Season of goodness, praising God with blessing and adoration
Prayer teaches us to love….it opens our heart and mind to live as a true daughter or son of God. We hear God’s voice in a direct way when we spend time in scripture and in prayer, observing the word of God, and acting on it. This is the lost art of letting God love you; and the lost art of seeing God. There are seasons of prayer:
Season of Goodness where we praise God with blessing and adoration.
Season of Neediness where we ask God for what we need, including forgiveness in prayers of petition.
Season of Asking when we ask God for what others need with prayers of intercession.
Season of Gratitude where we thank God for what we’ve been given us and done in prayers of Thanksgiving.
Which season are you in today? A season of praise is always a good one.
Today is a day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad! Amen
Spiritual life calls us to grow up and seek a level of maturity. John 15:7-8 states, “If you make yourself at home with me, and my words are at home with you, you can be sure that whatever you ask, will be listened to, and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples.”
Lord, a tree is known by its fruits and a man is known by his deeds. A good deed is never lost. Help us sow courtesy and reap friendship. Help us plant kindness and gather love. Amen
As humans, we overcomplicate things. There is richness in the simple things, when we focus and go deeper within the meaning. Matthew 6:5-14 from The Message is our prayer of simplicity today:
And when you come before, God, don’t turn that into a theatrical production either. All these people making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for 15 minutes of fame! Do you think God sits in a box seat?
Here’s what I want you to do: find a quiet, secluded place, so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply, and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.
The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer ignorant. They are full of formulas and programs and advice, pedaling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don’t fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God, like this loving you, you can pray very simply like this:
When we take the time daily to meditate on the goodness of Jesus, it becomes so much easier to be who He desires us to be. We begin to realize that everything He asks of us is for our own good.
But first, we have to be still in order to know.
Be still and know I am God. Psalm 46:10
Lord, help me be still. Help me know that You are God. Let me be still, calm, peaceful, and open to Your presence.
Tomorrow is the first day of December and marks for many the beginning of the Christmas season. During the hustle and bustle of the season, it is hard to stay grounded in the true meaning of the season. Through the month of December, Smitten with Goodness will invite you to take a few moments each day to prepare your mind and heart to receive the gift of Advent, the birth of Our Lord and Savior.
Preparing Our Heart for God’s Goodness is a 25-day journey to renew your mind and prepare your heart to embrace the beauty of God’s goodness. When we stand in solidarity with our Creator, we unite our thoughts with His and surrender to His beauty and love.
God loves us so much that He became human, through Christ Jesus, so we can have eternal life. So, we can experience true joy and happiness. To live a full life and bear good fruit.
Through His mercy and compassion, He set us free.
But we must stand firm, fighting the spiritual battle and not go back to the slavery of ourselves through sin. Our natural tendency is to be drawn to the works of the flesh. We are called to live in the Spirit and not in the flesh.
When we live in the Spirit, we trust and surrender to love. Love engulfs our hearts and we become who He created us to be. In turn, we bring this love to the world – loving our neighbor as ourselves.
As we prepare our hearts to celebrate the birth of our Savior, commit to taking in the daily scripture, reflection, wise words, and prayer. Reflect on these words of truth throughout your day as you are able. By rejecting the works of the flesh and living in the Spirit we embrace God’s goodness and the true reason for the season.
As we prepare our hearts for Advent, let’s yearn for peace. Our lamentations will be heard and our prayers help ease the places of suffering from war and violence for which we can pray concretely today: Israel, Palestine, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Mali, Libya, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Colombia. Take some time to meditate on this prayer for peace written by Patricia Navas González, published in Alethia.
Dear Father in heaven,
You created us out of love and await us behind every event, great and small. United in Christ with all our brothers and sisters who are suffering from armed conflict today, and knowing that we are “wrapped” in the mantle of Mary our Mother, we stretch out our hands to welcome your peace.
Have mercy on all those who have died among countless attacks and on their loved ones, on the wounded, on those who have killed someone, and on all the people suffering due to violence.
We pray to you, Almighty God: stop war and the use of weapons. Give us your peace.
Grant us the humility to recognize our littleness and the wisdom to accept your love and your salvation, which come to us through the cross and atonement.
Disperse the evildoers who sow violence, lies, and hatred in human hearts. Send us your Holy Spirit, who awakens pity, compassion, and forgiveness, and enables us to unite as brothers and sisters for your glory.
I place myself entirely at your disposal so that you may use me along with others to bring peace to the world. Unite me to You, in what I feel and what I think, in all that I am.
Accept now my efforts and sacrifices to empty myself of my selfish interests. Fill my heart with your love and make it be expressed in my eyes, my words, my actions, my life.
May I thus collaborate in the spread of justice and love. May I help you to foster reconciliation and open the world to your eternal riches.
Grant, O Lord, that we may always revere and love your holy name, for you never deprive of your guidance those you set firm on the foundation of your love.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.
Hallowed… Holy. What do I name as holy in my life?
The saints understood the need for a singular focused heart. Not one formed by the world but one aligned with our creator.
St. Benedict of Nursia says, “You change your life by changing your heart.” St. Therese of Lisieux stated: Jesus, help me to simplify my life by learning what you want me to be, and becoming that person.
As scripture reminds us, we are to be new wine.
No one patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth, for its fullness pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse. People do not put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved. Matthew 9:14-17
Thank you, Lord, for giving me a new heart to fill up with the things you deem worthy.
Thanksgiving is the public acknowledgement or celebration of divine goodness. It is the act of giving thanks, a prayer expressing gratitude. It is easy to look beyond our circle of influence and be overwhelmed by the critical and inconsiderate world we see in the media and social media. With grace, we can open our eyes and hearts to the divine goodness in front of us when we slow down and be present in our life.
It is relatively easy to forget about all the good things God has done for us and to neglect giving thanks for our blessings. Reading Psalm 103 can help foster a spirit of thanksgiving by keeping our eyes focused on the good God has done for us.
He fills our days with good things.
Psalm 103:5
Eucharist, from the Greek word “eucharista”, means thanksgiving. The Catholic Church teaches that “the Eucharist is ‘the source and summit of the Christian life.’” Participation in Holy Communion during Mass, consumed with a humble heart, allows the Spirit to increase in me, decreasing my strong will and self-reliance. This allows me to fill my heart with His goodness and surrender to Christ as King of my life.
Sometimes we must jump with both feet into faith and trust. Other times we need to slow down and appreciate what is in front of us. Expressing gratitude helps us cultivate a thankful heart. Gratitude turns what we have into enough.
Happy Thanksgiving and for being Smitten With Goodness!
We are called to have a grateful heart. Throughout scripture there are repeated calls to action to give thanks to God. Thanksgiving is to always be a part of our prayers. Some of the most remembered passages on the giving of thanks are the following:
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6).
“Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men” (1 Timothy 2:1).
Of all of God’s gifts, the greatest one He has given is the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. On the cross of Calvary, Jesus paid our sin debt, so a holy and just Judge could forgive us our sins and give us eternal life as a free gift. This gift is available to those who will call on Christ to save them from their sin in simple but sincere faith (John 3:16; Romans 3:19-26; Romans 6:23; Romans 10:13; Ephesians 2:8-10). For this gift of His Son, the gift which meets our greatest need, the Apostle Paul says, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15).
We have a choice. In life there will always be those things that we can complain about but there will also be much to be thankful for.
May God grant that He may find us grateful every day for all of His gifts, spiritual and material. God is good, and every good gift comes from Him (James 1:17). For those who know Christ, God also works everything together for good, even events we would not necessarily consider good (Romans 8:28-30).
Smitten With Goodness 