Prayer before the Cross

"Most high, glorious God,
enlighten the darkness
of my heart and give me Lord,
a correct faith, 
a certain hope,
a perfect charity, 
sense and knowledge,
so that I may carry out
Your holy and true command.
AMEN."

This is a prayer that St Francis of Assisi would pray while standing in front of the Cross. Very profound indeed.

Living in Grace
D3LM3

You are .... (a Prayer for today)

If you have ever wondered how to express your love for Jesus, then start with this lovely prayer from Saint Francis. I am not 100% sure of the exact title of the prayer, but I would give it the following title - "You Are...

You are the holy Lord God
Who does wonderful things.
You are strong. You are great. You are the most high.
You are the almighty king. You holy Father,
King of heaven and earth.
You are three and one, the Lord God of gods;
You are the good, all good, the highest good,
Lord God living and true.
You are love, charity; You are wisdom, You are humility,
You are patience. You are beauty, You are meekness,
You are security, You are rest,
You are gladness and joy, You are our hope, You are justice,
You are moderation, You are all our riches to sufficiency.
You are beauty, You are meekness,
You are the protector, You are our custodian and defender,
You are strength, You are refreshment, You are our hope,
You are our faith, You are our charity,
You are all our sweetness, You are our eternal life:
Great and wonderful Lord, Almighty God, Merciful Saviour.

Living in Grace
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Do you 'find' it or 'experience' it?

Can I actually 'find' PEACE or do I rather have to 'experience' it? It may seem like semantics, but I am not sure that PEACE is something hidden that we need to search for. Rather I think it is a fruit of being in relationship with God (Galatians 5). When we draw nearer to Christ and allow the Spirit of Jesus to fill our hearts then we begin to 'experience' PEACE.

"The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace." - Psalm 29:11

The issue I have with pursuing PEACE is the fear that even though I may try hard to find peace, I may never actually get to enjoy it. If peace depends on my ability to track it down, then I am missing the nature of the GIFT of peace. Peace comes to us in the form of a welcome gift from the Father - it is a deposit of his GRACE and mercy.

Having just said this, I need to clarify that there are verses in the bible that encourage us to seek peace (Psalm 34). The peace that this speaks of, is rather the 'state of peace' (as opposed to being at War). What I am speaking about is 'inner peace' - if that makes any sense :)

Are you seeking peace in your life at the moment? Maybe you don't need to go all over the world to discover it - perhaps all we need to do is to create a space to allow God to encounter us with His peace. What do you think?

"While you are proclaiming peace with your lips, be careful to have it even more fully in your heart." -Francis of Assisi

"God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing." -C. S. Lewis 

Living in Grace

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Where there is doubt...

I don't know why we as Christians are so afraid of doubt. Maybe it is because we have been led to believe that doubt is wrong or even sinful. Even people outside the church have this notion that the church frowns upon doubt. Friedrich Nietzsche once remarked, "Christianity has done its utmost to close the circle and declared even doubt to be sin."

When I read the story of the most famous of doubters, Thomas, I don't see Jesus as condemning his doubt, but rather as dealing with his doubt. For Thomas, doubt was a state of being, but it wasn't as if he wanted to remain in that place of doubt. I think he would have loved to believe that Jesus had appeared to his friends, but he needed something to pin his faith onto. Jesus is merciful with his doubts and offers him the gift of 'evidence.' With Jesus standing in front of him, Thomas had the option to move from his place of doubt into the arena of faith.

As St Francis urges us, we are encouraged to walk alongside people who are wrestling with their doubts and to offer them faith. It is not our place to judge those doubts, but rather to remind them of life that Jesus Christ brings to us. We are intruments of faith, working in the theatre's of doubt:

"Where there is doubt, faith...."

Jude 1:22 - "Be merciful to those who doubt..."

 “If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things.” -  René Descartes

 “Doubt isn't the opposite of faith; it is an element of faith.” -  Paul Tillich

ACTION: If you have ever doubted something I invite you to share this with God now, believing that God will not condemn your doubts, but will rather draw alongside you and help you.
If you need someone else to share this with, you are welcome to send me a comment/thought too.

Living in Grace
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Harmony

Harmony is defined as "agreement in feeling or opinion", but it can also mean "agreement in action."
When St Francis of Assisi prays that 'where there is discord, we should be instruments of harmony' I am not sure he is only thinking about agreement in opinions.

As far as I am concerned, there are many times when people can be struggling with discord, but can come to an agreement in action, not necessarily feeling or opinion. This is seen in the church on a regular basis - people have different opinions (which could be seen as been in conflict), yet in the end they can come to a harmonious decision - an agreement of action. Usually one has to remember the primary purpose of our mission/vision - this helps in bringing some eventual harmony.

Romans 12:16 -  Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

Are you facing some situations at the moment that threaten to bring conflict or discord in your life? Are you willing to allow God to use you to be an agent of 'harmony' and even unity.

Why not pray a brave prayer today?:
"Lord, make me a instrument of harmony. Let me be the one to help where there is discord."

Living in Grace
D3LM3

Where there is hatred ...

Our world is a tragic place! There is so much violence and hatred, that it is hard to imagine living without all of the pain and suffering we experience. The second line of St Francis' prayer states:


Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

If you are asking how/where you can make a difference then just take a look around you and begin there. You won't have far to go in order to find people who are hurting or broken. If we could allow the love of God to fill our hearts, then we could surely make some difference to those in need.

• Proverbs 10:12 - Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs.

• 1 John 3:11-12 - For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.

Sow love where you can and allow the Spirit of God to water that love into LIFE. 

Living in Grace
D3LM3