devotion, day 7

Come to Stillness:

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

Opening Prayer:

Late have I loved you, O Beauty, so ancient and so new, late have I loved you! And behold, you were within me and I was outside, and there I sought for you, and in my deformity I rushed headlong into the well-formed things that you have made. You were with me, and I was not with you.

                                                                                ~St. Augustine

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 86

Scripture for the Day: 1 Chronicles 22:17-19

 

Reading for Reflection:

I ask you, Lord Jesus,

to develop in me, your lover

an immeasurable urge towards you,

an affection that is unbounded,

longing that is unrestrained,

fervor that throws discretion to the winds!

The more worthwhile our love for you,

            all the more pressing does it become.

Reason cannot hold it in check,

            fear does not make it tremble,

            wise judgment does not temper it.

            (The Fire of Love by Richard Rolle)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Lord Most High

From the ends of the earth
From the depths of the sea
From the heights of the heavens
Your name be praised

From the hearts of the weak
From the shouts of the strong
From the lips of all people
This song we raise, Lord

Throughout the endless ages
You will be crowned with praises,
Lord Most High
Exalted in every nation
Sovereign of all creation
Lord Most High, Be magnified

Closing Prayer
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. (Thoughts in Solitude by Thomas Merton)

devotion, day 6

Come to Stillness:

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

Opening Prayer:

Late have I loved you, O Beauty, so ancient and so new, late have I loved you! And behold, you were within me and I was outside, and there I sought for you, and in my deformity I rushed headlong into the well-formed things that you have made. You were with me, and I was not with you.

                                                                            ~St. Augustine

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 86

Scripture for the Day: 1 Timothy 4:1-16

 

Reading for Reflection:

 

Practice comes first in religion, not theory or dogma.  And Christian practice is not exhausted in outward deeds.  These are the fruits, not the roots.  A practicing Christian must above all be one who practices the perpetual return of the soul into the inner sanctuary, who brings the world into its Light and rejudges it, who brings the Light into the world with all its turmoil and its fitfulness and recreates it. (A Testament of Devotion by Thomas Kelly)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Lord Most High

From the ends of the earth
From the depths of the sea
From the heights of the heavens
Your name be praised

From the hearts of the weak
From the shouts of the strong
From the lips of all people
This song we raise, Lord

Throughout the endless ages
You will be crowned with praises,
Lord Most High
Exalted in every nation
Sovereign of all creation
Lord Most High, Be magnified

Closing Prayer
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. (Thoughts in Solitude by Thomas Merton)

devotion, day 5

Come to Stillness:

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

Opening Prayer:

Late have I loved you, O Beauty, so ancient and so new, late have I loved you! And behold, you were within me and I was outside, and there I sought for you, and in my deformity I rushed headlong into the well-formed things that you have made. You were with me, and I was not with you.

                                                                                    ~St. Augustine

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 86

Scripture for the Day: Matthew 25:1-13

Reading for Reflection:

It is unlikely that we will deepen our relationship with God in a casual or haphazard manner.  There will be a need for some intentional commitment and some reorganization in our own lives.  But there is nothing that will enrich our lives more than a deeper and clearer perception of God’s presence in the routine of daily living. (Ways of Prayer: Designing a Personal Rule by William O. Paulsell, Weavings, Sept./Oct. 1987)

 

By participating in Christian disciplines, we live out our desire and intention to cooperate with the Holy Spirit.  As we do so, we are encouraged, instructed, healed, challenged, loved, renewed, and beckoned to God and godly living.

     While it is true that God is in every when and where and that many other things besides disciplines contribute to our deepening relationship with God, we discover that it makes a meaningful difference in everyday life when we set aside time, space, and ourselves to be more fully present with and attentive and responsive to God.  Disciplines are like faithful companions on the way.  The benefit we seek and desire most is deepening companionship with God.  We come away from other pursuits to listen for the still, small voice that is our best friend, our beloved Savior, the Holy One, God. (Holy Invitations by Jeanette Bakke)

 

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Lord Most High

From the ends of the earth
From the depths of the sea
From the heights of the heavens
Your name be praised

From the hearts of the weak
From the shouts of the strong
From the lips of all people
This song we raise, Lord

Throughout the endless ages
You will be crowned with praises,
Lord Most High
Exalted in every nation
Sovereign of all creation
Lord Most High, Be magnified

Closing Prayer
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. (Thoughts in Solitude by Thomas Merton)

devotion, day 4

Come to Stillness:

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

Opening Prayer:

Late have I loved you, O Beauty, so ancient and so new, late have I loved you! And behold, you were within me and I was outside, and there I sought for you, and in my deformity I rushed headlong into the well-formed things that you have made. You were with me, and I was not with you.

