Yesterday, when I touched my icon of the Holy Spirit falling on all those present at Pentecost, the first two lines of this prayer came insistently into my mind. Immediately, I wrote them down, then set about discovering where they would lead me. Within half an hour, the shape, and most of the words for today’s prayer were safely set down. The rest then followed more slowly, throughout the day.
The LORDmustwait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion (Isaiah 30:18; NLT).
Don’t wait for me to grow
Before you come, Lord.
Don’t wait for me to fail
Before you save.
Don’t wait for me to pray
Before you fill me.
Don’t wait for me to plead
Before you give.
Don’t wait for me to change
Before you rescue.
Don’t wait for me to weep
Before you kiss –
For I’m a sinner, through and through,
Despairing,
So come, Lord God, have mercy,
And forgive.
The tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner” (Luke 18:13; NIV).
References
Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the LORD that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously (Isaiah 55:7; NLT).
On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4; NLT).
Context: Yesterday I woke to the sound of a roaring sea, knowing that my friend was crossing to the island at that time. As I prayed for him, today’s blog burst into my mind. It is my prayer for all people in 2023:
It is what comes from inside that defiles you. For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within (Mark 7:20-23; NLT).
Lord,
Please calm
Our raging storm
Of greed, and hate,
And war.
Heal every mind, And heart, and soul – Lord, save us!
I implore.
Change us,
As you changed Saint Paul,
For we, too, hate, oppress,
And kill.
In every mind,
And heart, and soul
Please whisper: Peace, be still.
Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm (Mark 4:39; NKJV).
References
Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” (Matthew 8:25; NKJV).
Saul was uttering threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers. …As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?” “Who are you, lord?” Saul asked. And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do” (Acts 9:1;3-6; NLT).
“Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the LORD told him. And as Elijah stood there, the LORD passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper (1 Kings 19:11-12; NLT).
What I tell you now in the darkness, shout abroad when daybreak comes. What I whisper in your ear, shout from the housetops for all to hear! (Matthew 10:27; NLT).
The Rosary Hospital
Yesterday, to my great joy, I received a package of beads and special Fiat rosary centrepieces, which I ordered several weeks ago from America. Having tracked their long journey, including the surprising information that delivery had been unsuccessfully attempted at 7am on Christmas morning, I was delighted to lay hands on them. In the evening I celebrated their arrival by making the first section of a Fiat rosary:
Context:I’m in London today, facing a battery of specialised medical tests. It’s only 5am, but I’m having a very early breakfast, as I have to fast for several hours before arriving at the hospital.
This blog considers how free-will, honesty and forgiveness contribute to emotional healing. Each of these factors builds on the one before, until healing is complete. This completion can take place progressively, during life, or instantaneously, at death, when we meet Christ face to face.
He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted (Luke 4:18; NKJV).
Introduction Emotional healing is a lifelong process of personal growth in mind, heart and soul. It is brought about by revelation and personal insight, which gradually help us to change how we think, speak, behave and feel.
1. Free-will Let’s begin with free-will. In order to be healthy, all personal change needs to be based on independent choice. Changes which are expected, required, demanded, imposed, or forced upon us by others can never bring about deep, inner healing.
2. Honesty Similarly, if we try to make ourselves change in order to become an idealised version of ourselves, we are only suppressing how we honestly feel or think, and what we really want to say or do. This is a very unhealthy, incongruent and inauthentic way to live, which stores up further emotional problems for the future. There is no substitute for learning to speak the truth in love.
3. Forgiveness
Next comes forgiveness, another essential, inescapable aspect of inner healing. It can take years to feel forgiven for all the bad things we have thought, said and done. Furthermore, genuinely forgiving those who have hurt us can be equally difficult.
This process is facilitated by being honest with those who have hurt us, forgiving them, and working towards reconciliation, if possible. We can also apologise to those we have hurt, asking them to forgive us.
If those involved are no longer available, all this can still be done through honest prayer.
