Posts Tagged ‘prayer’
Morning Prayers Part One
As Orthodox Christians we begin every day with prayer. Before anything else takes place, before we wash ourselves, before we feed our bodies, we feed our souls with prayer. Immediately upon waking, we approach our icons and pray. As I mentioned yesterday, the Trisagion Prayer begins every prayer session. The following prayers come immediately after…
Read MoreThe Trisagion Prayer
At the beginning of every day, we pray. At the end of every day, we pray. Throughout the day, the Church gathers, and we pray. At every prayer ‘service’ we begin the same way. We pray the Trisagion Prayers. Today’s Daily Lenten Journey will look at these important prayers. In the name of the Father…
Read MoreLenten Prayer of Saint Ephraim
This year’s Daily Lenten Journey will be about prayer. I have written extensively on fasting over the years. Other years the Daily Lenten Journey has been about the daily scripture readings. All the fasting and all the bible reading is useless without prayer. So, we will spend the next 40 days discussing various prayers. Today…
Read MoreLooking Forward to the Journey
Think back to a time when your parents told you about a great trip you were about to take. For days you would sit and dream about the great adventures that awaited your family. For days you would plan your adventures, even ‘practicing’ various skills you knew you would need. Today the Church takes a…
Read MoreMore than One Antichrist
We are taught to love God more than anything else. We are taught to be in Church at least every Sunday. We are taught to pray to God at least every morning and evening. We are taught to put God first in our lives. Every time and everything we place before God is an antichrist.…
Read MoreA Day of Love
In the American cultural experience today is Valentine’s Day. Thought to be a celebration of a saint, if we’re honest, is just another secular holiday excuse to boost the economy of florists and candy manufacturers. It isn’t really about love. Brethren, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment which you had…
Read MoreSupplement Your Faith
Is it enough ‘just’ to believe? Why does the Church always ask me to ‘do more’? Why can’t it be enough that I believe in Jesus and was baptized? All the focus on attending church services, fasting, saying my prayers, reading the bible, and the sacraments. When is enough, enough? SIMON PETER, a servant and…
Read MoreLove Bears all Things
Today is the last day of January. It is a good day to evaluate our New Year Resolutions. Looking around your town you will probably notice much of life has reverted back to where it was in December. Fitness center parking lots aren’t full anymore, but neither are Church lots. Evaluating our spiritual progress is…
Read MoreIs there a limit to God’s Power?
The power of prayer. The power of faith. As Christians we are always talking about and invoke the power the God. Still, bad things happen. Still, sick people die. Still, evil seems to be spreading. You might begin to wonder if there is a limit to God’s power. Well, yes and no. About that time,…
Read MoreTemptations Never End
We wake every day to the same reality. The sun shines. The winds blow. Temptation attacks. Like a natural force of weather, temptation blows, and we get ‘pushed around’ like branches in a tree. The key isn’t to avoid the wind, but to prepare the branches. In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee…
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