The Prayer of Recollection, developed by Dr. John Coe, is a prayer to prepare you to meet with God, to open yourself up in God’s presence, and to awaken you to your true identity in Christ. This is a great way to start the day; presenting yourself to God, detaching yourself from the flesh, and attaching yourself to God.
PRAYER OF RECOLLECTION
Philippians 3: 7-11
Dr. John H. Coe
Director, Institute for Spiritual Formation, Talbot School of Theology
© Copyright 2009 John H. Coe. All rights reserved.
To rouse our soul and prepare us to meet with God in truth (Ps.15: 1-2).
To open us to the flesh, falsehood, unbelief and idolatry in the presence of God’s love (Is. 44: 14-20).
To awaken us to our true identity in union with Christ by the Spirit (Phil. 3:9-10).
1. Present and open your heart to the Lord and intend to learn from Him.
Prayer of Presenting: Lord, I am here; I present myself to you. Open my heart to the truth of what is going on in my life. (Rom. 12:1-2)
2. Consider as loss all things that could tempt you to find gain outside of Christ; consider as loss all things in comparison to Christ. Detach from potential idols of the heart, both good and bad things, that your flesh might be tempted to find its identity outside of being in Christ. Open to the truth of these matters and talk to the Lord about this, whether you struggle with these matters of the flesh.
Prayer of Detachment: At the core of my spirit, I am not a successful person or a failure, a wealthy or poor person, someone who needs to be honored, a good person or a bad person. At the core, my identity is not being a good or bad student-professor, a father or mother, a husband or a wife, a daughter or a son, a good or a bad student, a kind person or angry person. I am not a … (Confess any idolatry)
3. Affirm to your soul and the Lord your true identity in Christ, that being in union with Christ, no longer condemned but accepted in Him, is your true self. Be open to the truth at this moment, whether this is truly what you experience or not and talk with the Lord about this.
Prayer of Attachment: I was created for union with God. I came into the world in sin but longing for perfect love. I am now clothed with Christ’s righteousness, with full pardon from guilt and full acceptance from God. I am precious in God’s eyes. God calls me His beloved. That is who I truly am. (Confess any unbelief.)
4. Resolve to keep your heart and mind attentive to the Lord. Be receptive, silent and still.
5. Hear the Word of God (Lectio Divina).
2 Cor. 5:21. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Phil 3:8-10. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him ….
John 15:5. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.