Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Mental Prayer for August 16-What a Friend Will Do

Mental Prayer Meditation Helps

Presence of God.

Grace I Ask: Trust and confidence in the personal friendship of our Lord.

Mental Picture (cf. John 2:1-44): A crowd of people - Martha, Mary, friends, and neighbors ­standing in front of a sealed tomb watching our Lord with deep sympathy as He weeps for His dear friend, Lazarus, now lying dead. Then, a quiet command to roll away the stone, a call to Lazarus to come forth, and happiness and rejoic­ing on every face, including that of Christ.

My Personal Application: The people present here had no doubt that our Lord had emotions and feelings as other men had. They saw how personally interested He was in His friends, how completely He understood them. Am I, too, really convinced that Christ, God Himself, is interested in me, that He completely understands me, that He is my personal friend also? Do I have confidence in my parents, in my most intimate friends? Should I have any less con­fidence in Christ, the best of men, the closest of friends? He knows me; He is interested in me ; He wants only my happiness. Then why not approach Him with absolute trust in my daily needs, great and small?

I Speak to Christ: Lord, help me realize that you know me, love me, and want my happiness, not for what I am, because that may change, but for what you are, God and man, absolutely unchang­ing in your friendship. Because you are a man, you experienced man's hopes, needs, sorrows, and joys; because you are God, you can and will aid us in them.

Thought for Today: "Come to me, all you who labor, and I will refresh you."
___________________
Adapted from Mental Prayer, Challenge to the Lay Apostle
by The Queen's Work,(© 1958)

No comments: