Skip to main content

Prayin' Time





Psalm 46:10 
"Be still, and know that I am God"

Wonderland, Acadia, NP
In these trying times there is much noise around us. There is noise from armed protesters, school shootings, and the desecration of Jewish synagogues and Muslim mosques. There is the noise of people being in food lines for the first time. There are the disturbing cries from the weak being abused  and the vulnerable being neglected. There is alarming noise from violent protesters and deeply unsettling scenes of destruction.

It makes me feel like Elijah hiding in a cave as God passes by in wind, fire and earthquake. It makes me ask, What's coming next? Will it be some sort of social upheaval? Will it be a further fracturing of our world? Will it be a new source of fear?

So I turn to God in prayer. I ask God to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and heal the sick. I ask God to bring peace in our troubled times. I ask God to "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an everflowing stream" (Amos 5:24).

I ask.

God says, "Be still and know that I am God."

To "Be still and know that I am God." seems nearly impossible in the midst of all this noise. How in our prayin' time do we find stillness and listen for God?

One way of finding stillness in our prayin' time is to meditate daily.  It is to set aside any invasive noise of worry or fear. Let anxiety float away in the "river whose streams make glad the city of God." It is this time of stillness that helps regain ones confidence in the strength of God.

Then, after this time of stillness, we are strengthened to move back into the world and do what we can to still the noise of worry, fear and anxiety in others.

It's prayin" time. Be still and listen for God's voice in these trying times.










Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Grantchester's Warning

"But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, the owner would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (from Luke 12:32-40 ) I regularly watch Grantchester; a murder mystery set in 1950s England. The main characters are a local detective and an Anglican priest who, as a team, solve mysteries set in the town. Two aspects of Grantchester impress me. First, the simplicity of the 1950’s police communications done by a landline phone and not cell phone. Second, the simplicity of daily life with little television and fewer possessions allowing the characters to focus on their vocation of detective and priest. This simplicity is more than a nostalgic return to the “good old days”. Instead, it’s a Shaker type of simplicity where austerity allows freedom from distractions to focus on worship and community. Today’s distraction-filled world has seemingly countless activ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Walking with God

Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. (from Ps.103:1-8 ) Thomas Merton, American Trappist monk, writer and theologian, once asked himself a question he immediately answered:   How does an apple ripen? The apple, by simply being in the sun, fulfills its purpose of ripening, The apple doesn't try to ripen faster, it simply allows the sun to do its work.   There is nothing it can do to ripen itself. It can’t do workouts, tighten its muscles and then suddenly be a red, ripened, juicy apple in the morning. The apple just hangs on the branch in the sun, naturally ripening, where it receives its daily nourishment. This is the basic plan for how Christians ripen in their relationship to God. The difference is that Christians don’t naturally ripen in their relationship to God, we have to place themselves where we can be nourished. The beginning place of nourishment I find most helpful is the Guide to Prayer For All Who Walk With God. The daily walk in the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Jesus, Deliverance, and Demons

"Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind." (from Luke 8:26-39 ) Astrid is a streaming program I often watch. The plot is a basic cops and robbers action until the criminal is caught. The uniqueness of the program is Astrid, who is on the Autism spectrum, is brilliant at solving puzzles including connecting clues to solve the crime. Watching this program has given me a more profound insight to people living with this condition and their acceptance in society. My first-hand experience with children on the Spectrum was driving a Special Needs school bus for 6 years. With this experience, I can imagine the life the possessed man was experiencing, especially living among the tombs, bound with chains and shackles, having to live in the wilds. It was no wonder he cried for mercy. Jesus, with his power and mercy, cast the demons out and even...
Post a Comment
Read more