In British Columbia, a new prison was built to replace the old Fort Alcan prison. As the inmates worked to salvage building materials, they made an amazing discovery – the walls of the old prison had actually been made from paper and clay, painted to resemble iron! One big push and they could have escaped. Yet they thought freedom was impossible. 

What’s your prison? 

(1) Past failure? You’ll stay there until you decide to accept God’s forgiveness. Listen: 'I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for Mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins' (Isa 43:25). Forget your sins (and everybody else’s) for God’s sake, for when you keep bringing them up, you really bother Him. 

(2) Sickness? Bartimaeus spent his life in a prison of blindness. When Jesus came to town, he refused to allow the crowd to either silence him or get in his way. (And they’ll try both). He cried out, 'Jesus…have mercy on me' (Mk 10:47) and Jesus responded immediately. Imagine, the first face Bartimaeus ever saw was the face of Jesus! 

(3) The fear of death? Listen: '…only by dying could He break…the power of death [and]…deliver those who have lived all their lives [in] the fear of dying' (Heb 2:14-15 NLT). Good news! Jesus is a prototype. His resurrection guarantees yours! 

Robert Lowry wrote, 'Death cannot keep his prey – Jesus my Saviour! He tore the bars away – Jesus my Lord! Up from the grave He arose, with a mighty triumph o’er His foes…' Whatever your fear is today, Jesus wants to set you free.

"I lift up my eyes to you, to you whose throne is in heaven. As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he shows us his mercy. Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy on us, for we have endured much contempt. We have endured much ridicule from the proud, much contempt from the arrogant. "

(Many of the reflections on each page are used with the kind permission of United Christian Broadcastors (UCB) from their FREE daily devotional - The Word for Today. They allow the publication of 52 of their passages per year and I find their messages apt and though-provoking for the times we live in.)

A Circle of Prayer around the world praying for and with each other, for peace and for a world in crisis. Please read more about it and perhaps join us, prayer was never more needed than it is in these times!

Praying all year round for the souls of our deceased relatives and friends, for the souls of those most in need of prayer and for those souls in purgatory who have nobody to pray for them.