Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you men of double mind.

James 4:8

As we draw towards the start of Lent, a season observed by Christians as a time of prayer and repentance, the Church’s reading from St James encourages us to “draw near to God.”

What does this mean, to draw near to God?

To draw near to God, we need a spirit of prayer and contemplation.

Psalm 85 says “I will hear what God the LORD will speak.”

To hear God speaks we have to first dispose of anything in our lives that blocks us from hearing Him.

Sin is the primary factor. And that is why when we enter into God’s Presence, asking for forgiveness of our sins in a true spirit of repentance is most necessary.

Once we’ve dropped the garbage and baggage of sin our souls are better disposed to receive from God.

Reflecting and pondering upon God’s Word (The Bible) is another way to draw near to God.

He teaches and instructs our hearts in Wisdom and speaks directly His will and purposes into our lives.

Prayer is crucial to hear God.

As Catholics we have many opportunities for prayer, in the privacy of our homes, at Mass with the Body of Christ and our great High Priest interceding for His Church and the world.

One of my favourite moments of prayer is Adoration of Jesus in The Blessed Sacrament.

This is almost always a time of profound stillness and contemplation, when all the world stands still and our hearts cry out with all the hosts of Heaven,

“HOLY, HOLY, HOLY IS THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY AND THE LAMB WHO WAS SLAIN.”

Today, let us ask God to give us the grace again to draw near to Him, so that He will draw near to us.

Prayer

God of mercy and compassion, look with pity upon me.

Father let me, call Thee Father, it is Thy child returns to Thee.

Jesus, LORD, I ask for mercy

Let me not implore in vain

All my sins I now detest them, never will I sin again.

Always & Forever,

To the Lamb,

With all my ❤

25 Feb 2020