fear, friday

Friday, October 17

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: Isaiah 41:8-10

Reading for Reflection:

 

We are fearful people.  The more people I come to know and the more I come to know people, the more I am overwhelmed by the negative power of fear.  It often seems that fear has invaded every part of our being to such a degree that we no longer know what a life without fear would feel like.  There always seems to be something to fear: something within us or around us, something close or far away, something visible or invisible, something in ourselves, in others, or in God.  There never seems to be a totally fear-free moment.  When we think, talk, act or react, fear always seems to be there:  an omnipresent force that we cannot shake off.  Often fear has penetrated our inner selves so deeply that it controls, whether we are aware of it or not, most of our choices and decisions.  (Lifesigns by Henri J.M. Nouwen)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

                                  

Closing Prayer: O Lord, my God, I prayed to you, and you answered me.  You freed me from all my fears.  Those who look to you for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces.  In my desperation I prayed, and you listened; you saved me from all my fears.  Thank you.  Amen.  (Psalm 34:4-6 NLT)

fear, thursday

Thursday, October 16

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: 2 Timothy 1:6-14

Reading for Reflection:    

     “The light’s going uncommon quick,” said Rynelf.

     “Back to the ship,” muttered the men.

     “I really think,” said Edmund, “they’re right.  We can decide what to do with the three sleepers tomorrow.  We daren’t eat the food and there’s no point in staying here for the night.  The whole place smells of magic—and danger.”

     “I am entirely of King Edmund’s opinion,” said Reepicheep, “as far as concerns the ship’s company in general.  But I myself will sit at this table till sunrise.”

     “Why on earth?” said Eustace.

     “Because,” said the Mouse, “this is a very great adventure, and no danger seems to me so great as that of knowing when I get back to Narnia that I left a mystery behind me through fear.” (The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

                                  

Closing Prayer: Lord God, our Heavenly Father, thank you that you did not give us a spirit of fear, but a Spirit of power, love and self-control.  Help me to see the places in my life that I am allowing fear to rule me and keep me from being all that you long for me to be and from doing all that you desire for me to do.  Give me the courage to follow you fully and completely every day.  Amen.

fear, wednesday

Wednesday, October 15

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: Isaiah 43:1-7

Reading for Reflection:

 

     And there is another important point about love, something we have heard often, maybe even know in our heads, but forget so easily once we close the Bible.  God’s love is so powerful and expansive that it leaves no place for its hurtful, destroying opposite: fear.  Fear is unholy; fear keeps us from God; fear itself can become a false and devouring god.

     I wonder how many of our sinful ways of being and doing can be traced back to our fear: our fear of failure, our fear of change, our fear of growth, our fear of all that is other.  The fruits of our fear are bitter: violence, spiritual deadness, and contempt toward all whom we would push to the margins.  I suspect that most of our sinful isms—racism, sexism, ageism—are the fruits of fear. (My Soul in Silence Waits by Margaret Guenther)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

                                 

Closing Prayer:  O Lord, thank you that when I pass through the waters, you will be with me; when I pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over me.  Thank you that when I walk through the fire, I will not be burned; the flames will not set me ablaze.  For you are the Lord my God, the Holy One of Israel, my Savior.  You are the one who tells me, “Do not be afraid, for I am with you.  You are precious and honored in my sight and I love you.  Be not afraid.”  Amen.

fear, tuesday

Tuesday, October 14

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: Psalm 27:1-14

Reading for Reflection:

 

Fear is the great enemy of intimacy.  Fear makes us run away from each other or cling to each other but does not create true intimacy.  When Jesus was arrested in the garden of Gethsemane, the disciples were overcome by fear and they all "deserted him and ran away" (Mt. 26:56).  And after Jesus was crucified they huddled together in a closed room "for fear of the Jews" (John. 20:19).  Fear makes us move away from each other to a "safe" distance, or move toward each other to a "safe" closeness, but fear does not create the space where true intimacy can exist.  Fear does not create a home.  It forces us to live alone or in a protective shelter but does not allow us to build an intimate home. (Lifesigns by Henri J.M. Nouwen)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

                                 

Closing Prayer:  Lord, you know what’s going on here.  You know where I’m confused and where I hurt and what I’m questioning, and what I’m wondering about.  I’m captive to my past, captive to my fears, captive to my false sense of security, captive to my pride and my judgmentalism and my petty demands.  You know about all the times I’ve failed to let your Spirit blow through my life.  I feed on emptiness until I’m stuffed, and then I wonder why you seem so distant.  From all of these chains there is freedom; from all of the cages, a key.  Release me.  Reveal yourself.  And set me free. (A Heart Exposed by Steven James)

fear, monday

Monday, October 13

 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: 1 John 4:16-21

Reading for Reflection:

     We live in a time in which we are constantly tempted to let our fears rule our lives.  More than ever our world gives us reasons to fear.  We are afraid for our own inner impulses which we are not able fully to understand or control, we are afraid of the many strangers surrounding us and threatening to invade our lives, we are afraid of the increasing capability of humanity to destroy itself and we are afraid of a God who can punish us with eternal damnation.  The greater our fears the less our freedom.  In order to alleviate our fears we often become very active, busy and full of worries about our future, always on guard for possible dangers.  Our fears also make us very self-centered since they make us live our lives as an ongoing battle for survival.