4. Emotional healing
Free-will, honesty and forgiveness help us to take responsibility for fostering the long-term healing God offers. We can do this by:
Being honest with ourselves, others and God
Developing insight into ourselves and our behaviour
Praying simply and honestly, as children do
Learning from experience
Learning from books
Learning from good role-models
Offering healthy, honest, equal, loving relationships to everyone
As we change and grow, we can slowly be healed in mind, heart and soul over the course of our lifetime. Gradually our thinking, speech and behaviour become more honest, more loving, and more genuinely aligned with God’s will for us, progressively promoting our emotional healing.
Conclusion
Through reflecting on the role of free-will, honesty and forgiveness in the process of emotional healing, I have come to see these four concepts as being essentially indivisible. Thus, as we freely choose to become more honest, more forgiving, and more Christ-like, we are slowly healed in mind, heart and soul.
Iwantyourwilltobedone, notmine (Luke 22:42; NLT).
References
1. Accept, I beseech thee, the free-will offerings of my mouth, O Lord (Psalm 119:108; WEB).
2. You desire honesty from the womb (Psalm 51:6; NLT).
We will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ (Ephesians 4:15; NLT).
3. Forgive us oursins, asweforgive those who sin against us (Luke 11:4; NLT).
4. I am the Lord who heals you (Exodus 15:26; NLT).
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5; NIV).
The Lord – who is the Spirit – makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image (2 Corinthians 3:18; NLT).
Whilst praying this morning, I reflected on the severely unsettled, and unsettling, state of our world:
Those who hold power are taking their stand, gathering their forces against YHWH (Psalm 2:1; TIB).
But then I saw that God is just as unchanging, powerful and loving as ever:
I am the LORD, and I do not change (Malachi 3:6; NLT).
Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all (1 Chronicles 29:11; KJV).
He loves us with unfailing love (Psalm 117:2; NLT).
God waits for us to repent, so we can be forgiven, and start to change:
The LORD must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion (Isaiah 30:18; NLT).
Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38; NLT).
So I prayed that we will all repent, turn to God, and start changing our lives before it’s too late: before we destroy the earth, our only home, and all her plants, creatures and people, through our foolish wars, hatred, selfishness, greed and ignorance:
Perhaps even yet they will turn from their evil ways and ask the LORD’s forgiveness before it is too late. For the LORD has threatened them with his terrible anger (Jeremiah 36:7; NLT).
Reading: Psalm 2, The Inclusive Bible
Why are the nations creating such an uproar?Why all this commotion among the peoples?
Those who hold power are taking their stand, gathering their forces against YHWH, against God’s Anointed One. “Let’s break their chains!” they say. “Let’s throw off their shackles!”
But the One who sits enthroned in the heavens laughs; the Sovereign One derides them, then rebukes them in anger and, enraged, terrifies them: “It is I who installed my ruler on Zion, on the mountain of my holiness!”
I will proclaim God’s decree – YHWH said to me: “You are my own; I’ve given birth to you today. Just ask – I’ll give you the nations as your inheritance! I’ll give you the ends of the earth as your possession! You’ll break them with an iron scepter; you’ll shatter them as easily as a clay pot.”
So, you rulers, be wise! And you who hold power, stand warned! Serve YHWH and rejoice – but do so with fear and trembling.Pay homage to God’s Own lest you be destroyed on your way in a blaze of anger – for God’s passion can flare up without warning.
Happiness comes to those who make God their refuge!
Context: Yesterday I woke very early, and saw that God lives in my unconscious mind, waiting and longing to heal me.
Healing is a lifelong process. It means slowly becoming conscious of all that is hidden in the darkness of my unconscious mind, so I can change and grow.
I can encourage this process by:
Seeking God
Waiting on God
Praying constantly
Listening to God
Learning from God
Practicing God’s presence
Slowly, slowly, God reveals to me all the damage that lives on in my inner darkness, bringing it into the light of consciousness, so it can be healed. This includes the psychological consequences of the trauma, bullying, coercive control and abuse I suffered throughout my childhood, and far beyond.
