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Weekly Devotional

Week of March 7 - March 13

Opening Prayer:

Lord of life and love, help us to worship thee in the holiness of beauty, that some beauty of holiness may appear in us.  Quiet our souls in thy presence with the stillness of a wise trust.  Lift us above dark moods, and the shadow of sin, that we may find thy will for our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

-From The Book of Worship

Daily Scripture Readings:

Monday :: Psalm 63: 1-8
Tuesday :: Isaiah 55
Wednesday :: John 7: 37-44
Thursday :: John 6: 22-40
Friday :: Romans 8: 18-25
Saturday :: Psalm 84
Sunday :: John 2: 13-25

Reading:

Listen, O Lord, to my prayers.  Listen to my desire to be with you, to dwell in your house, and to let my whole being be filled with your presence.  But none of this is possible without you.  When you are not the one who fills me, I am soon filled with endless thoughts and concerns that divide me and tear me away from you.  Even thoughts about you, good spiritual thoughts, can be little more than distractions when you are not their author.

O Lord, thinking about you, being fascinated with theological ideas and discussions, being excited about histories of Christian spirituality and stimulated by thoughts and ideas about prayer and meditation, all of this can be as much an expression of greed as the unruly desire for food, possessions, or power.

Every day I see again that only you can teach me to pray, only you can set my heart at rest, only you can let me dwell in your presence.  No book, no idea, no concept or theory will every bring me close to you unless you yourself are the one who lets these instruments become the way to you.
   
But Lord, let me at least remain open to your initiative; let me wait patiently and attentively for that hour when you will come and break through all the walls I have erected.  Teach me, O Lord, to pray.  Amen.

-From A Cry for Mercy by Henri J.M. Nouwen

Prayer:

A – Adoration
C – Confession
T – Thanks
S – Supplication (Joys and Concerns of Our People)

Excerpts from: A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and Other Servants– Rueben P. Job, Norman Shawchuck

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