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Written by Tom Schwanta, a contemporary professor of Christian formation and author.

God is in our midst, and we are often unaware of His presence. Scripture reveals God’s deep desire to be in fellowship with us and the hunger of the human soul for a relationship with Him. God always takes the initiative by His grace and seeks to draw us back into a personal friendship. Central to this relationship is understanding the dynamics of knowing God. Since God has already revealed Himself to us, we need to be alert to recognize that God is indeed present and active in our world today…[In] the words of C.S. Lewis: “We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade, the presence of God. The world is crowded with Him. He walks everywhere incognito. And the incognito is not always hard to penetrate. The real labor is to attend. In fact, to come awake. Still more, to remain awake.” Lewis captures the reality of the human ability to stifle God. Periodic awareness of God is not God’s design. Instead, our triune God desires for us to cultivate a practice that is the habitual pattern of our lives. Closely connected to this is a realistic understanding of what it means to experience God’s presence. We should not expect or seek only the spectacular encounters with God. That minimizes the normal way in which Christians have experienced God over the centuries. Like Elijah, we need to realize that God’s presence is typically not in the mountain-shattering wind or in the convulsions of the earthquake or in the consuming fires, but rather in God’s gentle “quiet whisper.”

Prayer:

Written by Debbie McDaniel, a contemporary Christian writer.

Dear God, forgive us for drifting away from you, for allowing other things to become more important in our lives. Help us to live aware, to choose wisely, to stay close to you, and anchored in your Truth. Apart from you, we have no hope. Thank you for your great love and mercy, thank you that you wait for us, that you call us to yourself, and you strengthen us in our weakness. Thank you that you alone are our Refuge and Safety, and you fill us with hope. We come to you today, choosing to walk in your Presence and Light. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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Written by Paul David Tripp, a contemporary pastor, author, and speaker. This is an excerpt from his book “New Morning Mercies.”

It is an intensely human endeavor. It is the quest we all pursue. We all want to feel good about ourselves. We all want to think that we are okay. It is a fearful and anxious quest from which only grace can free you. Here’s what happens to us all – we seek horizontally for the personal rest that we are to find vertically, and it never works. Looking to others for your inner sense of well-being is pointless. First, you will never be good enough, consistently enough, to get the regular praise of others that you are seeking. You’re going to mess up. You’re bound to disappoint. You will have a bad day. You’ll lose your way. At some point, you’ll say or do things that you shouldn’t.  Add to this the fact that the people around you aren’t typically interested in taking on the burden of being your personal messiah. They don’t want to live with the responsibility of having your identity in their hands. Looking to people for your inner self-worth never works. The peace that success gives is unreliable as well. Since you are less than perfect, whatever success you are able to achieve will soon be followed by failure of some kind. Then there is the fact that the buzz of success is short-lived. It isn’t long before you’re searching for the next success to keep you going. That’s why the reality that Jesus has become your righteousness is so precious. His grace has forever freed us from needing to prove our righteousness and our worth. So we remind ourselves every day not to search horizontally for what we’ve already been given vertically. “And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness, and trust forever” (Isaiah 32:17). That righteousness is found in Christ alone.

Prayer:

A prayer often attributed to Wilfred Arlan Peterson (1900-1995), an American author.

You accept us–at times of self-doubt

Thank you, God of all,

Co-creator of our world,

For allowing us to be imperfectly made:

Because it makes us, if we are wise, forgiving.

Do you accept us as we are?

We condemn people too quickly:

We judge them for flawed thinking, disguised egotism,

Unworthy acquisitiveness, or skewed opinions.

But we can forgive them once we accept our own shadow,

And realize how well we ourselves fit

Into the ranks of a less than perfect human race.

You, Holy God, accept each of us,

Prophets tell us, just as we are:

Provided our moral judgments of others

Are reciprocally generous and compassionate.

Imperfection fits this evolving reality,

For the universe thrives on diversity,

Including random failure,

One of the very preconditions for the unfolding advances. May it be so.

