Hebrews 9:11-14

11Christ came as the high priest of the good things that are now here. He also went into a much better tent that wasn't made by humans and that doesn't belong to this world. 12Then Christ went once for all into the most holy place and freed us from sin forever. He did this by offering his own blood instead of the blood of goats and bulls. 13According to the Law of Moses, those people who become unclean are not fit to worship God. Yet they will be considered clean, if they are sprinkled with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a sacrificed calf. 14But Christ was sinless, and he offered himself as an eternal and spiritual sacrifice to God. That's why his blood is much more powerful and makes our consciences clear. Now we can serve the living God and no longer do things that lead to death.

“Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song."

Pope John Paul II

We thought it would be helpful to consider our prayer lives, especially the act of confession. After much discussion, we decided to post the prayer method ACTS so we can use this method more consistently.

One structure for prayer is given by the acronym "ACTS", representing adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication (or intercession.) Let's look briefly at each component:

Adoration is to adore God, to worship him and to fulfill the commandment to love him with all of our heart, mind and soul. As we spend time in adoration, we praise God for who He is - our Creator, our Sustainer and our Redeemer.

Confession allows us to clear away the things in the relationship between you and God which are displeasing to Him.

• Ask God to show you the parts of your life that He is not pleased about, and that do not match with the life He is calling you to lead. This can help you come to terms with things that you may not want to tackle and confess.

• After you have spent time confessing the things you regret to God, remind yourself of his promise to forgive those who confess their sins. Give Him thanks for this.

• Spend time praying about any issues where you need to forgive others, where you might be holding some grudge against them. Ask for God's help with this.

Thanksgiving. From childhood we are brought up to say "Thank You" when someone does something for us, or gives us a gift. Each moment God is blessing us, every minute we can recall the wonderful things that God has done for us, and the gifts that we have been given. And so, we need to be constantly thanking God for his blessings.

Supplication or Intercession. Finally we come to ask God for our needs and the needs of others. There are many demands on our prayer time - many topics and issues that we could pray for, so we need to choose, and to be specific.

Mark 10:46-52

Blind Bartimaeus Receives His Sight

46 Jesus and his disciples came to Jericho. They were leaving the city. A large crowd was with them.
A blind man was sitting by the side of the road begging. His name was Bartimaeus. Bartimaeus means Son of Timaeus. 47 He heard that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. So he began to shout, "Jesus! Son of David! Have mercy on me!"
48 Many people commanded him to stop. They told him to be quiet. But he shouted even louder, "Son of David! Have mercy on me!"
49 Jesus stopped and said, "Call for him."
So they called out to the blind man, "Cheer up! Get up on your feet! Jesus is calling for you."
50 He threw his coat to one side. Then he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

51 "What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked him.

The blind man said, "Rabbi, I want to be able to see."
52 "Go," said Jesus. "Your faith has healed you."
Right away he could see. And he followed Jesus along the road.

You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.

Mark Twain, 19th century

Subject Sentences:

Persistent, blind Bartimaeus recognizes Messiah, faithfully asks, receives sight, and follows Jesus.

Faithful, persistent, blind beggar asks for, and receives Jesus’ healing; becomes follower.

A believer was healed by his faith and remained committed to God.

Aims:

These verses cause me

. . . to think about how I model the Christian walk. Jesus not only helped the beggar see, but was a living testament to the lesson He just had taught the disciples about the least will come first....being a servant.

. . . to be persistent in seeking Jesus and know the reason I am seeking Him.

. . . to believe that Jesus can help/heal when I call to Him.

. . . to examine things in life God has granted to me, and how to remain committed to Him after granting me

blessings.

Note: I went to church last night - Father focused on the blind man in his gospel. I smiled when he used the word "clarity". However instead of just thinking of the blind man having clarity in asking for what he needed, Father used it to describe how the blind had clarity in seeing what he needed to do, become a follower. He also made the point that we too can ask others what they need and to see how we can do this. The one part of our version of the reading included how Jesus asked the crowd to bring the man to him, I prefer the image of Jesus seeking him out and going to the man.