God’s Presence in God’s People

As I enter this time of prayer, I repeat the words of Psalm 80:3, slowly, several times, making them my prayer to God:

‘Restore us, O God; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.’

Pause and repeat

Pause to read the passage 2 Cor. 1:3–4

‘The University of Wisconsin’s Center for the Study of Pain conducted an experiment in which researchers timed how long volunteers could keep their feet in buckets of freezing water. They discovered something very remarkable: whenever a companion was allowed in the room with the person whose feet were being frozen, he or she could endure the cold for twice as long as those who suffered alone. “The presence of another caring person doubles the amount of pain a person can endure,” the researchers said.* The same is undoubtedly true of emotional pain’**

Who reveals God’s loving presence to me? Do I spend enough time with them? Do they know how deeply I value the com- fort their presence brings?

Pause and reflect

The apostle Paul says that we can pass on to others ‘the comfort we ourselves receive from God.’ I take a few moments now to ask the Lord to show me someone who needs to know His comfort (from the Latin con fortare, meaning ‘with strength and support’) expressed through me this week.

Pause and pray

As I bring this time with God to a close, I pray a prayer attributed to Francis of Assisi:

O Master, let me not seek as much

to be consoled as to console,

to be understood as to understand,

to be loved as to love.

Amen.

* Harold S. Kushner, cited in Raymond E. Brown, The Death of the Messiah, xiv.

**Pete Greig, God on Mute, David C Cook, (Colorado Springs, 2020), p237