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Written by Toyohiko Kagawa (1888-1960), a Japanese peace activist. This is an excerpt from his book “Living Out Christ’s Love.”

I am particularly struck with the fact that Christ’s prayer was not in the least for himself. If prayer has meaning only for oneself, it will not be heard. If it voices the aspirations of humanity, it will be heard. There was not the slightest trace of selfishness in Christ’s prayer: “If for the redemption of humankind, it is necessary that I should be killed, I am willing to go to my death” This attitude is the acme of the life of faith. To pray in this spirit is the highest type of religious consciousness. When in poverty, distress, or any sort of trouble we pray in this spirit, we gain the victory.

Prayer:

Germaine Copeland, contemporary pastor and author.  This prayer is an excerpt from her book “Prayers that Avail Much.”

Holy Spirit, teach us how to agree (harmonize together, together make a symphony) — about anything and everything — so that whatever we ask will come to pass and be done for us by our Father in heaven. We pray that as members of the Body of Christ we will live as becomes us — with complete lowliness of mind (humility) and meekness (unselfishness, gentleness, mildness), with patience, bearing with one another and making allowances because we love one another. In the name of Jesus, we are eager and strive earnestly to guard and keep the harmony and oneness of [produced by] the Spirit in the binding power of peace. .May I always remember, Lord, that you are able to do far more than I could ever imagine by your power at work within me. And may I live each day as if this were really true! Amen.

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Written by Mark D. Roberts, a contemporary author and speaker.

As we grow in the exercise of our imaginations, may we always remember that God is able to do far more than we could ever imagine. There are limits to our imaginative capacities. Yet may we also remember that the power that enables God to do more than we could ever imagine resides within us. The very Spirit of God will move in and through our imaginations to help us share in God’s redemptive work in this world, whether we’re at work or at home, in worship or in our neighborhoods, in the studio or in the soup kitchen. May our imaginations be set free to share more fully and fruitfully in God’s mission in the world. 

Prayer:

Written by Mark D. Roberts, the author of today’s meditation.

 Gracious God, thank you for all of your gifts. Today I thank you, especially for the gift of imagination. Thank you for helping me to see in my mind what I cannot see with my eyes. Thank you for inspiring me to envision your future. Thank you for helping me to see how I might share in your work in the world.

Today, Lord, I ask you to inspire my imagination once again. Give me new vision as I work. Help me to see how I might share in new ways in your redemptive mission. I ask also for the ability to see the people in my life as you see them. May I imagine by your grace who they are becoming, so I can be part of your work in them. 

Gracious God, in a day when so much in our world is terribly broken, help me to see through my imagination what you are doing and how I might participate. Give me a fresh vision for your church and how I might be part of a community living out your redemptive mission in the world. 

May I always remember, Lord, that you are able to do far more than I could ever imagine by your power at work within me. And may I live each day as if this were really true! Amen.

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Written by Thomas a Kempis (1380-1471), a German-Dutch theologian and author.  This is an excerpt from the book “Imitation of Christ,” which is attributed to him.

When a man desires a thing too much, he at once becomes ill at ease. A proud and avaricious man never rests, whereas he who is poor and humble of heart lives in a world of peace. An unmortified man is quickly tempted and overcome in small, trifling evils; his spirit is weak, in a measure carnal and inclined to sensual things; he can hardly abstain from earthly desires. Hence it makes him sad to forego them; he is quick to anger if reproved. Yet if he satisfies his desires, remorse of conscience overwhelms him because he followed his passions and they did not lead to the peace he sought. True peace of heart, therefore, is gotten by resisting our passions, not by obeying them. There is no peace of heart of a carnal person, nor the person that is addicted to outward things, but there is peace in the heart of a spiritual and devout person.

Prayer:

Written by Thomas a Kempis, author of today’s meditation.

