WEEK 9: MONDAY NOVEMBER 9
SILENCE, STILLNESS, AND CENTERING BEFORE GOD:
As you begin to spend time with God, settle yourself somewhere quiet and comfortable. Take a few deep breaths. Spend a few minutes in silence, becoming aware of God’s presence with you and in you.
READ:
Let your mind settle. Silently read the Scripture for this week: Mark 10.
ASK:
Read the Scripture again, this time aloud. Listen for a word, phrase, or section that grabs your attention. Write down any questions about the passage that you have. When you finish, close your eyes. Recall the word or phrase, taking it in and mulling it over. Write down what comes to mind.
REFLECT:
Jesus’ Kingdom is countercultural, both back then to the Jews in Jesus’ day and to us and our culture today. Jesus says to let the little children come to Him, and that we, as followers of Jesus, are to receive the Kingdom of God like children. Mark says Jesus “took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them on blessed them.” The picture is God is placing us in His arms and blessing us! The Kingdom of God is a blessing, and God delights to give us the Kingdom (Luke 12:32). What is your (instinctive) view of the Kingdom of God?
James and John, hearing Jesus talk about the Kingdom of God, and realizing they are on their way to Jerusalem, believe that Jesus is going to overthrow Roman rule and establish His reign and they want to beat the rest of the disciples and ask Jesus to have a seat on his left and right. However, at this moment, they miss the point of Jesus’ Kingdom. Through humility and sacrifice He is bringing the Kingdom of God. What can we learn from the way Jesus brings the Kingdom of God? Jesus is inviting us to live in this Kingdom, understand and follow its values, and love the way he loves.
It is no accident that following the story of the disciples not understanding what Jesus is doing and His Kingdom we have the Bartimaeus receiving sight. Mark is trying to get the reader to understand and imitate Bartimaeus and understand that Jesus is bringing sight to his followers. Jesus is wanting his followers to see that He is bringing salvation. What is Jesus trying to get you see about Him? Where do your eyes need to receive sight?
PRAY:
Read the Scripture one last time, then stop and listen for who Jesus is inviting you to become or what He is inviting you to do this week. Write down what comes to mind.
Talk with Jesus about it.
PRACTICE: Psalm 51:10-11
In this week's practice, we are going to ask God to open our eyes to see him. Mark 10 tells us a story about a blind beggar who was crying out to Jesus to heal him and give him sight to see, and Jesus heals him. Jesus says to the man, “Go, your faith has saved you”. In the same way, let us posture our hearts and ask Jesus to reveal to us what we are possibly blind to. We want to see parts of our hearts healed. Friends, Jesus is faithful to show us. Let’s walk through this guided prayer time:
Take a second to acknowledge God’s presence with you
Imagine Jesus before you, and pray to him just like the blind beggar “I want to see”.
Continue to pray, asking the Holy Spirit to soften your heart and reveal to you what things in your heart or in your life that you have been blind to.
Once God has placed something on your heart, feel free to write this down in a journal, and to continue to pray through this daily.
Lastly, ask Jesus to align your heart and your thoughts with His, for He is Lord of your life, and thank him for his faithfulness to hear you in your prayer.