Encounters with Jesus – Monday

Reflections for the week of Vision and Prayer 2026:

As the title for our week of Vision and Prayer suggests, this year we will be looking at ‘Encounters with Jesus’ as our focus.

Every day we will put ourselves in a scripture where people in the Bible encountered Jesus, consider what that means for us today, and think about what we can do today.

Monday-    Follow Me

Scripture: Matthew 4:18-22 (The Message)

Walking along the beach of Lake Galilee, Jesus saw two brothers: Simon (later called Peter) and Andrew. They were fishing, throwing their nets into the lake. It was their regular work. Jesus said to them, “Come with me. I’ll make a new kind of fisherman out of you. I’ll show you how to catch men and women instead of perch and bass.” They didn’t ask questions but simply dropped their nets and followed.

A short distance down the beach they came upon another pair of brothers, James and John, Zebedee’s sons. These two were sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, mending their fishnets.

Jesus made the same offer to them, and they were just as quick to follow, abandoning boat and father.

Encounter with Jesus:

For this next section. Ask yourself these questions:

• What is going on in the passage?
• Take time to imagine you are there ‘in the story’ as it happens. What do you see, hear, smell? If you were one of the people in the passage, who would you be? Why?
• Still imagining you are there…
  • What question would you like to ask Jesus?
  • What was/is Jesus’ response?

Now, what does it mean for us?

It is presumed that the disciples in this passage were likely to be teenagers. Do you know any teenagers in your community-ies? Jesus is making the same offer to them, but He doesn’t physically go to them in our days He comes to them in a number of ways. One of these ways is through the schools’ workers in your area.

To do today:

1. Why not spend some time praying for those young people you know.
2. Do you know who works in schools in your area (not just Niscu). Think about how you can find out who they are and then pray for them.

Did you know…?

Niscu’s first ask for support (and most important) is prayer! We have regular prayer updates that you can easily subscribe to, informing you of what we are doing in your area and how/what you can pray for.