trust, friday

Friday, October 24

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

         

Opening Prayer:     O Christ Jesus, when all is darkness and we feel our weakness and helplessness, give us the sense of your presence, your love, and your strength.  Help us to have perfect trust in your protecting love and strengthening power, so that nothing may frighten or worry us, for, living close to you, we shall see your hand, your purpose, your will through all things.

                                                                                ~St. Ignatius

Scripture Reading for the Day: Philippians 4:4-9

Reading for Reflection:

 

And remember, there are two things which are more utterly incompatible than even oil and water, and these two are trust and worry…When a believer really trusts anything, he ceases to worry about that thing which he has trusted.  And when he worries, it is plain proof that he does not trust. (The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life by Hannah Whitall Smith)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

                                  

Closing Prayer: O God, our Heavenly Father, help us to not be consumed with the worries and anxieties of this life, but to give all of our cares to you in prayer.  Fix our hearts and our minds on your character and your excellence; that your peace may guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus.  It is in his name that we lift up our prayers.  Amen.    

trust, thursday

Thursday, October 23

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

         

Opening Prayer: O Christ Jesus, when all is darkness and we feel our weakness and helplessness, give us the sense of your presence, your love, and your strength.  Help us to have perfect trust in your protecting love and strengthening power, so that nothing may frighten or worry us, for, living close to you, we shall see your hand, your purpose, your will through all things.

                                                                                 ~St. Ignatius

Scripture Reading for the Day: Psalm 125:1-5

Reading for Reflection:

 

God’s power, Presence, and love, then, come together to establish a solid foundation on which to build trust.  Translated into practice, to trust means to be convinced that God is fully aware of our circumstances, is present in the midst of them, and is acting in wisdom, power, and love to accomplish what is best for us. (Rhythms of the Inner Life by Howard R. Macy)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

                                   

Closing Prayer: O Thou who alone knowest what lies before me this day, grant that in every hour of it I may stay close to Thee.  Let me be in the world, yet not of it.  Let me today embark on no undertaking that is not in line with Thy will for my life, nor shrink from any sacrifice which Thy will may demand.  Suggest, direct, control every movement of my mind: for my Lord Christ’s sake.  Amen. (A Diary of Private Prayer by John Baillie)

trust, wednesday

Wednesday, October 22

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

         

Opening Prayer:     O Christ Jesus, when all is darkness and we feel our weakness and helplessness, give us the sense of your presence, your love, and your strength.  Help us to have perfect trust in your protecting love and strengthening power, so that nothing may frighten or worry us, for, living close to you, we shall see your hand, your purpose, your will through all things.

                                                                                ~St. Ignatius

Scripture Reading for the Day: Psalm 62:1-12

Reading for Reflection:

 

     Only in God, and God alone, can our fearful and insecure hearts find rest.  All else (everything but Him) is simply shifting sand and shaky ground—temporal, transient, fragile.  He alone is our rock, our refuge, and our fortress.  Don’t we all long to live our lives rooted in Him, built upon the solid foundation of him, where we will never again have to worry about being shaken?

     But the unfortunate truth is that this very day—maybe even this very minute—we will be shaken, probably often.  We will be assaulted and thrown down; maybe not in body, but most certainly in heart and in spirit.  This very day we will be like a leaning wall or a tottering fence; frail, fragile, on the verge of collapse.  This very day we will listen to the lies and start to believe them.  This very day we will attach (the Hebrew word for trust means to attach) ourselves to something other than God alone.  We will trust in something, or someone, other than him to be the thing that will bring us a true sense of joy and peace and fulfillment.  We will attach ourselves to a conversation or an affirmation, a conflict or a negative comment, or an achievement or interaction, and become so very vulnerable to life and its circumstances—so easily knocked off balance, or blown by the wind, or uprooted from finding our center in him alone. 

     And once again we will—actually He will—have to remind ourselves of the truth. Our soul finds rest in God alone; our hope comes from Him. He alone is our rock and our salvation; He is our fortress, we will not be shaken. We will have to listen carefully to His voice and be truly convinced of the truth of His words: Our salvation and our honor depend on God; He is our mighty rock, our refuge. And, as we listen once again to His voice and His Word, something will begin to grow within us—trust. Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your heart to Him, for God is our refuge. And, with this, we will be able, by His grace and power, to cut the cords of all the things we have attached ourselves to other than Him and attach ourselves once again to him, our strong and loving Creator. Thanks be to God!

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

                                  

Closing Prayer: In Thy will, O Lord, is my peace.  In Thy love is my rest.  In Thy service is my joy.  Thou art all my heart’s desire.  Amen. (A Diary of Private Prayer by John Baillie)

trust, tuesday

Tuesday. October 21

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

          

Opening Prayer: O Christ Jesus, when all is darkness and we feel our weakness and helplessness, give us the sense of your presence, your love, and your strength.  Help us to have perfect trust in your protecting love and strengthening power, so that nothing may frighten or worry us, for, living close to you, we shall see your hand, your purpose, your will through all things.

