Be Still
Find a quiet place where you won’t be interrupted. Get comfortable. Let your body relax and your mind quiet down. Take a few deep breaths and then ask God to make his presence known to you. Be still. Take some time to sit and soak up God’s presence.
Prayer of Approach
My Lord, king of my life, I crown you now; yours shall all glory be. Help me in this hour to discover again my place and service in your kingdom. Speak to me, my God, the things you want me to know and do. Amen.
Psalm 47
For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.
Clap your hands, all you nations;
shout to God with cries of joy.
For the Lord Most High is awesome,
the great King over all the earth.
He subdued nations under us,
peoples under our feet.
He chose our inheritance for us,
the pride of Jacob, whom he loved.
God has ascended amid shouts of joy,
the Lord amid the sounding of trumpets.
Sing praises to God, sing praises;
sing praises to our King, sing praises.
For God is the King of all the earth;
sing to him a psalm of praise.
God reigns over the nations;
God is seated on his holy throne.
The nobles of the nations assemble
as the people of the God of Abraham,
for the kings of the earth belong to God;
he is greatly exalted.
Devotional Thought
Most of us come to this knowledge that we exist in God, not through any esoteric means, but through the ordinary events of family or community living, in the intimacy of presence to one another. Obviously, life together does not, ipso facto, assure transcendent consciousness. Intentional and attentive reflection in our common life is needed. "'To have lived is not enough," says Samuel Beckett in Waiting for Godot. “We have to talk about it."
The classic spiritual disciplines can help us "to talk about it." The disciplines include prayer and worship, spiritual direction, confession, the works of mercy, Scripture study—all of these can and do soften the heart so that we may welcome and attend to the stirrings of God within ourselves and within the matrix of our familial relationships.
A second assumption is that authentic Christian spirituality, rooted as it is in the doctrine of the Incarnation, is an inclusive spirituality, one that addresses all aspects of the human person: body and intellect, emotion and spirit, solitude and society.
The third assumption is that the family settings that reveal the fullness of our graced humanity unique and varied. We grow in the knowledge of God in one-parent as well as two-parent families, in families that live with sickness and brokenness and uncertainty as well as those that enjoy the gifts of health, security, and compatibility. The God of Christianity comes to men and women, not only in the light, but in the darkness as well. Why do I say this? Because of Jesus.
Because in my groping to know who God is, who I am, what the meaning of the world is and my relationship to the world, I am reminded of the New Testament affirmation that I can make some sense of these questions by studying the man Jesus (Philippians 2, John 14, and elsewhere).
— Dolores Leckey
Acts 17:1-9
When Paul and his companions had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he said. Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women.
But other Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd. But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers before the city officials, shouting: “These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.” When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil. Then they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go.
Reflection
My Lord, thank you for this time together. Thank you for being my faithful companion and for your word of love spoken to my deepest need. I love you, my God, and pledge my allegiance to your kingdom, for today and forever. Amen.
Time for Prayer
God invites us to cast our cares on him because he cares for us. God is all-together good, already knows what we need, and is eager to give us good things. So we don’t need to pray out of anxiety or fear, but confident trust. Spend a few minutes making your requests known to God.
- For the church
- For others
- For myself
Closing Prayer
Lead on, O King eternal; yours shall all glory be. I am your willing servant, today and always. Amen.