Prayer of Mother Teresa

Dear Jesus, help us to spread Your fragrance
everywhere we go.

Flood our souls with Your spirit and life.
Penetrate and possess our whole being so utterly
that our lives may only be a radiance of yours.
Shine through us and be so in us

that every soul we come in contact with
may feel Your presence in our soul.

Let them look up and see no longer us, but only Jesus.
Stay with us and then we shall begin to shine as You shine,
so to shine as to be light to others.

The light, 0 Jesus, will be all from You.
None of it will be ours.

It will be You shining on others through us.
Let us thus praise You in the way You love best
by shining on those around us.

Let us preach You without preaching,

not by words, but by our example;

by the catching force ‑

the sympathetic influence of what we do,
the evident fullness of the love our hearts bear to You.
Amen.

           

Four Waters of Prayer

From The Life of St Teresa by Herself, Penguin, 1957

A beginner must look on himself or herself as one setting out to make a garden for his Lord's pleasure, on most unfruitful soil, which abounds in weeds. His Majesty roots up the weeds and will put in good plants instead. Let us reckon that this is already done when a soul decides to practice prayer and has begun to do so. We have then, as good gardeners, with God's help, to make these plants grow, and to water them carefully so that they do not die, but produce flowers, which give out a good smell, to delight this Lord of ours. Then He will often come to take His pleasure in this garden and enjoy these virtues.

Now, let us see how this garden is to be watered, so that we may understand what we have to do, and what labour it will cost us, also whether the gain will outweigh the effort, or how long it will take. It seems to me that the garden may be watered in four different ways. Either the water must be drawn from a well, which is very laborious; or by a water wheel and buckets, worked by a windlass. I have sometimes drawn it in this way, which is less laborious than the other, and brings up more water. Or it may flow from a stream or spring, which waters the ground much better, for the soul then retains more moisture and needs watering less often, which entails far less work for the gardener. Or by heavy rain, when the Lord waters it Himself without any labour of ours, and this is an incomparably better method than the rest.

Now to apply these four methods of watering, by which this garden is to be maintained and without which it will fail. This is my purpose, and will, I think, enable me to explain something about the four stages of prayer, to which the Lord has, in His kindness, something raised my soul.
 
On the first water

We may say that beginners in prayer are those who draw the water up out of the well; which is a great labour, as I have said. For they find it very tiring to keep the senses recollected, when they are used to a life of distraction. Beginners have to accustom themselves to pay no attention to what they see or hear, and to put this exercise into practice during their hours of prayer, when they just remain in solitude, thinking whilst they are alone of their past life. This is what I mean by beginning to draw water from the well – and God grant there may be water in it!
(Pages 78-79)

15 Lessons I have Learned From Life

1. I have learned that I cannot make someone love me. All I can do is be someone who can be loved. The rest is up to them.

2. I have learned that no matter how much I care some people just don't care back.

3. I have learned the importance of forgiveness because the past can affect your future if you let it.

4. I have learned that my background and circumstances may have influenced who I am, but I am responsible for who I become.

5. I have learned that I can keep going long after I can’t.

6. I have learned that God’s way is better than my own.

7 Signs of Intimacy With God

1. Your central desire is to know, love, and serve God. Though you still live in a fallen-world that often clouds your perceptions, your heart has pretty well been purged. The world and its pleasures and attachments have been set aside and you are free with undivided heart and mind to follow God.
2. The longings and fears that have long dominated your spiritual experience have passed. You are confident of your place with God, no longer afraid of displeasing Him, and confident that He leads you according to His will.
3. You are now a new person – fully alive and available to Him. The spiritual goal of a love relationship with God has resulted in your wholeness, holiness, and service.
4. You live to love God and serve His will.
5. The tyranny of sin has ended, combating against your daily sins has ended, and tasting the goodness of God is real. Peace permeates everything.
6. Dryness in prayer is gone, dark nights of the soul are gone; the mystery of God’s presence and comfort is everywhere.
7. Fruits of the Spirit now abound. They are really spiritual in nature and not emotional or behavior.

The Impact of Attitude

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do.

It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company, a church or a home.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable.

The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10 percent of what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it. And so it is with you. We are in charge of our attitudes.

~ Charles Swindoll

Nothing Satisfies

By Mrs. Charles E. Cowman
Taken From: Streams in the Desert

"It is not in me" (Job 28:14).

I remember a summer in which I said, "It is the ocean I need," and I went to the ocean; but it seemed to say, "It is not in me!" The ocean did not do for me what I thought it would. Then I said, "The mountains will rest me," and I went to the mountains, and when I awoke in the morning there stood the grand mountain that I had wanted so much to see; but it said, "It is not in me!" It did not satisfy. Ah! I needed the ocean of His love, and the high mountains of His truth within. It was wisdom that the "depths" said they did not contain, and that could not be compared with jewels or gold or precious stones. Christ is wisdom and our deepest need. Our restlessness within can only be met by the revelation of His eternal friendship and love for us. -- Margaret Bottome

Living in The Presence Of God

Many believers and ministers can get so busy that they forget to just bask in the presence of God. We must take every opportunity to dwell in God's presence and bask in His glory when God reveals Himself. I always bask in His presence every morning. I live in and feed from His divine energy and nurturing presence flowing through me.

