March 2021 Daily Prayer
''LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY''
Bring Joy to your day and Read all the messages sent by Marisha and beautiful prayers that will fill your day with the most precious gift, free to all, the word of God.
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Reading & Prayer 31th Mar 2021
Message from Marisha
I hope this finds you well and in good spirit.I had a lovely start to today; I received my first Easter e card which reminded of new life and hope. I needed that.Secondly, I received notification that the Diocese in Europe would be praying for St. Francis Church today. It's good to remember that we are a beloved part of a much wider church and we are held in prayer.We are now moving on through Holy week remembering the last days of our Lord Jesus.Today's verses cover the time when He was called to answer the scribes and Pharisees. Really, they didn't want to hear the truth, only what best suited them. They wanted to trick him. That was not to be though. He was given powerful words to speak and those who had ears to hear would certainly have heard. Sadly, that day most didn't.Often, I have found that when people want to engage in a 'religious' conversation what they are trying to do is trip you up, somehow confirm their own world view. That doesn't really matter. God is always drawing people to Himself by whatever means and that sometimes involves getting through the barriers they put up. Jesus' response to his accusers was very wise. The marvellous and comforting thing is that we too can have wise words to speak; given by our Father. Let's not be afraid to enter the conversation. God is with us and it is His responsibility to convict and convince unbelievers, not ours. We only need to play our part.
Reading & Prayer 30th Mar. 2021
Message from Marisha
Today's scripture is well known and we actually have it twice in the bible as it is referred to in Matthew. The line 'a bruised reed I will not break nor a dimly burning wick He will not quench' is so beautiful and comforting. There are many in today's world where the fittest have the power and everything that goes with it and the poor are oppressed and ignored. They need our help and compassion.
In many ways though, we are all bruised reeds; we all have had hurts, problems and life difficulties. Jesus came for us. He came for all, both the weak and the strong. He came to bring justice.
The most wonderful thing is that He knows us completely and meets us in our need.
If you are a bruised reed, He can heal and restore you.
If you are dimly burning, He can cause you to be a flame, a living testament to Him.In Him we have a wonderful Saviour.
Reading & Prayer 29th Mar 2021
Message from Marisha
Holy week has begun. It will be a week where we are lead from joy to pain and finally great exultation.
I think life itself can be like that. It seems we are creatures of our emotions; one day happy and the next sad. Our Lord sees them all and is with us in them all. When we are full of faith he is there and also when we have gone wrong and not taken the right path, He is there too. Read all of this morning's psalm if you can. It is a great reminder of the awesomeness of God. Whatever our situation He is there with us and for us.
Reading & Prayer 27th Jan. 2021
Message from Marisha
Now here is a very interesting thing from our scripture today. 'Many, even of the authorities, believed in Jesus' but they were afraid to say so.I wonder what happened to them, did their belief shrivel up and die, were they in inner conflict, did they live their lives as a lie?It does beg the question about our own belief. Are we open about our faith in Jesus, does our behaviour and values reflect what we know to be true or are we too, like those who could not confess their new faith, worried about what our friends, family and neighbours might think of us? We do not live in a part of the world where it is positively dangerous to be known as a Christian, as many do but still even in the Western world as committed believer, we are called to be seen, known and stand up for our belief in Jesus. Anything else will lead to a compromised life, having double standards and sadly may even lead to our faith shrivelling up and dying.Jesus didn't say 'following me will be easy, you will have a charmed life etc'but He did say 'do not be afraid for I am with you' As the famous hymn says Stand up!, stand up for Jesus!ye soldiers of the cross,lift high his royal banner;it must not suffer loss.Actually, the whole hymn has quite a lot more to say about not being a 'secret Christian'.
Reading & Prayer XXXth Jan 2021
Message from Marisha
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Reading & Prayer 25th Mar. 2021
Message from Marisha
I hope you are all well. As I started to write the word good, predictive text changed it to God! Perhaps that is how it should be in our lives... God first
Psalm 119 is a very long Psalm and I just took verses 54 to 60 to look at. The writer wanted to put God first in his life. He wanted to be obedient to God's ways and laws. There was an awful lot of laws in those days! but still what he was really saying was I want to go God's way and not my own. Jesus has made the matter of what laws to follow when he said 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and all your mind, this is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it, Love your neighbour as yourself.'
I am sure we would all subscribe to that but the doing of may be a little harder. Our nature is to want our own way, do our own thing and as one scripture says somewhere... each in their own mind thinks they are correct.
The Lord looks at our heart, he sees our motives, he sees what our real desires are, there is no fooling Him. He is also compassionate towards us and knows our struggles. It is a life long journey of learning to go the Lord's way. As the Lord reveals Himself to us bit by bit and what he requires then it is up to each of us to take note and do it. That is the purpose of the Holy Spirit; He is there to convict, convince and help us to fulfil the laws of 'Love God and neighbour'
Reading & Prayer 24th Mar 2021
Message from Marisha
The start of Spring is almost upon us, a time of new life beginning and a looking forward.
