Tuning In

Drop thy still dews of quietness

till all our strivings cease;

take from our souls the strain and stress,

and let our ordered lives confess

the beauty of thy peace.

Breathe through the heats of our desire

thy coolness and thy balm;

let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;

speak through earthquake wind and fire,

O still, small voice of calm.

~ J.G. Whittier

When we rest in silence and seek  within our inner chambers our soul's center where the Spirit's throne abides we enter into a peace that surpasses all understanding. I came across the prayer above while reading a book by David Adam, The Eye of the Eagle. It is a book that meditates on the ancient hymn "Be Thou My Vision". I found this prayer a beautiful expression of this reality and wanted to share it with everyone. It is in his section at the end of a chapter that includes various "exercises" and meditations one can do to grow closer with God.  He suggests praying this prayer multiple times throughout the day, slowly and mindfully, dwelling on the meaning of each word and the reality of which it speaks.

I love the last two lines  "speak through earthquake wind and fire, O still, small voice of calm." It reminds me that even through the trials and busy nature of our lives, if we just center ourselves in the present moment, we can still hear the voice of God. It never leaves us, it is our focus that leaves Him and which makes us feel alone at times. For we are never truly alone, that is just an illusion that we sometimes buy all too readily into. We just need to find ways that work for us to "tune-in" to God's gentle whisper that beckons us forward to experience greater dimensions of His peace and love, which is His presence made manifest.

I am just as guilty as the next person in letting life's distractions carry me away from the peace and presence of God. When I find this happening I can't help but feel a bit of sorrow, for it doesn't have to be that way and many times it's being lost in those distractions that I find myself more apt to sin and wound those around me. And then there's the cycle of feeling guilty and sometimes in our guilt we feel unworthy to enter back into the presence of God. Well, that's also a lie! God always is there to welcome us back with open arms, that's why he sent Jesus, so that our sins and shortcomings, our transgressions could be cleansed from us and we could enter into His presence with a clean heart.

May we all take the time today to seek God's presence and be restored and refreshed, letting the Spirit's life giving waters flow through us. May we all find ways that work for us that help our hearts "tune-in" to the gentle whispers of God.

What are some ways that you find helpful in centering yourself in His presence? Prayer? Meditation? Worship? Please share in the comments section! :)

Tasting God's Glory

"Our Heavenly Father, revealing his majesty [in the gospel], lifts reverence for Scripture beyond the realm of controversy."
         ~ John Calvin

There's something beautiful that happens when one opens their heart to God's reality. Their heart like a budding flower opens and blossoms, embracing the light of the Spirit. The "light of the gospel" is not just seen, as if by our mortal eyes, but experienced fully be the senses of the soul. When this happens, all the theological questions one might be struggling with fades away in the background, and the only thing that remains is the pure awe one has in finding oneself witness to being in the presence of God's glory.

Nothing else matters but the glory of God!

Jonathan Edwards describes he who is "spiritually enlightened" as one that does not "merely rationally believe that God is glorious, but he has a sense of the gloriousness of God in his heart."








Edwards goes on to say:

"There is a twofold understanding or knowledge of good, that God has made the mind of man capable of. The first, that which is merely speculative or notional...The other is that which consists in the sense of the heart: as when there is a sense of the beauty, amiableness, or sweetness of a thing...Thus there is a difference between having an opinion that God is holy and gracious, and having a sense of the loveliness and beauty of that holiness and grace. There is a difference between having a rational judgement that honey is sweet, and having a sense of its sweetness...When the heart is sensible of the beauty and amiableness of a thing, it necessarily feels pleasure in the apprehension...which is a far different thing from having a rational opinion that it is excellent."

Has your soul broken open and allowed the light of the Spirit to flood the innermost sacred parts of your heart to behold the glory of God? To taste His glory?....


There was a time I let theological questions get in the way of experiencing God's glory. In fact, I let such questions create a boundary between experiencing God for I  started going about seeking His truth by means of man's knowledge and not God's Word. Man has much wisdom to offer eachother, but when it comes down to it, we are but a breath to God. True knowledge rests in God's Word and through the whispers of His Spirit that awakens us while reading His Word and opening it up to Him through meditation. 

What did I gain from seeking truth from man first and God second? Confusion, restlessness of spirit and an even thirstier soul that felt near to perishing. I learned, that God's glory is less to be understood by the mind but more to be experienced by the heart.

Let's be filled with the Holy Spirit today and savor God in all His glory, letting His light awaken the senses of our soul as we bring lift high our praises!

Heavenly Father,

We are beings created to bring You praise honor and glory. We pray that Your spirit awakens our hearts, letting them bloom so that the light of Your Spirit penetrates every corner of our souls. We seek knowledge of you, but even over knowledge, experience of you. We thirst to taste the glory of God and have its truth echo joyfully in the corridors of our hearts. Cleanse and purify our hearts, renew them as we come to You, laying down the essence of who we are, so that we can become more like who You are. Help us lose ourselves in Your love so that we may shine your light even brighter amidst the world's darkness, helping to vanquish it and bringing about a greater depth of love to those around us. 

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and forever will be. 

In Jesus' precious name,

Amen. 

Experiencing God's Presence in the Everyday

"How do we enter an intimate, ongoing communion with God? The answer is simple: with practice. We undertake experiments of everyday life in which we are learning to be with God. And the stuff of our  day-to-day experience is the place where these experiments go on. This with-God life takes no time, yet it occupies all our time. When we go to work, we go to work with-God. At work we are learning how to bless those who curse us, how to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice, how our very presence can be a joy to others. And the experiments are numerous and varied: "Today, Lord, teach me somehow to bless every person I meet. Show me the preciousness of each individual. Fill my mind with creative new ideas and show me how to break the horns of cruel dilemmas." The same is true for times at home with family and time with neighbors and friends."

~ Richard Foster, Longing for God: Seven Paths of Christian Devotion

That we might accustom ourselves to a continual conversation with Him, with freedom and simplicity. That we need only to recognize God intimately present with us, to address ourselves to Him every moment, that we may beg His assistance for knowing His will in things doubtful, and for rightly performing those which we plainly see He requires of us, offering them to Him before we do them, and giving Him thanks when we have done.   ~ Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God

Mindfulness has been a transforming process spiritually for me and I am a firm believer that if we silence our oftentimes rambling and distracted thoughts, we open ourselves up to new levels of consciousness and new ways of experiencing God's presence. I wrote about this very thing in a post titled :Experiencing God - http://ascendingthehills.blogspot.com/2010/10/experiencing-god.html .

Prayer, and as Brother Lawrence puts it, continual prayer, is another way to open ourselves up to God's presence and to His reality. I love how, in Foster's passage he says, "This with-God life takes no time, yet it occupies all of our time." That is so true! To open oneself to continual conversation with God and to find God, who is true reality, manifested in the present moment, applying the teachings of Jesus directly in our lives, is something that we can do while doing our most ordinary tasks and chores. In Brother Lawrence's book he mentioned many times to others that his prayer time differed very little from his everyday ordinary moments of doing his many tasks, mostly in the kitchen, at the monastery. He was in sync with God, within and outside of conventional prayer.

It takes awhile to get into the custom of seeking God and experiencing Him continually throughout one's day through experiencing His presence and through prayer. Some don't think it possible, but my opinion differs from theirs. I'm not going to even give the illusion that I live that way. But I know it is possible because of those who have walked the ancient paths of faith before us. Those like Brother Lawrence, whose book I highly recommend, who can help aid us in beginning our journey towards experiencing God ever deeper with each passing day.


Heavenly Father,

Thank you for being the kind of God that we can get to know. The God that opens His arms to His children, beckoning them to draw near. Give us the strength and direction, the focus and prompting from the Spirit, to seek you continually, to grow with you. I pray that with each passing day we enter deeper in our understanding of you and experience you in new ways. May our lives serve as living testimonies of your grace, your mercy and love. May we always seek to bring you glory, honor and praise.

In Jesus' name,
Amen