Advent Prayer Experiences 2016 – Page 8

Daily Advent Prayer Experiences for 2016 by DailyGraces.net

December 4, 2016 -Looking to the Future

Published on December 3, 2016November 25, 2016 by KateLeave a comment

Today’s readings present quite a challenge. The First Reading from Isaiah is so nice. Everyone will get along with everyone else, wolves and lions hanging out with lambs and eating hay, babies playing with poisonous snakes, sounds great right? God’s justice will be in full force and will not tolerate wickedness, but overall there is a very happy tone to this reading. Same with the Psalm and the Second Reading from Romans. There is special emphasis that even the Gentiles (non-Jews) will be able to flourish and partake in God’s paradise.

Then we hit the Gospel from Matthew. It starts off with John the Baptist and the phrase we reflected deeply on last week “Prepare the way of the Lord.” Now we get into the second part.

When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees
coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers!
Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance.(Matthew 3:-8)

I am baptizing you with water, for repentance,
but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I.
I am not worthy to carry his sandals.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
His winnowing fan is in his hand.
He will clear his threshing floor
and gather his wheat into his barn,
but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” (Matthew 3:11-12)

Anyone know what a winnowing fan is? Thank you Wikipedia: “Wind winnowing is an agricultural method developed by ancient cultures for separating grain from chaff. It is also used to remove weevils or other pests from stored grain.” Ouch! I’m pretty sure I want to be grain, how about you?

All last week we were preparing ourselves for prayer, finding quality times for prayer and exploring a few different kinds of prayer. We closed yesterday considering how we even need to prepare our attitude in order to experience fruitful prayer.

There is more to do. It is not enough to pray, even daily, without connecting it to something. Unlike the Pharisees and Sadducees we must produce fruit. That fruit is displayed for us most beautifully in Mary at the Annunciation. It is the fruit of submission and communion.

We will explore this theme all week. For now, today’s prayer is to repeat three times slowly and with great care Mary’s response to the Angel Gabriel after he told her God wanted her to be the mother of the Savior:

May it be done to me according to your word (Luke 1:38)

***Thanksgiving has just passed but before we get too carried away in the hype of Christmas we should remind ourselves that being thankful is something for everyday, not just Thanksgiving. What are you thankful for today? How does having a thankful spirit change the way you view your day? Please feel free to share your experience, thoughts and offer support to one another in the comments, on Twitter with the #DailyGraces or on the Facebook page.

December 3, 2016 – Keeping Chaos Away

Published on December 2, 2016November 9, 2016 by Kate2 Comments

In case you don’t remember, this whole Advent series was inspired by a new cleaning routine I’m trying to stick with.

A load a day keeps the chaos away.

As most stay-at-home parents will tell you, laundry can be very quickly become a mounting tower of terror especially with small children around. If things get out of hand it can be a daunting task to regain control. The FlyLady’s solution is simple. Do one load a day. Start it in the morning, move it in the early afternoon, fold and put away in the evening. One load, start to finish, every day.

We can apply this concept to our prayer life. I’m not going to promise that a prayer a day will keep the chaos, the whining, the broken sink, the traffic or work deadlines away. However, a habit of prayer will help us to handle these unavoidable situations in a more humble, gentle, patient way.

St. Paul encourages us to “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). I believe wholeheartedly in this pearl of wisdom. However, I also know from experience how intimidating a task it can be. Rather like that mountain of laundry. For just starting out on a prayer journey, I find St. Paul’s advice to the Philippians to be a little more manageable:

Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God (Philippians 4:6).

Still a challenge to be sure and definitely similar, but it’s more concrete. Giving all things to God in prayer and most importantly, doing so with a spirit of thanksgiving. I have found that I am a more thankful person when I talk with God every day, even if it is only for a few moments. The longer I go between prayer, the harder it is to find that thankful spirit. Instead I have an attitude of “Why me?” or “Where were you when!” or “I’m just too tired, talk to you later.”