Our scripture today comes at the end of the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead. It's a story we all know well but I hadn't really given much thought before of the 'Lazarus who was given a new life'. It is easy to imagine that he caused quite a stir. Everyone knew he was dead and were mourning him and suddenly here he was alive again. That was a cause for great rejoicing for his family and friends but not for everyone. There were those who did not like the power of the undeniable testimony of being given new life. Anyone who has been reborn by the Grace of God is also a living witness to the power of God, just as Lazarus was.
We too have received a new heart and mind; we no longer have the same thinking or desires; our focus is changed into one of living for God and pleasing him. People in Lazarus' day believed because of what they saw. People are around us too, they observe us and see how we live and are. As was Lazarus being a witness and testimony for God, so are we... Something to think about.
Reading & Prayer 23th Mar 2021
Message from Marisha
I love this morning’s psalm. Don’t you love God’s impartiality. We don’t have to be a Prince, educated, rich, successful or well connected to be loved by God. He cares for all and certainly looks and acts with special tenderness and compassion to those who have little.
For those of us who have more than just a little I wonder if we remember that all we have comes from his hand or do we take it for granted. Yesterday I passed a homeless man sitting by the supermarket door, he was feeding birds. It made me consider... he obviously had little but was sharing it with God’s creatures that had less. That is generosity of heart and hand. From time to time, it is good to reassess what we do with our ‘much’. Are we generous as the Lord is, do we love as he does, do we care as he cares, above all do we give him our praise and thanks for that we have?
Reading & Prayer 21th Mar. 2021
Message from Marisha
Today's scripture is very comforting for believers. We are told... we can hear His voice, we are His, that we are held in His hand and no one can snatch us from it. Sheep have got a bit of a bad press; the follow blindly and they wander off. There may be a truth in that but we know as sheep belonging to the Father that we have a choice. We can hear him and listen and then choose to follow or not to follow. We can both naivelly or deliberatly step away from Him and His will for us or be obedient, but no one can make us do anything, we have choice.
God protects us whilst we allow him to. No one can take our faith away from us or remove Him from our presence.
Reading & Prayer 20th Mar 2021
Message from Marisha
Today I have the luxury of sitting quietly, no rush, no have to. I think during Lent we need to do more of that; it is a time when we can speak to God and God can speak to us with a little more focus than usual.
What does today's picture say to you?I won't say what it brought to my mind... but I was pleased I found it.
Today's scripture is a portion from Psalm 32 which in its entirety is about God's forgiveness. The verses I chose focuses on the willingness of the Lord to teach us the right way to go in life (he also seems to recognise that we may be a little stubborn in that area) Being taught by the Lord requires us to play our part which is to listen attentionally and learn. In our busy lives, quietness is often at a premium and to have it we actually have to make that time. It is always worth it and you never know what the Lord may want to say to you.
Reading & Prayer 18th Mar. 2021
Message from Marisha
I have often wondered if I take life for granted; so far, each morning I wake to a new day that is filled with hope and a promise that God will provide all that I need. Whatever yesterday brought, it is gone and we start a new.
I am reminded of the chorus of a lovely hymn: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.
Your mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning,
new every morning: great is your faithfulness,
O Lord, great is your faithfulness!
Our scripture reading is a small part of Psalm 90. It is a good reminder of the awesomeness of God and should our pride ever become too great that our lives are a mere speck in time. That said, our Father cares for us and is concerned for each minute of our life. He only wants what is good and best for us. Sometimes there is pain in our lives which of course we would prefer not to have but even that He uses for our growth and understanding.
Reading & Prayer 17th Mar 2021
Message from Marisha
Happy St. Patrick's day especially to our Irish friends who will be remembering their missionary patron saint, who brought Christianity to Ireland.
It is interesting that in today's scripture Jesus not only commissions the seventy but tells them how to go about the work he has asked of them. One might not have expected peace to be one of the tools they were to use. Most people want peace in their lives; not just the absence of trouble but a deep contentment. We know that when we belong to the Lord, that kind of peace is freely given and whatever our outward circumstances that remains. Do you, when you go to another's home ask for peace to rest on that place? Now that is a wonderful gift we can give to anyone, isn't it? We can pass on God's peace; it doesn't take fine words or any real effort, just a willingness to share what we have.
Our own Bishop David has asked that we pray for Myanmar (formally Burma) where many of his family live. There is much unrest there since the military seized control and many protestors have died.
