Opening Prayer: God unto whom all hearts are open and unto
whom every will speaks, and from whom no secret thing is hidden, I pray You to
cleanse the intent of my heart with the ineffable gift of Your grace, that I
might perfectly love You, and worthily praise You. Amen. (The Cloud of Unknowing)
Scripture: Jeremiah 29:10-14
Journal: What do the words of Jeremiah do within you
today? What makes you come alive? What challenges you? What does it look like to seek the Lord with
all your heart? Where are you in that
process?
Reflection:
Prayer is not real unless it comes from the heart. “The heart” is a phrase that is strongly
emphasized in the Bible. It is a picture
of the heart of human personality, the place where all our attitudes, drive and
motivation come from. The heart is the
core of our being. Prayer starts with
the heart, because God longs to relate to us at every level of our being. This includes our feelings, our mind, our
imagination, our love, our memory, our will.
God seeks to know us intimately for all that we are. This is why prayer focuses on the very core
of our being, inside the heart. John
Chrysostom, the great preacher in the fourth-century church, said, “Find the
door of your heart, and you will discover that it is the door of the Kingdom of
God.” (The Transforming Power of Prayer by James Houston)
Prayers
Closing Prayer: Lord, I am yours; I do yield myself up
entirely to you, and I believe that you do take me. I leave myself with you. Work in me all the good pleasure of your
will, and I will only lie still in your hands and trust you. Amen. (The Christian’s Secret of a Happy
Life by Hannah Whitall Smith)
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