                                                                              ~St. Augustine

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 86

Scripture for the Day: Revelation 3:14-22

Reading for Reflection:

 

The Christian way is different: harder and easier.  Christ says, “Give me All.  I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You.  I have not come to torment your natural [false] self, but to kill it.  No half-measures are any good.  I don’t want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree down….Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked—the whole outfit.  I will give you a new [true] self instead.  In fact, I will give you Myself: my own will shall become yours. (Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Lord Most High

From the ends of the earth
From the depths of the sea
From the heights of the heavens
Your name be praised

From the hearts of the weak
From the shouts of the strong
From the lips of all people
This song we raise, Lord

Throughout the endless ages
You will be crowned with praises,
Lord Most High
Exalted in every nation
Sovereign of all creation
Lord Most High, Be magnified

Closing Prayer
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. (Thoughts in Solitude by Thomas Merton)

devotion, day 3

Come to Stillness:

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

Opening Prayer:

Late have I loved you, O Beauty, so ancient and so new, late have I loved you! And behold, you were within me and I was outside, and there I sought for you, and in my deformity I rushed headlong into the well-formed things that you have made. You were with me, and I was not with you.

 

                                                                                              ~St. Augustine

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 86

Scripture for the Day: Jeremiah 17:5-14

 

Reading for Reflection:

Watch the things you shrug your shoulders over, and you will know why you do not go on spiritually.  First go—at the risk of being thought fanatical you must obey what God tells you. (My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers)

O Begin!  Fix some part of every day for private exercises.  You may acquire the taste which you have not: what is tedious at first will afterward be pleasant.  Whether you like it or not, read and pray daily.  It is for your life; there is no other way: else you will be a trifler all your days.                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                ~John Wesley

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Lord Most High

From the ends of the earth
From the depths of the sea
From the heights of the heavens
Your name be praised

From the hearts of the weak
From the shouts of the strong
From the lips of all people
This song we raise, Lord

Throughout the endless ages
You will be crowned with praises,
Lord Most High
Exalted in every nation
Sovereign of all creation
Lord Most High, Be magnified

Closing Prayer
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. (Thoughts in Solitude by Thomas Merton)

devotion, day 2

Come to Stillness:

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

Opening Prayer:

Late have I loved you, O Beauty, so ancient and so new, late have I loved you! And behold, you were within me and I was outside, and there I sought for you, and in my deformity I rushed headlong into the well-formed things that you have made. You were with me, and I was not with you.

                                                                                               ~St. Augustine

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 86

Scripture for the Day: 2 Peter 1:3-11

Reading for Reflection:

Meister Eckhart wrote: "There are plenty to follow our Lord half-way, but not the other half.  They will give up possessions, friends, and honors, but it touches them too closely to disown themselves."  It is just this astonishing life which is willing to follow Him the other half, sincerely to disown itself, this life which intends complete obedience, without any reservations, that I would propose to you in all humility, in all boldness, in all seriousness.  I mean this literally, utterly, completely, and I mean it for you and for me—commit your lives in unreserved obedience to Him.  (A Testament of Devotion by Thomas R. Kelly)

Oh be generous in your self-surrender!  Meet His measureless devotion to you, with a measureless devotion to Him.  Be glad and eager to throw yourself headlong into His dear arms, and to hand over the reins of government to Him.  Whatever there is of you, let Him have it all.  Give up forever everything that is separate from Him.  (The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life by Hannah Whitall Smith)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Lord Most High

From the ends of the earth
From the depths of the sea
From the heights of the heavens
Your name be praised

From the hearts of the weak
From the shouts of the strong
From the lips of all people
This song we raise, Lord

Throughout the endless ages
You will be crowned with praises,
Lord Most High
Exalted in every nation
Sovereign of all creation
Lord Most High, Be magnified

Closing Prayer
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. (Thoughts in Solitude by Thomas Merton)

devotion, day 1

Come to Stillness:

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

Opening Prayer:

 

Late have I loved you, O Beauty, so ancient and so new, late have I loved you!  And behold, you were within me and I was outside, and there I sought for you, and in my deformity I rushed headlong into the well-formed things that you have made.  You were with me, and I was not with you.

 

                                                                             ~St. Augustine

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 86

Scripture for the Day: Colossians 2:1-7

Reading for Reflection:

Philosopher William James said: "In some people religion exists as a dull habit, in others as an acute fever."  Jesus did not endure the shame of the cross to hand on a dull habit.  If you don't have the fever, dear reader, a passion for God and His Christ, drop to your knees, and beg for it; turn to the God you half-believe in and cry out for His baptism of fire. (The Signature of Jesus by Brennan Manning)

 

 

If you are weary of some sleepy form of devotion, probably God is as weary of it as you are.

 

                                                                                     ~Frank Laubach

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Lord Most High

From the ends of the earth
From the depths of the sea
From the heights of the heavens
Your name be praised

From the hearts of the weak
From the shouts of the strong
From the lips of all people
This song we raise, Lord

Throughout the endless ages
You will be crowned with praises,
Lord Most High
Exalted in every nation
Sovereign of all creation
Lord Most High, Be magnified


Closing Prayer
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.  I do not see the road ahead of me.  I cannot know for certain where it will end.  Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.  But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.  And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.  I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.  And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.  Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem lost and in the shadow of death.  I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. (Thoughts in Solitude by Thomas Merton)