aware

Opening Prayer: I have set the Lord always before me.  Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. (Psalm 16:8)

Scripture: John 15:5-9

Journal: How aware of God are you throughout your day?  What does it mean to abide in him?  How do you stay in constant contact with him?

Reflection: All true prayer somehow confesses our absolute dependence on the Lord of life and death. It is, therefore, a deep and vital contact with Him Whom we know not only as Lord but as Father. It is when we pray truly that we really are. Our being is brought to a high perfection by this, which is one of its most perfect activities. When we cease to pray, we tend to fall back into nothingness. True, we continue to exist. But since the main reason for our existence is the knowledge and love of God, when our conscious contact with Him is severed we sleep or we die. Of course, we cannot always, or even often, remain clearly conscious of Him. Spiritual wakefulness demands only the habitual awareness of Him which surrounds all our actions in a spiritual atmosphere without formally striking our attention except at certain moments of keener perception. But if God leaves us so completely that we are no longer disposed to think of Him with love, then we are spiritually dead. (No Man Is an Island by Thomas Merton)

Prayer

Closing Prayer: Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you. (Psalm 84:4)