WEEK 1 this is My son, listen to Him Pryer of Presence Dily Pryer Pttern Holy God of unconditionl love nd unlimited presence, I come to mke myself fully vilble to you, your will, nd your wy. Spek to me gently nd clerly, for I m yours nd desire to her, understnd, nd be obedient to your slightest whisper. Spek, for I m listening. Silence now is the time to incorporte the week s focl pryer prctice of sitting in silence. Wit in silence s you invite the spirit s guidnce to form your pryers nd shpe your life. Quiet your soul before God for severl minutes, extending the time little more ech dy if possible. 23
Listen: Prying in Noisy World Scripture Mondy Mrk 1:9-13 Tuesdy Mtthew 17:1-6 Wednesdy Mrk 9:1-8 Thursdy isih 1:16-18 Fridy luke 9:28-35 Sturdy John 8:31-38 Sundy 2 Peter 1:16-21 Turn to the Dily Scriptures section to red the dy s text from the Common English Bible. Reding On the first dy of your week, red the story found in the Weekly Reding section. Py ttention to the detils of the story nd the min truth it contins. Look for wys in which the story on the pge reltes to the story of your life. On ech dy following, recll the story nd consider ny new insights or pplictions. You lso my choose to red nd reflect on the quottions interspersed throughout Week 1. Dilogue nd Discovery Wht is the Scripture pssge sying to me tody? Cn I ccept nd pply this messge to myself? To my world? How will this messge chnge my life? Wht is the reding reveling to me tody? 24
Week One Wht messges does the reding cll forth from my own story? Wht direction, guidnce, or wisdom m I hering nd sensing? Wht ctions re being suggested s my response? Reflection Insights nd Thoughts: Response Tody I will... Pryers of Petition For the world, its leders, nd its people For those whose lives touch mine tody For myself nd those plced in my cre The pryer Jesus tught us Blessing God of love nd compssion, grnt me grce to wlk in compnionship with you this dy so tht I my her nd respond to your cll nd wlk in fithfulness nd pece this dy nd lwys. 25
The Lord s Pryer The Pryer Tht Jesus Tught Us Our Fther, which rt in heven, Hllowed be thy Nme. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in erth, As it is in heven. Give us this dy our dily bred. And forgive us our trespsses, As we forgive them tht trespss ginst us. And led us not into tempttion, But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, The power, nd the glory, For ever nd ever. Amen. 26
Dily Scriptures Mondy Mrk 1:9-13 About tht time, Jesus cme from nzreth of Glilee, nd John bptized him in the Jordn River. While he ws coming up out of the wter, Jesus sw heven splitting open nd the spirit, like dove, coming down on him. And there ws voice from heven: You re my son, whom i derly love; in you i find hppiness. At once the spirit forced Jesus out into the wilderness. He ws in the wilderness for forty dys, tempted by stn. He ws mong the wild nimls, nd the ngels took cre of him. Tuesdy Mtthew 17:1-6 six dys lter Jesus took Peter, Jmes, nd John his brother, nd brought them to the top of very high mountin. He ws trnsformed in front of them. His fce shone like the sun, nd his clothes becme s white s light. Moses nd elijh ppered to them, tlking with Jesus. Peter rected to ll of this by sying to Jesus, lord, it s good 27
Listen: Prying in Noisy World tht we re here. If you wnt, I ll mke three shrines: one for you, one for Moses, nd one for Elijh. While he ws still speking, look, bright cloud overshdowed them. A voice from the cloud sid, This is my Son whom I derly love. I m very plesed with him. Listen to him! Hering this, the disciples fell on their fces, filled with we. Christins t their best re good listeners, nd the Christin church, when most fithful, is listening community. To live with God in this world tht God loves requires some intense nd intentionl listing. So mny competing voices re clling for our ttention tht without concentrted effort nd determintion we my esily miss wht God is sying to us. We my even miss the wy nd will into which God is trying to led us. Rueben P. Job, A Guide to Spiritul Discernment Wednesdy Mrk 9:1-8 Jesus continued, I ssure you tht some stnding here won t die before they see God s kingdom rrive in power. Six dys lter Jesus took Peter, Jmes, nd John, nd brought them to the top of very high mountin where they were lone. He ws trnsformed in front of them, nd his 28
