Tag: power

Power and glory

December 6, 2023 / MSFriend / 1 Comment

REJOICE!

This Advent I’m working through the Rejoice! series again from Ascension Press. I’ve been doing it for a few years now. Each year I’m exciting to spend extra time each morning to pray through Scripture, guided by Fr. Mark Toups through videos and reflections. I thoroughly enjoy journaling about how Jesus has spoken to me through a particular Scripture verse. I’m especially blessed to be praying through the series with my sisters in Christ. How vital they are to my spiritual growth.

This Monday of the first week of Advent we were guided to pray with Psalm 63. “So I look to you in the sanctuary to see your power and glory.” That’s the verse that stood out to me. I immediately thought of the times I sit in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. Oh how Jesus’ power and glory look so different than the power and glory of our world.

POWER AND GLORY

What exactly does Jesus’ power and glory look like? Silence, surrender, obedience, trust, understanding and love. That’s what Jesus’ power and glory look like. These are the “weapons” Jesus uses to transform hearts. Therein lies his power and therein lies our power as well.

How often we feel the need to “convert” others who may not be on the same spiritual path as us. This verse made me realize the power we have to transform the hearts of others as Jesus did.

BE PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE

I never thought I would promote the idea of being passive aggressive, but stay with me! How can we emulate Christ today? How does silence, surrender, obedience, trust, understanding and love translate to our lives, here and now 2,000 years later?

SILENCE: DO less and BE more – less talking and more of a witness.

SURRENDER: allow people to be where they are on THEIR spiritual journey. God Himself is the great allower. God doesn’t control, why do we feel the need to?

OBEDIENCE: how often do we fail in following the Lord perfectly? Let’s consider our own obedience or disobedience not someone else’s.

TRUST: can we truly trust that God has a plan for everyone? Did he not promise that not one of his sheep would be lost?

UNDERSTANDING: some of Jesus’ last words were “forgive them Father, for they know not what they do.” Isn’t that true for us now? We know not what we do because we’re all wounded. In fact, we act out of our wounds. Our wounds cause us and others pain. Understanding this makes it easier to forgive. Forgiveness is necessary for healing. Pray for healing in Jesus’ name.

LOVE: Ultimately we are called to love. Love conquers all fear. We MUST stop arguing or trying to prove we’re right and start loving like Jesus loves…..unconditionally.

Jesus PROVED these things powerful. While they may seem to us to be actions too passive to lead to someone’s conversion, prayer is the only active role we need to play. That is how to be passive aggressive and THAT is very good!

In fact, it just dawned on me that all these little “crosses” God gives us in the form of loved ones are God’s way of leading US closer to Him. Think about it – all the time we spend praying fervently is time spent in His presence, in conversation and relationship! Praise be to God!

I challenge you to be passive aggressive! Pray more, grow in God’s love, be and let be! God bless you!

The spiritual offering of prayer

March 22, 2016 / MSFriend / 1 Comment

Spiritual offering

In my post of March 3 Prayer is the offering in spirit I shared the words of Tertullian, priest. I promised to share some thoughts – so here they are.

“God is a spirit, and so he looks for worshipers who are like himself.” God is a spiritual being and so expects us to relate in the same manner. How we relate is through prayer! How we pray is up to us – whether we recite a prepared prayer (our own or one taught by the Church), whether we “shoot from the hip”, whether we contemplate, meditate or just sit silently in His presence. I don’t think God cares as much about how we relate as He does about whether we do it wholeheartedly. There are different levels of spiritual maturity and so not everyone will pray in the same manner. God’s ultimate desire is for us to be in right relationship with Him.

The first paragraph that touched me from Tertullian’s treatise was this one: since God asks for prayer offered in spirit and in truth, how can he deny anything to this kind of prayer? How great is the evidence of its power, as we read and hear and believe.

“Prayer offered in spirit in truth” – honest to goodness heartfelt pleas and praise – that’s what that means to me. To sit without thoughts or distractions, in His presence believing that He is listening and believing that He loves you unconditionally and has your best interests at heart. THAT is when prayer has the power – the power to comfort, strengthen and heal!

“How can he deny anything to this kind of prayer?” Isn’t that comforting? Our God is an awesome God. He loves us more than we can imagine. He answers the prayers we offer in spirit and truth.

“How great is the evidence of its power as we read, hear and believe” – I’ve believed in the power of prayer since I was a little girl – watching my mother pray fervently for so many things and seeing God take hold each and every time. She believed in a higher power and she was confident He would come through for her each time and He did. She never ceased praising Him, knowing that all good things come from Him.

Tertullian writes about how we’ve read, heard and believe in the evidence of its power. How true that is! So many books have been written about the power of prayer – the power of a praying wife, the power of a praying mother, the power ……..We’ve heard in many different circles of the power of prayer. Scripture itself tells us: where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them. How awesome is that! I know I preach about the power of prayer every chance I get because I’ve experienced it myself, in the past and just recently. But it’s not enough to just read and hear about it. We MUST believe in its power. Colossians 4:2 tells us: devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving. If you have any doubt about the power of prayer, I would recommend you keep a prayer journal. Write your prayers in the journal each day and check back every once in a while to see HOW those prayers have been answered. I can guarantee you will doubt no more and your awareness of God’s goodness and grace will increase. It will change your life! You may have to keep a gratitude journal as well!

As I look back on my life and the prayers I’ve offered in spirit and truth, I realize how much God has heard and answered the prayers I’ve offered earnestly and wholeheartedly for others and in communion with others! Never underestimate the power of prayer! God bless you!