Reading & Prayer 16th Mar 2021
Message from Marisha
There is a common saying 'there is none so blind as those who will not see'. It would seem that there were plenty around who did not or would not see that what was before their eyes as told in the scripture from John which recorded the healing of the blind man. Now the parents of the man saw and knew what had happened and who it was who performed the miracle but they were afraid. Their answer to the Pharisees was 'He is of age ask him' It struck me that a second hand testimony will be never as good as a personal one. The parents could have given an accurate testimony had they not been afraid but how much more powerful was the testimony of the healed man himself. We can tell of the testimony of God working in the lives of others but have we our own testimony and can we tell it? I have read that more people come to know the Lord through the personal witness of a Christian than any preaching and I can imagine that to be so. If God has made a difference in our lives, we need to be ready to say so when the opportunity arises.
Painting by La La Rowley
Reading & Prayer 15th Mar. 2021
Message from Marisha
The picture today was painted by La La Rowley who is well known in Los Gigantes and kindly allowed me to use it to illustrate so well the scripture this morning. We are encouraged to trust in God, put our roots deep into the water of life that he provides which will give us the stability to face any of the many life situations which would surely rock us without him. The gardeners will know that the plants with deep roots can survive pretty well anything, whilst those with roots just below the surface often don't; even though they may look beautiful for a while.
We have God's word freely available to us, if we allow it to settle into our hearts and minds it is part of His provision to us which keeps us firmly rooted.
Reading & Prayer 13th Mar 2021
Message from Marisha
The reading is from Exodus chapter 19. I have only used a few verses but to read the whole chapter is good.
Here we have the Lord speaking to Moses; giving him the exact words to say to the Israelites. Actually, Moses was at the time in a pretty unique position of hearing from the Lord and being entrusted to relay it to the people. He had an important message to pass on.
There have been other great prophets and teachers over the centuries, some we will know like Isaiah but others we might not be as familiar with such as Obediah. Whilst we might not be a prophet, we are all God's messengers authorised and commissioned to speak the Good News.
If you don't feel up to the task, be reassured neither did the prophets and teachers since the time of Moses.
As the Lord gave Moses words to say so he will give them to us; all we need is to be open to the Holy Spirit. It is the work of the Spirit to work in the hearts of the hearer, we just have a part to play.
Reading & Prayer 11th Mar. 2021
Message from Marisha
Today's reading is part of the stories of Jesus feeding the multitudes and him walking on water. It is wonderful illustration of God's love and compassion of course but it also gives a little indication of human nature. It struck me that once the people realised who Jesus was, they wanted to take him away and make him their King, likewise when the disciples saw Jesus on the water, they wanted to take him in their boat.
All very natural, I think. They had found something of great price, it was theirs and they wanted to keep it. Of course, that was not the way it was ever going to be; Jesus came for everyone.
Today it is exactly the same... we have found Him of great price but we cannot own Him or keep him to ourselves.
By example he showed compassion... so must we
By his words he told of the Father's love... so must we
By his actions he met people's needs... so must we
Just something to think about; what if no one had told of Jesus and spread the Gospel? What if no one by their deeds and actions had shown the love of Christ to others? Where would we be now?
We are God's instruments here on earth for those around us. Let us pick up the tools and use them.
Reading & Prayer 10th Mar 2021
Message from Marisha
I hope all is well with you... I almost said is all well with your soul? as that line from a hymn often comes to my mind.I believe that when we want wellness in our lives, we not only have to look to our physical lives but our inner spiritual life too. Whilst it might be natural to focus on what is happening right now, the things we do and enjoy, real happiness, wellness and peace come from being right with God in our inner person.God gives wisdom to those who ask for it and it probably very unwise not to!
Wisdom will show us the things that we do and think which keep us from that peace with God and will call us back to Him.
Once we align ourselves with the things which our Lord has waiting for us, we will know more joy, peace, happiness and wellness than we can contain. It will spill out from our hearts and that witness of the goodness of God will surely bring others to know him.
Reading & Prayer 9th Mar. 2021
Message from Marisha
Today’s scripture brought back memories of my trip to Jerusalem. There are few places left there that haven’t been built over several times and it is not easy to imagine it as it was in the times of Jesus but at the pools of Bethsaida it is quite different. In your minds eye you can see the waters being stirred up and the infirm and sick waiting for the chance to get in and be healed.
There is so much we don’t understand about healing. We desire it, we pray for it, and it is promised but it doesn’t always happen as we wish it to and that is difficult. What I do know is that Jesus met each person’s need completely and in very different ways. He went to the very heart of their problem whether it was spiritual, emotional or physical healing. In that respect nothing has changed, he still wants to get to the heart of our problems.
I have seen miraculous healings, gradual healings and sadly no healing (in this life at any rate) We can only put ourselves and those we love into our Father’s hand and trust him to do what is the absolute best for us.
Whether we see healing now or not, one day we will... one day he will wipe away every tear, and death will be no more, neither will there be mourning, nor crying nor pain anymore.
Amen, Amen, Amen.
