Prayer and Worship
Daily Scripture
Luke 4:16, 6:12, 11:1
Luke 4:16, 6:12, 11:1
Luke 4
16 Jesus went to Nazareth, where he had been raised. On the Sabbath he went to the synagogue as he normally did and stood up to read.
Luke 6
12 During that time, Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night long.
Luke 11
1 Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.
Daily Reflection & Prayer
We end our “What the Tech?” study by asking “what if Jesus had an iPhone?” (No, we won’t exclude Android phones.) “We’ll consider five simple practices that Jesus’ followers have always pursued as they sought to walk with him. Jesus himself modeled these practices for us.” * The first one leads us to personal prayer and to community worship. Prayer and praise can happen daily, not just one day a week. Psalm 96:2, long before modern gratitude research, called us to thank God “every single day.”
- Why do you believe Jesus prayed at all, and “normally” went to the synagogue? Couldn’t he just have said, “I’m the son of God—I can handle this on my own”? If you had been one of the first disciples, what difference, if any, do you imagine you would have noticed in Jesus after he had been praying that would have made you ask, “Teach us to pray”?
- If Jesus had an iPhone, he might well have used one or more apps to remind him to pray, to express gratitude to God, to locate a synagogue when he was in a new town. Your tech tools give you the chance to do that. You can search app stores for items like “prayer reminder app,” “prayer journal.” “gratitude journal,” and the like. (Adam may develop a list of suggestions, in which case we’ll link to it.)
Prayer
O God, like the sun you always shine your love and mercy into my life, on good, ordinary and even bad days. Help me learn, and use tech tools well, to keep my focus on you every day. Amen.
GPS Insights
Katy Bagwell
Katy Bagwell is the Program Director of Missions for Resurrection West. She is a mom of two and loves to be outside in the sunshine, especially if it involves mountains or ocean. She loves hiking, reading, learning, and connecting.
Imagine sitting down on your couch, opening your phone, and seeing a new text message from Jesus. What would it say? If you could send Jesus a text message, what would you text him about?
Technology gives us the amazing ability to be able to talk to anyone, anywhere, at any time. It’s like a superpower, the ultimate form of connection, but how can we use this connection for good? What would Jesus say in a text message?
We have so many examples of how Jesus interacted with people in the Scriptures. Jesus wept with people that were mourning. He healed people that were sick. He taught wisdom and sometimes hard lessons to people that needed to hear it. If Jesus could send text messages, he would send parables to explain some of the hard truths and guide us to the amazing life that he has for us! When life was hard, he would text us that we are not alone. When life was great, he would celebrate with us! Above all else, Jesus would say that he loves us. God loves us. Every time that you opened your phone there would be another message that says, “I love you, my child.”
The great news is, even though Jesus does not literally send you text messages, we have his word at our fingertips anytime through Scripture! The stories and words of Jesus live eternally through the words of the Bible, and in our hearts when we take the time to read it and memorize it! On top of that, we have prayer. When we pray, we are even closer to God then we could ever be with a simple text message. Technology is a great tool for communication, but God gave us an even better one in the Holy Spirit, a connection much deeper and more profound than any kind of technology could ever be.
So, what about us? How are we going to use our technology the way that Jesus would? Who in your contacts needs a message of love and encouragement without judgment? How can you be the hands and feet of Jesus when you get online to interact with others?
Let’s be like Jesus, and always send messages of love, healing, and kindness to everyone we can!
© 2024 Resurrection: A United Methodist Church. All Rights Reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
References
* Hamilton, Adam. The Walk. Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition.