Enjoying God's presence is like drinking the coolest, sweetest water after walking all day in the desert. Drink deeply and take your time. Enjoy your drinking and enjoy the great pleasure of the presence of God. When you drink down the contents of your cup, your heart will cry out for the manifestation of God’s glory. Your hunger will be awakened for more of the majesty of His presence and the splendor of His transforming power.   

If you want to live a positive, joyful life, and become a blessing to others, you must learn to practice the presence of God. When you practice the presence of God, your whole life becomes reorganized around the central fact that God is at work in you and through you by the power of his love. I never leave the presence of God in the same way I entered. Each time I encounter God, I am changed and I never leave His presence empty-handed. One moment in the presence of the Most High God can changes everything.  

God Loves You

One of our basic needs is to be loved. That’s where our God-need comes in. God knows we need love. God provides that love – not because we deserve love, but simply because God wants to love us. We don't have to be perfect to be loved. God loves us not because we are perfect. The truth is He loves us to make us perfect. He loves us because He is Love. But sadly, very few people really take that love for what it is, a free and unconditional gift. Most of us have been trained to earn love.

At this moment, you may be very discouraged about life. Life may now appear to you as an endless, tragic treadmill, not really worth living or having. Perhaps you are saying, right now, life holds nothing for me -- it is only a bum rap, a lousy trip. Nobody loves me and nobody cares if I live or die. 

In the midst of your despair, and your doubt, and frustration, and hopelessness, I want you to know that God loves you and really cares for you. Since God made you like himself, then your life must have tremendous meaning, destiny, and purpose. Jesus said that He came that we may have life, and have it more abundantly. God wants us to be happy and fulfilled. The truth is the closer you get to God, the more you can enjoy your life. God Loves you and cares for you.

The transformation process may be painful, but it is always motivated by God's love for you. God loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you that way. He wants you to be transformed into what you were created to be and live life to the fullest.

Count Your Blessings

Whatever you focus on increases. When you focus on your problems, your needs, your perceived lack, those very things loom ever larger and increase in proportion to your focus. When you focus on your blessings, taking stock of what you have in reverent appreciation, your hearts open to receive more. Be thankful for what you have and you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough.  If you keep regretting about your past steps, with every step that you take, life will become more and more difficult. But if you look into your future with the eyes of faith, hope and love, life will become lighter and lighter.
 

When we are in the midst of our crises and pain, it is very difficult for us to imagine that our lives will ever be normal again. The good news, however, is that most of us do recover. By the grace of God, we begin to come to terms with our loss and focus on what positive things still exist in our lives. Do you remember any time in the past when you wondered how you would ever get through a specific painful life event? But here you are now a survivor, and by grace you will do it again and go higher.

The Narrow Path

There’s just a point in your life where you just have to accept that not everything you wished or hoped for will come true. A time when you just have to gather up the courage to let it go and entrust everything to God, knowing He won’t allow you to be in situations of pain for the sake of "hurting" — but for the sake of "learning". One day, you will truly understand that God knows you more than you know yourselves and He loves you more than you can ever know. That even when you feel alone and misunderstood, and even sometimes unloved and used, there’s that One person who knows all your flaws yet loves you unconditionally, like no man can. He loves you, not because of what you do — He loves you for who you are.

United with God

Everyone longs to give themselves completely to someone,
To have a deep relationship with another,
To be loved thoroughly and exclusively..
 
But God says:
"No, not until you are satisfied and fulfilled
and content with living loved by Me alone.
I love you My child, and until you discover that only in Me
is your satisfaction to be found,
you will not be capable of the perfect human relationship
that I have planned for you.

PASSIONATE INTIMACY WITH GOD

I want all of My children to be in intimate relationship with Me, to walk with Me, to talk with Me.  I want to share My bountiful love with them.  In the past, I have spoken through My prophets, My apostles and my Servants.  Though your culture has hindered your ability to hear and respond to My voice, I am once again opening the flood gates of heaven to pour out blessings upon you.  I am setting My people free to worship Me, in Spirit and in truth.  You have bought into the lies of Satan, you have had the eyes of your hearts, your vision of Me, blinded by religion.  I am removing the filters from the glasses you wear so that you can see Me as I am — not as you have perceived. Open the eyes of your heart that you might see Me as I am.  I want to hold you in My lap, to dance with you, to be with you in sweet communion.  I want to set you free to worship me.  Through worshiping Me, you will grow in stature, you will share My love with others.  Let Me speak with you — it is not a difficult thing to do.  As you learn, as you practice, you will see how easy it is for us to talk with each other, to have a close relationship with each other.