2/28/13

Praying 10 minutes today: FRIDAY 3/1

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:   
Create in me
a clean heart, O God...
 -Psalm 51

(Before moving on to the reflection below,
   spend some quiet time with the scripture verse above...)

In the quiet of my prayer each day, Lord,
   my heart speaks to yours
      and yours to mine...

I pray today for a deep quiet in my heart and mind,
   that sweet stillness of your presence where, without a word,
      your heart speaks to mine 
         and mine to yours...  

Give me a heart blessed
   with the silence of your presence
with its peace and power to calm my fears
   and soothe my worried soul... 

Create in me
   a clean heart, O God...

Help me make a time to be with you
   and in my heart of hearts to find the silent place within
where your heart beats in mine,
   pulsing strong, steady, true and without fail... 

Sometimes my heart's heavy with grief and problems;
sometimes my mind's confused, unsure of what to think;
sometimes my soul is sick with hurt and fear;
sometimes the noise within screams out
   though no one hears or knows the pain it shouts... 

Create in me
   a clean heart, O God... 

I need more than silence, Lord,
   I need the healing stillness of the quiet only found
      in finding you and resting by your side... 

Though I long for answers and solutions
   and for what I want and think I need;
      though I stew in my own juices and pity my own plight;
 I know that what I need the most 
   is to find in you the peace that only you can give,
      the quiet place prepared for me within your heart...
     
Take the tension from my neck

   and the tightness from my shoulders:
relax me, Lord, and let me be at ease in trusting   
   that you're always there to comfort and to strengthen me...

Help me lay down my burdens 
   as I enter the grotto of prayer to find your peace,
   as I walk the holy ground of your presence within me,
   as I seek the quiet stillness where your silent word 
      can soothe and heal and mend me...

Create in me
   a clean heart, O God... 

Create in me a clean heart, O God:
   a heart prepared to welcome you,
   a heart swept clean to call itself your home,
   a heart renewed by mercy and your pardon,
   a heart refreshed by hope that lifts me up,
   a heart restored to courage by your Spirit,
   a heart whose silence waits your quiet presence
      and the stillness of the peace it brings...    

Come, Lord, and meet my in my prayer, 
   in the silence, in the quiet, in the stillness:  
      create in me a clean heart, O God,
      and put a new and steadfast spirit in my soul...  
     
To ponder and pray over...
What quiet, what silence, what stillness
   does my heart desire?  long for?  need? 
What cleansing, what healing, what mending 
   does my heart need - today?
Does anything keep me from accepting
   the clean heart the Lord offers to create within me?
What "house cleaning" might I do in my heart,
   to welcome in the Lord?
What will I ask of the Lord today?
From this prayer time, what word or phrase will I keep with me

   to carry through the rest of my day?


(After you spend some time with these questions,
   pray the reflection above one more time...)


Here are some tips for praying 10 minutes a day.  If you find these daily prayer reminders helpful, please let me know - and share them with others. 


 
 
   
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