Prayer before Lectio Divina

Prayer for grace to face my own faults

Inspired by Jesus’ words in the sermon on the mount “First take the log out of your own eye” Transcript: Come Holy Spirit, Help me to engage with honesty and courage. with my own faults and failures. I Think of what you said in the Sermon on the Mount. How can you say to your brother or sister? "Let me take this back out of your eye. and you have a log in your own. First, take the log out of your own eye. Then you will see clearly. to remove this speck.” I ask that you would help me to focus my energies. Not on what other people are doing wrong. help me to bring my own faults before you. I ask that you would give me the Grace, to be honest about them. Courage to bring them to you. Help me to not avoid them. Help me to say “I really do want this log out of my eye.” and seek your help. I pray also that you would renew and purify my. desires regarding other people that. I really would. want to help them, get the speck out of their eye, That I would see that facing my own failures. is the path. to truly serving them in love, and truly helping them. I pray that you would kindle in me that desire: not to compare, or compete, or condemn, but Lord, truly to bless other people, benefit them somehow, help them on their journey. Amen.

Prayer for creative imagination for one step of obedience

Transcript: Come, Holy Spirit.. I ask you for the. Creative imagination. to take these big theological ideas, these beautiful ideas… Every person being made in the image of God. of Jesus, in some mysterious way, being in. Every person we meet, especially those who are poor and weak…the unity of the Global Church, one church. I ask for the creative imagination and your guidance. to say, what is the concrete step that you want me to take next. What does the path look like? From the way that my life is currently arranged, the way that my thoughts and habits are currently arranged. Toward that beautiful reality. Help me to hear your voice. Give me grace and courage to take one step. Amen.

Prayer before Lectio Divina

This was inspired by sections in a book by Jacques Philippe called “Called to Life”, specifically sections about hearing from God through the Bible and the section about lectio Divina at the end. Transcript: Come, Holy Spirit. I want you to make these words of Scripture real to me. I come to you with a desire to be changed. To be fed and refreshed, strengthened by the life and power that is in these words. I'm not just coming for information or even wisdom. I'm coming because I want to meet with you. I want to encounter you. Speak to me through these words. Help me to focus. Help me to be attentive. to what you are saying to me. Help me to experience these words as light and bread and water, refreshing me. May they be like rain, falling on my soul. And may it prove fruitful because of the goodness and power that is inherent in it. May my life produce fruit: praise and gratitude and love. Obedience.. Whatever else you want it to produce. I yield to your word. I surrender to your word. I don't sit in judgment over it. Though I do want to use my mind to think carefully, I don't place myself above it. I stand under it. May your Word, evaluate me. and test me. Bring to my awareness what is real about me: My weakness, my failings. my pride. My vitality that comes from you. I'm come expectant. I come thirsty. Thank you for the gift of your word. Thank you for the gift of this time where I can drink it in and meditate on it. Contemplate. Surrender to it. Help me. Speak to me through it, Holy Spirit. Amen.

Suscipe prayer of Ignatius

Ignatius has so much rich teaching and prayers. I think I originally found this one via Timothy Gallagher, though I re-found it through Jess Ray, who has beautiful song version of this prayer called “Suscipe” Transcript: Come, Holy Spirit. Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding and my entire will, all that I have and possess. You have given all of it to me. And to you. My Lord, I return it. All is yours. Give me your love and your grace. for this is sufficient for me. Amen.

Prayer inspired by the Lord’s Prayer

This is an example of one way of praying the Lord’s Prayer, using each request as a jumping off point to explore and express related desires. It has been rightly said that all prayer is contained in the Lord’s Prayer. Transcript: Father, I want everyone to. Know you and enjoy you. To see and experience your goodness, and treasure you. I want your way of doing things to triumph in the world, on Earth. How I long for people to see that your way is good. That your will is wise and beautiful. I want us to put it into practice. and know that ever more deeply. I want everyone to have what they need. Food and water, shelter. Friendship, meaning. I long for everyone to have this. I want everyone to... experience your forgiveness, your generosity, your love. and to experience freedom, from bitterness, freedom, from. sorrow that is just.. Death. I want everyone to know. the joy of that freedom. The lightness that comes from.. Letting go. Your joy. that somehow, meets us in our sorrow and makes it not only sorrow, not only death, but also life. I want everyone to be consciously choosing. Goodness. With everything that they are. Experience being guided and shepherded by you into deeper and deeper, love and joy. Andnt find so much, satisfaction in there, to be so sure that that is where life is. That more and more we reject all temptations. More and more we persevere, in trials. We are able to walk. I want us to be able to walk and trust and humble trust of you. At peace in the deep places, because of our love for you and our trust. I want everyone to experience. being rescued by you. To experience your power, doing something that we cannot do. The joy and gratitude, of being safe. I would everyone to feel that they are safe with you. Hidden in your love, sheltered by you, defended by you, even if they're suffering. to experience transformation of our own hearts and minds to be able to be someone who looks back on who we were. And be very thankful. and know that we have been. delivered not only from evil outside of us, but from evil that is within us. Help us to love you with everything that we are. Help us all to be full of love, for each other. compassionate, toward each other's needs, patient with each other's faults. Finding our joy and our peace in you. Amen.