Sue O’Donnell. 06.09.20
“Under Thy great sky in solitude and silence, with humble heart shall I stand before Thee face to face?” (Rabindranath Tagore)
How do you feel,
When you while away time by water,
Outside in the great open space?
Do you feel tranquil
As calm as you ought to?
The quiet water may well
Invite you to stop,
Be still awhile,
Sit comfortably, reflectively, silently enjoying solitude.
Water on a fine summer’s day
May well be motionless.
This, in its turn,
Can be helping you to feel less stress.
So much worry and fret
Arises out of being over busy.
“In this laborious world of Thine, tumultuous with toil and with struggle, among hurrying crowds shall I stand before Thee face to face?” (Rabinbranath Tagore)
Too busy to get away,
Right away from the anxiety,
Making time to pray is a problem.
When you do however,
You approach a Saviour.
The Lord Jesus is here
To offer us His saving help,
He may well whisper to us.
Therefore there needs to be silence,
So we can hear the movement
Of the Spirit of Jesus.
Cutting through the silence amidst our solitude,
Teaching us to pray,
And this wholeheartedly,
With an eternal, godly outcome our focus.
“And when my work shall be done in this world, O King of kings, alone and speechless I shall stand before Thee face to face? (Rabindranath Tagore)
“But I will hope continually, and I will praise You yet more and more. My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness and Your salvation all the day, for I do not know their limits.” (Psalm 71 v 14, 15)
Lord Jesus, I read ‘You are what you do with your silence.’ (a banner outside the United Reform Church in Shrewsbury) If so, then silence for prayer must be essential for us to make progress in holiness.
May this progress be shaped by Your Spirit, the Father’s Sprit, for then it will be well intentioned, truly godly and of benefit to somebody or maybe many.
We need to pray to recognise Your life of love made available to us, Lord Jesus, a love in all fullness as we learn to rely upon You, trusting in the will and way of our Father.
As we pray, may the Spirit guide our thinking, feeling, questioning, wondering, pondering, reflection, especially when we are trying to find a particular direction to take.
We need to converse with You, so as to share our thoughts and compare Your ways with those of the daily round and common task, that this be done to the best of our ability.
Please help our understanding to grow where there is a shortfall, and to change if we are in error, knowing Your heart of love is always ready to receive the invaluable input of Your Spirit.
How do you want us to pray on any one given day? Is this according to the difficulties we get ourselves and others into, seeking Your rescue plan for mankind’s wellbeing?
Your Spirit will bring to mind the trials, tribulations, troubles and deprivation of many people if we but pray in the silence of rapt concentration, seeking to learn and shape a godly outcome.
Even then we do not always get our response right immediately. Please keep us praying, seeking to find Your answers, whilst repenting if we err and stray or disobey.
Thank You that a revision of circumstances is always possible for those who listen in prayer, and carry forwards the influence of Your teaching, as the Spirit draws our attention to the detail.
What fresh hope this can gift us, a hope that becomes a firm reality as we see the blessings unfold, as a result of praying, our merciful Father ever seeking to benefit us.
“I will go in Your strength Lord GOD; I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only” (based on Psalm 71 v 16) as brought us by the Lord Jesus, teaching us through the Spirit of holiness.
We rejoice in this. “O God, You have taught me from my youth” (v 17) I hope I have made some progress pleasing to You, prayer by prayer. For “To this day I would wish to declare Your wondrous works.”
(based on v 17)
O Lord, hear my earnest prayer, seeking help for many situations I feel a responsibility towards “Now also when I am old and grey headed, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to everyone who is to come.” (v 18)
For this is my aim in making the Lord Jesus my focus day by day, invoking the many blessings You offer, as we pray and respond to the Spirit of wise guidance.
Prayer is so vitally necessary to our sense of wellbeing. “The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to
God.” (Philippians 4 v 5, 6)
May we ever do so to seek Your peace in the release of our bondage to satan, as set free by the sacrifice of Jesus’ holy life at the † of forgiveness.
Dearest Father, whatever faces us each day, be this something good or bad, beautiful or ugly, disastrous possibly or joyous, because we involve You as a Trinity of love and mercy, please remind us to pray.
To pray is to call upon Your all loving presence, the saving grace of Your mercy, the love of the Trinity freely shared, that we may emulate the life of Jesus, based on, shaped by, strengthened in prayer.
Animated by the Spirit, guiding our thoughts and feelings as we pray, may we live each day, rejoicing to be in the service of the Lord Jesus and this be to a great gain in holiness.
Our being is changed by Your presence Father, Son and Holy Spirit. May we always be prayerfully receptive as You whisper to us, calling us to take You out into the world with the glorious gospel message of the hope,
peace and joy Your love and mercy offers freely to us.
We pray to seek Your life, Your love, Your resurrected presence Lord Jesus, ever with us according to the sanctifying Spirit of unity, forming and reforming the life we invite You to share with us.
Having prayed, send us out into the world using the gifts of the Spirit to make as many lives as possible fruitfully flourish in Your service. And because the Lord Jesus is the Vine, we pray in His name. Amen.
Images by Artist Christine Garwood
http://www.christinegarwoodartist.co.uk/
Season
Key Themes
PRAYER
SILENCE
