Quench your thirst

Quench your spirit's longing with for prayerful time with God. These meditations and devotions will nurture prayer for individuals and groups. Satisfy your spirit's longing for prayerful time with God. These devotions and meditations will nurture prayer for individuals and groups.



DEVOTIONS: for groups pursuing SPLASH! activities together.
   Devotion 1  Emphasizing ministry in our daily places. 
   Devotion 2  Encouraging people to express their visions of ministry in their daily places and in their congregations.

MEDITATIONS: for individual or group reflection
   Meditation 1  Inviting people to both visualize and articulate their feelings in prayer. 
   Meditation 2  Pondering the meaning of life. 
   Meditation 3  Asking us to explore our gifts—and what it means to release them. 
   Meditation 4  Learning to understand ourselves. 
   Meditation 5  Seeing and appreciating our lives. 
   Meditation 6  Knowing our daily feelings. 
   Meditation 7  Expressing daily acts of ministry. 
   Meditation 8  Growing in relationship.

BIBLICAL REFLECTION: scriptural references relevant to SPLASH! topics 

PRAYER STARTERS



DEVOTIONS

Devotion 1
Emphasizing ministry in our daily places.

Sing Hymn #554 (Lutheran Book of Worship) “This is My Father’s World.”

Ask participants to close their eyes and picture where they work—where most of their daily activities occur. Imagine that place as a room in God’s house. Who is there? What is going on? Are there other people there? What are they doing?

Use the Daily Places circle as a visual guide. Go from category to category, asking those who signed in under each category to name the names of other people in their daily places. Then pause for a moment of silent prayer for the work and ministry that occurs in these particular places.

Conclude with petitions for sensitivity and gifts to touch the needs and issues in each of these rooms of God’s house.

Devotion 2
Encouraging people to express their visions of ministry in their daily places and in their congregations.

Sing Hymn #551 (Lutheran Book of Worship) “Joyful, Joyful.”

Read the following answer Yakov Smirnoff (comedian, Soviet émigré to the U.S.) gave to the question, “What is the meaning of life?”

“My mother told me a story when I was a child. When Leo Tolstoy was an old man he was planting little apple trees. His neighbor laughed at him and called him a silly old man, because when the apples finally grew he wouldn’t be around to eat them. Tolstoy told him, ‘Yes, but other people will eat them and they will think of me.’ I think that’s what we’re supposed to do: Leave more than we’ve found, give more than we’ve received, love more than we’ve been loved. And while we’re here, we should always rewind the videotapes before returning them to the store.”

Go back to the Daily Places circle. Ask what “trees” participants are planting in their daily places. What “fruits” do they hope others will enjoy? Think about the directions they have been discussing for their congregations. What “trees” do they intend to plant among the members there?

Invite people to share possibilities, then weave them into an offering prayer … OR pray together St. Francis’ Prayer (Lutheran Book of Worship p. 48).



MEDITATIONS

Meditation 1
Inviting people to both visualize and articulate their feelings in prayer.

On a blank piece of paper, draw a picture that symbolizes how you are feeling at this moment about your life journey. (It may be a word picture if you prefer.) Be creative! Have fun!

After a few minutes, gather with other participants (if you are working with a group), and share a sentence prayer that reflects your feelings about your picture.

Meditation 2
Pondering the meaning of life.

Make copies of the reading that follows, excerpted from a speech made by Jesse Jackson during his campaign for the U.S. presidency.

Read out loud what Rev. Jackson proposes, but don’t name him as author until you have completed the reading, or after a few moments of silence.

Questions you might ask participants to think about quietly or share with others:

• Which of Rev. Jackson’s two questions strike you as personally important? (“Why are we here?” and “What is the meaning of life?”)
• “We live on the dash between our birth date and our death date.” What else comes to mind, if you consider the dash as a metaphor for other elements of life?
• Sometimes “vocation” is limited to those with pastoral ministries, or those with “caring” or “kindness-giving” work. Where do you see “service to others” that is not necessarily or obviously caring or kind? How does it give meaning to life?
• Who else do you know that has echoed or framed Rev. Jackson’s appeal, but perhaps using different language or metaphors? What do their words mean to you?

At the end of the time of meditation, distribute copies of the reading for participants’ discussion or further sharing. End with a time of prayer that incorporates some of the thoughts expressed in Rev. Jackson’s words.

Why are we here? What is the meaning of life?

These two questions cannot really be answered with the mind alone, though intellect can clarify issues and help to point the way. Ultimately, one answers these questions existentially—through a life lived.

Life is given without our input. We live on the dash between our birth date and our death date. The dash does not give us answers, it gives us options and opportunities. Each of us gives a "faith response" and affirmation in every nano-second of our daily lives as to why we think we are here and what purpose our life has. Through faith—hopefully on the other side, not just this side, of reason—I believe we are here to do God's will. God's general will is for us to join God as mortal co-creators in seeking to apply means and ends that are consistent with God's nature—which includes love, power and justice—in preserving and making the world, others and ourselves all that it, they and we should and can be.

