Going to the deepest level of communication,
Where back and forth has never stopped.
Where I am not the initiator but the transmission wire itself.
—Richard Rohr
Episcopal priest and activist Adam Bucko describes a simple prayer practice that sustains him:
One of the greatest lessons in my life about prayer came from a renegade rabbi who spent decades working on the streets of New York City rescuing kids from homelessness and prostitution—a holy man who dedicated his life to seeking God in the darkest shadows of Manhattan. He helped to make prayer real by giving me these simple instructions: “When you pray, talk to God just as if you were talking to your best friend. Tell the Holy One everything. Especially, dedicate specific times each day when you tell God about all your worries, all your hurts, all of your problems. Take off your mask and just speak. If you do that, if you really let your whole essence speak to God like that, some days there will be a lot of tears. But that’s a good thing. And when you are done telling God about your hurts, … just silently rest in God, letting God hold you. And then for the rest of the day practice joy and optimism knowing that you are God’s beloved child, knowing that you are loved, and knowing that you are carrying a great gift in your heart….”
In some of the most difficult times in my life, this way of prayer is what saved me—telling God everything, crying with God, wrestling with God, and then when all is said and done, just resting in God, feeling loved into newness, feeling loved into aliveness and joy. [1]
Father Richard lately has been enjoying a simple form of prayer he calls interlocution:
God is the constant Interlocutor with the soul.
This voice so constant and insistent, you do not know how to differentiate it from yourself.
YOU are so in charge here, that what you choose the voice to be, is what it is! You are always calling the shots.
YOU know this voice so much, you take it as a given and for granted.
It cannot be taught, because teaching is about what you don’t know.
You know this voice as your own interior dialogue about everything, so it really cannot be taught. It can only be heard.
When I can just stop and enjoy this interlocution, it is an ENJOYMENT.
When I refuse to recognize or honor this voice, it is an ABSENCE.
You really do not have to try hard, nothing perfect needs to be done.
God leaves you (the soul) in charge of what it wants—all the way to heaven and hell. It is a rather total surrender on God’s part. And on yours!
Why would you resist this?
Why not let it be Love!
For you and everything else. [2]
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Sarah Young Jesus Calling
You cannot serve two masters. If I am truly your Master, you will desire to please Me above all others. If pleasing people is your goal, you will be enslaved to them. People can be harsh taskmasters when you give them this power over you.
If I am the Master of your life, I will also be your First Love. Your serving Me is rooted and grounded in My vast, unconditional Love for you. The lower you bow down before Me, the higher I lift you up into intimate relationship with Me. The Joy of living in My Presence outshines all other pleasures. I want you to reflect My joyous Light by living in increasing intimacy with Me.
RELATED SCRIPTURE:
Matthew 6:24 NLT
24 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Additional insight regarding Matthew 6:24: Jesus says we can only have one master. We live in a materialistic society where many people serve money. They spend all their lives collecting and storing it, only to die and leave it behind. Their desire for money and what it can buy far outweighs their commitment to God and spiritual matters. Whatever you store up, you will spend much of your time and energy thinking about. Don’t fall into the materialistic trap, because “the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil” (1st Timothy 6:10). Can you honestly say that God, and not money, is your master? One test is to ask yourself which one occupies more of your thoughts, time, and efforts.
Revelation 2:4 NLT
4 “But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first!
Additional insight regarding Revelation 2:4: Paul had once commended the church of Ephesus for its love for God and others (Ephesians 1:15), but many of the church founders had died, and many of the second-generation believers had lost their zeal for God. They were a busy church – the members did much to benefit themselves and the community but they were acting out of the wrong motives. Work for God must be motivated by love for God, or it will not last.
Ephesians 3:16-17 NLT
16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.
Additional insight regarding Ephesians 3:16-17: God’s love is total, says Paul. It reaches every corner of our experience. It is wide – it covers the breadth of our experience, and it reaches out to the whole world. God’s love is long – it continues the length of our lives. It is high – it rises to the heights of our celebrations and elation. His love is deep – it reaches to the depths of discouragement, despair, and even death. When you feel shut out or isolated, remember that you can never buy God’s love. For another prayer about God’s immeasurable and inexhaustible love, see Paul’s worlds in Romans 8:38-39:
Romans 8:38-39 NLT
38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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