Grant me Your grace, O most merciful Jesus, that it may be with me, and work with me, and remain with me to the very end. Grant that I may always desire and will that which is most acceptable and pleasing to You,. Let Your will be mine. Let my will always follow Yours and agree perfectly with it. Let my will be one with Yours in willing and in not willing, and let me be unable to will or not will anything but what You will or do not will. Grant that  I may die to all things in this world, and for Your sake love to be despised and unknown in this life. Give me above all desires the desire to rest in You, and in You let my heart have peace. You are true peace of heart. You alone are its rest. Without You all things are difficult and troubled. In this peace, the selfsame that is in You, the Most High, the everlasting Good, I will sleep and take my rest. Amen.

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Written by J. R. Miller (1840-1912), a Christian author and pastor.

Must life be a failure for one compelled to stand still in enforced inaction and see the great throbbing tides of life go by? No; victory is then to be gotten by standing still, by quiet waiting. It is a thousand times harder to do this than it was in the active days to rush on in the columns of stirring life. It requires a grander heroism to stand and wait and not lose heart and not lose hope, to submit to the will of God, to give up work and honors to others, to be quiet, confident, and rejoicing, while the happy, busy multitude go on and away. It is the grandest life “having done all, to stand.”

Prayer:

Written by Rebecca Barlow Jordan, a contemporary Christian author.

Lord, quiet my heart and still my soul as I wait on you during these moments alone. I recognize you as a holy and majestic God—one who deserves great praise and glory. All of creation testifies to your awesome and unique works. There is no one like you, no other god worthy of honor. Amen.

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Written by Thomas Tarrants, a contemporary minister and author.

If God is omniscient, doesn’t he know everything we need? And if he is both omnipotent and good, won’t he provide it whether we pray or not? So goes a common line of reasoning about prayer which influences many of us, to our own impoverishment and the detriment of Christ’s kingdom. This reasoning has a certain logic and seems to have some biblical plausibility. Scripture clearly tells us that God is all-knowing… and that the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. However, to infer from these truths that prayer is unnecessary is to overlook the broader teaching of Scripture. The Bible does indeed teach that everything we need for life and godliness is found in God, who is willing and able to give it and knows our need before we ask. But it does not teach that he bestows these riches upon us automatically, as a matter of right… in many instances, we can lay hold of God’s promises only through believing prayer. Prayer and providence then, far from being antithetical, are actually reciprocal. Providence inspires prayer and prayer invokes providence. Here divine sovereignty and human responsibility mysteriously converge in a way we cannot fully explain but which is nonetheless real. By failing to pray, can we forfeit personal blessings which God would otherwise bestow? It does appear that in his sovereignty God has ordained believing prayer as a necessary means for our receiving many of his promises… while some measure of blessing comes to everyone because God “causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good,” it is only through prayer that we lay hold of many of the riches he promises. Why pray? Because the Sovereign God, who is indeed omniscient, omnipotent, and good, has established prayer as the means by which we receive what he has promised and help fulfill what he has ordained. One can only wonder what blessings we are missing today both in our personal lives and in our churches because of our failure to earnestly pray… Perhaps it is time for us as individuals and congregations to devote ourselves to prayer and to cry out with the Apostles.

Prayer:

Written by Edward Bouverie Pusey (1800-1882), an Anglican cleric and professor of Hebrew. He was a leading figure in the Oxford Movement.

Teach me, O Father, how to ask You silently for Your help moment after moment…If I am uneasy or troubled, enable me, by Your grace, quickly to turn to You. May nothing come between me and You today. May I will, do, and say just what You, my loving and tender Father, would have me will, do, and say. Amen.

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Written by Sheila Walsh, a contemporary author.  Today’s meditation is an excerpt from her book “5 Minutes With Jesus.”

Have you ever simply gotten alone with God and let Him have it all, the good, the bad, and the downright ugly — whatever it is you’re thinking and feeling? Doing so will change your life. Trust me; I speak from experience! But it took me years to open up to God. I’d lived much of my life filled with shame, with the profound sense that no matter what I did, I would never be good enough for God or for anyone else. Clinging to that falsehood, I kept a wall around my heart so that no one could hurt me. The wall kept me safe, but it also kept me lonely. One night when I was alone in a hospital, alone in the dark, I spoke out loud to God everything I felt. It wasn’t pretty… but I wasn’t struck by lightning. Instead, I actually felt closer to Him than ever before. Truth does that. Truth destroys walls.

