Integrated Faith
Today's Reflection
Liturgies can also help us integrate faith with emotions, because we learn that God is with us in our emotional reactions, no matter how unsavory they may be. Even when we have faith, for example, that God gives a new life after death, when a loved one dies, we are still flattened with grief and a devastating sense that the loved one is forever lost to us. We may be angry at God, unable to pray, and feel spiritually dead. A personalized funeral that remembers the life of our loved one and declares the promise of eternal life can be a great comfort. The liturgy takes us to a place that we cannot go by ourselves. The result can be a greatly deepened, grounded, and integrated faith that even in times of greatest despair, God is still with us.
—Tilda Norberg, Gathered Together: Creating Personal Liturgies for Healing and Transformation (Upper Room Books, 2007)
Today's Question
When you’re experiencing a strong emotional reaction, how can you remember that God is with you? Join the conversation.
Today's Scripture
Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing;
O LORD, heal me, for my bones are shaking with terror.
—Psalm 6:2 (NRSVUE)
Prayer for the Week
Great are you, O Lord, and greatly to be praised; great is your power, and your understanding is beyond measure. Amen. [prayer adapted from The Confessions of Saint Augustine]
Submit your prayer to The Upper Room.
Something More
Discover the diverse voices and perspectives that make The Upper Room Disciplines a meaningful companion for daily devotion. Watch a message from the contributors to Disciplines 2025 here.
Lectionary Readings
Reign of Christ
- 2 Samuel 23:1-7
- Psalm 93
- Revelation 1:4b-8
- John 18:33-37
Read the lectionary texts courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library here.
Looking for lectionary-based resources? Learn more about The Upper Room Disciplines.
3 Comments | Join the Conversation.God’s Hands
Today's Reflection
Sooner or later, Christian spiritual growth puts you right up against the conflict between your voracious desire to stay in control and your call to surrender more deeply. Not all control is detrimental, of course, but you do need to give up trying to control the uncontrollable and learn to trust that all is in God’s hands. . . . Seasoned 12-steppers know well that the first steps in recovery involve admitting powerlessness and surrendering control.
—Tilda Norberg, Gathered Together: Creating Personal Liturgies for Healing and Transformation (Upper Room Books, 2007)
Today's Question
When you’re faced with something you can’t control, what do you discover by trusting that “all is in God’s hands”? Join the conversation.
Today's Scripture
Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not rely on your own insight.
—Proverbs 3:5 (NRSVUE)
Prayer for the Week
Great are you, O Lord, and greatly to be praised; great is your power, and your understanding is beyond measure. Amen. [prayer adapted from The Confessions of Saint Augustine]
Submit your prayer to The Upper Room.
Something More
Discover the diverse voices and perspectives that make The Upper Room Disciplines a meaningful companion for daily devotion. Watch a message from the contributors to Disciplines 2025 here.
Lectionary Readings
Reign of Christ
- 2 Samuel 23:1-7
- Psalm 93
- Revelation 1:4b-8
- John 18:33-37
Read the lectionary texts courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library here.
Looking for lectionary-based resources? Learn more about The Upper Room Disciplines.
2 Comments | Join the Conversation.Surrender
Today's Reflection
A large proportion of liturgies I have led have been liturgies of surrender. Admitting in the community of faith that it is time to let go of specific ways of trying to control the world is a wonderful way to create inner spaciousness so that something new can be born. Surrender is a prerequisite for living a more faith-filled and trusting life, and most of us need to keep surrendering more and more deeply as we grow. It’s as if God says, “Come on. Come on, now. Trust me to take care of things. ‘My yoke is easy and my burden is light.’ You don’t have to carry such big burdens. Give the control back to me.”
—Tilda Norberg, Gathered Together: Creating Personal Liturgies for Healing and Transformation (Upper Room Books, 2007)
Today's Question
In what areas of your life might God be inviting you to surrender the burden of control?
Join the conversation.
Today's Scripture
[Jesus said,] "Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest."
—Matthew 11:28 (NRSVUE)
Prayer for the Week
Great are you, O Lord, and greatly to be praised; great is your power, and your understanding is beyond measure. Amen. [prayer adapted from The Confessions of Saint Augustine]
Submit your prayer to The Upper Room.
Something More
Discover the diverse voices and perspectives that make The Upper Room Disciplines a meaningful companion for daily devotion. Watch a message from the contributors to Disciplines 2025 here.
Lectionary Readings
Reign of Christ
- 2 Samuel 23:1-7
- Psalm 93
- Revelation 1:4b-8
- John 18:33-37
Read the lectionary texts courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library here.
Looking for lectionary-based resources? Learn more about The Upper Room Disciplines.
