Christian Reflection and Prayer

Verse

Pray without ceasing.
1 Thessalonians 5:17

Voice

Spirituality without a prayer life is no spirituality at
all, and it will not last beyond the first defeats.
Prayer is an opening of the self so that the Word
of God can break in and make us new. Prayer
unmasks. Prayer converts. Prayer impels. Prayer
sustains us on the way. Pray for the grace it will
take to continue what you would like to quit.
Joan Chittister

Prayer

Though you are worthy of trumpets and the song
of angels, you graciously receive our daily prayers
of whispered words and mundane habits. Enable us,
Lord, to love you with all that we are and in all that
we do. Teach us how we might truly pray without
ceasing. Amen.
Common Prayer

A minister was preoccupied with thoughts of how he was
going to ask the congregation to come up with more
money than they were expecting for repairs to the church
building.

Therefore, he talked with the organist to see what kind of
inspirational music she could play after the announcement
about the finances to get the congregation in a giving mood.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “I’ll think of something.”

During the service, the minister paused and said, “Brothers
and Sisters, we are in great difficulty; the roof repairs cost
twice as much as we expected, and we need $4,000 more.
Any of you who can pledge $100 or more, please stand up.”

Just at that moment, the organist started playing, “The Star
Spangled Banner.”

"Peace be with you" (Luke 24:36).

Ramsay MacDonald, one-time Prime Minister of England,
was discussing with another government official the possibility
of lasting peace. The latter, an expert on foreign affairs, was
unimpressed by the Prime Minister's idealistic viewpoint.
"The desire for peace does not necessarily ensure it,"
he remarked cynically.

"Quite true," admitted MacDonald. "Neither does the desire
for food satisfy your hunger, but at least it gets you started
toward a restaurant."   

"My peace is My gift to you," Jesus said to His disciples,
"a peace the world cannot give" (Jn. 14:27). The Gospel
writers want us to understand that, in and through Jesus
Christ, God is constantly giving to us. He is giving Himself,
giving His Love, giving His promise never to abandon us. He
is giving His promise of ultimate, total fulfillment in that
blessed peace of heart and mind and soul which the world
can never give. And if your desire to receive the Peace of
Christ is yet to be satisfied, at the very least, it gets you
started in the right direction.

Jesus' gift of peace is "shalom." In its deepest meaning, the
gift of shalom can be described as the sense of your life's
wholeness and purposefulness. It is the understanding, at
the deepest level of your being that you are somebody, that
you are destined for greatness.

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