"He continued to pray just as he had always done." Daniel 6:10
Begin
Silence, Stillness, and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading: Psalm
73:12–17, 25 (NIV1984)
This
is what the wicked are
like—
always carefree, they increase in wealth.
Surely
in vain have I kept my heart
pure;always carefree, they increase in wealth.
in vain have I washed my hands in innocence.
All day long I have been plagued;
I have been punished every morning.
If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
I would have betrayed your children.
When I tried to understand all this,
it was oppressive to me
till I entered the sanctuary of God;
then I understood their final destiny.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
Devotional
Christianity is not a set of intellectual beliefs, but a love relationship with God. We need
to do what the psalmist did in Psalm 73––go into the sanctuary of God and be alone with
him. This especially applies when we are in the midst of suffering and darkness.
The sayings
of the Desert Fathers come from men and women who fled to the desert as
a sanctuary to seek God with their whole heart. Eventually, they formed communities
around a “Rule of Life.” The following are a few of the teachings they left behind. Read
them slowly and prayerfully. (A “cell” was an ancient term for a quiet, private place to
be with God.)
a sanctuary to seek God with their whole heart. Eventually, they formed communities
around a “Rule of Life.” The following are a few of the teachings they left behind. Read
them slowly and prayerfully. (A “cell” was an ancient term for a quiet, private place to
be with God.)
Abba Anthony
said, “just as fish die if they stay too long out of water, so
the monks who loiter outside their cells or pass their time with men of
the world lose the intensity of inner
peace. So like a fish going towards the sea, we must hurry
to reach our cell, for fear that if we delay outside we will lose our
interior watchfulness.”78
Abbot Pastor said: “Any trial whatever that comes to you can be conquered by silence.”
A certain brother went to Abbot Moses in Scete, and asked him for a good word. And the elder said to him: “Go, sit in your cell, and your cell will teach you everything.” 79
Abbot Pastor said: “Any trial whatever that comes to you can be conquered by silence.”
A certain brother went to Abbot Moses in Scete, and asked him for a good word. And the elder said to him: “Go, sit in your cell, and your cell will teach you everything.” 79
Questions
to Consider
How
and why do you think finding time alone with God in silence might
"teach you everything?"
Prayer
Lord, you
know how easily and quickly I lose my interior sense of you. Grant me
grace for the rest of today to silence the exterior noises around me so that I would hear the
warmth of your voice. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
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http://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/dailyoffice.pdf
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