To fulfill God's general will, God's specific will for our individual lives is revealed to us through the gifts given to us, the context into which we are born, the needs we see around us, our feelings, interests and experiences, our own reason, combined with wise counsel from others, personal prayer and an inner assurance for each of us that is right.

Each of us has a calling. Vocare, "to call," is the Latin base of the word vocation. Thus each of us, not just clergy, is called by God to his or her vocation. No one on the giving or receiving end ever seems to regret this truth at the end of his or her life: that the key to life is service to others, service rendered in a way that is liberating and not demeaning. We are not each other's "keepers," we are each other's brothers and sisters. And it is in struggle and service with our brothers and sisters, individually and collectively, that we find the meaning of life.

Meditation 3
Asking us to explore our gifts—and what it means to release them.

We ask to know God's will without perceiving that God's will is written into our very being. We perceive that will when we discern our gifts. Our obedience and surrender to God are in large part our obedience and surrender to our gifts. This is the message wrapped up in the Parable of the Talents.

When we think of the church in terms of sharing gifts rather than tasks, we might begin to re-member. The word re-arrange is often used. However, the word re-arrange seems to come from the outside, not from the inside. To re-member means to rekindle, renew, place people into environments that permit re-membering.

Because our gifts carry us into the world and make us participants in life, the uncovering of them is one of the most important tasks confronting any one of us. When we talk about being true to ourselves—being the persons we are intended to be—we are talking about gifts. We cannot be ourselves unless we are true to our gifts.

Ask participants to imagine themselves – eyes-closed and quiet -- as though they embody their entire congregation. They find themselves in a difficult predicament: For some odd reason, all their limbs have become dislocated; it is only with great pain that these members work at all. It feels like arms and legs, joints and bones and sinews are about to fall off, or like they’re scraping against each other painfully. The feeling of helplessness is growing, and with it a kind of panic about slowly growing useless or powerless to accomplish anything.

The imagining continues: Now something wonderful happens. Because of the calm and sure hand of a medical practitioner – doctor, nurse, physical therapist, surgeon, chiropractor or healer – the various members are slowly-but-surely returned to use. Pain decreases, muscles regain their tone, coordination and flexibility return, fear diminishes and usefulness is now possible again.

Finish the imagining time with questions-for-thought:

• What else was wrong when your members were dislocated? What else was right when they were working well again?
• What made the difference between “dislocated-and-useless” and “whole and connected?”
• What did the healing person do for you, with you?
• Think about other comparisons between “dislocated body parts” and “a congregation with disconnected members.”

Share out loud the reading below, with no comment:

(insert reading, beginning “We ask to know God’s will without perceiving....)

When you have completed the reading, conclude with a prayer that includes thoughts about God’s gracious healing, God’s capacity to re-member us as the Body of Christ, and the wonderful array of gifts found among the participants present.

Meditation 4
Learning to understand ourselves.

Invite participants to spend one week in meditation on the subject of daily life ministry, using this outline to make your own instructions or guidelines. (You might also post these thoughts, one day at a time, on your personal or congregational Web site.)

Day One - Think about this question: “What do you like most about yourself, and how has God given you that gift?” Today pray that this quality will reveal Christ to others through you.

Day Two - Consider how you will answer this question, “What do you like least about yourself, and how might God change this quality?” Today pray for forgiveness and a new heart. 

Day Three - Inventory your gifts with this question, “What are the unique personal gifts God has given you?” Today pray for a discerning spirit about yourself.

Day Four - Collect your prayer thoughts with this question, “What are some of your special talents, and how has God developed them in you?” Today pray for a generous heart, so that God-given talents are shared with God-blessed people.

Day Five - Ask yourself, “Am I using the best of myself in God’s world?” Today pray for usefulness in God’s own purposes, God’s work in the world.

Day Six - Think of this question, “What are ten places or ways in which you give your life away for God’s will?” Today pray for the courage to devote your life to God’s purposes, wherever you find them.

Day Seven - On this day of rest, spend your prayer time in gratitude for all that God has done in your life, and for all the good God accomplishes through your life.

Meditation 5
Seeing and appreciating our lives.

Write (or depict) how you see your life at this point. What would it take for you to feel good about your life—the life God has given you and that which you have created?

Draw a map that shows your responses to both of the following prompts:

• What it takes (would take) for you to feel good about what God accomplishes through your life.
• How trusted and loving others describe what God does through your life.

(HINT: A “map” can be a diagram or a chart; it can show progress along a path or relationships between ideas. By the use of color and simple drawings, you can add intriguing elements that will help you and others talk about the matter of God’s work in your life.)

Share the maps with other participants and pray with each other about what you have heard and seen. Ask for forgiveness, certainly, but also thank God for the life God has given you, and the way you have been a steward of that gift.

