Scripture: Mark 9.50
“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”
Guided prayers and meditations are a common part of Christian spiritual practice. Return to this prayer through the day or over the weekend, as it will be a different experience based on your mood and surroundings. — John
Reflection: Humble, Welcoming Servants :: A Guided Prayer
By John Tillman
We confess to you, Lord…
When our immaturity demands miracles on our terms
When we struggle to accept the people whom you are calling us to accept
When we take offense
When we are ungrateful for how much you have transformed our lives
That, so many times, it is our own ambitions and selfishness that stand in the way.
Just like the twelve, just like any numbered group, we are concerned about being number one. We argue and attempt to dominate one another.
He asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. — Mark 9.33-34
Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all. — Mark 9.35
Help us to serve all and humbly welcome those whom you place in the center of our gatherings.
He took a little child whom he placed among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.” — Mark 9.36-37
Help us to support those outside our groups who are willing to work in Christ’s name.
We told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”
“Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us. — Mark 9.38-40
Lord, it is not what we see that causes us to stumble, it is our own eyes. It is not what we touch that causes us to stumble, it is our own hands. It is not what we lust for that causes us to stumble. It is our own heart.
If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell. — Mark 9.47
Help us to remove from our lives what causes us to stumble.
Help us to humbly work with those who will work with us.
Help us to be servants to all-comers, not contestants against all-comers.
Help us to remember with thanks the transformative work you have done in our lives.
Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
Know this, the Lord himself is God; he himself has made us, and we are his; we are his people and the sheep of his pasture. — Psalm 100.2
– Prayer from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.
Prayers from The Divine Hours available online and in print.
Today’s Readings
Jeremiah 23 (Listen – 7:13)
Mark 9 (Listen – 6:16)
This Weekend’s Readings
Jeremiah 24 (Listen – 1:54) Mark 10 (Listen – 6:42)
Jeremiah 25 (Listen – 6:12) Mark 11 (Listen – 3:59)
Additional Reading
Read More about Prayers of Woe and Weeping :: Guided Prayer
Weep with Christ prophetically. He weeps that our hypocrisy not only harms us, but blocks the path of redemption for others.
Readers’ Choice
In August we will look back at our readers’ favorite posts of the year. Submit a Readers Choice post.
Tell us about a post and what it meant to you. What post made you think?
