Prayer of Dedication

Phyllis Tickle's The Divine Hours Pocket Edition provided some meaningful and inspiring devotional prayers and readings during our time of rest. I thought I'd share this prayer of dedication with all of you in hopes that it will touch your hearts and souls as it did mine.



"O Lord my God, to you and to your service I devote myself, body, soul, and spirit. Fill my memory with the record of your mighty works; enlighten my understanding with the light of your Holy Spirit; and may all the desires of my heart and will center in what you would have me do. Make me an instrument of your salvation for the people entrusted to my care, and let me by my life and speaking set forth your true and living Word. Be always with me in carrying out the duties of my salvation; in praises heighten my love and gratitude; in speaking of You give me readiness of thought and expression; and grant that, by the clearness and brightness of your holy Word, all the world may be drawn to your blessed kingdom. All this I ask for the sake of your Son, my Savior Jesus Christ. Amen."


Taken from The Divine Hours Pocket Edition compiled with an introduction by Phyllis Tickle. 2007, Oxford University Press, New York. p. 11.

Pamela Away for a Rest

Hello All.

Just a quick line to let you know that I will not be posting again until the end of May, as I will be away from home for a much-needed rest.

Blessings and peace to you all. You will be in my thoughts and prayers.

Nouwen's Thoughts on Christ's Servanthood

It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.

The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
~John 13: 1–5 [NIV]

In a devotional reading which I recently came across, Henri Nouwen talked about the fulfillment of Christ's command to serve one another in His name. Nouwen writes:

"....I was struck again by the way Jesus concluded his active life. Just before entering on the road of his passion he washed the feet of his disciples and offered them his body and blood as food and drink. These two acts belong together. They are both an expression of God's determination to show us the fullness of his love. Therefore, John introduces the story of Jesus' washing of the disciples' feet with the words: 'Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end' (John 13:1).

What is even more astonishing is that on both occasions, Jesus commands us to do the same. After washing his disciples' feet, Jesus says, 'I have given you an example so that you may copy what I have done to you' (John 13:15). After giving himself as food and drink, he says, 'Do this in remembrance of me' (Luke 22:19). Jesus calls us to continue his mission of revealing the perfect love of God in this world. He calls us to total self-giving. He does not want us to keep anything for ourselves. Rather, he wants our love to be as full, as radical, and as complete as his own. He wants us to bend ourselves to the ground and touch the places in each other that most need washing. He also wants us to say to each other, 'Eat of me and drink of me.' By this complete mutual nurturing, he wants us to become one body and one spirit, united by the love of God."

If we are to take Christ's words and Nouwen's interpretation of them seriously, this represents a radical, all-encompassing focus of our lives in service to Christ first, and also to others on a continual basis. Christ challenges us with his greatest of commands. He says in Mark 12:29-31:

"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."

What impact does this concept have on our Living Room Family? So many of us are talking about ways to minister to others in need, we are committing more and more of our time, energies, and finances to practical ways of caring for others.

• Are there areas of our personal lives where we are holding back from service for Christ?
• Are we afraid to trust Him with every aspect of our lives?
• Are we willing to step outside our comfort zone and "get down and dirty" for the sake of Christ?
• What does this total servanthood concept look like to each of you in your personal lives?

Radical • Transforming • Servant Attitude •
Going Deeper • Risk • Growth • Care • Love •
The Fruit of the Spirit flourishing every day in our lives

Quote taken from Bread and Wine: Readings for Lent and Easter, 2003, The Plough Publishing House, Farmington, PA. pp. 377-380. Henri Nouwen, "Jesus Gives All," from The Road to Daybreak, by Henri Nouwen, copyright 1988 by Henri J. M. Nouwen. Used by permission of Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc.; and from Walk with Jesus: Stations of the Cross. Maryknoll NY. Orbis Books, 1990. Used by permission.

Praying without Speaking

As part of our conversation on prayer last Sunday evening, we were mentioning praying "outside the box" of speaking using language. Since God is All-knowing, All-present, and All-powerful, He can read our minds, feel the emotions of our hearts, and communicate with us in ways that transcend language.

For instance, if we simply visualize whoever our concern is for, feeling the emotions of that concern with all its complications, and then continue the visualization of laying this person at the feet of God's throne, the prayer is offered in a powerful way that is not limited to finding the right words to explain the whole situation. Yet, our Almighty Father understands every nuance of what we are communicating and beyond.

Another idea was to take the stresses and concerns that are on our hearts and minds, visualize a gently flowing stream that leads to the ocean of God's power and take each indivual concern and mentally lay it on a leaf as it floats by in your mind on it's way to God. Release the care to God as it floats away toward Him.

Offering our lives as a form of prayer was also discussed enthusiastically. Every aspect of who we are and what we do is to be for God's glory. Therefore, all that we think, do, don't do, or say is a form of prayer and active communication with God.

