Hope@Home – May 15, 2020

AnnaUncategorized

DAILY DEVOTIONAL:

Thanks for joining us on the blog! Check out today's devotional from Kyle Knight.

UNITED PRAYER:

Father help us cling to You fiercely during this time. I pray that we are able to spend much needed intentional time together with You. Will you give us strength to press into You today. Help us to look to You in moments of need and weakness. Lift our gaze to You our shepherd and lead us today. Please help us hear Your voice and follow Your ways.  

FAMILY RESOURCES:

Today we have some fun, at-home activities for you to do!

Plan a staycation!

This is the perfect time to do a home campout or a retreat filled with fun things. This could include things like setting up a tent in the front or backyard, creating an indoor fort to sleep in, roasting marshmallows, making s'mores or eating camp food (hot dogs, burgers, etc.). You can get super creative and use your imagination in this. Take a hike around and try and look for things you typically overlook, make it special! 

-An encouragement page:

You can write someone's name at the top of the page and pass it around to everyone and it can be as simple as a sentence or as long as you want but fill it up with encouragement or good things you see in them. Focus on what you love most about them and when you are done, gift it to them at some point in the week. You can do this with as many people as you want. You can mail them out, or simply give it to them if they are within your home. 

-A time of solitude:

Find a place to be alone with the Lord (it could be in your closet or outdoors super early or right before bed if getting time alone is particularly difficult). Sit with Him and bring your Bible, a pen or pencil, and journal. You can simply soak in the sun if you are outdoors and start by being still: set aside distractions, thoughts, and intentionally clear your mind to focus on the Lord. As you find stillness, just share how you feel (talk about all that happened in your week, or day). Talk with the Lord about what you are struggling with and ask Him to help you give them over to Him, share how you feel about His creation around you if you are outside. Talk with Him about the joy you've been finding lately. You can go through Psalms if you are not sure what to say and pray through those as well. Ask Him to simply just be with you and give you peace. You can use this time to journal how you are feeling, what stands out to you in the Psalms you read, and write prayers down (sometimes that is easier than to simply speak it or pray it). You can also tell Him if this is hard for you and express why to simply be alone with Him. It is always nice to just be and try to slow your thoughts down and simply just be with Him.  

FAST AND PRAY:

As we fast & pray on Fridays, let's meditate on this passage from the Psalms.

Psalm 104 NLT
1 Let all that I am praise the Lord.
O Lord my God, how great you are!
    You are robed with honor and majesty.
2 You are dressed in a robe of light.
You stretch out the starry curtain of the heavens;
3   you lay out the rafters of your home in the rain clouds.
You make the clouds your chariot;
    you ride upon the wings of the wind.
4 The winds are your messengers;
    flames of fire are your servants.[a]
5 You placed the world on its foundation
    so it would never be moved.
6 You clothed the earth with floods of water,
    water that covered even the mountains.
7 At your command, the water fled;
    at the sound of your thunder, it hurried away.
8 Mountains rose and valleys sank
    to the levels you decreed.
9 Then you set a firm boundary for the seas,
    so they would never again cover the earth.
10 You make springs pour water into the ravines,
    so streams gush down from the mountains.
11 They provide water for all the animals,
    and the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 The birds nest beside the streams
    and sing among the branches of the trees.
13 You send rain on the mountains from your heavenly home,
    and you fill the earth with the fruit of your labor.
14 You cause grass to grow for the livestock
    and plants for people to use.
You allow them to produce food from the earth—
15  wine to make them glad,
olive oil to soothe their skin,
    and bread to give them strength.
16 The trees of the Lord are well cared for—
    the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17 There the birds make their nests,
    and the storks make their homes in the cypresses.
18 High in the mountains live the wild goats,
    and the rocks form a refuge for the hyraxes.[b]
19 You made the moon to mark the seasons,
    and the sun knows when to set.
20 You send the darkness, and it becomes night,
    when all the forest animals prowl about.
21 Then the young lions roar for their prey,
    stalking the food provided by God.
22 At dawn they slink back
    into their dens to rest.
23 Then people go off to their work,
    where they labor until evening.
24 O Lord, what a variety of things you have made!
    In wisdom you have made them all.
    The earth is full of your creatures.
25 Here is the ocean, vast and wide,
    teeming with life of every kind,
    both large and small.
26 See the ships sailing along,
    and Leviathan,[c] which you made to play in the sea.
27 They all depend on you
    to give them food as they need it.
28 When you supply it, they gather it.
    You open your hand to feed them,
    and they are richly satisfied.
29 But if you turn away from them, they panic.
    When you take away their breath,
    they die and turn again to dust.
30 When you give them your breath,[d] life is created,
    and you renew the face of the earth.
31 May the glory of the Lord continue forever!
    The Lord takes pleasure in all he has made!
32 The earth trembles at his glance;
    the mountains smoke at his touch.
33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live.
    I will praise my God to my last breath!
34 May all my thoughts be pleasing to him,
    for I rejoice in the Lord.
35 Let all sinners vanish from the face of the earth;
    let the wicked disappear forever.
Let all that I am praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord!