prayer, day 3

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

Opening Prayer:
Lord, I know not what I ought to ask of you.  You only know what I need.  You know me better than I know myself.  O Father, give to your child what he himself knows not how to ask.  Teach me to pray.  Pray yourself in me.
                                                                  ~Archbishop Francois Fenelon

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 84

Scripture for the Day: John 17:1-26

Reading for Reflection:

How, then, shall we lay hold of that Life and Power, and live the life of prayer without ceasing?  By quiet, persistent practice in turning of all our being, day and night, in prayer and inward worship and surrender, toward Him who calls in the depths of our souls.  Mental habits of inward orientation must be established.  An inner, secret turning to God can be made fairly steady, after weeks and months and years of practice and lapses and failures and returns.  It is as simple as Brother Lawrence found it, but it may be long before we achieve any steadiness in the process.  Begin now, as you read these words, as you sit in your chair, to offer your whole selves, utterly and in joyful abandon, in quiet, glad surrender to Him who is within.  (A Testament of Devotion by Thomas Kelly)


Prayer is being loved at a deep, sweet level.  I hope you have felt such intimacy alone with God.  I promise you it is available to you.  Maybe a lot of us just need to be told that it is what we should expect and seek.  It feels presumptuous.  We can’t trust that such a love exists.  But it does. (Everything Belongs by Richard Rohr)


Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Praise to the Lord the Almighty


Praise to the Lord, the Almighty,
The King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him,
For He is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear, Now to His temple draw near;
Praise Him in glad adoration.

Praise to the Lord,
Who over all things so wondrously reigneth,
Shelters thee under His wings,
Yea, so gently sustaineth!
Hast thou not seen
How all your longings have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?
 
Praise to the Lord,
Who doth prosper thy work and defend thee;
Surely His goodness
And mercy here daily attend thee.
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do,
If with His love He befriend thee.
 
Praise to the Lord,
O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath,
Come now with praises before Him.
Let the Amen sound from His people again,
Gladly for aye we adore Him.

Closing Prayer:
You stir us so that praising you may bring us joy, because you have made us and drawn us to yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you. (Confessions by St. Augustine)

prayer, day 2

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

Opening Prayer:
Lord, I know not what I ought to ask of you.  You only know what I need.  You know me better than I know myself.  O Father, give to your child what he himself knows not how to ask.  Teach me to pray.  Pray yourself in me.
                                                                  ~Archbishop Francois Fenelon

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 84

Scripture for the Day: James 5:13-18

Reading for Reflection:

To kindle in his heart such a divine love, to unite with God in an inseparable union of love, it is necessary for a man to pray often, raising the mind to Him.  For as a flame increases when it is constantly fed, so prayer, made often, with the mind dwelling ever more deeply in God, arouses divine love in the heart.  And the heart, set on fire, will warm all the inner man, will enlighten and teach him, revealing to him all its unknown and hidden wisdom, and making him like a flaming seraph, always standing before God within his spirit, always looking at Him within his mind, and drawing from this vision the sweetness of spiritual joy. (The Inner Closet of the Heart by St. Dimitri of Rostov, The Art of Prayer by Igumen Chariton of Valamo)


Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Praise to the Lord the Almighty


Praise to the Lord, the Almighty,
The King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him,
For He is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear, Now to His temple draw near;
Praise Him in glad adoration.

Praise to the Lord,
Who over all things so wondrously reigneth,
Shelters thee under His wings,
Yea, so gently sustaineth!
Hast thou not seen
How all your longings have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?
 
Praise to the Lord,
Who doth prosper thy work and defend thee;
Surely His goodness
And mercy here daily attend thee.
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do,
If with His love He befriend thee.
 
Praise to the Lord,
O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath,
Come now with praises before Him.
Let the Amen sound from His people again,
Gladly for aye we adore Him.

Closing Prayer:
You stir us so that praising you may bring us joy, because you have made us and drawn us to yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you. (Confessions by St. Augustine)

prayer, day 1

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

Opening Prayer:
Lord, I know not what I ought to ask of you.  You only know what I need.  You know me better than I know myself.  O Father, give to your child what he himself knows not how to ask.  Teach me to pray.  Pray yourself in me.
                                                                  ~Archbishop Francois Fenelon

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 84

Scripture for the Day: Matthew 6:5-15

Reading for Reflection:

I’ve always had a sneaking suspicion that there is much more to most things than meets the eye—prayer for instance.  For years I was under the impression that prayer consisted of closing your eyes, bowing your head, and talking to God.  The pictures and images of prayer that I carried around in my heart and mind, quite frankly, left much to be desired.  Prayer was not an activity I was particularly drawn to or excited about.  My guess is that this had much more to do with my definition of prayer than it did with the real practice of prayer.  It wasn’t until much later in life that I began to see that maybe my definition of prayer was far too small and rigid.  Prayer wasn’t so much about performing a duty as it was about building a wonderfully intimate relationship.  Prayer was not simply throwing all the words I can muster at the unseen God, but it—at its very core—has always been about union with the God who lives within us.  I think that’s what Jesus is really getting at in Matthew 6:5-15; he is trying to recapture the true meaning and practice of prayer, which is simply being with God.

     "Don’t stand on street corners, don’t babble on and on; prayer is much more intimate and personal than that.  Instead go into your closet—that space where true intimacy is possible—and shut the door.  Leave everyone and everything else on the outside; I want it to be just me and you.  I want us to be together in a way and a place where I have your undivided attention.  I have so much I want to say to you; so much of me that I want you to know.  And this space and time is the place where that is most possible; the place where I can have the deepest desires of my heart fulfilled, which is just to be with you, my Beloved.  Come inside where things are still and quiet and you can hear every whisper of my loving Spirit deep within your heart and soul."  That’s prayer.

                                                            ~Jim Branch

                                                               November 2011

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Praise to the Lord the Almighty


Praise to the Lord, the Almighty,
The King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him,
For He is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear, Now to His temple draw near;
Praise Him in glad adoration.

Praise to the Lord,
Who over all things so wondrously reigneth,
Shelters thee under His wings,
Yea, so gently sustaineth!
Hast thou not seen
How all your longings have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?
 
Praise to the Lord,
Who doth prosper thy work and defend thee;
Surely His goodness
And mercy here daily attend thee.
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do,
If with His love He befriend thee.
 
Praise to the Lord,
O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath,
Come now with praises before Him.
Let the Amen sound from His people again,
Gladly for aye we adore Him.

Closing Prayer:
You stir us so that praising you may bring us joy, because you have made us and drawn us to yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you. (Confessions by St. Augustine)

God's voice, day 7

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

Opening Prayer:
Lord, teach me to listen.  The times are noisy and my ears are weary with the thousand raucous sounds which continuously assault them.  Give me the spirit of the boy Samuel when he said to Thee, “Speak, for thy servant heareth.”  Let me hear Thee speaking in my heart.  Let me get used to the sound of Thy voice, that its tones may be familiar when the sounds of earth die away and the only sound will be the music of Thy speaking voice.  Amen.  (The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer)


Psalm for the Week: Psalm 29

Scripture for the Day: 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

Reading for Reflection:

In recent years I’ve begun to understand that prayer is more “gift given” than “mission accomplished.”  Out of his love for me, Jesus makes me the object of his attention and his affection.  Out of my love for him, Jesus becomes the object of my attention and affection.  Focusing on Jesus is more helpful than placing all of my attention on praying in a particular way.  If I am not faithful to the discipline of prayer, in whatever form, bit by bit I will forget God.  I must beg God daily for the grace to live a life of unceasing prayer.  I must regularly spend time with God speaking and listening, pondering and getting to know God.  If I do anything but this, my mind and my heart will be consumed with other interests and concerns.  Before long I will fail to recognize the sound of God’s voice, and I will stop speaking to God.  I know this from hard experience. (Running on Empty by Fil Anderson)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Blessed Be Your Name

Blessed be your name
In the land that is plentiful
Where the streams of abundance flow
Blessed be your name

Blessed be your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed be your name

Every blessing you pour out, I turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say...

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your glorious name

Blessed be your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's all as it should be
Blessed be your name

Blessed be your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering

Blessed be your name
You give and take away, You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, Blessed be your name!

Closing Prayer:
Father, you have taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and confidence we shall be strengthened:  By Your Spirit lift us to Your presence, where we may be still and know that You are God. (Living Prayer by Robert Benson)

God's voice, day 6

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

Opening Prayer:
Lord, teach me to listen.  The times are noisy and my ears are weary with the thousand raucous sounds which continuously assault them.  Give me the spirit of the boy Samuel when he said to Thee, “Speak, for thy servant heareth.”  Let me hear Thee speaking in my heart.  Let me get used to the sound of Thy voice, that its tones may be familiar when the sounds of earth die away and the only sound will be the music of Thy speaking voice.  Amen.  (The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer)


Psalm for the Week: Psalm 29

Scripture for the Day: 1 Samuel 3:1-12

Reading for Reflection:

I believe that we know much more about God than we admit that we know, than perhaps we altogether know that we know.  God speaks to us, I would say, much more often than we realize or than we choose to realize.  Before the sun sets every evening, he speaks to each one of us in an intensely personal and unmistakable way.  His message is not written out in starlight, which in the long run would make no difference; rather it is written out for each of us in the humdrum, helter-skelter events of each day; it is a message that in the long run might just make all the difference.

     Who knows what he will say to me today or to you today or into the midst of what kind of unlikely moment he will choose to say it.  Not knowing is what makes today a holy mystery. (The Magnificent Defeat by Frederick Buechner)


Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Blessed Be Your Name

Blessed be your name
In the land that is plentiful
Where the streams of abundance flow
Blessed be your name

Blessed be your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed be your name

Every blessing you pour out, I turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say...

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your glorious name

Blessed be your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's all as it should be
Blessed be your name

Blessed be your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering

Blessed be your name
You give and take away, You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, Blessed be your name!

Closing Prayer:
Father, you have taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and confidence we shall be strengthened:  By Your Spirit lift us to Your presence, where we may be still and know that You are God. (Living Prayer by Robert Benson)

God's voice, day 5

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

Opening Prayer:
Lord, teach me to listen.  The times are noisy and my ears are weary with the thousand raucous sounds which continuously assault them.  Give me the spirit of the boy Samuel when he said to Thee, “Speak, for thy servant heareth.”  Let me hear Thee speaking in my heart.  Let me get used to the sound of Thy voice, that its tones may be familiar when the sounds of earth die away and the only sound will be the music of Thy speaking voice.  Amen.  (The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer)


Psalm for the Week: Psalm 29

Scripture for the Day: Isaiah 43:1-13

Reading for Reflection:

Retire from the world each day to some private spot, even if it be only the bedroom (for a while I retreated to the furnace room for want of a better place).  Stay in the secret place till the surrounding noises begin to fade out of your heart and a sense of God’s presence envelopes you…Listen for the inward Voice till you learn to recognize it.  Stop trying to compete with others.  Give yourself to God and then be what and who you are without regard to what others think…Learn to pray inwardly every moment.  After a while you can do this even while you work….Read less, but more of what is important to your inner life.  Never let your mind remain scattered for very long.  Call home your roving thoughts.  Gaze on Christ with the eyes of your soul.  Practice spiritual concentration.  All of the above is contingent upon a right relation to God through Christ and daily meditation on the Scriptures.  Lacking these, nothing will help us; granted these, the discipline recommended will go far to neutralize the evil effects of externalism and to make us acquainted with God and our own souls. (The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer)


If you will acknowledge, recognize, and pray—if you will commit yourself to this process of listening—you will begin to realize that the voice you have heard so often across the days of your life has been His voice.  (He Speaks Softly by Bob Benson)


Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Blessed Be Your Name

Blessed be your name
In the land that is plentiful
Where the streams of abundance flow
Blessed be your name

Blessed be your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed be your name

Every blessing you pour out, I turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say...

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your glorious name

Blessed be your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's all as it should be
Blessed be your name

Blessed be your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering

Blessed be your name
You give and take away, You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, Blessed be your name!

Closing Prayer:
Father, you have taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and confidence we shall be strengthened:  By Your Spirit lift us to Your presence, where we may be still and know that You are God. (Living Prayer by Robert Benson)

God's voice, day 4

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

Opening Prayer:
Lord, teach me to listen.  The times are noisy and my ears are weary with the thousand raucous sounds which continuously assault them.  Give me the spirit of the boy Samuel when he said to Thee, “Speak, for thy servant heareth.”  Let me hear Thee speaking in my heart.  Let me get used to the sound of Thy voice, that its tones may be familiar when the sounds of earth die away and the only sound will be the music of Thy speaking voice.  Amen.  (The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer)


Psalm for the Week: Psalm 29

Scripture for the Day: 1 Kings 19:1-13

Reading for Reflection:

There are four ways in which He reveals His will to us—through the Scriptures, through providential circumstances, through the convictions of our own higher judgment, and through the inward impressions of the Holy Spirit on our minds.  Where these four harmonize, it is safe to say that God speaks.