Prayer:

Written by Debbie Przybylski, founder and director of Intercessors Arise International.

Lord, I know that you are faithful over all things, even the hard, dark times of my life. Help me not back away from you in my time of grief. Help me instead to lean into you and trust you, even when I do not understand your ways. Please keep my head above the waters of anguish and my feet from slipping off the ground of truth. Help me see you in these hard moments and glorify you in my response. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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Written by Philip Doddridge (1702-1751), an English minister, educator, and hymnwriter.

Observe, I entreat you, how calamitous a circumstance is here supposed, and how heroic a faith is expressed [in Habakkuk 3:17-18]. It is really as if he said, “Though I should be reduced to so great extremity as not to know where to find my necessary food, though I should look around about me on an empty house and a desolate field, and see the marks of the Divine scourge where I had once seen the fruits of God’s bounty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord.”

Methinks these words are worthy of being written as with a diamond on a rock forever. Oh, that by Divine grace they might be deeply engraven on each of our hearts! Concise as the form of speaking in the text is, it evidently implies or expresses the following particulars: That in the day of his distress he would fly to God; that he would maintain a holy composure of spirit under this dark dispensation, nay, that in the midst of all he would indulge in a sacred joy in God, and a cheerful expectation from Him. Heroic confidence! Illustrious faith! Unconquerable love!

Prayer:

Written by Charles Borromeo (1538-1584) was a cardinal and archbishop of Milan. He was a leading figure of the counter-reformation.

Almighty God, you have generously made known to human beings the mysteries of your life through Jesus Christ your Son in the Holy Spirit. Enlighten my mind to know these mysteries which your Church treasures and teaches. Move my heart to love them and my will to live in accord with them. Give me the ability to teach this Faith to others without pride, without ostentation, and without personal gain. Let me realize that I am simply your instrument for bringing others to the knowledge of the wonderful things you have done for all your creatures. Help me to be faithful to this task that you have entrusted to me. Amen

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Written by Max Lucado, a contemporary pastor, speaker, and author.

9/11 has come to serve as a day of remembrance for the many trials we have endured as a nation over this past decade. The continued threats and anxiety created by ongoing terror threats have become, if not normal, an ever-present stressor.  We wonder if we’ll ever be free of that sense of unease in our daily lives. The Boston bombing served as a reminder of this new reality. Violence continues to tear at our country from within – the mass shootings in Arizona, Colorado, and Sandy Hook. The unthinkable stories of the innocent victims and instant heroes in these situations have seared our consciousness, leaving us reeling with grief and disbelief. Natural disasters like Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Sandy, and other destructive forces have scarred our land and our people. We are weary. We wonder: will we get through these turbulent times? The answer from the pages of the Bible is a resounding YES. The story of Joseph reveals that even when life hits us with multiple blows, with God’s help, we will overcome. That’s why, on a day like September 11, the church should gather and remember that what man intends for evil, God can use for good. Joseph faced a famine in his day, and he focused all his efforts on bringing life and nourishment to all. Today we face a famine of hope. As God’s people, let’s dispense courage and sustenance to our generation, offering a plan and a story of God’s help and goodness… Let’s lead a harvest of hope, together.

Prayer:

Written by Derek Weber, a contemporary pastor and director of Discipleship Ministries of the United Methodist Church.

On this day of solemn remembrance:
May we honor the lives that were lost in this tragic act.
May we give thanks for those who served and saved, rendered aid and assistance.
May we give comfort to those who live with loss.
May we seek justice and peace where it is within our ability,
and rely on you when the ability escapes us.

On this day of solemn remembrance:
May we build what has been torn down.
May we mend what has been broken.
May live your love when hate seems to reign.
May we bear witness to the cause of peace.

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