Beginning this week and continuing into the fall, a series of devotions written by members of the Doing What Matters Faciliteam will be presented in NES News. As Susan Lindberg Haley, a diaconal minister serving Zion, Worcester, Mass., explains, they can be used in a variety of ways. "We wrote these devotions to encourage people in congregations to explore what God is saying to them in scripture and prayer," she says. "They highlight the underlying principles of what it means to 'do what matters to God,' and it is our hope that these scriptural messages and prayer formats will energize people to apply these concepts within their own context."

Bible Passage

Now the LORD said to Abram, 'Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.'  Genesis 12: 1-3

Guided Imagery 

• Sit comfortably with your eyes closed. Breathe deeply.
• Listen to the silence. Ask God to be present in the silence and to direct your way.
• In the silence, listen for God's voice calling you to go. Follow that voice.
• Imagine that you are walking along a path that leads through green fields and dusty patches of ground. You go further and further along the path, directed by the voice.
• Where does the path lead you? What do you see? Where are you headed? Keep walking.
• What are you feeling as you walk through this new land?
• What is God saying? Keep listening.
• Slowly release the image of the voice and the walk. Open your eyes and come back to the present. 

Closing Prayer

God our Creator, you call us to go into a new land, and you lead us on the way. We give you thanks. Open our hearts and minds to listen and follow you. We pray in the strong name of Jesus and by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.