Dear Jesus

I came across this prayer the other day in my reading and wanted to share it. A portion of it became very dear to me at a particular time in my life. It is highlighted below. It was written by Cardinal Newman and used in slightly altered form as a daily community prayer by Mother Teresa and the Sisters of the Missionaries of Charity.

Dear Jesus,
help me to spread thy fragrance everywhere I go.
Flood my soul with Thy spirit and life.
Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly
that all my life may only be a radiance of thine.
Shine through me,
and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with
may feel thy presence in my soul.
Let them look up and see no longer me
but only Jesus!
Stay with me,
and then I shall begin to shine
as Thou shinest,
so to shine as to be a light to others;
the light, O Jesus, will be all from Thee;
none of it will be mine;
it will be Thou shining on others through me.
Let me thus praise Thee in the way Thou dost love best
by shining on those around me.
Let me preach Thee without preaching,
not by words but by my example,
by the catching force of the sympathetic influence
of what I do,
the evident fullness of the love my heart bears to Thee.
Amen

Some tools for the prayer tool belt!

Just a quick post this time. I made some very intentional, measured resolutions for the year this year and I am glad to say I have done pretty well for the most part. One of my resolutions was to pray more and be more intentional about prayer, thus my "Facetime" posts, but how does one do that? I do journal and keep a prayer journal. There are too many times someone has asked me to pray about something, and I said I would, and then I forgot. Well that stopped years ago when i starting keeping the journal because it gave me a place to write things down and to see what God was doing, the answered prayers, and the unfolding story.

My brother Keith has brought to my attention an awesome tool he uses for prayer called echo prayer, you can check it out here

Another discipline I have been moving toward since my trip to Jordan almost three years ago are regular fixed hours of prayer. The Muslim practice of praying five times a day and the regular stopping in worship and awareness of God touched me deeply. In the Christian tradition this is sometimes called the Divine Hours. I have attempted to do this haphazardly off and on with little discipline. I am excited about the potential for intentional and regular prayer with this tool and thought you might want to check it out for yourself.

Let me know how it works for you.

Facetime #4

That's me, no makeup. I went out to run an errand like that tonight, no makeup, bare, nothing hidden, not even the outbreak of acne I had this week. I know, nice huh? Well, that is how we all approach God really. I mean we might kid ourselves that we are hiding something but are we? God knows every hair on my head and yours, and yet so many of us fear coming to Him with our deepest, darkest places, the scars, and imperfections in our lives. Coming to God in prayer with these scars and imperfections is what God wants. Yes He knows they are there, but our coming to Him in prayer is an act of worship, of who He is, perfect and holy, and who we are, broken and in need of saving grace. This is what I know; we can try to keep these places hidden or undercover but ultimately it is only shining some light in those dark places that is ever going to bring real healing, covering those wounds and scars only causes them to fester and grow deeper. Getting real with yourself enough to own your junk and get real with God in confessing it is what it takes so some light might shine in the dark and new life might begin. Then growing in an honest, open, real, relationship with the creator of the universe and the lover of your soul,naked an unashamed. I'm convinced of this, if we can be really real with God when we go to Him in prayer, we can be a lot more real with the people in our lives as well.


"Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account".
Hebrews 14:13

"Face Time" #2

This is where I have done the most fervent praying in my life. It is where you will find me most every morning of the week in the quiet hours before anyone is up, even the sun. I could have taken a picture of myself here but the point is that God is present. Though unseen and sometimes not felt, God is present right there on the couch with me.

This is the space where I first heard God call me to full time ministry. This is the place where I have read more of the Bible, more times than I can count. This is the place where I have poured out my heart to God on behalf of His Church, my family, my own brokenness. This is hallowed ground. This is where prayer and "face time" with God really began to form me in ways that I continue to realize.

Many years ago I read two books on prayer that significantly impacted me, "Let Prayer Change Your Life" by Becky Tirabassi and "What Happens When Women Pray" by Evelyn Christenson. These two books called me to a deeper life of prayer and communion with God. They called me to making prayer a priority. They brought me to revelation that I made time for many things in my life but that God got the leftovers if anything at all. God and prayer were the first negotiable things on my daily schedule, kind of like exercise....busy? well, just clear away that quiet time for prayer and study and meditating, and voila...all kinds of time. God and the spiritual life was something I talked about but did not LIVE in.

Another wonderful book on prayer is Richard Foster's "Prayer" and I have heard, though have not read, "Too Busy Not to Pray" by Bill Hybels is good as well.
One of the biggest tools in my prayer life is my journal. I am just as flaky as the next person. When I try to sit still and be quiet my mind inevitably wanders down many a rabbit trail. A have kept many journals of prayer, reflection on scripture, ideas and visions. Writing things down helps me to focus and cover all of the bases. Journals have helped me to record not only the names and requests of those I am praying for, it has enabled me to see God working, often times far ahead of where I am.

In prayer and communion with God in these quiet times and places I find rest and peace.

This was not an easy discipline to establish with two small children when I began years ago. I got interrupted, repeatedly, I got intruded upon with early risers, still sometimes I have to shoo them away, telling them I was talking to God and that we had an appointment that I wanted to keep.

While prayer can take place any time and any where, I pray you will create a special time in your day and a special place to commune with your God.

"Face Time" #1

The sun has set on the first day of the new year and tomorrow begins the first week of the new year. What resolutions have you made? Like many of you I make some of the same ones every year. I do well on some and others seem to be unreachable dreams. One thing I have resolved to do more of this year is pray. That's what's up with the picture. Prayer for me is time to talk and listen to the creator of the universe. It is time to commune with God. Some think that prayer should only be done in a certain place or in a particular posture or in particularly beautiful words. What I have come to understand is that God is present wherever we find ourselves, in whatever posture we take, and in however we might say the words of our heart. Just pray. What I have discovered about myself in prayer over these past years has been enlightening. Prayer is not always about what we pray but just the act of doing it to begin with. Prayer changes a person. There is a very good reason to pray for those who persecute you and I would venture to say it has far more to do with the person praying than the person being prayed for (Matthew 5:44).


And so, for the next year, one time a week, I will post a picture of a different place I am spending some face time with God. I would love to hear about the places you pray and how prayer is changing you and your life with God.

May you know God's blessings in this new year!
In the words of Jesus, "Always pray and never give up!"