training for godliness

Opening Prayer: From the desire for life to be easy and comfortable, O Lord, deliver me.  From the temptation to live on the surface of things, O Lord, defend me.  From the tendency to be lackadaisical and complacent in my life with you, O Lord, protect me.  Give me a yearning, O Lord, for a deeper, richer, and fuller life with you.  And then give me the courage and the strength to move in that direction.  Amen.

Scripture: 1 Timothy 4:6-10

Journal: How are you training yourself for the purpose of godliness?  What spiritual disciplines are producing good space in your life with God?  What else might be beneficial?

Reflection: A spiritual discipline is the concentrated effort to create some inner and outer space in our lives, where obedience can be practiced.  Through a spiritual discipline we prevent the world from filling our lives to such an extent that there is no place left to listen.  A spiritual discipline sets us free to pray or, to say it better, allows the Spirit of God to pray in us. (Making All Things New by Henri J. M. Nouwen)

Prayer

Closing Prayer: O Eternal God!  You are a deep sea, into which the deeper I enter the more I find, and the more I find the more I seek. ~Catherine of Sienna