John Smith
Spirit of the living God present with us now,
Enter you, body, mind and spirit,
And heal you of all that harms you,
In Jesus’ name, Amen
Energy cleared; judgments relinquished.
A Prayer Diary |
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The Iona healing prayer that I wrote about the other day has become my newest ‘prayer without ceasing’ as I call it. During yesterday’s long walk I said the name of each person on my prayer list and then the prayer. It went like this: John Smith Spirit of the living God present with us now, Enter you, body, mind and spirit, And heal you of all that harms you, In Jesus’ name, Amen Energy cleared; judgments relinquished.
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Spirit of the living God present with us now, Enter you, body, mind and spirit, And heal you of all that harms you, In Jesus’ name, Amen Every few months I feel the need to post this healing prayer from Iona Worship. Often it is just the prayer to send to someone. And that’s the way it was this week. A friend is having some reoccurring and mysterious medical issues and although the medical world is trying to figure out what’s wrong, few answers are forthcoming so far. “I will also use this in my prayers - it's exactly what I needed.” Was my friend’s email response. If you don’t have anyone in mind for this prayer at the moment, keep it available. Someone will appear. Care for the poor, a phrase out there in the ethos these days, from the lips of Pope Francis, scattered among political rhetoric, and expressed from the pulpit and pews of my church. It’s easy to think of the poor as ‘other’, you know, those who are homeless and needing our welfare, certainly not me! But that is not so. Depending on a given circumstance, we are all poor. The blessing is that when we are poor, we need help. And when we need help, we give others the opportunity do just that. Good thing, because tomorrow the roles may be reversed. It is said that it is more blessed to give than to receive, but that just won’t work if there are no receivers. We all have to take a turn at each of the roles. A friend recently reached out for help as she prepares for serious surgery in a few weeks. She will be poor in strength and in her ability to care for herself. She can’t play the I can do it all myself card that we all like to put out on the table. Humility is the new game. She’ll have to admit that she is poor, which is without a doubt one of the hardest things that any of us has to do. In asking for help she has already done so; her poverty is making her rich indeed, rich in faith and hope. Open Lord, my eyes that I may see. Open Lord, my ears that I may hear. Open, Lord, my heart and my mind that I may understand. So shall I turn to you and be healed. As I read this traditional prayer the other morning, all I can say is that I was startled. Startled, because although I’ve read it many times, I’ve never really paid any attention to it, and this time I did. Sure we ask God to open our ears, eyes and heart. And sure Eckart Tolle and others tell us to pay attention to the NOW. We know all of that. But WHY do all of this? I had never considered the why of it all, and that’s what startled me. Sure, so I can see, hear and understand; those words wash over me because they are soooo obvious. But this ancient prayer cuts to the quick. There it is, the God answer. No rhetoric, no hyperbole. Pay attention so you will turn to God and so you will be healed. Spirit of the living God present with us now, Enter you, body, mind and spirit, And heal you of all that harms you, In Jesus’ name, Amen This was my prayer for people today while I was on my walk. I’ve written about this prayer from Iona worship before and undoubtedly I’ll do so again because it seems like just the right prayer for so many situations. Today I was praying for people who are not feeling good about themselves--in the low self-esteem category. I can’t see it; from my perspective they are kind, talented, caring—all of that—but they don’t feel worthy; all they can see are their flaws. All of this harms them, so I am praying that they heal body, mind and spirit. I know deep in my heart that that is what God wants.
The Abbey in the evening.
The Service of Healing at the Abbey is one of my favorites. During the week visitors are invited to write healing requests and place them in a box in the Quiet Corner. At the service the names are read, slowly, deliberately, in categories of need. Those attending the service can either come up and kneel for the laying on of hands for themselves or for people they know, or they can join in the laying on of hands. Here is the prayer, said again and again at the service. I’ve posted it before and written about it; it is definitely one of my favorites. Spirit of the living God present with us now, Enter you, body, mind and spirit, And heal you of all that harms you, In Jesus’ name, Amen Iona Worship One of my ministries is to visit people from my church. Some are hospitalized or in rehab facilities, others are at home but can’t get out easily. I have no official capacity, nor is there any formal expectation that I will pray with them. However, I always go with the possibility that I may ask them if they’d like a prayer. I just wait for God to lead me. Usually these people welcome the invitation, relieved to be invited into this intimate relationship when two or more are gathered together. Why should this praying together be such a hurdle? After all, we worship together at church, chat at coffee hour, serve on committees with one another. Why should it be so difficult to pray together one-on-one during times of illness, when fear and loneliness are apt to come upon us, when we desperately long for God? Taking communion to church members is one of the graces that we can offer. Our members are in nursing homes, hospitals, rehab institutions, home bound, you name it. Many are elderly, with a long history of church going and a deep connection to communion. Today my pastor took communion to one of our elderly members who is in rehab. When I visited him later in the day, I was in awe of depth of his appreciation and the peace that surrounded him. I need to remember that although there is something particularly compelling when the pastor arrives at the door for a visit, all of us can come with blessed bread and wine. |
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