A Concord Pastor Comments: Praying 10 minutes today: Novena for Pentecost

Image source: ICCNLR

Over the next week, we'll be using a novena for our Praying 10 minutes a day. (After Pentecost Sunday, May 27, we'll return to the usual format.) The oldest novena is the prayer of the first disciples (Mary, the apostles and other believers) from the time Jesus ascended to his Father (40 days after Easter) to the feast of Pentecost. These nine days are a time for us to pray for the coming of the Spirit upon the Church and upon each of us. Each day of the novena you will find a post with scripture and prayer for that day.

Praying 10 minutes today...

Novena to the Holy Spirit - Day 6

Find a quiet time and place to pray...

take a few deep breaths...

be still and know that God is near..

A word to reflect on...

At Miletus, Paul spoke to the presbyters of the Church of Ephesus:
“Keep watch over yourselves and over the whole flock
    of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you overseers,
       in which you tend the Church of God
          that he acquired with his own Blood.
I know that after my departure
   savage wolves will come among you,
      and they will not spare the flock...
And now I commend you to God
    and to that gracious word of his that can build you up...
In every way I have shown you that by hard work
    we must help the weak,
and keep in mind the words of the Lord Jesus who himself said,
    ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Acts 20:28-38

For reflection...

• Who in my life am I called to "tend" in faith?
   Who in my family?
children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, godchildren?
   Who among my friends and colleagues and neighbors
      look to me as "the person of faith" they know best?
   Am I faithful in sharing my faith, especially with folks like these?

• When I'm quick to judge those who have failed and harmed

the flock entrusted to their care

do I reach out like a good shepherd myself

to those entrusted to my care?

• Do I believe that the gracious Word of God has power
to strengthen me and to strengthen those with whom I share it?

• Do I trust that the Spirit is ready to give me wisdom and courage
to help me share with others what I have received in faith?

• What shall I pray for the Church today?
I will pray for shepherds with courage to protect the flock...
I will pray for all the people of the Church
   who care for and tend one another...
      I will pray for preachers to preach the gracious Word of God...
      I will pray for a Church in which all believe
         that it is more blessed to give than to receive...
      I will pray for the Spirit's gifts to enliven the heart of the Church
         and make of it a haven for God's people,
            a refuge of truth and mercy...

• The Gifts of the Holy Spirit (as they are named in the Rite of Confirmation) include: wisdom... the spirit of understanding and right judgment... courage... the spirit of knowledge and reverence... and the spirit of wonder and awe in God's presence...

For which of these gifts will I pray today?

Let us pray:

Come, Holy Spirit

to this time of prayer, this quiet time

and in the stillness, let me know your presence and your power...
With your presence and power
   protect and keep your own from the influence of evil...
With the wisdom of your gracious Word
   counsel us to find the truth, to know it and to live it...
Keep me faithful to caring for others
   who look to me and my faith to lean on...
When my selfish impulses grow strong,
   remind me that it is more blessed, more loving, more peaceful
      to give than to receive...

Come, Holy Spirit,

fill the hearts of your people

and kindle in us the fire of your love.

Send forth your Spirit and we shall be created

and you will renew the face of the earth.

(Look to the top of the sidebar and choose one of the 24 songs on the widget as part of your 10 minutes of prayer today...)