Week One clothes were mzingly bright, brighter thn if they hd been bleched white. Elijh nd Moses ppered nd were tlking with Jesus. Peter rected to ll of this by sying to Jesus, Rbbi, it s good tht we re here. Let s mke three shrines one for you, one for Moses, nd one for Elijh. He sid this becuse he didn t know how to respond, for the three of them were terrified. Then cloud overshdowed them, nd voice spoke from the cloud, This is my Son, whom I derly love. Listen to him! Suddenly, looking round, they no longer sw nyone with them except Jesus. Thursdy Isih 1:16-18 Wsh! Be clen! Remove your ugly deeds from my sight. Put n end to such evil; lern to do good. Seek justice: help the oppressed; defend the orphn; pled for the widow. Come now, nd let s settle this, sys the Lord. 29
Listen: Prying in Noisy World Though your sins re like scrlet, they will be white s snow. If they re red s crimson, they will become like wool. Fridy Luke 9:28-35 About eight dys fter Jesus sid these things, he took Peter, John, nd Jmes, nd went up on mountin to pry. As he ws prying, the ppernce of his fce chnged nd his clothes flshed white like lightning. Two men, Moses nd Elijh, were tlking with him. They were clothed with hevenly splendor nd spoke bout Jesus deprture, which he would chieve in Jeruslem. Peter nd those with him were lmost overcome by sleep, but they mnged to sty wke nd sw his glory s well s the two men with him. As the two men were bout to leve Jesus, Peter sid to him, Mster, it s good tht we re here. We should construct three shrines: one for you, one for Moses, nd one for Elijh but he didn t know wht he ws sying. Peter ws still speking when cloud overshdowed them. As they entered the cloud, they were overcome with we. Then voice from the cloud sid, This is my Son, my chosen one. Listen to him! 30
Week One Theologicl reflection is reflecting on the pinful nd joyful relities of every dy with the mind of Jesus nd thereby rising humn consciousness to the knowledge of God s gentle guidnce. This is hrd discipline, since God s presence is often hidden presence, presence tht needs to be discovered. The loud, boisterous noises of the world mke us def to the soft, gentle, nd loving voice of God. Henri Nouwen, In the Nme of Jesus Sturdy John 8:31-38 Jesus sid to the Jews who believed in him, You re truly my disciples if you remin fithful to my teching. Then you will know the truth, nd the truth will set you free. They responded, We re Abrhm s children; we ve never been nyone s slves. How cn you sy tht we will be set free? Jesus nswered, I ssure you tht everyone who sins is slve to sin. A slve isn t permnent member of the household, but son is. Therefore, if the Son mkes you free, you relly will be free. I know tht you re Abrhm s children, yet you wnt to kill me becuse you don t welcome my teching. I m telling you wht I ve seen when I m with the Fther, but you re doing wht you ve herd from your fther. 31
Listen: Prying in Noisy World Sundy 2 Peter 1:16-21 We didn t repet crfty myths when we told you bout the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Quite the contrry, we witnessed his mjesty with our own eyes. He received honor nd glory from God the Fther when voice cme to him from the mgnificent glory, sying, This is my derly loved Son, with whom I m well-plesed. We ourselves herd this voice from heven while we were with him on the holy mountin. In ddition, we hve most relible prophetic word, nd you would do well to py ttention to it, just s you would to lmp shining in drk plce, until the dy dwns nd the morning str rises in your herts. Most importnt, you must know tht no prophecy of scripture represents the prophet s own understnding of things, becuse no prophecy ever cme by humn will. Insted, men nd women led by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. 32