Pathways Press.com

Written by Matt Brown, a contemporary author.

The Bible is life–changing. Not only will reading and responding to God’s Word change your life today, but the Bible will continually change you as you keep coming back to it throughout your life. It’s not enough to sample the Word; you need to incorporate the habit of daily coming back to the Word into your life. R.A. Torrey shared what has become one of my favorite quotes, “People who pray for power but neglect the Bible abound in the church. But the power that belongs to God is stored up in the great reservoir of His own Word, the Bible. We cannot obtain or maintain God’s power in our own lives or in our work unless there is deep and frequent meditation on the Word of God.” Torrey was a longtime ministry associate of D.L. Moody who also had a passion for God’s Word and based his whole ministry on it. In one of my favorite stories about D.L. Moody, he shares: A quickening that will last must come through the word of God. A man stood up in one of our meetings and said he hoped for enough out of the series of meetings to last him all his life. I told him he might as well try to eat enough breakfast at one time to last him a lifetime. That is a mistake that people are making; they are running to religious meetings and they think the meetings are going to do the work. But if these don’t bring you into closer contact with the word of God, the whole impression will be gone in three months. If you really want to grow in your Christian life, you need to keep coming back to the Word of God.  It’s not enough to read the Bible once and then move on. Each of us need daily manna from heaven that God gives as we come back to His Word each day.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [1 John 1:1]

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This prayer is attributed to Nicetas of Remesiana (335-414), a bishop in the Roman province of Dacia Mediterranea. He composed sacred music and served as a missionary.

You, Christ, are the king of glory,

Son of the eternal Father.

When you took our nature to save mankind

You did not shrink from birth in the Virgin’s womb.

You overcame the power of death

Opening the Father’s kingdom to all who believe in you.

Enthroned at God’s right hand in the glory of the Father,

You will come in judgment according to your promise.

You redeemed your people by your precious blood.

Come, we implore you, to our aid.

Grant us with the saints

a place in eternal glory.

Lord, save your people

And bless your inheritance.

Rule them and uphold them

Forever and ever.

Day by day we praise you:

We acclaim you now and to all eternity.

In your goodness, Lord, keep us free from sin.

Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.

May your mercy always be with us, Lord,

For we have hoped in you.

In you, Lord, we put our trust:

We shall not be put to shame.

But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me. [Micah 7:7]

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Written by Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556), a Spanish priest and theologian.

Love consists in sharing
what one has
and what one is
with those one loves.
Love ought to show itself in deeds
more than in words.

“Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” [1 John 3:18]

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Written by Mary Fairchild, a contemporary Christian pastor, writer, and editor.

Dear Jesus, please hear my prayer. I go along each day, trying to run my life my own way. I forget to let go and give you control. I wonder why things aren’t going the way I want them to go. I forget to stop and ask what you want, Lord. Please help me to give you control, Jesus. I want to follow you. I want what you desire for me. Help me to realize that when you close one door, you open the one you want me to walk through. Help me also to realize that what I desire may not be what is meant for me, or what is best for me. Maybe it will lead me away from what your great plan is for me. Lord, let me accept each day as a gift. Let me follow the path you choose for me. Help me to be thankful for what you give me and not to worry about my needs. I trust you will take care of all my needs. Remind me that my role is to care for those around me and focus on those who need my help. Help me not to be judgmental, as we are all equal in God’s eyes. Help me to see the good in all of your creations. Let me leave the judging to you, dear Jesus. Instead, I will concentrate on living to please you! Help me, dear Jesus, be who and what you want me to be. Give me strength, faith and hope, and most of all, give me guidance each and every day. I let go and give you control. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” [Psalm 119:105].

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Written by Macrina Wiederkehr (1939-2020), a spiritual guide, facilitator, and author.

Slowly
she celebrated the sacrament of letting go.
First she surrendered her green,
then the orange, yellow, and red
finally she let go of her brown.
Shedding her last leaf
she stood empty and silent, stripped bare.
Leaning against the winter sky
she began her vigil of trust.

Shedding her last leaf
she watched its journey to the ground.
She stood in silence
wearing the color of emptiness,
her branches wondering;
How do you give shade with so much gone?

And then,
the sacrament of waiting began.
The sunrise and sunset watched with tenderness.
Clothing her with silhouettes
they kept her hope alive.

They helped her understand that
her vulnerability,
her dependence and need,
her emptiness,
her readiness to receive
were giving her a new kind of beauty.
Every morning and every evening they stood in silence
and celebrated together
the sacrament of waiting.

“Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming.” [James 5:7].

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Written by Rafael Merry del Val (1865-1930), a Spanish Catholic bishop, Vatican official, and cardinal.

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being loved, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being honored, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being praised, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being approved, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being humiliated, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being despised, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of suffering rebukes, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being calumniated, Deliver me, Jesus
From the fear of being forgotten, Deliver me, Jesus
From the fear of being ridiculed, Deliver me, Jesus
From the fear of being wronged, Deliver me, Jesus
From the fear of being suspected, Deliver me, Jesus
That others may be loved more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen and I set aside, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be praised and I unnoticed, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be preferred to me in everything, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

“Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” [1 PE 5:5].

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Written by Meg Meeker, a contemporary pediatrician and author.

Faith can’t just be a tangential part of your life. It needs to be the central part of your family’s life. If faith is a thing you do on Sundays but not a value you carry throughout the week, your child will not latch onto it. Reflect your faith in your behavior. If you tend to be impatient, ask God for more patience. If you have a tendency to fly off the handle, trust God to make you gentler. Once you make faith a value, you can practice what you preach.

“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” [Micah 6:8].

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Written by Rebecca Ruiz, a contemporary spiritual director, composer, and writer.

Holy Spirit, 
open my heart
to understand how precious I am to you,
how loved I am by you.
Open the eyes of my soul,
to see the gifts you have put before me this day.
Give me the grace to recognize each encounter with you.
Teach me to respond in gratitude, to grow in gratitude.
Teach me to be generous, as you are generous with me,
and to collaborate with you in serving my sister and my brother
for your greater glory.

“Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.” [Colossians 3:16]. from his mouth come knowledge and understanding  [Proverbs 2:6].

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Written by Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556), a Spanish priest and theologian. This is an excerpt from his work “The Autobiography.”

As he sat by the river,
the eyes of his understanding began to be opened;
not that he saw any vision,
but he understood and learnt many things,
both spiritual matters and matters of faith and of scholarship,
and this with so great an enlightenment
that everything seemed new to him.

For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding  [Proverbs 2:6].

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This poem is similar to an old Hittite prayer widely known in Turkey. Research indicates that the author is either Orin L. Crain or Wilfred Arlan Peterson.

Slow me down, Lord!                                                      
Ease the pounding of my heart
By the quieting of my mind.
Steady my harried pace
With a vision of the eternal reach of time.

Give me,
Amidst the confusions of my day,
The calmness of the everlasting hills.
Break the tensions of my nerves
With the soothing music 
Of the singing streams
That live in my memory.

Help me to know
The magical power of sleep,
Teach me the art
Of taking minute vacations 
Of slowing down
To look at a flower;
To chat with an old friend 
Or make a new one;
To pet a dog;
To watch a spider build a web;
To smile at a child;
Or to read a few lines from a good book.

Remind me each day
That the race is not always won by the swift;
That there is more to life 
Than increasing its speed.

Let me look upward
Into the branches of the towering oak
And know that it grew great and strong
Because it grew slowly and well.

Slow me down, Lord,
And inspire me to send my roots deep
Into the soil of life’s enduring values
That I may grow toward the stars
Of our greater destiny.

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness [Lamentation 3:22-23]

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