In obeying the command to "pray without ceasing," we can offer every dimension of our lives in a form of stream of consciousness thinking and acting that keeps the communiction pathway to God open and constant.

Blessings to you all as we live and communicate with our loving Heavenly Father.

Spirituality and Prayer

This was our conversation from last Sunday evening, led by Darryl Lang:

True Confessions About Prayer
Or Things I’ve Heard, Thought about, Observed about Prayer

Most people I’ve talked to confess that they don’t pray enough, or they’re generally dissatisfied with their prayer life (such as it is). They may feel guilty about it, but don’t know what to do about it.

Dissatisfaction may look like not having enough time to pray, may be listening to our own prayers that sound like shopping lists, or may look like praying about individual things only and neglecting the community and the world.

Prayer meetings at churches and retreats are often frustrating and discouraging.

I wish I recorded more answers to prayer;
it would remind me that God hears and prayer matters.

I don’t think that there are any magic answers or formulas for a meaningful prayer life, but there are many helpful tools that Christians are rediscovering.

There are prayer warriors who talk to God as their best friend, but they are rare. That may be changing…

Prayer seems to be a “discipline,” and yet it can be spontaneous.

Not getting answers to your prayers is confusing, angering, and mysterious; sometime you feel all of this at once.

Maybe God wants relationship with us and that becomes our motivation to pray
and keep praying.

“When I pray, coincidences happen; when I stop praying,
the coincidences stop happening.”
~ Archbishop William Temple

One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’”

Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?” One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’”

Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?”
~Luke 18:1-8 [NLT]

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

“You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him. “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

“You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.
~ Matthew 7:7-11 [NLT]

Then Jesus left Galilee and went north to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Gentile woman who lived there came to him, pleading, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! For my daughter is possessed by a demon that torments her severely.”

But Jesus gave her no reply, not even a word. Then his disciples urged him to send her away. “Tell her to go away,” they said. “She is bothering us with all her begging.”

Then Jesus said to the woman, “I was sent only to help God’s lost sheep—the people of Israel.”
But she came and worshiped him, pleading again, “Lord, help me!”

Jesus responded, “It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.”
She replied, “That’s true, Lord, but even dogs are allowed to eat the scraps that fall beneath their masters’ table.”

“Dear woman,” Jesus said to her, “your faith is great. Your request is granted.” And her daughter was instantly healed.
~ Matthew: 15:21-28 [NLT]

Prayer makes us insiders...

"I have learned that prayer is not asking for what you think you want,
but asking to be changed in ways that you can’t imagine."
~ Kathleen Norris

“Personal communion in conversation does not depend on exchanging information; it does not even depend on hearing a response. Personal communion is a matter of being together and talking about the things that matter most. The deepest and oldest friends commune in this way…. We do not pray to tell God what He does not know, nor to remind Him of things He has forgotten. He already cares for the things we pray about; His attention to them has never flagged from the beginning, and His understanding is unfathomable. He has simply been waiting for us to care about them with Him.”
~ Tim Stafford

I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.
~John 15:15

"Prayer is one of the main agencies through which we are brought to understand the mind of Christ toward our particular mission and the work of the Kingdom in general.
The establishment of the Kingdom of God is an elusive task; we cannot even see what it involves without specific prayer, and we certainly will have little urgency to carry it out unless we are praying."
~ Richard Lovelace

What might this mean for the Living Room Community?
You are invited to post your thoughts…

The Power of Forgiveness

This devotional reading by Johann Christoph Arnold on the power of forgiveness had quite an impact on me when I read it last night. As many of you struggle with forgiving certain people who have deeply wronged us, I thought that I might share some of the text with you in hopes that it would affect your heart as it has mine...

"To forgive is not just a command of Christ but the key to reconciling all that is broken in our lives and relationships. In the words of Martin Luther King, Jr.:

'Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkenss to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction...Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend. We never get rid of an enemy by meeting hate with hate; we get rid of an enemy by getting rid of enmity.'

I have lived long enough to learn that failure to forgive leads down a path of descruction — of bitterness, self-hate, alienation, relentless cycles od conflict, and downright misery. But forgiveness can vanquish all such pain. Why else did Jesus command us to forgive? It can heal both the forgiver and the forgiven. In fact, it could change the world if we allowed it to. But too often we stand in its way, not daring to let it flow through us unchecked. If only we would dare!

When Christians do put Christ's command into practice by forgiving, they create a ripple effect that can touch thousands of lives and even affect the course of history....

When we forgive we set ourselves free from the demon of bitterness. But we also set loose the power of love in the world."

If I say, "Yes, I forgive, but I cannot forget," as thought he God, who twice a day washes all the sands on all the shores of all the world, could not wash such memories from my mind, then I know nothing of Calvary love.
~ Amy Carmichael

Taken from Bread and Wine: Readings for Lent and Easter, 2003, The Plough Publishing House, Farmington, PA. pp. 361-364.