# Time Day 5 > Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God. ### Opening Prayer: *Lord, Help me walk slowly and deeply with you through the hours and minutes of this day—that I might find all of you that is to be found within it. Allow me not to miss you because of hurry or busyness, but let me sense the fullness of your presence in each moment. Slow down both my feet and my heart that I might be more present to you as I go about my normal activities. In the Name of Jesus I pray. Amen. (JLB)* #### Psalm for the Week: Psalm 90 #### Book Four #### From Everlasting to Everlasting #### A Prayer of Moses, the man of God. #### 90 Lord, you have been our dwelling place[a] in all generations. *2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.3 You return man to dust and say, “Return, O children of man!”[b] 4 For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night. 5 You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning: 6 in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers. 7 For we are brought to an end by your anger; by your wrath we are dismayed. 8 You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.* *9 For all our days pass away under your wrath; we bring our years to an end like a sigh. 10 The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty;* *yet their span[c] is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.* *11 Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you?12 So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.* *13 Return, O Lord! How long? Have pity on your servants!* *14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.* *15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil. 16 Let your work be shown to your servants,and your glorious power to their children.17 Let the favor[d] of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!* #### Scripture for the Day: Mark 13:28-37 #### The Lesson of the Fig Tree *28 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 30 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.* *No One Knows That Day or Hour* *32 “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard, keep awake.[a] For you do not know when the time will come. 34 It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants[b] in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. 35 Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows,[c] or in the morning— 36 lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. 37 And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”* #### Reading for Reflection: *When I arrived at the hospital, I found Virginia, his wife, sitting with another member of our church staff. After talking about his condition with the physician, we prayed, talked to each other, read some Scripture, and then we prayed some more. We made a few phone calls to family members who lived out of town. Then we got to that point where you just sit quietly and wait for some news. We waited for a long time. In life, the waiting is so important because it prepares us for the news that comes not from a doctor, but from the Savior.* *After about a half hour, Virginia absentmindedly picked up Duane’s DayTimer, which had been given to her by the ambulance driver. As she began to thumb through the pages, a gentle smile emerged on her tear-streaked face. On every page, at the bottom of a full day of appointments, Duane had made a list of things for which he was particularly thankful that day. And at the top of every list was the name Virginia.* *Duane did not survive that heart attack, but Virginia did. Knowing that she was so dearly loved made all the difference at the end of Duane’s life.* *Since that day in the waiting room, I have often wondered what people would learn about me if they picked up my DayTimer. Would they discover that I, like Duane, used each day as an expression of gratitude? Or would they simply see a life that had been crammed into the half-hour slots on each page? (Hustling God by M. Craig Barnes)* #### Reflection and Listening: silent and written #### Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself #### Song for the Week: Come, Now is the Time to Worship *Come, now is the time to worship* *Come, now is the time to give your heart* *Come, just as you are to worship* *Come, just as you are before your God* *Come* *One day every tongue will confess you are God* *One day every knee will bow* *Still the greatest treasure remains for those* *Who gladly choose you now* ### Closing Prayer: *O Christ, when I look at you I see that you were never in a hurry, never ran, but always had time for the pressing necessities of the day. Give me that disciplined, poised life with time always for the thing that matters. For then I would be a disciplined person. Amen. (The Way by E. Stanley Jones)*