I can share in this process by:
Opening myself to all God uncovers and reveals to me
Facing what I am shown
Accepting it
Cooperating with God’s healing
Learning from from what God tells me
Working to change how I feel, think, speak and behave
As God helps me to change and grow, I become more whole as a person, and therefore just a tiny bit more like Christ.
There is no deeper or more complete healing than God’s inner healing.
The Lord – who is the Spirit – makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image (2 Corinthians 3:18; NLT).
References
Let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes (Ephesians 4:23; NLT).
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5; NIV).
I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you (Ezekiel 36:26; NLT).
He renews my strength (Psalm 23:3; NLT).
We will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ (Ephesians 4:15; NLT).
As we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world (1 John 4:17; NLT).
This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ (Ephesians 4:13; NLT).
The Lord – who is the Spirit – makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image (2 Corinthians 3:18; NLT).
Context: This blog arrived yesterday morning, whilst I was exchanging messages with a friend. It simply formed in my mind as I began to respond. By the time I had put it into words, I realised I needed to hold on to what I had written, so I copied and pasted it into my spiritual diary. Here is the result:
You, Lord, are my lamp; the Lord turns my darkness into light (2 Samuel 22:29; NLT).
Lord, you are light, and you live in the darkness of my unconscious mind (see reference #1).
Constantly present there, you move mysteriously in the depths, patiently revealing, insight by insight, all that is hidden within me, especially all that needs healing (2).
As long as I keep on searching, waiting, looking, listening, learning, changing and growing, you keep on revealing more and more, slowly bringing everything about me into the light (3).
Through this life-long process, you are healing all the physical, mental and emotional damage caused by my abusive childhood (4).
Thank you so much for everything you show me, Lord, for all your love, help, and healing.
I offer this prayer through your dear Son’s name.
Amen.
References
1. God is light (1 John 1:5; NLT).
Clouds and thick darkness surround him (Psalm 97:2; NIV).
He shrouded himself in darkness (2 Samuel 22:12; NLT).
2. We are the temple of the living God. As God said: “I will live in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people” (2 Corinthians 6:16; NLT).
You cannot understand the activity ofGod, who does all things (Ecclesiastes 11:5; NLT).
He knows the secrets of every heart (Psalm 44:21; NLT).
He reveals deep and mysterious things and knows what lies hidden in darkness (Daniel 2:22; NLT).
3. Moses approached the thick darkness where God was (Exodus 20:21; NLT).
Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened (Luke 11:9-10; NLT).
4. I am the Lord who heals you (Exodus 15:26; NLT).
I will give you treasures hidden in the darkness – secret riches. I will do this so you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, the one who calls you by name (Isaiah 45:3; NLT).
When I pray for others, I ask for them to be comforted, strengthened and healed. But when I pray for myself, my approach is completely different.
When I pray for myself I don’t ask God to take my trials and sorrows away (see reference #1). Instead, I thank God for them all (2).
This might initially sound strange. However, praying for myself is my opportunity to ask God to help me accept and face each challenge squarely. God then helps me to work out how to deal with each problem in consciously assertive, proactive ways, whilst strengthening me to change, as I put these new approaches into practice (3).
I am then able to take responsibility for tackling each issue in line with God’s will (4).
As I start to change my approach and take action, I experience a growing sense of healing and relief (5).
Over the days, weeks, months and years that follow, as I learn to put each new way forward into practice, I give thanks, because I know that God is working to bring about good for me through everything that happens in my life (6).
References
1. I am not alone because the Father is with me. I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth youwillhave many trialsandsorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world (John 16:32-3; NLT).
2. Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18; NIV).
3. You, Lord, are my lamp; the Lord turns my darkness into light. With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall (2 Samuel 22:29; NIV).
4. Iwantyourwill to be done, not mine (Luke 22:42; NLT).
I desire to doyourwill, my God; your law is within my heart (Psalm 40:8; NIV).
