fear, day 4

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

Opening Prayer:
O Lord our God, help us to live our lives with the faith and courage necessary to live by love and not by fear. Forgive me when my seeing and my thinking get so distorted that I allow fear to control me and make me its slave—even when I don’t fully realize it. Seize my heart and soul with your perfect love in such a way that it drives out all fear and gives me the freedom to truly love, rather than manipulate, those in my life and world. In the name of Jesus. Amen. (JLB)


Psalm for the Week: Psalm 27

Scripture for the Day: Isaiah 43:1-7

Reading for Reflection:

We live in a time in which we are constantly tempted to let our fears rule our lives.  More than ever our world gives us reasons to fear.  We are afraid for our own inner impulses which we are not able fully to understand or control, we are afraid of the many strangers surrounding us and threatening to invade our lives, we are afraid of the increasing capability of humanity to destroy itself and we are afraid of a God who can punish us with eternal damnation.  The greater our fears the less our freedom.  In order to alleviate our fears we often become very active, busy and full of worries about our future, always on guard for possible dangers.  Our fears also make us very self-centered since they make us live our lives as an ongoing battle for survival.

     Jesus came to cast out our fears.  He announced a God of perfect love in whom no fear can exist.  He himself and all his messengers, whether angels or apostles, say constantly; “Do not be afraid.” But it is far from easy not to let the many real fears make us deaf and blind to the God of perfect love.  The news of every day, the concrete emergencies of our own daily life and our own inner self-doubt make us often fearful before we are fully aware of it ourselves.

     What we truly need is a safe space to dwell, to take off our heavy armour and let the perfect love of God touch us, heal us and guide us from the land of fear to the land of God. ~Henri J. M. Nouwen (from the foreword to Rule for a New Brother)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Isaiah 43

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you
And the waves shall not overcome you

Do not fear for I have redeemed you
I have called you by name, you are mine

 

For I am the Lord your God (Ladies repeat)

I am the Lord your God (Ladies repeat)
I am the Holy One of Israel—your Savior

Men                                Ladies
I am the Lord                 Do not fear
I am the Lord                 Do not fear
I am the Lord                 Do not fear
I am the Lord                 Do not fear

When you walk through the fire, you’ll not be burned

And the flames, they shall not consume you

Do not fear for I have for I have redeemed you

I have called you by name, you are mine


Closing Prayer:
Lord Jesus,
Help me to hear your words, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” and to believe them in the deepest places of my heart. Help me to live my life by those words this day. For your sake and by your Spirit and in your name. Amen. (JLB)