For a few years now, some on our staff have been using "the blue book" as a devotional guide. In addition to readings from the scripture and other Christian writers, there are written prayers to begin and end each day.
Today's opening prayer meant a lot to me and I thought it might speak to where some of us are as we try to wrap up a work week:
O God our Father, renew our spirits and draw our hearts to thyself, that our work may not be to us a burden but a delight;
and give us such love to thee as may sweeten all our obedience.
Help us that we may serve thee with the cheerfulness and gladness of children,
delighting ourselves in thee, and rejoicing in all that is to the honor of thy name;
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Although it took some getting used to, I've really come to enjoy using prayers that others have written. It helps me say things to God that I want to say, but may not have thought of on my own.
If you have a couple of minutes, pray through the prayer above a couple of times. First, pray the prayer through slowly. I find that it helps to say it out loud if possible.
Then, go back through the prayer and pray each phrase individually. Say anything to God that the phrase brings to mind. Ex: "Renew our spirits"- God, I'm discouraged today. Brighten my attitude.
If you try this, post a comment and let me know what you thought.
If you want to learn more about "the blue book" click HERE.
3 comments:
Thanks so much for posting this Fred. I've been slumping at work lately so the first couple lines really caught my eye.
It's not that work has been going bad by any means, it's just a desire to be doing something a little different is there just enough to distract me. I still love my job, I'm just not focused.
I've been walking through the last few weeks praying a similar prayer. Asking God to inspire me, use me and help me lead others back to him. I've been doing so as a measure of trying to get myself back in gear and moving in several right directions. Most importantly moving with some motivation and inspiration!
I really enjoyed seeing a prayer like this. Like you I don't often use "canned" prayer just because it pulls me away from a feeling of sincerity. But this one nailed it, took some of the pressure off of me to have all the right words and said exactly what I've been needing to say.
Thanks and have a great weekend!
I've been reading a bit lately about "lectio divina", or divine reading, a process by which you meditate on scripture. What you posted, Fred, sounds a lot like that. Reading aloud, letting God speak to you through the words by following up on where the text leads your thoughts, these are all classic lectio divina techniques. I feel like I'm getting somewhere with this idea of meditation; God is not just a concept to be studied in a traditional Bible study setting, but a person to have a relationship with, and it was a new idea to me to have a relationship with His word. Really, though, scripture is the way God seems to choose to speak to most of us.
I agree with you both Chris and Scott. I think God's word is sometimes, just like a screenplay. Although, it is good to read it, it is not done it's justice until it is seen, lived, experienced. Until someone takes that screen play that a million folks have read (and maybe passed by), and turns it into a monologue, or dialog that ruffles feathers, gets your attention, and makes you think.
Sometimes we can become complacent in our own prayer life and it takes reading that prayer or scripture out loud that has been in front of us to really "own" what God has been trying to say all along.
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