Last Thursday morning, when I thought I had finished writing and was about to get up, this prayer suddenly sprang out of what I had already been given minutes before (see: https://wp.me/p45bCr-eiy). God is good!
NB: Yesterday I added a short book called, “Wordless prayer”, to my top-level menu. It’s a work in progress. If you would like to see it, here is a link: https://wp.me/P45bCr-ej9.
May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God (Ephesians 3:19; NLT).
The person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him (1 Corinthians 6:17; NLT).
One in love,
And one in Christ;
One in every sacrifice.
One in darkness,
One in light;
One in Jesus, day and night.
One in joy,
And one in pain;
One in every loss and gain.
One in living,
One in death;
One in every precious breath.
One in truth,
And one in peace:
One in Christ, our great High Priest.
Our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time (Hebrews 10:12; NLT).
References
Everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him (Philippians 3:8-9; NLT).
It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20; NLT).
Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies (2 Corinthians 4:10; NLT).
If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind (Philippians 2:1-2; NIV).
His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7; NLT).
A reading from John 17:20-24; NLT.
I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one – as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.
I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.
Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began.
Yesterday, after posting my blog in bed as usual, I laid down to rest in prayer, and was immediately lifted up on a wave of light.
In all their suffering he also suffered, and he personally rescued them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them. He lifted them up and carried them through all the years (Isaiah 63:9; NLT).
You lift me on a wave of light,
And take my spirit far away,
Where all words cease,
In perfect peace,
And I no longer pray.
For you are here, within me, Lord,
There’s nothing that I need to do;
No time, or space,
Just your dear face –
In love, I’m one with you.
The person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him (1 Corinthians 6:17; NLT).
References
The LORD is in his holy Temple. Let all the earth be silent before him (Habakkuk 2:20; NLT).
You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you (Isaiah 26:3; NLT).
The Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words (Romans 8:26; RSV).
We are the temple of the living God (2 Corinthians 6:16; NLT).
Christ lives within you (Romans 8:10; NLT).
The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you (Romans 8:11; NLT).
There is…one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all (Ephesians 4:5-6; NLT).
God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them (1 John 4:16; NLT).
He loves us with unfailing love; the LORD’s faithfulness endures forever (Psalm 117:2; NLT).
I love you LORD (Psalm 18:1; NLT).
My beloved is mine and I am his (Song of Songs 2:16; NIV).
You…are complete through your union with Christ (Colossians 2:10; NLT).
Everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him (Philippians 3:8-9; NLT).
This prayer came to me silently and insistently yesterday morning:
It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me (Galatians 2:20; NLT).
Lord,
Please take me over fully:
Mind and body, heart and soul;
Then pray on my behalf: I beg
That all the world will be made whole.
Lord,
Please pray within me, always:
Mind and body, heart and soul.
May all repent and turn to you:
Forgive us, save us, and console.
Lord,
Please live in me forever:
Mind and body, heart and soul.
Let’s pray for peace throughout the world Together: that’s my foremost goal.
I will pray for peace (Psalm 122:8; CEV).
References
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).
We do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself asks on our behalf with ineffable sighing (Romans 8:26; CPDV).
From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near” (Matthew 4:17; NLT).
Help us, O God of our salvation! Help us for the glory of your name. Save us and forgive our sins for the honor of your name (Psalm 79:9; NLT).
As a mother consoles a child, so I will console you (Isaiah 66:13; NET).
I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you (John 14:20; NLT).
Pray continually (1 Thessalonians 5:17; NIV).
I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security (Jeremiah 33:6; NIV).
The Annunciation, by Benozzo Gozzoli, Narni Town Hall, Wikimedia.
Most unusually, this prayer started to arrive during the relaxation at the end of my gentle, online movement class last Thursday. All I had to do was to keep repeating the first four lines, so as not to forget them before I could write them down. The rest followed relatively easily:
We are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people” (2 Corinthians 6:16; NIV).
Live with God,
And walk with Him.
Serve with God,
And share with Him:
Share His pity,
Strength and peace,
His light and truth,
Which never cease,
His raging fire,
And tenderness –
For God is love,
So let’s say, “Yes”.
Mary said, “Yes, I am a servant of the Lord; let this happen to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38; NET).
I want your will to be done, not mine (Matthew 26:39; NLT).
References
They will be called ‘children of the living God’ (Romans 9:26; NIV).
Yahweh is tenderness and pity (Psalm 103:8; NJB).
The Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength (Isaiah 26:4; KJV).
The Lord is peace (Judges 6:24; NLT).
God is light (1 John 1:5; NLT).
The Spirit is truth (1 John 5:6; NKJV).
