Day 4
Loving God with
All Your Heart
Or
Drawing Closer to
God While Scrubbing Toilets
This
week we’re looking at different methods of prayer and communing with God. Heather came up with a great list, which,
although not comprehensive, can be used as a launch pad for creative ways of
drawing close to God. The result is that God reveals Himself and interjects
Himself more and more into your life, thoughts and actions.
All
of us have some time when we do mundane chores that can be done by rote. Dishes, lawn mowing, scrubbing toilets,
stacking wood, folding clothes, etc., etc.
Adding to Heather’s list, here are a few from my personal
experience:
Ask God questions while scrubbing toilets and listen for
His answers. Jesus promised that, “When
the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth for He will not
speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will
declare to you the things that are to come.”
John16:13
While making beds or ironing or folding clothes, pray for
those who sleep in those beds or wear those clothes.
While stacking wood, thank God for His provision of warmth
and shelter. Thank him for His creation
and let Him teach you how to be a good steward of His blessings. Pray for those who lack provision, shelter,
etc.
I
covet those times when I can do mundane chores without anyone around as it is
at those times that I have experienced God deeply and enjoyed our conversations
and His assurance of His love for me.
That assurance draws me into a greater love for Him and for others.
Let’s
learn a bit from an expert. Brother
Lawrence, born in France
early in the seventeenth century, lived from age 18 in a monastery where he was
assigned kitchen duties.
Brother
Lawrence writes, "Men invent means and methods of coming at God's love,
they learn rules and set up devices to remind them of that love, and it seems
like a world of trouble to bring oneself into the consciousness of God's
presence. Yet it might be so simple. Is it not quicker and easier just to do
our common business wholly for the love of him?"
For
Brother Lawrence, "common business," no matter how mundane or
routine, could be a medium of God's love. The sacredness or worldly status of a
task mattered less than motivation behind it. "Nor is it needful that we
should have great things to do. . . We can do little things for God; I turn the
cake that is frying on the pan for love of him, and that done, if there is
nothing else to call me, I prostrate myself in worship before him, who has
given me grace to work; afterwards I rise happier than a king. It is enough for
me to pick up but a straw from the ground for the love of God."
Brother
Lawrence felt having a proper heart about tasks made every detail of his life
possess surpassing value. "I began to live as if there were no one save
God and me in the world." Brother Lawrence felt that he cooked meals, ran
errands, scrubbed pots, and endured the scorn of the world alongside God. One
of his most famous sayings refers to his kitchen:
"The
time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer; and in the
noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time
calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I
were upon my knees before the Blessed Sacrament.”
What mundane tasks could become times
of worship in your day?
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What are some of your regular tasks that
would offer you a chance to give thanks?
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Prayer: Reflecting specifically on this
devotional, write out a prayer to God.
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