Each invitation to pray is an invitation to bring ourselves home to God’s presence with us, within us, and between us.
It may take a lifetime to discover ourselves naturally feeling at home in God’s presence. So much of our lives are lived in places that do not feel safe to us. Many of us have had experiences where we were harmed. We were not physically, emotionally, or spiritually kept safe. We can still feel uneasy in situations, now even if outwardly there is no definable reason to feel unsafe.
Yet the ache we feel in our heart for our true home is God wooing us to come home and find our safety in God’s pure loving presence.
So, perhaps today as we pause to pray, we might check in with ourselves. Simply notice what feels safe and at ease within and around you as you settle into the quiet. Is there a body feel to that? or a metaphor or picture that is there for you which carries this sense that you are safe with God here in this moment?
Perhaps, you are noticing that its not so easy to settle today, to pause and pray. Maybe something needs to be acknowledged before you find a gentle ease within yourself.
Maybe in general, God’s presence does not feel safe to you. That can be acknowledged too. This is then right where we begin. Give yourself time and permission to be honest with God and yourself about what feels unsafe or uneasy. See if you can be compassionate and non-judgemental towards yourself in the process. Maybe notice what that’s like to be so honest with God about feelings of safety. Notice the way God cares and responds to you in this conversation.
The practice of finding ourselves at home in God – safe, loved, and secure – can steady us in seasons or environments where there is danger, risk, or a general sense of vulnerability.
We can practice coming home to God again and again, finding our home in God’s love and grace.
Psalm 84 NRSV
How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
My soul longs, indeed it faints
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh sing for joy
to the living God.
Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
my King and my God.
Happy are those who live in your house,
ever singing your praise. Selah
Happy are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
As they go through the valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.
They go from strength to strength;
the God of gods will be seen in Zion.
O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
Behold our shield, O God;
look on the face of your anointed.
For a day in your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than live in the tents of wickedness.
For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
he bestows favour and honour.
No good thing does the Lord withhold
from those who walk uprightly.
O Lord of hosts,
happy is everyone who trusts in you.
For Reflection and Prayer:
Was there a word, phrase or image which caught your attention you as you listened to or slowly read the text? Quietly savor this with Jesus.
Notice any felt sense that seems to emerge as you linger with this passage. It might come as a bodily feeling, emotion, metaphor, picture, gesture or sound. See if you can describe it and simply be with it with patient curiosity. Be open to whatever more might emerge.
Perhaps you might want to draw, color or journal your conversation.
As the time of prayer comes to a close, share some quiet moments with Jesus, simply resting safely in his presence.