Monday March 7, 2022

Today is Monday, March 7 and this week we are exploring what the Bible says about the nature of God.

As I begin this time of prayer, I pause and become still. I breathe slowly and deeply and focus myself entirely upon the triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Pause and Pray

Holy and Loving God, I worship you in the stillness of this new day with a grateful heart. I stand in awe and wonder of your glory and goodness. Speak to me through the power of your Holy Spirit and help me learn to hear your voice above all others. Amen.

I behold the breathtaking majesty and glory of the Creator God and praise him with the words of Psalm 8.

Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? Psalm 8:1,3-4

Pause and Pray

Theology is the understanding of God. Who is God? What is God? What is the nature of God? I look to the ancient scriptures to understand the reality of the God of the universe and I begin at the beginning – creation. God is a creator – the architect of all life. He made all things out of nothing. In nature we get a glimpse of who God is – his glory, power, wisdom, might and divinity. Out of original darkness, God brings forth light. Out of original chaos, God establishes order. Out of original nothingness, God creates beauty and splendor. God calls into existence what does not exist. In the silent vacuum, God speaks something new that never was before. All of creation springs forth fresh from the word of God. From these ancient words of creation, I seek to hear God’s word to me today.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Genesis 1:1-5,31-2:2

The God who created the universe, the sun, moon, and stars, the earth in all its glory, the animals in their vast array also created humanity. God created me, wants to know me and have an intimate love relationship with me. That knowledge is too vast to comprehend. When God finished his work and sat down to rest, he called his creation “very good.” That includes me. I am loved and deemed very good. I consider the places in my life that have yet to form, the dark recesses of my soul, the empty regions of my heart, the anxieties of my spirit. Perhaps the Spirit of God is hovering over me, ready to bring light into my darkness, life into my vacuous emptiness, separate what is right from wrong, order the cluttered turmoil of my existence. Like an unfinished piece of art or lump of clay, God is still working on me, he is in the process of transforming and making me new.

Ask: How does the creative force of God’s nature continue to work in my life today? How can I participate in and cooperate with the power of God’s creative goodness?

Pause and Pray

Blessed Lord, I consider the vastness and beauty of your creation with awe and wonder. Certainly your glory fills the skies and stretches across the heavens. Forgive me when I limit my understanding of you to the smallness of my own experience and ability. Expand my imagination to capture a greater glimpse of your majesty transforming the world, my heart and my life. I read the words from Genesis again and listen for the message you have for me.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Genesis 1:1-5,31-2:2

Ask: What image, word or phrase stands out to me when I slowly read this passage? What is God trying to say to me through these words of scripture?

Pause and Pray

I consider what difference it will make in my life today to comprehend the enormity of God’s creative power and ability. What has been my prayer lately and what have I been longing for? What circumstances in my life would benefit from God’s creative, transforming touch? Perhaps God desires to reveal an answer to my prayer. Maybe he wants to bring light to a place of darkness. Perhaps God wants to fill an emptiness inside me. As the Holy Spirit “hovers” over the formless waters of the deep, I consider how God’s Holy Spirit might be hovering over me. The voice of God interrupts the sterile emptiness and speaks life into what was once void. The power of God’s word changes things and God is speaking his words over me.

Pause and Pray

God of glory, Lord of majesty, I invite you into the hollow places of my heart. I welcome you to the empty dryness of a lonely soul. Come and bring the fire of your love, touch me with the voice of transformation, speak light into my darkness and breathe into me the breath of life. Amen.

Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Genesis 2:5-7

I leave this time of prayer with a renewed sense of wonderment to admire the beauty of God’s creation and love his people in Jesus’ name.

Amen.