     Jesus came to cast out our fears.  He announced a God of perfect love in whom no fear can exist.  He himself and all his messengers, whether angels or apostles, say constantly; “Do not be afraid.” But it is far from easy not to let the many real fears make us deaf and blind to the God of perfect love.  The news of every day, the concrete emergencies of our own daily life and our own inner self-doubt make us often fearful before we are fully aware of it ourselves.

     What we truly need is a safe space to dwell, to take off our heavy armour and let the perfect love of God touch us, heal us and guide us from the land of fear to the land of God. ~Henri J. M. Nouwen (from the foreword to Rule for a New Brother)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

                                  
Closing Prayer:  O Lord, our God, cast out all of our fear with your perfect love; that we might live in continual union with you and continual community with each other.  Amen.

fear, sunday

Sunday, October 12

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: Mark 6:45-52

Reading for Reflection:

     The older I get, the more I realize that quite possibly the biggest single enemy of our spiritual lives (other than Satan himself) is fear.  Fear seems to be at the very core of all the things that battle against my heart and soul.  At the core of my busyness is fear.  At the core of my insecurity is fear.  At the core of my anxiety is fear.  At the core of my competitiveness…you guessed it—fear.  Fear of not having what it takes.  Fear of not having any value.  Fear of not being lovable.  The list goes on and on. 

     And maybe the main reason this enemy is so strong and dangerous is that by and large it is a hidden enemy.  We never really look beneath the surface of our more familiar enemies to spot it.  We rarely follow any of these foes down far enough to see what is at their root.  And when we don’t know what we are really fighting, how can we possibly be victorious?  We just keep getting defeated over and over again.  This fear robs us of the intimacy we were created for.  It robs us of the freedom that God longs for us to enjoy.  It robs us of genuinely loving relationships.  It simply controls the way we live our lives.   

     What are we to do?  How can we possibly fight against this?  A first step would seem to be identifying and naming our fears.  Somehow naming our fears takes some of their power away to control us.  Ann Lamott once said, “When you make friends with fear, it can’t rule you.”  Once our enemy is identified it makes it much easier to wage war.

     Secondly, we need to remember that our real enemy (Satan) is the “father of lies.”  He will use his lies to manipulate us into believing whatever he can.  Because of this, it seems that we need to ask ourselves, “What lies are we believing that are simply not true?  How is our seeing or thinking distorted?”  When the disciples were on the sea battling against the storm (Mark 6:45-52) they screamed out in terror because they thought Jesus was a ghost.  Now it wasn’t really a ghost upon the water… they just thought it was.  It was their distorted thinking and seeing that gave power to their fears.  Once they saw things clearly and therefore thought about things more accurately—they were able to put everything in perspective.

     Which brings us to the biggest weapon we have been given to wage war against fear—and that is what John calls “perfect love” (1 John 4:18).  It is perfect love that puts everything in perspective for us.  Once the voice of perfect love calls out to us, “Take courage.  It is I.  Don’t be afraid.”  Then we are reminded that the love of the one who made us, and called us into being, and cares for us more than we can even care for ourselves is in control of all things.  And His heart for us is good—he can be trusted even when circumstances look dire because he loves us so immensely and completely.  When he speaks His words of affection and peace and we hear and truly believe them; then we know that if he is with us—it will be well.  Whatever it is, whatever the seas look like, it will be well.

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

                                  

Closing Prayer:

Lord Jesus,

     Help me to hear your words, “Take courage!  It is I.  Don’t be afraid.” and to believe them in the deepest places of my heart.   Help me to live my life by those words this day.  For your sake and by your Spirit and in your name.  Amen.

naked, saturday

Saturday, October 11

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

       

Opening Prayer: O Lord my God, how I long to recapture the purity and joy of the Garden—when I was able to stand before you (and others) naked and unashamed.  That, indeed, is what I was made for.  But this side of heaven that is not my reality.  My reality is filled with fear and shame; hiding and covering—terrified that I will be exposed, found out, not enough.  How I genuinely long for true communion with you; total vulnerability; deep trust—to be fully known and fully loved.  Have mercy on me!  Amen.

          

Scripture Reading for the Day: Romans 13:8-14

Reading for Reflection:

We must have a real living determination to reach holiness.  “I will be a saint” means I will despoil myself of all that is not God; I will strip my heart of all created things; I will live in poverty and detachment; I will renounce my will, my inclinations, my whims and fancies, and make myself a willing slave to the will of God. (A Gift for God by Mother Teresa of Calcutta)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

                                 
Closing Prayer: Lord Jesus, strip us bare of all that is not of you and clothe us fully with your righteousness.  Amen.