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 and friend, in the quietness of this hour, reconcile my contrary motives and conflicting desires. Give me a singleness of purpose that I may come into your presence unashamed and sit under your gaze without blushing. Amen.
Psalm 130
A song of ascents.
Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord;
Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.
If you, Lord, kept a record of sins,
Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness,
so that we can, with reverence, serve you.
I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits,
and in his word I put my hope.
I wait for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.
Israel, put your hope in the Lord,
for with the Lord is unfailing love
and with him is full redemption.
He himself will redeem Israel
from all their sins.
Devotional Thought
Jesus is a very patient teacher. He never stops telling
us where to make our true home, what to look for, and
how to live. When we are distracted, we focus upon all
the dangers and forget what we have heard. But Jesus
says over and over again: "Make your home in me, as I
make mine in you. Whoever remains in me, with me in
them, bears fruit in plenty... I have told this so
that my own joy may be in you, and your joy may be
complete” (John 15:4,5,11). Thus, Jesus invites us to an
intimate, fruitful, and ecstatic life in his home, which is
ours too.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen
2 Corinthians 5:16-21
So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Reflection
Take time to pause and reflect on your time with Jesus through the Scriptures and devotional thought. What thoughts are being drawn out of you? What emotions are being provoked? What might God be saying? Consider using a journal to write as you process, reflect, and pray.
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
And now, my Lord, I thank you for reconciling my inner conflicts and healing my brokenness. Send me, I pray, from this place as Christ’s ambassador of reconciliation to those whom I meet this day. Amen.