Waiting on the Lord

no name joe · July 20, 2011

I read this in my devotion this morning, and absolutely love this prayer.

"I call to you, O Lord, from my quiet darkness. Show me your mercy and love. Let me see your face, hear your voice, touch the hem of your cloak. I want to love you, be with you, speak to you and simply stand in your presence. But I cannot make it happen. PRessing my eyes against my hands is not praying, and reading about your presence is not living in it. But there is that moment in which you will come to me, as you did to your fearful disciples, and say, 'Do not be afraid; it is I.' Let that moment come soon, O Lord. And if you want to delay it, then make me patient. Amen." --A Cry for Mercy, Henri J. M. Nouwen

May that be may prayer today.

no name joe · July 21, 2011

"God comes like the sun in the morning--when it is time. We must assume an attitude of waiting, accepting the fact that we are creatures and not Creator. We must do this because it is not our right to do anything else; the initiative is God's, not ours. We are able to initiate nothing, only to accept it. If God does not call." --From The God Who Comes by Carlo Carretto

O never star
Was lost; here
We all aspire to heaven and there is heaven
Above us.
If I stoop
Into a dark tremendous sea of cloud,
It is but for a time; I press God's lamp
Close to my breast; its splendor soon or late
Will pierce teh gloom. I shall emerge some day.
--"Faith" by Robert Browning

"Complete serenity of mind is a gift of God; but this serenity is not given without our own intens effort. You will achieve nothing by your own efforts alone; yet God will not give you anything, unless you work with all your strength. This is an unbreakable law." --From The Art of Prayer

Wow. These passages I am reading this week are really speaking to me this week. It reminds me to be faithful, to wait on the Lord, and he will break through an illuminate my path in his perfect timing.

Edited July 21, 2011 by kindofblue1977

no name joe · July 22, 2011

Luke 8:11-15

King James Version (KJV)

¹¹Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
¹²Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
¹³They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
¹⁴And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
¹⁵But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

"And Friends, though you may have tasted of the power and been convinced and have felt the light, yet afterwards you may feel winter storms, tempests, and hail, and be frozen, in frost and cold and a wilderness and temptations. Be patient and still in the power and still in the light that doth convince you, to keep you minds to God; in that be quiet, that you may come to the summer, that your flight be not in the winter. For if you sit still in the patience which overcomes in the power of God, there will be no flying. For the husbandman, after he hath sown his seed, he is patient. For by the power and by the light you will come to see through and feel over winter storms, tempests, and all the coldness, barrenness, emptyness. And the same light and power will go over the tempter's head, which power and light were before he was. And so in the light standing still you will see your salvation, you will see the Lord's strength; you will feel the small rain, you will feel the fresh springs in the power and light, your minds being kept low; for that which is out of the power and light lifts up. But in the power and light you will see God revealing his secrets, inspiring, and his gifts coming unto you, through which your hearts will be filled with God's love; praise to him that lives forever more, in which light and power his blessings are received. And so the eternal power of the Lord Jesus Christ preserve and keep you in that. ANd so live everyone in the power of God that you may all come to be heirs of that and know that to be your portion, and the kingdon that hath no end, and an endless life, which the seed is heir of. And so feel that over all set, which hath the promise and blessing of God." --The Journal of George Fox

God is teaching me much this week. I've gone through a period of weariness, and am still in that place a bit. The devotional I am reading this week has exerpts from great Christians of the past, and their words, in light of the daily Scriptures, give me great hope and encouragement to keep my mind on God. I need to contemplate the majesty and glory of our Almighty Creator. I need to ask him to pour his Spirt out and fill me. I need to ask him to equip me with gifts to build up his kingdom. In this dark night of the soul, I need to patiently wait on him, remain faithful, and he will pour out streams of living water. He will restore my soul. He will lead me in the path of righteousness. This prayer really spoke to me today and I make it my prayer for this day:

"O God, prepare me, through the active presence of thy Spirit, to come before thee worthily and to ask of thee rightly; enlighten my understanding; purify my every desire; quicken my will into instant obedience to thy Word; strenghten every right purpose; direct [my life] to the magnifying of thy name, and to the enduring good of me, thy child and servant; through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen. --From The Book of Worship.