Saturday, Fourth Week of Lent

 SATURDAY, FOUrTH WEEK OF LENT

Presence in Prayer

O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish righteous, you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God. Psalm 7:9

God is beyond, beyond our heart and mind, beyond our feelings and thoughts, beyond our expectations and desires, and beyond all the events and experiences that make up our life. Still, he is in the center of all of it. Here we would touch the heart of prayer since here it becomes manifest that in prayer the distinction between God’s presence is never separated from his absence and God’s absence is never separated from his presence. His presence is so much beyond the human experience of being together that quite easily is perceived as absence. His absence, on the other hand is often so deeply felt that it leads to a new sense of his presence.

Lord, I believe you are never absent – help my unbelief!

Henri J. M. Nouwen

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