The Lord your God is a raging fire (Deuteronomy 4:24; GW).
God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them (1 John 4:16; NLT).
Special note: Saying, “Yes”, to God
Saying, “Yes”, to God, as in today’s prayer, has a long history. It references Mary’s response when the Angel Gabriel asked her to become the mother of Jesus.
In the Latin Vulgate Bible, which dates back to the eight century, we read how Mary give her “fiat“, or “Yes“, to the angel:
Dixit autem Maria ecce ancilla Domini fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum (Luke 1:38; Vulgate, my emphasis).
In Latin, the word, “fiat“, means, “Let it be done”, so here is a typical English rendering of this verse:
Then Mary said: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38; CPDV).
However, I prefer the simplicity and absolute directness of the NET translation, which precisely captures the deep, underlying significance of Mary’s fiat:
So Mary said, “Yes, I am a servant of the Lord; let this happen to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38; NET).
All this, and more, lies behind today’s prayer about saying, “Yes“, to God.
Acknowledgements
My thanks to the Community of Our Lady of Walsingham, for introducing me to the concept of saying, “Yes”, to God, and to the existence of fiat rosaries. Here is a link to their website: walsinghamcommunity.org.
Thank you, also, to Blue Letter Bible, without whose parallel translations, including the Vulgate, I couldn’t run this blog. Here is a link to their website: blueletterbible.org.
I owe further thanks to the Catholic Diocese of Arlington for helping me to explore the origin and significance of the word “fiat“. For those who want to know more, here is a link to their website: arlingtondiocese.org.
The Rosary Hospital
Finally, here is a picture of my shrine, with my fiat rosary in the foreground:
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).
Lord, Please make me more like you.
Consume my sins, my heart, renew,
Then I’ll show love in all I do,
And light the way for others, too.
Lord, Please make me more like you,
So all I say is kind and true.
My judgements, fears and greed, subdue,
Until I’m perfect, through and through.
You are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:48; NLT).
References
Donotjudge, and you will not be judged. Donot condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven (Luke 6:37; NIV).
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).
We will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ (Ephesians 4:15; NLT).
Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him (Colossians 3:10; NLT).
The Rosary Hospital
A batch of fiat rosaries, made with a combination of new and recycled parts.
This prayer arrived spontaneously yesterday, whilst I was praying for the world:
This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you (John 15:12; NLT).
Love does no harm to a neighbour. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law (Romans 13:10; NIV).
Lord,
I pray for love Throughout the world:
In every country, home,
Mind, soul, and heart.
But if we cannot love,
I pray for peace,
So everyone can live,
And play their part.
And if we can’t make peace,
I pray for truth,
Then all our hurtful lies
Will end, at last.
And if we can’t have truth, I pray for hope,
Until our earthly suffering
Has passed.
Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world (John 16:33; NLT).
References
This letter is from Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, appointed by the command of God our Savior and Christ Jesus, who gives us hope (1 Timothy 1:1; NLT).
We are saved by hope (Romans 8:24; WEB).
The eyes of all look to you in hope (Psalm 145:15; NLT).
A reading: Romans 8:23-5; NLT.
We believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently).
Stations of the Cross in Althofen; painted by Consuelo Mels-Colloredo, 1983. Neithan90, Wikimedia.
Yesterday I felt very tired, which had its up-side, as I was able to spend time putting the morning’s notes into words whilst resting. The lines in italics form a prayer within a prayer:
O Lord, you alone are my hope (Psalm 71:5; NLT).
My hope, my way,
My light each day: I want to do your bidding;
My peace, my Lamb,
My great “I AM”: For you are God’s dear Son.
My truth, my life,
My purchase-price: You, Lord, are my salvation; My strength, my blood,
My longed-for love: May you and I be one.
My Lord, my God,
My staff, my rod: My body is your temple;
My Guide, my Friend,
My start, my end: My mind is yours, Lord, too.
My bread, my wine,
My living vine: My heart is yours forever;
My Shepherd King,
My everything: My soul belongs to you.
The LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul (Genesis 2:7; KJV).
Our bodies will return to the dust of the earth, and the breath of life will go back to God, who gave it to us (Ecclesiastes 12:7; GNT).
This prayer came to me yesterday morning, and proved surprisingly difficult to put into words:
I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them (1 Timothy 2:1; NLT).
Lord,
I pray for joy and peace
In every mind, and heart, and soul,
But if that’s far too much to ask,
Please help us all to grow in self-control.
Lord,
I pray for friendliness
In every soul, and mind, and heart,
But if that’s far too much to ask,
May tolerance become our place to start.
Lord,
I pray for love of all
In every heart, and soul, and mind,
But if that’s far too much to ask,
Please teach us to be humble, wise, and kind.
