BEING AND BECOMING PRAYERFUL (11)

BEING AND BECOMING PRAYERFUL (11)

BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD.

(Psalm 46:10)

Be in your prayer space, follow the usual steps and settle into silence.

Sit still…..Relax…….Do not rush………

Take a couple of gentle, slow and deep breaths…becoming aware of your breath going in and out… stay focused on this breath of life……

Settle into silence, into peacefulness, into profound silence, into pure joy. Keep listening in such quietness and serenity. Come to that place, that space within, that place of deep silence and Solitude; to just being here and now without having to accomplish something.

Now I invite you to consecrate this day and all that come with this day….in your own way, in humble, simple, may be even inadequate words………..

Now from the depth of your heart begin to wish your mind well…

Our last meditation was on being alert, awake, attentive, docile and sensitive. Often we catch ourselves being inattentive, insensitive, irrational and even making unwise choices. Being attentive to the deepest desires of our hearts enables us to bring our wills into harmony with the will of God and prayerfulness is a constant seeking of and surrender to God’s will.

Take a few deep breaths right now…slow and gentle!

Breathe in God’s Way and breathe out my way – God’s way in, My way out.

You may not be happy about it right now, but in the bigger picture of life, you’ll be glad you chose to surrender to God.

Lord, Thank you for the morning………………

Thank you for stillness………………..

Thank you for blessing and grace………………

Thank you for peacefulness…………

Thank you for just being, for me, God………..

I feel a deep, warm, comforting harmony within. Thank you, God. You are meeting my need now. You have blessed and Graced my day. Right now, at this very moment, I am at peace. Thank you. Amen.

O God, this morning I have come into the quietness and stillness of your presence, to begin the day, so that out of this moment, I may take with me a quiet serenity, which will last me through the rough and smooth of this day’s life. Many hours of the day are waiting to be filled a hundred ways with a hundred prayers. But, right now, at this very moment, I am at peace. I walk with you, God. I sit with you, God, I run with you, God. Thank you. Amen.

I have come now with gratitude for the blessings and the richness of the past and to celebrate them now and offer it to the world around me.

We recognize the pain of the past and bring healing……

I have come now remembering the brokenness, the hurt, the pain and the suffering of the past and praying for your healing touch and praying that you empower me to reach out and offer your gift of healing to the world around me.

We recognize the sin and guilt of the past and bring forgiveness…….

I have come remembering my own sin and guilt and shame of the past and praying for forgiveness, healing, peace and reconciliation within me and offer your gift of forgiveness to the world around me.

We glean the richness of the past and integrate it into our life in the present and offer it to the world around us…We recognize the blessing, grace, goodness, strength, virtue of the past and affirm and appreciate them and let them grow…..

I have come remembering the blessing, grace, goodness, strength, virtue of the past and desiring to affirm, appreciate and let them grow in me as well as in others around me.

We renew ourselves and nurture growth in ourselves, develop new attitudes, new vision, renewed hope……

I have come to find courage, to be patient enough not to give up hope, to accept disappointment without bitterness and to accept delay without complaint.

We desire/long/dream our way to wholeness, to holiness, to perfection……

I have come with my dream for healing, wholeness, integrity, holiness, perfection…..to be what you have made me to be, to become what you call me to become, to do what you call me to do.

We passionately, intensely pray our way to wholeness, to holiness, to perfection……

I have come to begin this day with you so that I may be able to continue it and end it with you with meaning, with joy, with peace and without regret.

We passionately cry, mourn our way to wholeness, to holiness, to perfection……

I have come mourning my loss – all kinds of losses resulting from all kinds of experiences. I have come mourning deeply, intensely and passionately about me, about others and about the world and praying that I may learn to care and not to care.

We passionately sing and dance our way to wholeness……

I have to come to sing a new song, a song of honor and glory and praise and thanks and joy and love and hope and peace……….I have come dancing to a new rhythm, new steps, new turns……..Lord, bless my song and grace my dance……….

God, grant me the serenity, to accept the things I can not change,

Courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time;

Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace.

Taking as He did, this sinful world, as it is, not as I would have it;

Trusting that He will make all things right, if I surrender to His will;

That I may be reasonably happy in this life,

And supremely happy forever in the next. (Reinhold Niebuhr, Union Theological Seminary, New York 1928)

Don’t ask God for what you think is good;

Ask Him for what He thinks is good for you.

The God to whom we pray is a God of love, who is more ready to answer than we are ready to pray. We do not have to force His Gifts and His Grace out of Him. We do not come to a God who has to be coaxed, or pestered, or battered into answering our prayer. We come to the ONE who simply wills to give. We, actually, come into the presence of the ONE who has already GIVEN. We come with desire in our hearts and words on our lips: “Thy will be done.”

GOD IS PERFECT AND PERFECT WISDOM.

WE DO NOT PRAY IN ORDER TO CHANGE HIS WILL,

BUT TO BRING OUR WILLS INTO HARMONY WITH HIS.

(William Temple)

Fr. Gus Tharappel,msfs