Claimed, gathered and sent

This morning as I was praying and meditating, one word came to me, "settle." I thought about the way we communicate this to our pets, to settle down. For me, however, that is only a piece of what "settle" meant for me this morning.  First of all, I needed to settle   into before I could settle down. That settling into meant to relax and like settling into your favorite chair, feeling that "Ahh." Once that happened, I could ask the Lord to settle my busy mind, my busy tongue, my busy eyes and to open my ears both to what God's message is throughout the day and to be a better listener in general. But for me, the capstone was for God to settle my heart into God's presence. How have you experienced the voice of the Father in prayer and meditation? Picture

I think if we are honest with ourselves, the main battleground in quiet, meditative prayer and Bible reading, is our wandering minds. It has been wonderful, several times a week to gather with a few others and prayerfully, meditatively read scripture. We gain wonderful insights and blessings from approaching this discipline communally. But it is in those moments of silence, when I should be pondering profound passages like, "But not so with you; rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves" (Luke 22:26), that my mind wanders to what I need to pick up at the store later, what's coming up class work-wise, or sometimes I'm on the brink of falling asleep. It is at those times that I feel a bit like one of those sleeply disciples Jesus scolded for not being able to stay awake while he prayed in Gethsemane. Yes, I know God is gracious and merciful and knows my heart, but it is exasperating how difficult it can be to be full...