Day 1: Presence (Prayer Guide)

Our Father in heaven, Reveal who you are.
Set the world right; Do what’s best—as above, so below.

Matthew 6:9-13, MSG

Day 1: Presence

READ.

Read the following verse.  As you read, pause and pray over anything that sticks out to you. Do not rush. In fact, consider starting this time in silence for :30-:60 and ask God to be near as you pray.

Mark 1:15 His message was this: “At last the fulfillment of the age has come! It is time for God’s kingdom to be experienced in its fullness! Turn your lives back to God and put your trust in the hope-filled gospel!”

What thoughts come to mind? What words or ideas did the Holy Spirit draw your attention to?

PRAY.

Read this prayer, and as you read, meditate on any lines that stick out to you. Pray them again in your own words.

With each inhale and exhale, I muster up the courage, the breath to break the silence. I feel the tension, the overwhelming weight of my skin, my heavy yet delicate frame, my human form and all of its weighty associations with failure, fragility, finality.

I stop myself and start again. I have been holding my breath instead of holding myself, allowing myself to be held. Inhale. Exhale. I remember that You aren’t bothered, not even a bit, by my anxiety, my apathy, my wanderings and shortcomings. You do not define things as I do. My need to fill in the blank, label good or bad, is not one that resonates with you. 

In the silence you are here. There is no need for pretense.

I try to get out of the way, to create space for You to stay. The more I try to get out of the way, the more I end up chasing myself, and by myself I remain. 

And once again, I bump into you. For you have never left me.

I stop and begin again. Inhale exhale. I am safe here. In the midst of all my anxious mutterings, my need to make sense of all of these somethings, I remember I am welcome here, every part of me.

In this Kingdom, You reign. And by some miracle, I remain. I haven’t scared you off. You hem me in.

Grace me with the courage to believe that you have me, even the depths that terrify me. 
In this stillness, I am loved. You call me beloved.

I confess it is oh so very hard to give myself to thee. 
Remind this weary soul of all that you have capacity to carry.

RESPOND.

Take a moment to wait on the Lord. Fight the urge to fill the silence. Allow his presence to meet you here. Linger in His presence intentionally and transition into the next part of your day, experiencing the fullness of God in you.