5. Teach me to doyourwill, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground (Psalm 143:10; NIV).
6. In all things God works for the good of those who love him (Romans 8:28; NIV).
Context: Today has been a very medical day, with help from my doctor and from the anti-coagulation clinic, then organising two week’s worth of medication. In the afternoon I had to make an urgent visit to my ophthalmologist, who diagnosed ulcers and an abrasion in my right eye. This was followed by a dash to the pharmacy for steroids and antibiotics. I’ve also got a migraine, which helps to explain how I came to post this blog accidentally, before it was finished. Once I discovered my error, I put it right, but email followers received the first version, for which I apologise. Tomorrow is another day…
Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life” (John 8:12; NLT).
Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me” (John 15:6; NLT).
I will never be enlightened Without Jesus,
For Jesus is the way
I want to take.
He teaches me the path Through life to heaven,
And helps me change and grow
For his name’s sake.
I will never be enlightened
Without Jesus,
For Jesus is the truth
That sets me free.
He opens every door
That blocks my progress,
Then leads me through,
For he has ransomed me.
I will never be enlightened Without Jesus,
For Jesus is the life
I want to lead.
He walks beside me,
Loving, kind, unfailing:
My strength, my fire, my peace –
My living creed.
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,”
and believe in your heart that God raised him
from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 19:9; NIV).
References
This was the true light that enlightens every person by his coming into the world (John 1:9; ISV).
Jesus is Lord (Romans 10:9; NIV).
There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12; NLT).
The Lord – who is the Spirit – makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image (2 Corinthians 3:18; NLT).
The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free (Luke 4:18; NIV).
Context: Recently, I’ve been thinking about the flood narrative in Genesis, which illustrates the disastrous consequences of sinful, human behaviour:
YHWH saw the great wickedness of the people of the earth, that the thoughts in their hearts fashioned nothing but evil. YHWH was sorry that humankind had been created on earth; it pained God’s heart. YHWH said, “I will wipe this human race that I have created from the face of the earth – not only the humans, but also the animals, the reptiles, and the birds of the heavens. I am sorry I ever made them” (Genesis 6:5-7; TIB).
So God sent a great flood to wipe out all living things:
For forty days the flood continued… The waters rose so high over the earth that all the high mountains under heaven were covered… All life on the earth perished – birds, domestic animals, wild animals, all swarming creatures, and all humankind (Genesis 7:17-21; TIB).
The TIB translation includes an interesting scholarly footnote for this passage:
“Some commentators feel the story of the Flood speaks of the ending of the last ice age, when the melt from the receding glaciers raised the sea level high enough to submerge much of what had before been dry land.”
The Biblical flood story is usually seen as being safely in the past, but it recently occurred to me that it can also be understood as a prophecy, for as global warming melts the polar ice-caps, similarly catastrophic flooding is becoming inevitable.
Of course, some readers may rightly point out that after the flood God promised never to cause such terrible destruction again (Genesis 8:21; TIB). However, modern climate change is not an act of God. Rather, it is caused by human over-exploitation of finite earthly resources. The causes and consequences of global warming are therefore ours alone, as we move ever further from our original commission to, “cultivate and care for the land” (Genesis 2:15; TIB).
So, flowing from these reflections, here is today’s prayer:
From the least to the greatest, their lives are ruled by greed.
(Jeremiah 6:13; NLT).
Lord,
How can you bear our wastefulness?
How can you bear our greed?
How can you bear our selfishness?
How can you bear our hate?
How can you bear our ignorance?
How can you bear our pride?
How can you bear our foolishness? You weep in us all, and wait.
How can you bear our bitterness? How can you bear our strife?
How can you bear our wickedness?
How can you bear our sin?
How can you bear our cruelty? How can you bear our wars?
How can you bear our lovelessness? You weep, Lord, and wait within.
The LORDmustwait for you to come to him
so he can show you his love and compassion.
(Isaiah 30:18; NLT).
You are the temple of the living God.
(2 Corinthians 6:16; NKJV).