Reading & Prayer 8th Mar 2021
Message from Marisha
Today is International Women's Day. I was remembering all the past years when I have attended events celebrating the day. Sadly, this year in Tenerife we are not having any special service but that doesn't mean that it is forgotten.
Woman have always played a significant part in God's story and it is well to honour that.
I love the story of the Samaritan woman. One small encounter with Jesus and her whole outlook and life was changed. She was a woman who was not honoured in her community, in fact looked down upon for the life that she had lived. It is a story of such hope. Whatever the past, whatever the failures or mistakes Jesus came in and changed it and it is the same for us. Jesus is constantly seeking to have a relationship with us despite anything we have done in the past. That is wiped clean, at a stroke from the moment we ask for forgiveness.
Perhaps some have managed to keep quite blameless lives as we heard in John's sermon yesterday but can we honestly say we have lived for God and positively done His will?
God deals with each of us uniquely, knowing all that there is to know about us and he does not reject us. Like the Samaritan woman when the Lord enters our lives, we will not be able to help but to tell others.
Reading & Prayer 6th Mar. 2021
Message from Marisha
Today I am claiming this day as a great day!... because of course it is; we have life and we have the Lord.
Our reading from Psalm 31 is really a plea for God to continue to preserve and keep us from that which would cause us harm. Sometimes, sadly we put ourselves in the way of harm.
If we do not pay attention to how God would have us behave and live, it is almost certain that we will be denying all the good that He has on offer for us.
Sometimes we forget that we are a called and set apart people; even whilst living in a world that by and large does not follow Him, our road, our focus is different. My own prayer is that my life will be a living witness to God, who has saved me and loves me beyond reason and through it others will be drawn to Jesus.
Reading & Prayer 4th Mar 2021
Message from Marisha
We are very fortunate, aren't we? Some of us may well have lived-in far-flung places where just living day to day is often difficult.
For most of us though we live in the comfort of the West with all that it has freely on offer and never really experienced the deprivations that can be found in other places.
It is easy to become self-reliant, thinking that our own wealth and power will protect us or even be useful when it comes to spiritual matters.
Anything we have comes by the Grace of God. When we put ourselves, our knowledge, our money before our love of God then we will be missing the mark completely.
That is not to say that all of our resources (our gifts from God) cannot be used through us by Him.
The key thing is to be reliant on our Father rather than what the world might offer.
Have a happy day, grateful that we can enjoy living in the courts of the Almighty.
Reading & Prayer 3rd Mar. 2021
Message from Marisha
This morning's scripture painted a rather sobering picture. Jesus spoke the words of life and truth to the many followers and many walked away from that truth. How sad. I suspect though that was not the end of their story. I have found that I often have to be told something several times before it actually sinks in and becomes part of my own thinking. God does not readily give up on anyone; he wants no one to perish so I expect God in his great love and compassion gave them more opportunities to hear. He also wants us to grow in our Christian life; we may have to hear the Spirit speaking to us several times before we embrace what He has to say. Lent is a time to still our minds and be attentive to our spiritual lives. Let us make the time to hear from the Lord; there is so much more...
Reading & Prayer 2nd Mar 2021
Message from Marisha
Spring must be on the way! yesterday St. David's day Facebook was full of beautiful daffodils and it certainly lifted the heart to see new life starting again.
Today is another celebration day, the day when the church remembers Chad who became Bishop of Lichfield, a missionary and evangelist. I must admit I knew nothing of Chad until I saw him noted in the church diary. He was obviously worthy of a mention and must have been considered one of the great men of God.
Our scripture from Psalm 99 also mentions some of the great men of God who we more readily know; Jacob, Moses, Aaron and Samuel.
They were also ordinary men with all their failings, just like us, but despite all their inadequacies God worked through them. They knew God to be Holy and worthy to be praised, they knew him to be a righteous God who wanted only good for Israel and its people. They were called to lead by example, to call the people to live just and Holy lives and to intercede on behalf of the nation.
Reading & Prayer 1st Mar. 2021
Message from Marisha
Happy St. David's day to you all.
This morning's scripture brought to mind a certain bread shop that used to be in French Lane in Jersey. It was called 'the hot bread shop' and as the name said it sold hot fresh baked bread.
Just walking by that shop was a delight and whether you needed bread or not you wanted to go in and buy some. Of course, one didn't do that, mostly you were content to enjoy the smell unless you really needed some...
Jesus said that He is the bread of life.
I wonder how often we walk by the opportunity to feed on the Bread of Life that is offered to us. Are we just content with the delicious smell, will get some later attitude, let it stay in the cupboard, never eat it and then it be left to be thrown away attitude.
The most precious gift, free to all who will receive it is the word of God.
Let's not be a passer-by who just enjoys the smell but the one who enters and receives the real thing. No actual purchase necessary... it's a free gift, already paid for.
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