Laura Simpkins gives some encouragements for Spring and Summer 2020
Free resources online or in apps
Tearfund – Lent_2020
Daily devotional for Lent – still time to join! there is an online resource; a booklet can also be ordered online.
Church of England Lent 2020
LiveLent: Care for God’s Creation is the Church of England’s Lent campaign for 2020
Daily devotional for Lent – still time to join!
24-7 Prayer – Lectio 365 – An Introduction
A daily devotional and prayer resource from the movement led by Pete Grieg, on which our prayer workshop last autumn and the current (on hold) Prayer Course is based.
24-7 Prayer also has special coverage for the current world health situation.
CWR Spiritual Health Check
Excellent exercise for evaluating ‘spiritual health’ with teaching about how to ‘get serious’ about growing in your walk with God
CWR Spiritual Balance Check
Similar to the ‘Spiritual Health Check’ (see above), this helps find and remedy imbalances between what we say we believe and how we live it out in practical exercises.
Every Day With Jesus Extra: The Prayer of Jesus
A complete short course for studying the prayer Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane; intended for groups, but can be used individually, OR by a group trying to ‘meet’ virtually with some direction;
An entire list of ‘Everyday With Jesus Extra’ studies can be found here.
Every Day With Jesus Exploring the Bible
Another great series which teaches inductive Bible study methods; suitable for individuals or groups meeting virtually.
CWR Jeff Lucas podcasts
The wit and wisdom of Jeff Lucas in short messages for growth and encouragement.
Church of England – Join us in a service of daily prayer
Start here to find modern and traditional liturgy for Daily Prayer, online, by App for phones, or for smart speaker.
Church of England – Transforming the world
A gentle way to explore how we can develop key areas of our belief and action to be more like Jesus and commune with him in a way that transforms the world.
Westminster Presbyterian Church – The Calm of Christ
This Texan Presbyterian church provides The Calm of Christ, a series of full services based on offering encouragement in the current COVID-19 crisis, including sermons, prayer and lists of worship music links to choose from.
Some references from Scripture
Repentance
- Psalm 51:10-17
- Psalm 139:1-6
Intercession and petition in our times of uncertainty and fear
- Psalm 69.1-3, 15-16
- Isaiah 41:8-20
- Ephesians 3:12-21
Thanks and praise
- Psalm 27:1-6
- Psalm 30: 1-12
- Psalm 139:13-17
- Luke 2:25-35
In loneliness and fear
- Isaiah 26:3
- Matthew 6:25-34
For strength and perspective
- Psalm 46
- Proverbs 3:5-6
- John 10:27-30
- Romans 8:35-39
- 2 Corinthians 1:3-7
- 2 Corinthians 10: 3-8
- Philippians 4:4-9
- Hebrews 12: 2-3
- Hebrews 13:5-6
- James 1:2-6
- 1 Peter 1:3-9
Prayers
A Prayer Amid an Epidemic by Kerry Weber
Jesus Christ, you travelled through towns and villages ‘curing every disease and illness’. At your command, the sick were made well. Come to our aid now, in the midst of the global spread of the coronavirus, that we may experience your healing love.
Heal those who are sick with the virus. May they regain their strength and health through quality medical care.
Heal us from our fear, which prevents nations from working together and neighbors from helping one another.
Heal us from our pride, which can make us claim invulnerability to a disease that knows no borders.
Jesus Christ, healer of all, stay by our side in this time of uncertainty and sorrow.
Be with those who have died from the virus. May they be at rest with you in your eternal peace.
Be with the families of those who are sick or have died. As they worry and grieve, defend them from illness and despair. May they know your peace.
Be with the doctors, nurses, researchers and all medical professionals who seek to heal and help those affected and who put themselves at risk in the process. May they know your protection and peace.
Be with the leaders of all nations. Give them the foresight to act with charity and true concern for the well-being of the people they are meant to serve. Give them the wisdom to invest in long-term solutions that will help prepare for or prevent future outbreaks. May they know your peace, as they work together to achieve it on earth.
Whether we are home or abroad, surrounded by many people suffering from this illness or only a few, Jesus Christ, stay with us as we endure and mourn, persist and prepare. In place of our anxiety, give us your peace.
Jesus Christ, heal us.
Kerry Weber, is an executive editor of the Jesuit Review America Magazine; a printable version of prayer is at here.
A Prayer of Thomas Merton
O God,
We are one with you. You have made us one with you.
You have taught us that if we are open to one another, you dwell in us.
Help us to preserve this openness and to fight for it with all our hearts.
Help us to realise that there can be no understanding where there is mutual rejection.
In accepting one another wholeheartedly, fully, completely, we accept you, and we thank you, and we adore you, and we love you with our whole being, because our being is your being, our spirit is rooted in your spirit.
Fill us then with love, and let us be bound together with love as we go our diverse ways, united in this one spirit which makes you present in the world, and which makes you witness to the ultimate reality that is love.
Love has overcome. Love is victorious.
Amen.
‘God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.’ (1 John 4:16)
Thomas Merton OCSO (January 31, 1915 – December 10, 1968) was an American Trappist monk, writer, theologian, mystic, poet, social activist, and scholar of comparative religion.
St Patrick’s breastplate
This Irish prayer is known widely as ‘Morning Prayer’, ‘St. Patrick’s Breastplate’, or ‘The Lorica’.
I arise today
Through the strength of heaven;
Light of the sun,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of the wind,
Depth of the sea,
Stability of the earth,
Firmness of the rock.
I arise today
Through God’s strength to pilot me;
God’s might to uphold me,
God’s wisdom to guide me,
God’s eye to look before me,
God’s ear to hear me,
God’s word to speak for me,
God’s hand to guard me,
God’s way to lie before me,
God’s shield to protect me,
God’s hosts to save me
Afar and anear,
Alone or in a multitude.
Christ shield me today
Against wounding
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.
I arise today
Through the mighty strength
Of the Lord of creation. Amen
Laura Simpkins, discipleship coordinator
Contact discipleship@stsaviours.net for further support and information. Feel free to share with others.