The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-3; NLT).
References
Pray for peace (Psalm 122:6; NLT).
Make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone (2 Peter 1:5-7; NLT).
All who obey his commandments will grow in wisdom (Psalm 111:10; NLT).
Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:1-3; NASB95).
You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life (Deuteronomy 28:66; NIV).
Introduction: Today’s blog is both personal and heartfelt. It summarises what I’m learning about a painful issue which has plagued me for the last 70 years. I refer here to my dread of being rejected and unloved, whether by a person or by God, as a result of my having done something wrong.
This fear started when I was very small. My mother never forgave me for anything I did which she considered to be wrong. Years later she would bring up issues from the past, still blaming me for whatever I had done that had offended her. With hand on heart, I can say that I never did anything on purpose to hurt her. I was far too afraid of her to even think of taking such a risk. In fact, I lived in mortal dread of her no longer loving me, and of her completely rejecting me.
Sadly, in parallel with this, I was taught at our local Catholic church that a recording angel noted down every sin I committed. No sin was ever forgiven, removed, or forgotten. They all went into the angel’s book, ready be held against me on judgement day.
It was clear to me that there was no escape from judgement, condemnation and rejection, either at home, beyond childhood, or after death. Perhaps it’s not surprising that I have struggled with low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, phobias and dread throughout my life.
Of course, I’ve known about God’s forgiveness for a long time, but have never been able to believe it included me. Nor have I been able to “feel” forgiven, and start afresh. Rather, forgiveness has always seemed to be just for other people, as I never deserved it.
Without any hope of forgiveness, my fear of condemnation, withdrawal of love and rejection together create a sense of dread, which is triggered whenever I offend someone. Once triggered, it becomes chronic. This is the heaviest burden I have carried throughout my life, and has always been impossible to put down. It is probably the underlying cause of all my other issues.
So, here is a summary of what I’ve learned so far in my search for a way out of dread, which is essentially a search for inner peace. Each of the five points is supported by Biblical verses I find particularly helpful.
Honesty: Inner peace comes from being honest about my sins, saying sorry to the person concerned, and being reconciled to them, if at all possible. When the relevant person is not contactable, or if they are dead, I whisper to them, addressing them by name, and apologising to them, with God as my witness.
References: You desire honesty from the womb, teaching me wisdom even there (Psalm 51:6; NLT).
If you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God (Matthew 5:23-4; NLT).
The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. Youwillnotreject a broken and repentant heart, O God (Psalm 51:17; NLT).
Trust: Inner peace comes from trusting God, who promises to forgive me when I repent, and never to remember my sin again. He also promises never to reject or abandon me. He is close beside me, and will comfort me, no matter what happens.
References: Trust in God, and trust also in me (John 14:1; NLT).
He forgives all my sins (Psalm 103:3; NLT).
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29; NLT).
I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins (Hebrews 8:12; NLT).
No one is abandoned by the Lord forever (Lamentations 3:31; NLT).
The Lord is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit (Psalm 34:18; NIV).
Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me (Psalm 23:4; NLT).
Conscience: Inner peace comes from facing and dealing with my sins in the ways described above, constantly aware of my behaviour, and working hard to restore my relationships, in order to maintain a clear conscience.
References: I always try to maintain a clear conscience before God and all people (Acts 24:16; NLT).
Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water (Hebrews 10:22; NIV).
Confidence: Inner peace comes from being confident that God loves me just as I am, and forever.
References: Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God (1 John 5:14; NLT).
My heart is confident in you, O God; my heart is confident (Psalm 57:7; NLT).
He loves us with unfailing love; the LORD‘s faithfulness endures forever (Psalm 117:2; NLT).
Peace: Inner peace comes from knowing that God will never stop loving me, or reject me, so I cling to my faith in Christ.
References: The Lord is peace (Judges 6:24; NLT).
God sent his Son into the world not to condemn the world, but so that through him the world might be saved. No one who believes in him will be condemned (John 3:17-18; JB).
I am leaving you with a gift – peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid (John 14:27; NLT).
Cling to your faith in Christ, and keep your conscience clear (1 Timothy 1:19; NLT).
Conclusion: I don’t think I have reached the end of this journey of exploration and discovery yet, as I’m still learning a little more day by day about how to move from dread to inner peace of mind and heart. Until I reach that goal, the dread continues, so I must do my best to say “Yes” to it, and to thank God for it.
References: “Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet Iwant your will tobedone, notmine” (Mark 14:36; NLT).
Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:18; NIV).
He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people (Titus 2:14; NLT).
The Rosary Hospital
A large Fiat rosary for someone with sight issues, or loss of finger sensation.
