The Upper Room Daily Devotional from The United Methodist Church of Nashville, Tennessee, United States for Friday, 27 October 2017 "Surrounded by Prayer" by Lilya Teplyuk - Luke 5:17-26
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DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2017
Several sisters in our church have organized a women’s prayer ministry. After worship, when the rest of the church members go home, we gather in a small room for prayer. In worship our congregation prays for needs and concerns of the community. But often people have problems they feel they cannot tell the whole church about; so they will ask our women’s group to pray for them. How encouraging it is for people to know that someone is praying for them personally and helping them to carry their burdens of unresolved problems or unforgiven hurts!
When tragedy came to my home, my dear sisters reached out to me. At our prayer meeting all I could do was cry; but without asking any questions, they silently stroked my shoulders and head. Two sisters promised to fast for me. Just as the friends of the paralyzed man in Luke’s Gospel carried him to Jesus, so my sisters laid me before Jesus through their loving hands and hearts. Galatians 6:2 tells us to “bear one another’s burdens.” When we weep with those who are weeping and rejoice with those who are rejoicing (see Rom. 12:15), we are offering prayers to the Lord, who sees our compassion and works to lighten the burdens of those for whom we pray.
TODAY'S PRAYER:
Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for the help we receive through prayer. We want to be your hands and your feet on this earth. Amen.
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Luke 5:17 One day when Yeshua was teaching, there were P’rushim and Torah-teachers present who had come from various villages in the Galil and Y’hudah, also from Yerushalayim; and the power of Adonai was with him to heal the sick. 18 Some men came carrying a paralyzed man lying on a bed. They wanted to bring him inside and lay him in front of Yeshua, 19 but they couldn’t find a way to get him in because of the crowd. So they went up onto the roof and lowered him on his mattress through the tiles into the middle of the gathering, right in front of Yeshua. 20 When Yeshua saw their trust, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.” 21 The Torah-teachers and the P’rushim began thinking, “Who is this fellow that speaks such blasphemies? Who can forgive sin except God?” 22 But Yeshua, knowing what they were thinking, answered, “Why are you turning over such thoughts in your hearts? 23 Which is easier to say? ‘Your sins are forgiven you’? or ‘Get up and walk’? 24 But look! I will prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” He then said to the paralytic, “I say to you: get up, pick up your mattress and go home!” 25 Immediately, in front of everyone, he stood up, picked up what he had been lying on, and went home praising God. 26 Amazement seized them all, and they made a b’rakhah to God; they were awestruck, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.”
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I can help to meet the needs of my brothers and sisters through prayer.
Women’s Prayer Groups
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Header Photo Credit: "Harvested Land," Beth Shumate. August 15, 2014. (link)
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