story

Opening Prayer: Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!  Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.  Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man! (Psalm 107:1-3, 8)

Scripture: Psalm 107:1-43

Journal: What is your story with God right now?  How do the stories of Psalm 107 speak to it?  Is there one that seems most relevant right now?  Why?  If not, try writing your own story with God into the psalm.

Reflection: All prayer is prayed in a story, by someone who is in the story.  There are no storyless prayers.  Story is to prayer what the body is to the soul, the circumstances in which it takes place.  And prayer is to story what the soul is to the body, the life without which it would be a corpse.  Prayers are prayed by people who live stories.  Every life is a story.  We are not always aware that we are living a story; often it seems more like a laundry list.  But story it is. (Answering God by Eugene Peterson)

Prayer

Closing Prayer: O Jesus, speak to me during this time about the story you are telling, the story I was made for.  Open my eyes, Lord, to the ways that story is being told—and lived—in the events and circumstances of this day.  Show me how all that happens to me this day echoes your larger Story if only I will keep my heart focused on you.  In your name I pray.  Amen. (The Blue Book by Jim Branch)