![[Daily Devotionals/Devotion/Devotion Day Four.jpg]] > Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.![[Devotion_Day_Four.mp3]] ### Opening Prayer: *Late have I loved you, O Beauty, so ancient and so new, late have I loved you! And behold, you were within me and I was outside, and there I sought for you, and in my deformity I rushed headlong into the well-formed things that you have made. You were with me, and I was not with you. ~St. Augustine* #### Psalm for the Week: Psalm 86 #### Great Is Your Steadfast Love #### A Prayer of David. **86 Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.2 Preserve my life, for I am godly;save your servant, who trusts in you—you are my God.3 Be gracious to me, O Lord,for to you do I cry all the day.4 Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.* *5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.6 Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; listen to my plea for grace.7 In the day of my trouble I call upon you,for you answer me.* *8 There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours.9 All the nations you have made shall comeand worship before you, O Lord,and shall glorify your name.10 For you are great and do wondrous things;you alone are God.* *11 Teach me your way, O Lord,that I may walk in your truth;unite my heart to fear your name.12 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.13 For great is your steadfast love toward me;you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.* *14 O God, insolent men have risen up against me;a band of ruthless men seeks my life,and they do not set you before them.15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.16 Turn to me and be gracious to me; give your strength to your servant, and save the son of your maidservant.17 Show me a sign of your favor,that those who hate me may see and be put to shame because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.* #### Scripture for the Day: Revelation 3:14-22 #### To the Church in Laodicea *14 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation.* *15 “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. 19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. 21 The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”* #### Reading for Reflection: *The Christian way is different: harder and easier. Christ says, “Give me All. I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You. I have not come to torment your natural [false] self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don’t want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree down….Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked—the whole outfit. I will give you a new [true] self instead. In fact, I will give you Myself: my own will shall become yours. (Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis)* #### Reflection and Listening: silent and written #### Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself #### Song for the Week: Lord Most High *From the ends of the earth* *From the depths of the sea* *From the heights of the heavens* *Your name be praised* *From the hearts of the weak* *From the shouts of the strong* *From the lips of all people* *This song we raise, Lord* *Throughout the endless ages* *You will be crowned with praises,* *Lord Most High* *Exalted in every nation* *Sovereign of all creation* *Lord Most High, Be magnified* ### Closing Prayer *My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. (Thoughts in Solitude by Thomas Merton)* --- [[Devotion Day 1]] [[Devotion Day 2]] [[Devotion Day 3]] [[Devotion Day 5]] [[Devotion Day 6]] [[Devotion Day 7]] #Devotion