desiring

Come Thou long expected Jesus

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
 
Come, Thou long expected Jesus
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel’s Strength and Consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art;
Dear Desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.

Born Thy people to deliver,
Born a child and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever,
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all sufficient merit,
Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

Charles Wesley 1707 – 1788 English hymn writer and Methodist
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Haggai 2:6-7 

This is what the Lord Almighty says:
‘In a little while I will once more shake
    the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land.
I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come,
    and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty.

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What are some of the desires of the nations that only God can fulfill?
How can you be praying for your country this season?

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love for the Eternal Trinity

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment

The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine of Siena, Giovanni di Paolo, via Wikimedia Commons

 
O Eternal God! O Eternal Trinity!
Through the union of your divine nature you have made so precious
    the blood of your only begotten Son!
O eternal Trinity, you are as deep a mystery as the sea,
    in whom the more I seek, the more I find;
    and the more I find, the more I seek.
For even immersed in the depths of you,
    my soul is never satisfied, always famished and hungering for you,
    eternal Trinity, wishing and desiring to see you, the true light.
 
O eternal Trinity, with the light of understanding
    I have tasted and seen the depths of your mystery
                         and the beauty of your creation.
In seeing myself in you, I have seen that I will become like you.
 
O eternal Father, from your power and your wisdom
    clearly you have given me a share of that wisdom
    which belongs to your only begotten Son.
And truly the Holy Spirit,
    who proceeds from You, Father and Son,
    has given to me the desire to love You.
 
Catherine of Siena, 1347 – 1380, Italian Dominican mystic
 
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Hear me as I pray, O Lord.
    Be merciful and answer me!
My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.”
    And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.”

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order my day, merciful God

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The Apotheosis of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Francisco de Zurbarán, Wikimedia Commons
 
 
Most merciful God, 
  order my day so that I may know what you want me to do,
    and then help me to do it.
Let me not be elated by success or depressed by failure.
I want to take pleasure in what pleases you,
    and only to grieve at what displeases you.
For the sake of your love I would willingly forgo all temporal comforts.
May all the joys in which you have no part weary me.
May all the work which you do not prompt be tedious to me.
Let my thoughts frequently turn to you,
    that I may be obedient to you without complaint,
    patient without grumbling,
    cheerful without solemnity.
Let me hold you in awe without feeling terrified of you,
    and let me be an example to others without any trace of pride.
 
Thomas Aquinas, 1225 – 1274, Roman Catholic philosopher and theologian
 
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Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. 
Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. 
Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.

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a prayer for freedom

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
image by Zulmaury Saavedra via unsplash
 
Dear God,
 
I used to think that freedom meant I could do anything 
    or have anything I wanted.
That just made me a slave to my own desires.
Soon I found myself trapped 
    in destructive habits, hurtful relationships and even powerful addictions.
That is not freedom. That’s bondage.
 
When I learned about Jesus, I saw the truth:
I am a needy person who needs a merciful God.
Only you provide what I’m looking for.
Only you can provide that path to freedom.
Thank you for teaching me that freedom is found 
    in living a life consistent with truth,
    in a way that keeps my heart, mind, body, and soul all free.
True freedom comes when the reality of your holiness
    overpowers my sinful inclinations
    and fills my life with the fullness of your liberating love.
 
Ronald Beers, Chief Publishing Officer for Tyndale
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But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, 
  so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ.

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believing to understand

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
 
 
Lord Jesus Christ; Let me seek you by desiring you,
    and let me desire you by seeking you;
    let me find you by loving you,
    and love you in finding you.

I confess, Lord, with thanksgiving,
    that you have made me in your image,
    so that I can remember you, think of you, and love you.

But that image is so worn and blotted out by faults,
    and darkened by the smoke of sin,
    that it cannot do that for which it was made,
    unless you renew and refashion it.

Lord, I am not trying to make my way to your height,
    for my understanding is in no way equal to that,
    but I do desire to understand a little of your truth
    which my heart already believes and loves.

I do not seek to understand so that I can believe,
    but I believe so that I may understand;
    and what is more,
    I believe that unless I do believe, I shall not understand.

 
Anselm of Canterbury, c. 1033-1109, Benedictine monk and archbishop
 
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Oh how I love your law!
    It is my meditation all the day.
Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,
    for it is ever with me.
I have more understanding than all my teachers,
    for your testimonies are my meditation.
I understand more than the aged,
    for I keep your precepts.
I hold back my feet from every evil way,
    in order to keep your word.
I do not turn aside from your rules,
    for you have taught me.
How sweet are your words to my taste,
    sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Through your precepts I get understanding;
    therefore I hate every false way.
 
 

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desiring you with my whole heart

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
 
 
Give me grace, O my Father,
    to be utterly ashamed of my own reluctance.
Rouse me from sloth and coldness,
    and make me desire you with my whole heart.
Teach me to love 
    meditation, sacred reading and prayer.
Teach me to love 
    that which must engage my mind 
         for all eternity.
 
John Henry Newman, 1801-1890, English Catholic priest and poet
 
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You will seek me and find me, 
    when you seek me with all your heart.

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only you can teach me to pray

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
image / Conniemod, CC BY-SA 3.0 / Wikimedia Commons
 
Listen, O Lord, to my prayers.  
Listen to my desire to be with you, to dwell in your house, 
    and to let my whole being be filled with your presence.
But none of this is possible without you.
When you are not the one who fills me, 
    I am soon filled with endless thoughts and concerns
    that divide me and tear me away from you.
Even thoughts about you, good spiritual thoughts,
    can be little more than distractions,
    when you are not their author.
O Lord, thinking about you, 
    being fascinated with theological ideas and discussions,
    being excited about histories of Christian spirituality
    and stimulated by thoughts and ideas about prayer and meditation,
    all of this can be as much an expression of greed
        as the unruly desire for food, possessions, or power.
Every day I see again that only you can teach me to pray,
    only you can set my heart at rest,
    only you can let me dwell in your presence.
No book, no idea, no concept or theory will ever bring me close to you
    unless you yourself are the one who lets these instruments 
    become the way to you.
But, Lord, let me at least remain open to your initiative;
    let me wait patiently and attentively for that hour
    when you will come and break through 
        all the walls I have erected.
Teach me, O Lord, to pray. Amen.
 
Henri J.M. Nouwen, 1932 – 1996, Dutch-born Catholic priest and author
 
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And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, 
he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.
 

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