MORNING REFLECTION
READY: Prepare yourself to read this psalm by singing. ‘Sing to Him a new song’.
READ: Read the psalm twice.
REFLECT: “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made...For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded and it stood firm.” When God speaks nations’ and peoples’ plans come to nothing, but His counsel stands forever. Meditate on God’s Word and what it means for God to speak, in history, and to you,
REPENT: A king is not saved by his great army, a warrior is not delivered by his great strength, the war horse is a vain hope for victory. Putting our hope in someone else’s strength is a vain hope and someone else’s great might cannot save us.
REJOICE: ‘Praise befits the upright.’ Spend time praising God; it is fitting.
EVENING READING Mark 9:14-29
14 When they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and some scribes arguing with them. 15When the whole crowd saw him, they were immediately overcome with awe, and they ran forward to greet him. 16He asked them, ‘What are you arguing about with them?’ 17Someone from the crowd answered him, ‘Teacher, I brought you my son; he has a spirit that makes him unable to speak; 18and whenever it seizes him, it dashes him down; and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid; and I asked your disciples to cast it out, but they could not do so.’ 19He answered them, ‘You faithless generation, how much longer must I be among you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him to me.’ 20And they brought the boy* to him. When the spirit saw him, immediately it threw the boy* into convulsions, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. 21Jesus* asked the father, ‘How long has this been happening to him?’ And he said, ‘From childhood. 22It has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.’ 23Jesus said to him, ‘If you are able!—All things can be done for the one who believes.’ 24Immediately the father of the child cried out,* ‘I believe; help my unbelief!’ 25When Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, ‘You spirit that keep this boy from speaking and hearing, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again!’ 26After crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, ‘He is dead.’ 27But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he was able to stand. 28When he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, ‘Why could we not cast it out?’ 29He said to them, ‘This kind can come out only through prayer.’*The Death of John the Baptist
*EVENING REFLECTION
READY: “Everything is possible for him who believes”. v. 21 NIV translation. Prepare yourself to read this text by meditating on this verse.
READ: Read through the passage twice.
REFLECT: The disciples had been sent out two by two and had successfully cast out demons in Jesus’ name. But in this situation they were unable to cast out the demon and the child was brought to Jesus. When the disciples asked why they could not cast out the demon, Jesus told them,’This kind can come out only by prayer.’. Reflect on situations in your life that need this kind of prayer.
REPENT: Ask God to show you how to pray about the situations in your life that are in desperate need of prayer.
REJOICE: Thank God for Jesus, the One who can deliver a demon possessed boy and the One who can deliver you.