Meditation 6
Knowing our daily feelings.

In your private journal or weblog, write or draw how you feel about:

• Yesterday and today, in comparison to each other or as a unit of time.
• What makes you happy, angry, depressed, joyful, jealous, fearful or thankful. (Other emotions might come to mind, too; the emphasis is on what lies at the foundation of those emotions.)
• What you do can do to turn negative aspects of your life into positive ones, or how you can make what appears to be negative into a God-grace asset.

Meditation 7
Expressing daily acts of ministry.

Write about (or depict) your daily life and how you express "ministry" in it.

“Ministry” is a word that might have a variety of meanings, formally and informally. Write a “letter for posterity” to a friend, a family member or a congregation member – you might mail the letter or save it among the artifacts of your life story – and tell that person what you have considered to be your mission in life, your ministry in God’s kingdom, the part of God’s purpose you’ve taken on. Have fun determining how the person will (eventually) receive the letter from you.

Meditation 8
Growing in relationships.

Write and pray about relationships with people who influence your daily life:

• Who are the important people in your life? 
• Is there anything you need to do to improve relationships with these people? 
• Is there anything you would like these people to forgive you for? 

Today, take a walk – alone or with a friend – and pray silently or out loud (together) about any of these matters:

• Who have been the important people in your life?
• Is there anything for which you’d like these people to forgive you?

BIBLICAL REFLECTION

For individual reflection, choose a different passage each day, or one passage you want to reflect on for a full week. Allow yourself to think more and more deeply about how God might be speaking to your daily life and sense of call through the passage.

Baptism/Baptized/Baptize.
We name and claim ourselves as the baptized people of God.
Mark 10:39 
Acts 2:38 
Romans 6:3-4 
Galations 3:26-29 

Call/Called.
We are called to believe, called to be in the world. God the caller is constant, even as the content changes.
Isaiah 45:3-4 
John 15:15 
1 Corinthians 7:17 
1 Corinthians 1:26 
Romans 9:25 
Jeremiah 15:16 
Acts 13:2 

Faith/Faithful.
God calls us to faithful living in all aspects of human endeavor.
Habakkuk 2:4 
Matthew 9:29 
Luke 16:10-12 
1 Corinthians 1:9 
2 Corinthians 4:13-15 
2 Corinthians 5:6-7 
Galatians 3:23-26 
Ephesians 2:8 

Ministry/Ministering/Ministers.
There are a variety of ministries and a variety of ministers called to accomplish them.
2 Corinthians 3:6, 5:18, 9:11-13 
Ephesians 4:12-13 
1 Thessalonians 5:11 

In this post-Christendom era, our mission to the world is critical.
Judges 18:5-6 
Luke 4:14-20 
Matthew 28:16-20 

Priesthood. 
The classic passages related to our understanding of the priesthood of all believers appear in 1 Peter:
1 Peter 2:5 
1 Peter 2:9-10 

Renew/Renewal/Renewing.
God renews the world with seasons. We renew our lives and our congregations as things change and we grow in our understanding of God's will.
Isaiah 40:31 
Zephaniah 3:17 
Romans 12:2 
Colossians 4:16 
2 Corinthians 4:16 
Ephesians 4:22-24 

Remember.
The Old Testament is rich in "re-membering" passages because of the history it records. Browse and choose. In the New Testament, read:
Luke 1:72 
Luke 22:18 
John 12:16 
1 Thessalonians 1:2-3 

Worker God.
The Bible often uses human occupations to depict God. Here are a few:
Isaiah 48:10-11 (metalworker) 
Jeremiah 18:1-3 (general work) 
Zephaniah 3:17 (performer) 
Matthew 6:30 (garment maker) 
2 Corinthians 9:6, 7, 9, 10 (farmer) 
Psalm 102:15 (builder)

PRAYER STARTERS

Practice being still before you begin to pray. Allow the Spirit to enter your mind and body and direct your prayer.

Ask members of your family and your friends to pray for you as you embark on this SPLASH! journey. Ask them what new roads they are traveling, so you can pray for them as well.

Reflect on how God might be working in your workplace. Where do you see God using you there? How does God minister through others? Pray for that activity. Form comfort. For guidance. For the lives of others.

Picture the members of your congregation and how their lives and your life together help to improve and sustain God's world. Pray for your congregation as the body of Christ in the world.

Think of a favorite prayer from your childhood. One you may have forgotten. Recite it again and again. What new meaning does it have for you as an adult?

Pick up a book of prayers at the church or the library and find a written prayer that has meaning for you. Copy it down, allowing it to speak to you more deeply each time you read it. Read it aloud as well.

If you are using SPLASH! activities with a group:

• Each day between meetings, pray for each of the other participants by name.
• Pray for your next SPLASH! session — that it will be meaningful to you and your team.