X

New every morning is your love, great God of light, and all day long you are working for good in the world. Stir up in us desire to serve you, to live peacefully with our neighbors and all your creation, and to devote each day to your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

"A Liturgy for Morning Prayer," Upper Room Worshipbook

Used by permission from the Book of Common Worship, © 2018 Westminster John Knox Press. All rights reserved. This prayer appears in “A Liturgy for Morning Prayer” in Upper Room Worshipbook.

Today’s Reflection

OF ALL RELIGIONS, Christianity is perhaps the most social. One cannot be a Christian alone. Even Christian hermits carry with them into their aloneness the liturgy, scripture, and formation of the church. Furthermore, they are traditionally under the spiritual direction of a person or group, which they regard as necessary lest their pilgrimages succumb to personal whim and defensive avoidance.

While scripture clearly states that all human beings are created in the image of God, even at best this image is badly tarnished. One thing is clear: Deep within our souls, actually as proof that we have a soul, is a profound something that will not be quieted. Experienced negatively, this something seems to be an emptiness, an ache, an anguish, an incompleteness, accompanied by an innate cry for it to go away. Experienced positively, it is a yearning, a craving, a desire, a hope. Karl Barth speaks of this active longing as our “universal homesickness.”

– W. Paul Jones
The Art of Spiritual Direction

From page 1 of The Art of Spiritual Direction: Giving and Receiving Spiritual Guidance by W. Paul Jones. Copyright © 2002 by W. Paul Jones. All rights reserved. Used by permission. http://bookstore.upperroom.org/ Learn more about or purchase this book.

Today’s Question

In what ways do you experience a yearning for God? Share your thoughts.

Today’s Scripture

But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to govern us.” Samuel prayed to the LORD, and the LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.

1 Samuel 8:6-7, NRSV

This Week: pray for patience. Submit your prayer to The Upper Room Living Prayer Center or share it in the comment section.

Did You Know?

In need of prayer? The Upper Room Living Prayer Center is a 7-day-a-week intercessory prayer ministry staffed by trained volunteers. Call 1-800-251-2468 or visit The Living Prayer Center website.

This week we remember: Boniface (June 5).

Lectionary Readings

(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)

Sponsored by Upper Room Ministries ®. Copyright © 2018 | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

2 Comments

  • robert moeller Posted June 5, 2018 4:40 am

    Wanting to read the UR daily reflection every morning as I start my day is one way I yearn for God. On walks in my neighborhood, the scenery helps me yearn for God. Mists rising from the mountains, clouds covering their tops, or bright clear days when the whole mountain is visible all help me recognize God’s presence, work, creation.

    No posts here yesterday, I’m writing on the 5th, and this is the post for the 4th. That makes an empty feeling.

  • Francesca Posted June 5, 2018 10:22 am

    In the quietness of the morning I yearn for God. I too look forward to reading and praying with and for family, church, UR friends,students and others. I pray to do more now that school’s out.

Add Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *