# Spaciousness Day 1 > Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God. > ### Opening Prayer: *Teach me, God to make room for you in all the events and affairs of my days. Then I shall find rest. Then I will be at peace with myself and with you. (Norman Shawchuck in A Guide To Prayer for All Who Seek God)* #### Psalm for the Week: Psalm 18:1-19 #### The Lord Is My Rock and My Fortress T*o the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord, who addressed the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord rescued him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said: 18 I love you, O Lord, my strength. 2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 3 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. 4 The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction assailed me;[a] 5 the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.* *6 In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.7 Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry. 8 Smoke went up from his nostrils,[b] and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him.* *9 He bowed the heavens and came down;thick darkness was under his feet. 10 He rode on a cherub and flew; he came swiftly on the wings of the wind. 11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him, thick clouds dark with water. 12 Out of the brightness before him hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.* *13 The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice, hailstones and coals of fire. 14 And he sent out his arrows and scattered them; he flashed forth lightnings and routed them.15 Then the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.* *16 He sent from on high, he took me; he drew me out of many waters. 17 He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. 18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support. 19 He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me.* #### Scripture for the Day: Psalm 31:1-8 #### Into Your Hand I Commit My Spirit #### To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. *31 In you, O Lord, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me! 2 Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily! Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me! 3 For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name's sake you lead me and guide me; 4 you take me out of the net they have hidden for me, for you are my refuge. 5 Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God. 6 I hate[a] those who pay regard to worthless idols, but I trust in the Lord. 7 I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love, because you have seen my affliction;you have known the distress of my soul, 8 and you have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy; you have set my feet in a broad place.* #### Reading for Reflection: *Most of us, most of the time, just fill our spaces up or dull our awareness of them. We grab a book, run to the television, work on a project, socialize, have a drink. I used to think women were more comfortable with space than men; nowadays I am not so sure. Women perhaps feel more guilty about taking time in freedom for themselves, while men feel more anxious. But it is a tiny difference. Either way, real space can be very unpleasant.* *We somehow must realign our attitudes toward spaciousness. We must begin to see it as presence rather than absence, friend instead of enemy. (The Awakened Heart by Gerald G. May)* *Spaciousness is always a beginning, a possibility, a potential, a capacity for birth. Space exists not in order to be filled but to create. In space, to the extent we can bear the truth of the way things are, we find the ever-beginning presence of Love. Take the time, then; make the space. Seek it wherever you can find it, do it however you can. The manner does not matter, and the experience you have there is of secondary importance. Seek the Truth, not what is comfortable. Seek the Real, not the easy. (The Awakened Heart by Gerald G. May)* #### Reflection and Listening: silent and written #### Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself #### Song for the Week: How Deep the Father’s Love for Us *How deep the Father's love for us* *How vast beyond all measure* *That He would give His only Son* *To make a wretch His treasure* *How great the pain of searing loss* *The Father turns His face away* *As wounds which mar the chosen One* *Bring many sons to glory* *Behold the Man upon a cross* *My guilt upon His shoulders* *Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice* *Call out among the scoffers* *It was my sin that held Him there* *Until it was accomplished* *His dying breath has brought me life* *I know that it is finished* *I will not boast in anything* *No gifts, no power, no wisdom* *But I will boast in Jesus Christ* *His death and resurrection* *Why should I gain from His reward?* *I cannot give an answer* *But this I know with all my heart* *His wounds have paid my ransom* ### Closing Prayer: *O Lord, the house of my soul is too small for you to enter: make it more spacious by your coming.*