EHS Practices – Week 8 – Day 5
THEME: A Living Rule
BREATH PRAYER: Father, set me on a path that leads me closer to Your heart.
SETTLING IN:
- In a journal, note the day, time, and place you’re sitting.
- Open with a few moments of silence. Rest, and breathe deeply.
- Complete the following sentence in your journal: Today, I feel ________________.
- Read these words slowly (aloud or silently):
With praise and thanks, they sang this song to the Lord: “He is so good! His faithful love for Israel endures forever!” Then all the people gave a great shout, praising the Lord because the foundation of the Lord’s Temple had been laid. Ezra 3:11
Pray this week’s breath prayer and pause for a few moments of silence.
PRACTICE:
REFLECTION
Find a quiet place to stop and prayerfully reflect over the last eight weeks of Practices in this series.
- Open your journal and look back over what you have written for the past eight weeks while examining Emotionally Healthy Spirituality. If you have time, read through all your journal entries. Otherwise, read your Day 5 summaries from each week.
- In today’s journal entry, write a few sentences about your experience of engaging in the Practices. How did you adjust your schedule to make time to do them each day? Where have you seen the Lord leading you through these studies? Has your understanding of God’s love changed in the past few weeks? In what ways did you sense the enemy putting up resistance to your Practices? Take note of what you learned, what surprised you, or where you experienced frustration.
- Throughout the series, the breath prayers were intended to keep our hearts fixed on Christ throughout our days and weeks. In what ways did the breath prayer help you maintain focus? Did it help you recognize God’s movement in your life? Did He grant you a moment of love or joy or understanding that you otherwise would’ve missed? These moments are answers to your prayer. Write them down, and thank God for giving You this grace.
- Take a moment to look at your Rule of Life from Day 1. Would you like to make any changes or adjustments to it based on what you practiced this week? If so, make those changes and give God thanks for guiding you gently into the first steps of a life-giving Rule.
- Offer your upcoming month to God, inviting Him to meet you regularly as you practice your Rule of Life. Think through any moments that you are looking forward to, and any future events that make you anxious or fearful. Give God thanks that you know He will walk with you through each of these moments, and pray for the grace to notice His presence throughout the coming month.
- As you close in prayer, thank God for walking with you throughout this journey and for bringing you into a deeper love for Him and others.