3 Comments | Join the Conversation.Timetable
Today's Reflection
Naturally, we can’t compel God to act on our timetable. Despite our earnest prayers and best willingness to surrender to whatever healing God wants, it may seem that God has put the process on hold. It may even seem that God has gone somewhere else. At this juncture it’s important not to blame or beat ourselves up but to stay open as best we can. We can also ask ourselves if a small part of us just might stand in the way of our surrender.
—Tilda Norberg, Gathered Together: Creating Personal Liturgies for Healing and Transformation (Upper Room Books, 2007)
Today's Question
What practices help you trust God’s timetable? Join the conversation.
Today's Scripture
Suddenly a woman who had been suffering from flow of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, for she was saying to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.” Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that moment.
—Matthew 9:20-22 (NRSVUE)
Prayer for the Week
Great are you, O Lord, and greatly to be praised; great is your power, and your understanding is beyond measure. Amen. [prayer adapted from The Confessions of Saint Augustine]
Submit your prayer to The Upper Room.
Something More
Discover the diverse voices and perspectives that make The Upper Room Disciplines a meaningful companion for daily devotion. Watch a message from the contributors to Disciplines 2025 here.
Lectionary Readings
Reign of Christ
- 2 Samuel 23:1-7
- Psalm 93
- Revelation 1:4b-8
- John 18:33-37
Read the lectionary texts courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library here.
Looking for lectionary-based resources? Learn more about The Upper Room Disciplines.
2 Comments | Join the Conversation.Lifelong Growth
Today's Reflection
We moderns are rediscovering what the ancients knew well: when something is wrong, every part of us is affected. Whether we complain that we are physically sick, emotionally adrift, spiritually bereft, or socially oppressed, we respond with every part of ourselves: body, emotions, mind, spirit, and sociability. As we pray for continued healing, we may well be challenged to attend to each of these realms. My longtime experience in the healing ministry has taught me that human beings are wired for lifelong growth in which God shapes each person’s healing individually and uniquely, weaving in and out of each part of our being.
—Tilda Norberg, Gathered Together: Creating Personal Liturgies for Healing and Transformation (Upper Room Books, 2007)
Today's Question
How can you practice being open to God’s guidance toward lifelong growth? Join the conversation.
Today's Scripture
Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed;
save me, and I shall be saved,
for you are my praise.
—Jeremiah 17:14 (NRSVUE)
Prayer for the Week
Great are you, O Lord, and greatly to be praised; great is your power, and your understanding is beyond measure. Amen. [prayer adapted from The Confessions of Saint Augustine]
Submit your prayer to The Upper Room.
Something More
Discover the diverse voices and perspectives that make The Upper Room Disciplines a meaningful companion for daily devotion. Watch a message from the contributors to Disciplines 2025 here.
Lectionary Readings
Reign of Christ
- 2 Samuel 23:1-7
- Psalm 93
- Revelation 1:4b-8
- John 18:33-37
Read the lectionary texts courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library here.
Looking for lectionary-based resources? Learn more about The Upper Room Disciplines.
2 Comments | Join the Conversation.Healing
Today's Reflection
I believe that it is God’s nature to heal, that is, to continue creating us to be the unique persons God intends. When we are sick; when disaster strikes; when we are buffeted by betrayal, tragedy, abuse, or our own sin; when we are oppressed by distorted social systems, God’s desire is to redeem, transform, and make new. We are saved, redeemed, and born again not just once but repeatedly throughout our lives as we are invited to grow in grace. This growth continues whether we are old or young, renegade or saintly, overtly suffering or feeling pretty well. We can trust that God is always inviting us to the next step in our growth and healing, even at death. At every stage, age, and circumstance in our lives, God nudges us to grow and change.
—Tilda Norberg, Gathered Together: Creating Personal Liturgies for Healing and Transformation (Upper Room Books, 2007)
Today's Question
How are you comforted by the idea that healing is a part of God’s continuous work?
Join the conversation.
Today's Scripture
Wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.
—Mark 6:56 (NRSVUE)
Prayer for the Week
Great are you, O Lord, and greatly to be praised; great is your power, and your understanding is beyond measure. Amen. [prayer adapted from The Confessions of Saint Augustine]
Submit your prayer to The Upper Room.
Something More
Discover the diverse voices and perspectives that make The Upper Room Disciplines a meaningful companion for daily devotion. Watch a message from the contributors to Disciplines 2025 here.
Lectionary Readings
Reign of Christ
- 2 Samuel 23:1-7
- Psalm 93
- Revelation 1:4b-8
- John 18:33-37
Read the lectionary texts courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library here.
Looking for lectionary-based resources? Learn more about The Upper Room Disciplines.
2 Comments | Join the Conversation.