Opening Prayer: Lord, take my lips and speak through them;
take my mind, and think through it; take my heart, and set it on fire. Amen. (Little Book of Prayers by W. H.
Aitken)
Scripture: Psalm 31:1-5
Journal: What do the words into your hands I commit my
spirit mean to you today? What does
it mean to commit your spirit to God?
How do you need God to be your rock, refuge and fortress right
now?
Reflection:
This abandonment is the very heart and essence of
Christian prayer, and it has nothing in common with strategy and
second-guessing. It is the pray-to-win
mentality turned inside out, and yet it is not a pray-to-lose mentality. It is prayer that has moved beyond intending,
directing, steering, second-guessing God.
It is the dancer moving completely in the rhythm of the partner, prayer
that is utterly freeing because it is completely at one. Utterly beyond asking, beyond the anger that
rattles heaven’s gate. Prayer that does
not plead, wants nothing for itself but what God wants, it is the
will-not-to-will, rooted in grace, that makes it possible to be abandoned,
free, and then (by some further miracle) able to act with a semblance of
coherence and freedom even when completely surrendered to and possessed by the
loving will of God.
And it is this abandonment that is meant
when we are told to drop our nets and follow him; to pause not to bury our dead
fathers or tell our wives we will be traveling for a while; it is in this
abandonment that we sell all. (Clinging—The Experience of Prayer by
Emilie Griffin)
Prayer
Closing Prayer: Lord, you know me
better than I know myself. Your Spirit
pervades every moment of my life. Thank
you for the grace and love you shower on me.
Thank you for your constant, gentle invitation to let you into my
life. Forgive me for the times I have
refused that invitation, and closed myself off from you. Help me in the day to come, to recognize your
presence in my life, to open myself to you, to let you work in me, to your
greater glory. Amen. (The Spiritual Exercises by St. Ignatius)
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