By Bill Gaultiere © 2010
Is your heart smiling? Are you appreciating that God is with you? The risen Christ is beside you as you read these words and he breathes his Spirit into you. So take a deep breath to behold Christ… Smile as you breathe out!
What joy it is to pause and appreciate Christ in our hearts! What grace comes to us and others as we pray the name of Jesus Christ! Try praying with me the name of Jesus in Psalm 73:26:
Lord Jesus Christ
Be the strength of my heart
And my portion forever.
Try praying for God’s [...]
Continue reading Smile with Jesus in your Heart!
By Bill Gaultiere © 2007, 2010
I awoke early one morning. It was quiet after a night’s rain. I recited Psalm 23 again and again and talked to Jesus, the Good Shepherd – my Soul Shepherd. What joy to appreciate Psalm 23 anew!
For three thousand years David’s prayer has been offered by people of various faiths and cultures. Jesus himself prayed Psalm 23 – more than that he fulfilled it. And he helped me to paraphrase it into words that restored my soul.
I’m sure that you also need for the Lord to restore your soul each day – there’s no better way than by [...]
Continue reading The Lord Jesus is my Soul Shepherd
By Bill Gaultiere © 2010
One day I got up before sunrise to walk and pray in the quiet. I prayed Psalm 119:103 over and over:
“How sweet are your words to my taste, [O Lord Jesus,] sweeter than honey to my mouth” (Psalm 119:103).
The Holy Spirit brought to my mind paraphrases of some of the sweet words of Jesus. I tasted them and found them delicious! I meditated on them and received nourishment for my soul. I prayed them and was strengthened to love my neighbor as the Lord loves me.
Take a moment now to taste the honey sweet words of Jesus Christ.
And then [...]
Continue reading Sweet Words of Jesus
Have you ever prayed in a cave? That’s what I was doing in this picture. I went to pray in a special cave a pastor for a day retreat at All Nations Prayer Mountain in San Bernardino, CA.
I’ve noticed that some of David’s best prayers were in a cave, like Psalms 57 and 142 (and probably others like Psalms 27 and 61).
So I figured that to be “a man of prayer” (Psalm 109:4) like David it might help if I spent some time being “a caveman” like him!
Indeed, meditating in silence on Psalm 57 while in a cave for a couple of hours [...]
Continue reading A Caveman Prayer
Fasting is one of the most helpful, transforming spiritual practices that I have learned. It helps me to be with Jesus and become like him; it helps me to be more patient and generous. I do this especially during Lent, but regularly all year long as well.
The point of a spiritual fast is to learn how to deny yourself food (or some food) for a meal or a day in order to learn how to draw nourishment from the living Word of God. With practice (it may take time to get past headaches, tiredness, grumpiness, irritability!) you can learn that fasting is feasting on God’s Word! (For health [...]
Continue reading “Fasting is Feasting” Prayer
Breathing a prayer is like getting in rhythm with the ocean's waves
In my teaching, counseling, and leading of retreats I find that people greatly benefit from learning how to use a “Breath Prayer” approach to meditating on a phrase from the Bible.
A reader of the Soul Shepherding Blog asked me for help in learning to do this…
My recent post, God’s Word to Me (based on my meditations from Psalm 19), included a number of Breath Prayers. Let’s take one as example (many of the short prayers I post work like this)…
“Jesus… I smile in your light.”
This easy and joyful prayer is a deep and [...]
Continue reading Breathe a Prayer – it’s Simple, Delightful!
A small door leads to the birth place of Christ
What makes for a “good day”? For me it starts with prayer.
This morning I awoke early. My thoughts started down the path of planning all I had to do and I started to feel anxious… How easy it is for me at that point to get out of bed and go to work!
Instead, as CS Lewis described so aptly, I shoved back all those “wild animals” and began to pray! I laid in bed. I grabbed an ancient little prayer and held on for dear [...]
Continue reading Small Beginnings
Let your hunger pangs be as church bells
I have written that Fasting is Feasting on God’s Word…
A ministry leader said to me: “It’s hard enough for me to quiet my mind when I’m not hungry! How can I learn to enjoy meditating on Scripture when I’m hungry? And why would I want to do this?”
I use fasting (from food, but drinking plenty of water) as part of my own rhythm of life. I learned this years ago from reading Thomas a Kempis’ classic devotional book, “The Imitation of Christ.”
Continue reading How Fasting Could Help You