After only one week we already have a few tools in our prayer preparation toolbox. We have a few periods of time each day that are conducive to focused prayer. We have the Sign of the Cross. We have our guardian angels. Let’s add one more inspired by St. Paul’s advice about our disposition regarding prayer. Thankfulness. Instead of begrudgingly giving God those three minutes, let’s offer them with a joyful spirit. The Psalmist tells us

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, His mercy endures forever (Psalms 118:1).

For today, really hone in on these words, they are full of opportunities for reflection during your day.

Give thanks to the Lord….for what? What are you thankful for today?

For He is good…God is always good, even in the midst of a struggle or hardship. Regardless of what is happening in your life today, where do you see the goodness of God? It may be in a place you haven’t looked yet.

God’s mercy…We are wrapping up a whole year dedicated to the mercy of God. God’s mercy is present for us each and every day. What’s more, we are capable of being agents of God’s mercy to one another. Where have you felt God’s mercy? Who showed you God’s mercy? Who have you shown God’s mercy to?

Don’t sit down and expect to answer all these questions in 3 minutes. Wait for your prayer time, say the Sign of the Cross, ask your guardian angel for wisdom. Slowly repeat this verse once or twice and consider just one or two of these questions or one of your own making. Talk to God about it. Ask Him questions, offer petitions, seek reassurance or guidance. Before you know it, your 3 minutes will be up. Pray more if you want but regardless of when you close your prayer, continue your day with a renewed spirit of friendship with God.

If you gain nothing else from these reflections, hopefully some part of this prayer experience will be meaningful enough for you to try and continue it everyday. A prayer a day…

***What other Scripture passages do you like to use for prayer? Have you ever used a specific passage to focus your prayer? Please feel free to share your experience, thoughts and offer support to one another in the comments, on Twitter with the #DailyGraces or on the Facebook page.

December 2, 2016 – It Doesn’t Mean Hoarding

Published on December 1, 2016October 29, 2016 by Kate2 Comments

Have you heard of preppers before? Preppers typically refer to a group of people who believe that the apocalypse or some other kind of calamity is going to fall upon the earth (think zombies) and they must be prepared for it’s arrival. This includes everything from having bunkers in the back yard, being able to make their own food and clothing, find or create fresh water and stocking up on foodstuffs and weaponry. Say what you want about the legitimacy of their claims, you can’t dispute that if they are correct, they are most definitely prepared.

But this kind of preparation, of collecting and stocking up, does not translate to the kind of preparation we have been talking about the past few days. You can’t spend your whole day (or your one hour at Mass) praying and then expect those prayers to “last” for the week or the month. It’s not as if you can put prayers into some form of bank and then withdraw from it until you need to refill it again.

Think of it this way. You have a friend. You and your friend spend a whole day together doing the things you like to do and having quality conversations about life, your friendship, the past, the future, etc. It’s a great day. But then, you don’t call your friend for a year. You don’t reach out, you don’t post on their Facebook wall, you make no effort at connecting with them. Then, you do decide that all the friendship of that day has run out and you try to connect again with your friend. You might be surprised by what you find. Maybe your friend is engaged to be married, maybe they changed jobs, maybe they had a baby. Who knows, but certainly not you since you were disengaged from their life for a whole year.

Now I know this is a rather extreme version but it makes a point. We can’t expect to have a relationship with God when we only talk with Him a few times a month. We definitely can’t expect to build a habit of prayer if we only pray when we are in distressing times or we want something badly. The type of preparation we do in daily prayer isn’t stockpiling, left on a shelf to get dusty and be pulled down in desperation. It is renewing. Each day that we pray, we renew our relationship with God. We allow God to make it deeper, stronger, more trusting and more life-giving. Together with God we are placing our lives on the sturdy foundation that God has made for us. That way, when hard times do come, we find ourselves standing solidly on layers and layers of trusting prayer experience.

***Did you find the presence of your guardian angel comforting? I know I forget about mine and it is good to be reminded that I always have her in my corner. Please feel free to share your experience, thoughts and offer support to one another in the comments, on Twitter with the #DailyGraces or on the Facebook page.