The Shepherd's Heart:
A Renovaré Prayer Guide for a Time of Transition
Fall and Winter 2006

Week One: An Abiding Presence

The Lord went in front of them in a pillar of cloud by day, to lead them along the way, and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light, so that they might travel by day and by night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.

He said, ‘My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.'

Exodus 13:21-22; 33:14

Week One • An Abiding Presence
Monday

Scripture
O Lord, our Sovereign,how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them,mortals that you care for them? Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor. You have given them dominion over the works of your hands . . . — Psalm 8:1, 3-6a

Reading
Jesus' good news about the kingdom can be an effective guide for our lives only if we share his view of the world in which we live. To his eyes this is a God-bathed and God-permeated world. It is a world filled with a glorious reality, where every component is within the range of God’s direct knowledge and control–though he obviously permits some of it, for good reasons, to be for a while otherwise than he wishes. It is a world that is inconceivably beautiful and good because of God and because God is always in it. — Dallas Willard

To Consider
How have I experienced the goodness of God today? In what ways have I seen the world as God-bathed and God-permeated?

A Prayer
O Lord, our God,how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Week One • An Abiding Presence
Tuesday

Scripture
The heavens are telling the glory of God;and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech,and night to night declares knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words;their voice is not heard; yet their voice goes out through all the earth,and their words to the end of the world. In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy,and like a strong man runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of the heavens,and its circuit to the end of them;and nothing is hidden from its heat. — Psalm 19:1-6

Reading
God dwells in his creation and is everywhere . . . present in all His world. God is here. The whole universe is alive with His life. And He is no strange or foreign God, but the familiar Father of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . And as always He is trying to get our attention, to reveal Himself to us, to communicate with us. We have within us the ability to know Him if we will but respond to His overtures . . . We will know Him in increasing degree as our receptivity becomes more perfect by faith and love and practice. — A.W. Tozer

To Consider
In what ways have I been attentive to God today? How have I experienced God trying to get my attention?

A Prayer
To you, O Lord, I lift my soul; in you I trust, O my God.

Week One • An Abiding Presence
Wednesday

Scripture
LORD, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born, or you brought forth the earth and the world,from everlasting to everlasting you are God. — Psalm 90:1-2

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty."Because he loves me," says the LORD, I will rescue him. I will protect him, for he acknowledges my Name. He will call on me and I will answer him. — Psalm 91:1, 14-15a

Reading
. . . God formed us for His pleasure, and so formed us that we, as well as He, can in divine communion enjoy the sweet and mysterious mingling of kindred personalities. He meant us to see Him and live with Him and draw our life from His smile. — A.W. Tozer

To Consider
How have I experienced the love of God today? How am I "living in the shelter of the Most High"? What happened today for which I am thankful?

A Prayer
Lord, you are to be blessed and praised; all good things come from you:you are in our words and in our thoughts,and in all we do. Amen. — Teresa of Avila

Week One • An Abiding Presence
Thursday

Scripture
"Do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you;I have called you by name; you are mine! When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched,nor will the flame burn you." — Isaiah 43:1-2 (NASV)

Reading
Now we exist with God. In Him we live and move. That is so always, the reality of our existence even when we do not sense it. But now we know it to be true; in prayer, the truth of it is suddenly made clear. His presence overshadows us. How can we know that, except by grace: God in us, making known a mystery beyond speech, a knowing deeper than all ordinary knowing? This is the knowing that comes from yielding . . . There must be yielding: yielding to God in us, in others, in Himself. A willingness to bend the knee and know that He has made us, not we ourselves, and most of all, that He has made us to be loved by him and that He loves us, always and most of all. — Emilie Griffin

To Consider
In what ways have I experienced the love of God today? Have I responded with a willingness to yield myself to God and His good way?

A Prayer
O LORD, we pray, help us to yield to your overshadowing presence.

Week One • An Abiding Presence
Friday

Scripture
"In returning and rest shall you be saved;in quietness and in trust shall be your strength." Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice;blessed are all those who wait for him. — Isaiah 30:15, 18

Reading
It is a great lesson to learn that to be silent before God is the secret of true adoration. It is only as the soul bows itself before Him in honor and reverence that the heart will be opened to receive the divine impression of the nearness of God and of the working of his power. Such worship of God is the surest way to give Him the glory that is due Him . . . Do not think that it is lost time. Do not abandon it if at first it appears difficult or fruitless. Be assured that it brings you into right relationship with Him. It leads to the blessed assurance that He is looking on you in tender love and working in you with a divine power. As you become more accustomed to it, you will experience his abiding presence with you all day long, and people will begin to sense that you have been with God. — Andrew Murray

To Consider
How have I experienced God’s abiding presence today? In what ways have I expressed adoration and reverence?

A Prayer
I wait quietly before God…I wait quietly before God, my hope is in him. — Psalm 62:1, 5

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