Thomas Merton Prayer

I love this prayer - mostly because Thomas Merton is a renoun contemplative prayer - and yet he is so humble and authentic with God.  It reminded me that my "papa papa" prayers really are okay.  (Sometimes, I don't have words but can only call for papa...have you experienced that?)

Enjoy this prayer!

Thomas Merton, Trappist monk and mystic wrote this prayer which was taken from Part 2 of Thoughts in Solitude (The Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, 1956, 1958), p. 79. 

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

Awesome Peace

Some days I like to just sit with God. 

The absolute best peace in the universe is found when we “sit” with God.

Silence.

Safety.

Awesome peace.

Today, spend time sitting – no expectations – just receiving what God has for you.

...in hope

As we look at the first community of believers in Acts 2 and consider what they were experiencing, notice that in Acts 2:25 and 26, Peter quotes King David’s Psalm 16:8-9 that says:

King David said this about him:

I see that the LORD is always with me.
   I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.
No wonder my heart is glad,
   and my tongue shouts his praises!
My body rests in hope.

Because God is WITH me…nothing shakes me up.  That’s because God is always with me.  I’m so glad that I shout God’s praises!  My body rests in hope.

When I sat with these verses, MY BODY RESTS IN HOPE jumped out at me!  I don’t need to worry about anything because the Lord is always with me! 

What verse ‘spoke to you’?

Signs and Wonders

The last part of Acts 2:43 says,

“The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders.”

Let’s set the scene…

First, Pentecost where the Spirit came, Peter preached, and over 3,000 came and received Jesus. 

Next, there had to be some organizational changes so the 3,000 all had a “group” or a house where they could gather (can you imagine organizing a church of 3,000?).

Then, they met in regularly and were devoted to the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, sharing meals, the Lord’s Supper, and to prayer. 

After that, came AWE and…many miraculous signs and wonders. 

As you sit with this verse ask yourself…have you prayed for miracles in your church and have you waited to see what God brings? 

If you ask, God will answer. 

One final word…let God be in charge and you will be blessed! 

Awe and Wonders

Following the Pentecost experience, the people the The Way continued to meet together, break bread together, and pray together.

The first part of Acts 2:43 tells us:

"A deep sense of awe came over them all."

The word here for awe is φόβος or phobos which is translated "fear or awe".  Now, it seems to me in English there is a lot of territory between "fear" and "awe", but not so much in the Greek.  The word phobos here means fear in the sense of respect or AWE.  They couldn't believe what had happened and what was happening.

Today, spend some time with this phrase, and wait on the Spirit...

Wait to see what God brings. 

The people of the Way

Acts 2:42 says:

All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper, and prayer.)

In other words, the people of THE WAY (that’s what the followers of Christ were called at that time) regularly met together.  They were so hungry for the Word and the Spirit that they spent as much time as possible meeting together.  They ate together, shared together, had the Lord’s Supper, and prayed together.

Sit with this verse for a while.  Let it penetrate your entire being.  Talk to God (and listen in return) about your experiences.  If you would like to change anything, ask for it…

Want Wisdom?

Proverbs 11:2
Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.

This is such a great verse…not quoted often, but there’s a lot of opportunity for the Spirit to teach us about pride and humility. 

To turn the verse around, we would say if you want wisdom, be humble.

Cool, huh?

Spend some time listening to God with this scripture and see what the Spirit brings…