READ

  Its quite common for there to be differences in how finances are handled at home. From how much to spend on holiday to meals to insurance.

  How do we respond when there is conflict and tension due to differences 2 people have?

  For the church in Rome, it was about food, some ate anything while others ate only vegetables (v.2). Some saw 1 day (likely sabbath) to be more important while others saw all days equally important (v. 5).

  What was important amongst these difference?

  First and foremost that all of us are ultimately accountable to God (v.12). In other words, each of us will one day stand before God and be judged by Him (v. 10). Not before one another, but before God.

  Second, we do not live or die to ourselves, but live and die to the Lord (v. 7-8). He is the one we live for and die for. Once again, not any man on earth.

  And the crucial thing in all of these differences was that each person, whether they ate or didn’t eat, whether the lived 1 day or all their days, did it as unto the Lord (v. 6). Seeking to honour Him and give thanks to Him for all things.

• REFLECT

  When we think about the differences we have at home, whether its regarding finances or how we use our time, the deeper and ultimate question is if we are doing it as and unto the Lord. Are we seeking to honour Him? Are we doing all things recognising and giving thanks to Him?

  As Jesus says in Matthew 7:1-5, let’s not focus on taking out the speck in our neighbour’s eye when we have a log in our own. We ought to allow the Lord to check our hearts and allow Him to purify us first.

reading for: FRIDAY Night, 15 september

Psalm 114

• READ

• REFLECT