Carmichael: silence in prayer

Saturday, November 21, 2015
Meditation:
The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
    to the one who seeks him;
it is good to wait quietly
    for the salvation of the LORD.
    —Lamentations 3:25-26 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Do not be afraid of silence in your prayer time. It may be that you are meant to listen, not to speak. So wait before the Lord. Wait in stillness. Wait as David waited when he “sat before the Lord.” And in that stillness, assurance will come to you. You will know that you are heard; you will know that your Lord ponders the voice of your humble desires; you will hear quiet words spoken to you yourself, perhaps to your grateful surprise and refreshment.
    ... Amy Carmichael (1867-1951), Thou Givest...They Gather: Truths Gleaned from the Word of God, CLC Publications, 2010, p. 27 (see the book)
    See also Lam. 3:25-26; 2 Sam. 7:18; Ps. 27:14; 37:7; 40:1; 86:6; Matt. 6:7-8; Mark 9:5-7; Heb. 10:36-37
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I wait for Your word. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Law: living one way and praying another

Friday, November 20, 2015
    Feast of Edmund of the East Angles, Martyr, 870
    Commemoration of Priscilla Lydia Sellon, a Restorer of the Religious Life in the Church of England, 1876
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”
    —Mark 9:50 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We must alter our lives in order to alter our hearts, for it is impossible to live one way and pray another.
    ... William Law (1686-1761), Christian Perfection [1726], London: W. Baynes, 1807, p. 273 (see the book)
    See also Mark 9:50; Isa. 1:15-17; 29:13; Matt. 5:13; 15:17-20; 23:25-26; Luke 6:45-46; 14:34-35; Rom. 8:26-27; Tit. 1:15
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, help me to live and pray according to Your will. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Mechthild: compassion

Thursday, November 19, 2015
    Feast of Hilda, Abbess of Whitby, 680
    Commemoration of Elizabeth, Princess of Hungary, Philanthropist, 1231
    Commemoration of Mechtild, Bèguine of Magdeburg, Mystic, Prophet, 1280
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”
    —Luke 6:31 (NIV)
Quotation:
    If you love Jesus Christ more than you fear human judgment, then you will not only speak of compassion, but act with it. Compassion means seeing your friend and your enemy in equal need, and helping both equally. It demands that you seek and find the stranger, the broken, the prisoner, and comfort him and offer him your help. Herein lies the holy compassion of God that causes the devil much distress.
    ... Mechthild of Magdeburg (ca. 1212-ca. 1282), Meditations, p. 143 (see the book)
    See also Luke 6:31; Ps. 35:12-13; Matt. 5:43-45; 10:42; Luke 6:27-28; 10:33; Rom. 12:12; 1 Cor. 12:26; Gal. 6:2; Heb. 13:3; 1 John 3:17; 4:20
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, move me to the deeds of compassion. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Barclay: the duty of encouragement

Wednesday, November 18, 2015
Meditation:
    Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
    —Hebrews 10:25 (NIV)
Quotation:
    One of the highest of human duties is the duty of encouragement... It is easy to laugh at men’s ideals; it is easy to pour cold water on their enthusiasm; it is easy to discourage others. The world is full of discouragers. We have a Christian duty to encourage one another. Many a time a word of praise or thanks or appreciation or cheer has kept a man on his feet. Blessed is the man who speaks such a word.
    ... William Barclay (1907-1978), The Letter to the Hebrews, Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1955, p. 137-38 (see the book)
    See also Heb.10:25; Job 4:4; Rom. 12:7-8; 14:19; 15:2; 1 Cor. 14:3; Eph. 4:29; 1 Thess. 4:18; 5:11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me words of encouragement to give to others. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Newton: Pope Self

Tuesday, November 17, 2015
    Feast of Hugh, Carthusian Monk, Bishop of Lincoln, 1200
Meditation:
    If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
    —Galatians 6:3 (NIV)
Quotation:
    I have read of many wicked Popes; but the worst Pope I ever met with, is Pope Self.
    ... John Newton (1725-1807), Memoirs of the Rev. John Newton, Richard Cecil, ed., London: Hatchard, 1808, p. 265 (see the book)
    See also Gal. 6:3; Matt. 19:21-22; Luke 6:32-34; 18:10-14; Rom. 12:3,16; 14:15; 15:1-3; 1 Cor. 3:18; 8:2; 10:24; 2 Cor. 5:15; Gal. 6:2; Phil. 2:4,21; 2 Tim. 3:2-4; 1 John 3:17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, cure my heart of self-centeredness. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Traherne: accomplishing the end

Monday, November 16, 2015
    Feast of Margaret, Queen of Scotland, Philanthropist, Reformer of the Church, 1093
    Commemoration of Edmund Rich of Abingdon, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1240
Meditation:
    Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
    —1 Peter 1:8-9 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Can you be Holy without accomplishing the end for which you are created? Can you be Divine unless you be Holy? Can you accomplish the end for which you were created, unless you be Righteous? Can you then be Righteous, unless you be just in rendering to Things their due esteem? All things were made to be yours, and you were made to prize them according to their value: which is your office and duty, the end for which you were created, and the means whereby you enjoy. The end for which you were created, is that by prizing all that God hath done, you may enjoy yourself and Him in Blessedness.
    ... Thomas Traherne (1637?-1674), Centuries of Meditations, edited and published by Bertram Dobell, in London, 1908, p. 8-9 (see the book)
    See also 1 Pet. 1:8-9; Matt. 5:48; Rom. 1:16-17; 11:16; 12:1; 1 Cor. 6:19-20; Eph. 2:21-22; Tit. 3:4-7
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, may I enjoy You always. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Zinzendorf: I thirst, Thou wounded Lamb of God

Sunday, November 15, 2015
Meditation:
    How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
    —Hebrews 9:14 (NIV)
Quotation:
I thirst, Thou wounded Lamb of God,
To wash me in Thy cleansing blood,
To dwell within Thy wounds; then pain
Is sweet, and life or death is gain.

Take my poor heart, and let it be
For ever closed to all but Thee!
Seal Thou my breast, and let me wear
That pledge of love for ever there.

How blest are they who still abide
Close shelter’d in Thy bleeding side;
Who life and strength from thence derive,
And by Thee move, and in Thee live!

What are our works but sin and death,
Till Thou Thy quick’ning Spirit breathe?
Thou giv’st the power Thy grace to move—
O wondrous grace! O boundless love!

Hence our hearts melt, our eyes o’erflow,
Our words are lost: nor will we know,
Nor will we think of aught, beside
“My Lord, my Love is crucified.”
    ... Count Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf (1700-1760) & John Wesley (1703-1791), The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley, v. I, Charles Wesley, London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1868, p. 265-266 (see the book)
    See also Heb. 9:14; Ps. 51:2,7,10; John 15:4; Rom. 15:13; 1 Cor. 1:22-23; 2:2; Eph. 1:13-14; Phil. 1:21; Heb. 10:22
Quiet time reflection:
    For my sins, Lord, You were crucified.

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