grasping, day 7

Come to Stillness:

Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

Opening Prayer:
Lord Jesus, forgive me when my bleeding and wounded heart causes me to grasp for life and relief from any and every source available. Instead, help me to reach only for you—that I might touch the fringe of your robe and find healing and wholeness for the brokenness of my heart and soul. In Your Name I pray. Amen. (JLB)

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 16

Scripture for the Day: Philippians 2:1-11

Reading for Reflection:

Our urge to be set free from this isolation can become so strong that it bursts forth...Then our need for an intimate relationship—for a friend, a lover, or an appreciative community—turns into a desperate grabbing for anyone who offers some immediate satisfaction, some release of tension, or some temporary feeling of at-oneness.  Then our need for each other degenerates into a dangerous aggression that causes much harm and only intensifies our feelings of loneliness. (Making All Things New by Henri J. M. Nouwen)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Tender Mercy

Hear my cry for mercy
As I call to You
As I lift my hands in Spirit
And in Truth

 

We cry mercy
(in the name of the Father most Holy)
We cry mercy
(in the name of the Son Who was slain)
Lord have mercy
(in the name of the Spirit indwelling)
Tender mercy Lord
You are mercy (in the name of the Father most Holy)
You are mercy (in the name of the Son Who was slain)
Lord have mercy (in the name of the Spirit indwelling)
Tender mercy Lord

 

           In Your tender mercy
           Brought by grace through faith
           I will lift my heart
           Toward Your most Holy place

Closing Prayer:
Lord Jesus, give me the grace and the strength and the courage to take off that which I use to cover myself; and to clothe myself only and always in you alone. Amen. (JLB)