    For I lay it down as a foundation principle, which no one can gainsay, that of course His voice will always be in harmony with itself, no matter in how many different ways He may speak.  The voices may be many, the message can be but one.  If God tells me in one voice to do or to leave undone anything, He cannot possibly tell me the opposite in another voice.  If there is a contradiction in the voices, the speakers cannot be the same.  Therefore my rule for distinguishing the voice of God would be to bring it to the test of this harmony. (The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life by Hannah Whitall Smith)

Silence gives us a new outlook on everything.  We need silence to be able to touch souls.  The essential thing is not what we say but what God says to us and through us. (Seeking the Heart of God by Mother Teresa and Brother Roger)


Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Blessed Be Your Name

Blessed be your name
In the land that is plentiful
Where the streams of abundance flow
Blessed be your name

Blessed be your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed be your name

Every blessing you pour out, I turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say...

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your glorious name

Blessed be your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's all as it should be
Blessed be your name

Blessed be your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering

Blessed be your name
You give and take away, You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, Blessed be your name!

Closing Prayer:
Father, you have taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and confidence we shall be strengthened:  By Your Spirit lift us to Your presence, where we may be still and know that You are God. (Living Prayer by Robert Benson)

God's voice, day 3

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

Opening Prayer:
Lord, teach me to listen.  The times are noisy and my ears are weary with the thousand raucous sounds which continuously assault them.  Give me the spirit of the boy Samuel when he said to Thee, “Speak, for thy servant heareth.”  Let me hear Thee speaking in my heart.  Let me get used to the sound of Thy voice, that its tones may be familiar when the sounds of earth die away and the only sound will be the music of Thy speaking voice.  Amen.  (The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer)


Psalm for the Week: Psalm 29

Scripture for the Day: Exodus 3:1-15

Reading for Reflection:

I am convinced that the Voice that whispered us into being still whispers within us and all creation.  I am dead certain of it sometimes, terrified of it at other times, longing for it at all times.  The silence that so often seems to overcome me is more likely a matter of my not trusting my own ears than it is a matter of the Voice having gone suddenly, inexplicably silent. (Between the Dreaming and the Coming True by Robert Benson)

 

     There is a story making the rounds right now about a four-year-old girl who was overheard whispering into her newborn baby brother’s ear.  “Baby,” she whispers, “tell me what God sounds like.  I am starting to forget.”

     Little children will lead us, of course, if for no other reason than that in this world of ours it may well be that it is only a little child who is capable anymore of hearing or recognizing or trusting the Voice that calls us.  The rest of us may be too busy drowning out the Voice with calls and cries and shouts of our own.  Or claiming ignorance when we should be claiming revelation. (Between the Dreaming and the Coming True by Robert Benson)


Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Blessed Be Your Name

Blessed be your name
In the land that is plentiful
Where the streams of abundance flow
Blessed be your name

Blessed be your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed be your name

Every blessing you pour out, I turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say...

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your glorious name

Blessed be your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's all as it should be
Blessed be your name

Blessed be your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering

Blessed be your name
You give and take away, You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, Blessed be your name!

Closing Prayer:
Father, you have taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and confidence we shall be strengthened:  By Your Spirit lift us to Your presence, where we may be still and know that You are God. (Living Prayer by Robert Benson)

God's voice, day 2

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

Opening Prayer:
Lord, teach me to listen.  The times are noisy and my ears are weary with the thousand raucous sounds which continuously assault them.  Give me the spirit of the boy Samuel when he said to Thee, “Speak, for thy servant heareth.”  Let me hear Thee speaking in my heart.  Let me get used to the sound of Thy voice, that its tones may be familiar when the sounds of earth die away and the only sound will be the music of Thy speaking voice.  Amen.  (The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer)


Psalm for the Week: Psalm 29

Scripture for the Day: Matthew 17:1-13

Reading for Reflection:

Every once in a while, life can be very eloquent.  You can go along from day to day not noticing very much, not seeing or hearing very much, and then all the sudden, when you least expect it very often, something speaks to you with such power that it catches you off guard, makes you listen whether you want to or not.  Something speaks to you out of your own life with such directness that it is as if it calls you by name and forces you to look where you have not had the heart to look before, to hear something that maybe for years you have not had the wit or the courage to hear.  (A Room Called Remember by Frederick Buechner)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Blessed Be Your Name

Blessed be your name
In the land that is plentiful
Where the streams of abundance flow
Blessed be your name

 Blessed be your name

When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed be your name

Every blessing you pour out, I turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say...

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your glorious name

Blessed be your name

When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's all as it should be
Blessed be your name

 Blessed be your name

On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering

Blessed be your name
You give and take away, You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, Blessed be your name!

Closing Prayer:
Father, you have taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and confidence we shall be strengthened:  By Your Spirit lift us to Your presence, where we may be still and know that You are God. (Living Prayer by Robert Benson)