# Grasping day 4 > Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God. ### Opening Prayer: *Lord Jesus, forgive me when my bleeding and wounded heart causes me to grasp for life and relief from any and every source available. Instead, help me to reach only for you—that I might touch the fringe of your robe and find healing and wholeness for the brokenness of my heart and soul. In Your Name I pray. Amen. (JLB)* #### Psalm for the Week: Psalm 16 #### You Will Not Abandon My Soul A Miktam[a] of David. *16 Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;I have no good apart from you.”3 As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,in whom is all my delight.[b]4 The sorrows of those who run after[c] another god shall multiply;their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips.5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.6 The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.* *7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.[d]8 I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being[e] rejoices;my flesh also dwells secure.* *10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.[f]* *11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy;at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.* #### Scripture for the Day: Luke 12:13-21 #### The Parable of the Rich Fool *13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”* #### Reading for Reflection: *To pray means to open your hands before God. It means slowly relaxing the tension which squeezes your hands together and accepting your existence with an increasing readiness, not as a possession to defend, but as a gift to receive. Above all, therefore, prayer is a way of life which allows you to find a stillness in the midst of the world where you open your hands to God’s promises, and find hope for yourself, your neighbor, and your world. In prayer, you encounter God not only in the small voice and the soft breeze, but also in the midst of the turmoil of the world, in the distress and joy of your neighbor, and in the loneliness of your own heart. (With Open Hands by Henri J. M. Nouwen)* *Cast aside everything that might extinguish this small flame which is beginning to burn within you, and surround yourself with everything which can feed and fan it into a strong flame. (The Art of Prayer)* #### Reflection and Listening: silent and written #### Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself #### Song for the Week: Tender Mercy *Hear my cry for mercy* *As I call to You* *As I lift my hands in Spirit* *And in Truth* *We cry mercy* *(in the name of the Father most Holy)* *We cry mercy* *(in the name of the Son Who was slain)* *Lord have mercy* *(in the name of the Spirit indwelling)* *Tender mercy Lord* *You are mercy (in the name of the Father most Holy)* *You are mercy (in the name of the Son Who was slain)* *Lord have mercy (in the name of the Spirit indwelling)* *Tender mercy Lord* *In Your tender mercy* *Brought by grace through faith* *I will lift my heart* *Toward Your most Holy place* ### Closing Prayer: *Lord Jesus, give me the grace and the strength and the courage to take off that which I use to cover myself; and to clothe myself only and always in you alone. Amen. (JLB)*