Weekly Practices
Weekly Practice 7/20/26
Make every effort to do or reflect upon this week’s practice with others.
Suscipe
Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,
my memory, my understanding,
and my entire will,
All I have and call my own.
You have given all to me.
To you, Lord, I return it.
Everything is yours; do with it what you will.
Give me only your love and your grace,
that is enough for me.
Scripture
James 1:9-18 NIV
Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.
Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.
When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
Practice
Examen
James seems to suggest that God’s goodness is present, no matter the circumstance we find ourselves in. Always present, but admittedly not always easy to see or feel or even believe. This week, prayerfully go back over each day to notice where you sensed yourself moving towards and away from God’s love. It will be most beneficial in the evening, looking back over your day, or first thing in the morning, reflecting on the previous day. If it helps, try out this model for the examen prayer from the Order of the Common Life:
1) Be still — Allow yourself to settle and to become aware of God’s presence.
How do I want to welcome God’s peace?
2) Give thanks — Ask God to bring to mind specific things from your day for which you can experience gratitude.
What am I grateful for today?
3) Reflect — Notice how you're coming to this time of prayer, what you experienced today and where you felt drawn throughout your day.
How do I come to this time of prayer?
Where did I feel drawn today?
What do I notice now about my day?
4) Pray — Talk with God about one or two things that came up in your reflection, and invite God to respond however God might choose.
What in my reflection seemed significant
What do I most want to talk to God about?
What might God most want to talk about?
5) Hope — Look ahead with God to the day’s remaining hours or the upcoming day.
Where will I need or desire God’s grace and loving presence?
6) Surrender — Offer yourself, the past hours and your upcoming hours to God, to use however God might desire.
What can I more fully offer to God?
How do I want to express this surrender?
Also this week, continue to incorporate the “Suscipe” into your daily time with God!
Weekly Practice 7/13/26
Make every effort to do or reflect upon this week’s practice with others.
Scripture
James 1:1-8 NTFE
James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus the Messiah, to the twelve dispersed tribes: greeting.
My dear family, when you find yourselves tumbling into various trials and tribulations, learn to look at it with total joy, because you know that, when your faith is put to the test, what comes out is patience. What’s more, you must let patience have its complete effect, so that you may be complete and whole, not falling short in anything.
If any one of you falls short in wisdom, they should ask God for it, and it will be given them. God, after all, gives generously and ungrudgingly to all people. But they should ask in faith, with no doubts. A person who doubts is like a wave of the sea which the wind blows and tosses about. Someone like that should not suppose they will receive anything from the Lord, since they are double-minded and unstable in everything they do.
Practice
Suscipe
While trials and tribulations have a way of making us feel anything but patience, James suggests that patience is key to becoming “complete and whole” people. Some 1,500 years later, Ignatius of Loyola crafted the “Suscipe.” Suscipe means “receive.” It is a prayer of surrender to God’s will and an offering of our entire lives back to him.
This week, incorporate the “Suscipe” into your daily time with God. In truth, this is a pretty bold prayer. Sometimes, you may not fully feel it. Don’t worry. This is not the same kind of doubt James is talking about, which is a kind of lukewarm, half-hearted approach to God. When you pray with sincerity, even a desire to desire to give your all to God pleases him. Trust that he can lovingly work with any amount of surrender you are currently able to offer to him:
Suscipe - Ignatius of Loyola
Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,
my memory, my understanding,
and my entire will,
All I have and call my own.
You have given all to me.
To you, Lord, I return it.
Everything is yours; do with it what you will.
Give me only your love and your grace,
that is enough for me.
Weekly Practice 7/6/26
Make every effort to do or reflect upon this week’s practice with others.
Scripture
Acts 17:22-31 MSG
So Paul took his stand in the open space at the Areopagus and laid it out for them. “It is plain to see that you Athenians take your religion seriously. When I arrived here the other day, I was fascinated with all the shrines I came across. And then I found one inscribed, to the god nobody knows. I’m here to introduce you to this God so you can worship intelligently, know who you’re dealing with.
“The God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn’t live in custom-made shrines or need the human race to run errands for him, as if he couldn’t take care of himself. He makes the creatures; the creatures don’t make him. Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. He doesn’t play hide-and-seek with us. He’s not remote; he’s near. We live and move in him, can’t get away from him! One of your poets said it well: ‘We’re the God-created.’ Well, if we are the God-created, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to think we could hire a sculptor to chisel a god out of stone for us, does it?
“God overlooks it as long as you don’t know any better—but that time is past. The unknown is now known, and he’s calling for a radical life-change. He has set a day when the entire human race will be judged and everything set right. And he has already appointed the judge, confirming him before everyone by raising him from the dead.”
Practice
Seek After God
Over the past month, we’ve been leaning into the practice of witness and the idea is that our hope and faith in Jesus should overflow out of our hearts and lives. This overflow can only happen as a byproduct of first being filled with God's love and presence. To know and love God is always our primary aim.
This week, attend to your relationship with God, however that might look for you. Maybe your soul needs some silence and solitude, or some scripture. Maybe you really need to slow down and get some rest. Maybe you should just keep doing what you’re doing and stick to your current rhythm of prayer. Do your best to listen to God’s invitation to you, then respond.