# Grasping day 6 > 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: Isaiah 55 #### The Compassion of the Lord *55 “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters;and he who has no money,come, buy and eat!Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,and your labor for that which does not satisfy?Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,and delight yourselves in rich food.3 Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live;and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.4 Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples,a leader and commander for the peoples.* *5 Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you,because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel,for he has glorified you.6 “Seek the Lord while he may be found;call upon him while he is near;7 let the wicked forsake his way,and the unrighteous man his thoughts;let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.* *8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.10 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth,making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty,but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.* *12 “For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace;the mountains and the hills before you* *shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;and it shall make a name for the Lord, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”* #### Reading for Reflection: *We befriend the world whenever we demand that others be what only God has promised to be: faithful and sure. All human relationships, even our most intimate alliances, are temporary and incomplete. When we demand that another person provide safety, certainty, and fulfillment of our deepest desires, we turn from God to an idol for the fulfillment of our needs.* ​ *When we turn from God, we inevitably demand of others the very things we miss in our relationship with God. If we don’t know his deep care and protection, then we will insist another human being provide what we lack. (The Healing Path by Dan Allender)* #### 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)*