                                                                                      ~St. Ignatius

Scripture Reading for the Day: Psalm 37:3-8

Reading for Reflection:

 

Your willingness to let go of your desire to control your life reveals a certain trust.  The more you relinquish your stubborn need to maintain power, the more you will get in touch with the One who has the power to heal and guide you.  And the more you get in touch with that divine power, the easier it will be to confess to yourself and to others your basic powerlessness. (The Inner Voice of Love by Henri J. M. Nouwen)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

                                  

Closing Prayer: Dear God, you never said it was going to be easy, you simply call us to trust in you.  Give us the faith necessary to do just that.  Grant us the strength and the courage to choose to trust you, rather than to fret; to choose to delight in you rather than to be consumed by our own fears, anxieties, and agendas.   Teach us what it means to truly delight ourselves in you; for that is the deepest desire of our hearts.  Help us to live our lives in constant gratitude, appreciating every minute, both the moments of joy, as well as the moments of trial.  In the name of Jesus.  Amen.

trust, monday

Monday, October 20

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

         

Opening Prayer:     O Christ Jesus, when all is darkness and we feel our weakness and helplessness, give us the sense of your presence, your love, and your strength.  Help us to have perfect trust in your protecting love and strengthening power, so that nothing may frighten or worry us, for, living close to you, we shall see your hand, your purpose, your will through all things.

                                                                                      ~St. Ignatius

Scripture Reading for the Day: Proverbs 3:5-6

Reading for Reflection:

 

Take your stand on the power and trustworthiness of your God, and see how quickly all difficulties will vanish before a steadfast determination to believe.  Trust in the dark, trust in the light, trust at night and trust in the morning, and you will find that the faith which may begin by mighty effort, will end sooner or later by becoming the easy and natural habit of the soul. (The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life by Hannah Whitall Smith)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

                                 

Closing Prayer: My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

                                                                                    ~Thomas Merton

trust, sunday

Sunday, October 19

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

          

Opening Prayer:     O Christ Jesus, when all is darkness and we feel our weakness and helplessness, give us the sense of your presence, your love, and your strength.  Help us to have perfect trust in your protecting love and strengthening power, so that nothing may frighten or worry us, for, living close to you, we shall see your hand, your purpose, your will through all things.

                                                                                      ~St. Ignatius

Scripture Reading for the Day: John 14:1-4

Reading for Reflection:

 

The story was of a poor woman who had been carried triumphantly through a life of unusual sorrow.  She was giving the history of her life to a kind visitor on one occasion, and at the close the visitor said, feelingly, “O Hannah, I do not see how you could bear so much sorrow!” “I did not bear it,” was the quick reply; “the Lord bore it for me.” “Yes,” said the visitor “that is the right way.  You must take your troubles to the Lord.” “Yes,” replied Hannah, “but we must do more than that; we must leave them there.  Most people,” she continued, “take their burdens to Him, but they bring them away with them again, and are just as worried and unhappy as ever.  But I take mine, and I leave them with Him, and come away and forget them.  And if the worry comes back, I take it to Him again; I do this over and over, until at last I just forget that I have any worries, and am at perfect rest.” (The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life by Hannah Whitall Smith)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

                                  

Closing Prayer: O God, who hast been the Refuge of my fathers through many generations, be my Refuge today in every time and circumstance of need.  Be my Guide through all that is dark and doubtful.  Be my Strength in time of testing.  Gladden my heart with Thy peace, through Jesus Christ my Lord.  Amen. (A Diary of Private Prayer by John Baillie)

fear, saturday

Saturday, October 18

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.

         

Scripture Reading for the Day: Romans 8:12-17

Reading for Reflection:

     “There is nothing like it on earth,” said the old preacher, “when the spirit of God comes pouring through, and he has poured through me in fair weather and foul, for sixty-four years.”

     “Have there been dry spells?” asked the rector.

     The preacher pushed his plate away and Lottie rose to clear the table.  Father Tim smelled the kind of coffee he remembered from Mississippi—strong and black and brewed on the stove.

     “My brother, dry is not the word.  There was a time I went down like a stone in a pond and sank clear to the bottom.  I lay on the bottom of that pond for two miserable years, and thought I’d never see the light of day in my soul again.”

     “I can’t say my current tribulation is anything like that.  But in an odd way, it’s something almost worse.”

     “What’s that?”

     “When it comes to feeding his sheep, I’m afraid my sermons are about as nourishing as cardboard.”

     “Are you resting?”

     “Resting?”

     “Resting.  Sometimes we get so worn out with being useful that we get useless.  I’ll ask you what another preacher once asked: Are you too exhausted to run and too scared to rest?”

     Too scared to rest!  He’d never thought of it that way.  “When in God’s name are you going to take a vacation?” Hoppy had asked again, only the other day.  He hadn’t known the truth then, but he felt he knew it now—yes, he was too scared to rest.

     The old preacher’s eyes were as clear as gemstones.  “My brother, I would urge you to search the heart of God on this matter, for it was this very thing that sank me to the bottom of the pond.”

     They looked at one another with grave understanding.  “I’ll covet your prayers,” said Father Tim. (At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

                                  

Closing Prayer: Almighty God, you know the difficulties we face each day.  Remind us that you are very near to us, that indeed you are a shield around us.  We do not fear our adversaries because salvation comes from you.  Amen. (A Guide to Prayer for All Who Walk with God by Rueben Job, Norman Shawchuck, and John Mogabgab)