A Helpful "Centering Prayer"

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.    

Romans 15:13  NIV

   From time to time it is good to be reminded of the practice of “centering prayer”.  A centering prayer is a prayer that brings trust in God back to the center of our heart.  When trust in God gets pushed out of our heart, anxiety or anger take its place.  If we “catch” ourselves being anxious or angry, we can use a centering prayer to reaffirm our trust in God, so that His joy, peace and hope can refill our hearts.   Below is a good example of a centering prayer.

      “Father in Heaven, I trust You.  I believe that You love me and that You are always working for my good.  I believe that You are working for my good right now and that You will ultimately make all things good for me and for all of your people.  Please give me grace to trust You and please fill me with Your joy, peace and hope.”

   Write this prayer down on an index card.  Carry it with you and pray it at various times of the day throughout this week, especially if you sense anxiety or anger rising in your heart.  In some situations, you may need to pray the prayer several times to help you focus your attention on God.  Keep in mind that these are not magic words.  Your prayer must be a sincere expression of your heart.  

Wisdom that Overcomes Anxiety

Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are WISE will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.              Daniel 12:2-3   NIV

A WISE man fears the Lord and shuns evil, but a fool is hotheaded and reckless.        Proverbs 14:16   NIV

    Wisdom starts with honoring God as God.  Wise people are fully aware that God is God and they are not, that God is in control, not them.   A lack of wisdom is the major contributor to both anger and anxiety because these stem from foolishly thinking we can control the circumstances of life.  We stress out and blow up when things seem out of our control because we are not trusting the One who is in control.  Anger and anxiety inevitably lead to regretful decisions.

   

  Daniel is a testament to powerful, yet foolish world leaders who  tried to gain and maintain as much control as possible.  They gained much for a while, but in the end, they lost it all.  In contrast, the end of Daniel speaks of the wise who inherit everlasting life.  They may not have had much along the way, but in the end, they gain everything.

    The beginning of the path of wisdom is learning to acknowledge the sovereign power and gracious love of God each and EVERY DAY.  As Proverbs says, “In all your ways acknowledge him and  he will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:6).  This instruction is parallel to the meaning of “hallowed” in the first line of the Lord’s Prayer.  Jesus teaches us to start every day by acknowledging that God is above and beyond everyone and everything else. This week, begin each day by slowly praying the Lord’s prayer (Matthew 6:9-13), especially paying attention to the first line, “Father in Heaven, HALLOWED be your name.”  The rest of the prayer is about living wisely, in harmony with the God of the universe.