# Seek Day 5 > Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God. ### Opening Prayer: *Father, You alone know what lies before me this day. Grant that in every hour of it I may stay close to you. Let me today embark on no undertaking that is not in line with your will for my life, nor shrink from any sacrifice which your will may demand. For my Lord Christ’s Sake. Amen. (A Diary of Private Prayer by John Baillie)* #### Psalm for the Week: Psalm 24 #### The King of Glory #### A Psalm of David. *24 The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof,[a] the world and those who dwell therein,2 for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.3 Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place?4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.5 He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob.[b] Selah7 Lift up your heads, O gates!And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.8 Who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle!9 Lift up your heads, O gates! And lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.10 Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts,he is the King of glory! Selah* #### Scripture for the Day: Isaiah 55:6-13 *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: *He can’t be used as a road. If you’re approaching Him not as the goal, but as a road, not as the end but as a means, you’re not really approaching Him at all. (A Grief Observed by C. S. Lewis)* #### Reflection and Listening: silent and written #### Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself #### Song for the Week: Abide with Me *Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;* *The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide:* *When other helpers fail and comforts flee,* *Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me.* *Thou on my head, in early youth didst smile;* *And, though rebellious, and perverse meanwhile,* *Thou hast not left me, oft as I left Thee,* *On to the close Lord, abide with me.* *Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;* *Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away;* *Change and decay in all around I see—* *O Thou who changest not, abide with me.* *I need Thy presence every passing hour;* *What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s pow’r?* *Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?* *Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.* *I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;* *Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness;* *Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?* *I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.* *Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;* *Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies;* *Heav’n’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.* ### Closing Prayer *Lord, I am yours; I do yield myself up entirely to you, and I believe that you do take me. I leave myself with you. Work in me all the good pleasure of your will, and I will only lie still in your hands and trust you. Amen. (The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life by Hannah Whitall Smith)*