Thursday 24 April 2025 - Peace be with you

Thursday 24 April 2025

Thank you for praying with us today. We ask those who use our app to wait at the end of this prayer session for some important information, if you haven’t caught it already. But for now, have a blessed prayer time. Today is Thursday the 24th of April, in the 1st week of Eastertide. Jonathan Veira sings, ‘When I Survey’. As you listen, notice any words or moments that are staying with you… When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory died, my richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride. See, from his head, his hands, his feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down. Did e'er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown? Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were an offering far too small. Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all. Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Luke. Luke 24:35-48 Then [the disciples] told what had happened on the road, and how [Jesus] had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread. While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, ‘Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.’ And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence. Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. Take this scene in… What do you make of the reaction of the disciples to the presence of the Lord? How do you imagine it? “He showed them his hands and his feet.” There is much meaning in this gesture… What does it mean to you today? Now listen as the passage is read to you once more. What really strikes you about it, here and now? Luke 24:35-48 Then [the disciples] told what had happened on the road, and how [Jesus] had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread. While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, ‘Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.’ And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence. Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. “You are witnesses of these things”. Are you being called to witness to something today? Speak to the Lord about this, or anything that is lingering for you after this time of prayer. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be World without end Amen Thank you for waiting around for this short announcement. We have been listening to our community for the last few years and are now making changes to our app. We will be simplifying your daily prayer journey and hope that these changes will allow for a better service and an even smoother time of prayer. From the 28th April, we will begin to phase in our new app experience over the coming weeks. This should happen automatically, so you don’t need to download a different app. We believe that prayer should be between you and God, therefore we have strong privacy policies in place. However, this unfortunately means that we won’t be able to carry forward any journal entries, favourited prayers or downloads into our new app, as we do not store any data, and therefore can’t migrate it. We are sorry for this and understand it will be difficult. However, we invite those who would like to save any journal entries to do so by copying and pasting the days they would like to move over to a personal digital notebook on their own device. Also, you can note down any favourite prayer days and re-favourite any of them on the new app. You can also get in touch with us through our website or by emailing feedback@pray-as-you-go.org and we can assist you. Although this is a new change, we hope that the app will bring about a fresh season and a steady home for your prayer life, and we have plenty of new content arriving for everyone too. Thank you for your support, and to everyone who has given financially towards this project. If you would like to support us in this new stage, please head over to prayasyougo.org/donate to take a look at our new website and to help grow prayer journeys for a global community. Thank you, and every blessing for Eastertide.