The Welcoming Prayer

Jun 20

Today, as the Underground, we come together in prayer and fasting. Every great move of God in the Bible and throughout history begins with Extraordinary Prayer and Fasting. From the other side of eternity, we will find that the most influential people were not, perhaps, Presidents or Prime Ministers, but the people who walked with God through passionate prayer.

This week we will focus our prayer and fasting on the theme of The Welcoming Prayer

Movement 1: Make Room

Read:

These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
-John 14:26 ESV

Reflect:

Sit quietly and feel the presence of God all around you. The 3-in-1, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are near. See the Father smiling at you and holding you in the palm of His hand. Sense Jesus sitting right next to you with His arm around you. Feel the Holy Spirit inside you, filling you up to the full. Ask Holy Spirit to teach you today and bring to mind things He has already said to you.

Listen:

Holy Spirit by Francesca Battistelli

Movement 2: The Welcoming Prayer

The Welcoming Prayer is something that we can turn to when what is happening around us feels unsettled or confusing. We can use it in times of grief or times of great joy. It is an invitation to welcome everything, knowing that everything that happens to us is something we can learn and grow from. The Welcoming Prayer is a method of consenting to God’s presence and action in our physical and emotional reactions to anything that happens to us and around us.

Read:

Read the Welcoming Prayer one time aloud:

Welcome, welcome, welcome.
I welcome everything that comes to me today because I know it’s for my healing.
I welcome all thoughts, feelings, emotions, persons, situations, and conditions.
I let go of my desire for power and control. I let go of my desire for affection, esteem, approval and pleasure.
I let go of my desire for survival and security. I let go of my desire to change any situation, condition, person, or myself.
I open to the love and presence of God and God’s action within. Amen
–Mary Mrozowski

Reflect:

Think back over the past couple of days. What thoughts, feelings, emotions, persons, situations, and/or conditions did you welcome into your life that brought you joy? What thoughts, feelings, emotions, persons, situations, and /or conditions did you not want to welcome?

Pray:

Thank God for what brought you joy. Reflect on what you did not want to welcome - did you experience any learning and/or healing from it?

Movement 3: Letting Go

Read the Welcoming Prayer aloud again.

Reflect:

Think about your desires for power, control, affection, esteem, approval, pleasure, survival, security, and change. Which ones of these are the most intense in your life right now?

Pray:

Present these desires to God. Talk to Him about them. Ask Him to help you surrender them to Him. Repent if they have been made as idols in your life. Hear Him say, “Your sins are forgiven as far as the East is from the West. I remember them no more.”