Mail from God Part 2: Getting Dressed.

 

PRAYER SERIES.

MAIL FROM GOD PART 2

The Holy Spirit: Prayer Series Icon.

GETTING DRESSED.

Do you ever feel dry in prayer, stopped praying, would like to explore a different way to pray?

Throughout this series I would like to present some different ways to pray.  Many of them you will have heard of before, some of them you have already tried but might like to revisit and others may provide a different way into prayer.

 

In today’s post I would like to  continue with the article  Mail from God.  If you have not read the article Mail from God, you may wish to read this post.  In this post, I  would like to focus on the process of getting dressed, the issues it raises and the opportunities it provides for prayer- communication with God.

 

MAIL FROM GOD.

As I read Mail from God, I noted the following sentence
‘ I noticed you were busy trying to find the right outfit to put on and wear to work’.

God loves us and wants to be centre of every detail of our lives.  He knows we need to get dressed. However, what does God say about this issue in His love letter to us – the bible.  Here are a few quotes that may focus our thinking in a godly way so that the action of getting dressed praises God rather than offends Him through sinfulness.

NEW TESTAMENT:

Mt 6: 31Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

Lk 12: 27 Consider how the lilies grow. They don't work or spin yarn, but I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was clothed like one of them.

Eph 6:14-16Take your place, then, having your body clothed with the true word, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness; In addition to having clothed yourselves with these things, having taken up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to put out all the flaming arrows of the evil one,

1 Timothy 2:9-10 "Paul said: I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God."

1 Peter 3:2-5 "Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful.

There are many references to being clothed/getting dressed in the both old and New Testament but it is clear that we need to clothe ourselves inwardly first with the ways of God since we are truly sons and daughters of God. If we are secure in the knowledge and conviction that we are a son/daughter of God, then we want to ensure that we please Him in all we do. This includes working on our inner self so that our true beauty will shine forth and attract others to God.

Getting dressed and wearing something fittingly can be an opportunity to give glory to God.  He formed us in the womb.

Getting dressed can be also an opportunity for self-loathing, self-critical talk and demeaning not only ourselves but what God has made.  We may look in the mirror and our internal dialogue starts up or we might even pull a face at ourselves.  Day after day, this self-criticism dashes our self esteem but also insults God who loves us and made us.  Some of us are more prone to suffer more from this than other people but remember all of us have that capacity to be self-critical about our looks and how we feel. Day after day it is very destructive to our core and our soul.  Neither build up our self-esteem, but neither give glory to God either. It is though we are saying to Him ‘God, You made rubbish’. Is that what we want to say to God?

 

 SUGGESTED ACTION STEPS THIS WEEK

1.    Praise God whilst you are getting dressed: Clothe yourself in the Trinity by

Saying ‘in the name of the Father’ as you put your head over the garment to put it on, ‘and of the Son’ with the sleeves, ‘and of the Holy Spirit as you pull and straighten up the garment.  You can also do this by clothing yourself with the fruits of the Spirit and/or gifts of the Spirit.   Alternatively, you can choose which gifts you need from God for that day.

2.    Praise God whilst you are showering:  This is a great time to praise God for being fearfully and wonderfully made and to ask Him to help you use your body for the day for His honour and glory. It can also be a great time to ask God to cleanse and heal you.. Obviously it does not replace the Sacrament of Reconciliation but it can be a way of feeling  that our sins/weaknesses are being washed and cleansed by the love and power of Jesus.

3.    Talking with God whilst putting on makeup:  This is a great time to look in the mirror and be aware of your thoughts. Do I look in the mirror and squeal inwardly with horror?  Why not choose to smile and remember that Jesus lives in me.  When I look in the mirror, I see Jesus being reflected back at me.  So smile not squeal.

Are my thoughts self-critical or demeaning?  You can gradually stop the self critical chatter with words from scripture that promote a healthy self-image in God.  It is also an opportunity when putting on make up to ask Him to allow you to be a channel of His grace to others. For example, when putting on moisturiser on the face, we can ask God to keep our minds from being anxious and to be in tune with the Holy Spirit in our mind that day.  When using on eyes, ears and mouth we can pray that our eyes, ears and mouth see, hear and proclaim Him in all that we see, hear and say. It is especially important  because our speech can be a beautiful instrument to praise God but it can also be area where sin is committed in what we say or don’t say- do we pull others down or talk about others behind their back or do we build up our community/workplace/neighbourhood  in those we meet.
A simple prayer like Jesus make my face reflect you today to all that I meet today or Jesus, shine in me and through me today so that others may glorify you or Let my senses be in tune with you today Jesus and keep them away from temptation and sin.
If you prefer to use a formal prayer, you might like to use a traditional Dominican Blessing during this time of getting dressed.

4.    Asking God to choose your outfit:  Have you ever decided to wear one outfit and then later on the day, circumstances changed and you had wished  you have worn the other outfit?
God knows what our day has in store so why not ask Him to choose the outfit- a simple what would you like me to wear today Jesus?  Allow the Holy Spirit to guide you and wait for the answer.  Knowing that you are wearing what God would like to see you wearing does wonders for integrating one’s true identity as a son/daughter of God.  I think of it as God smiling on me.

5.    Doing the interior work of our soul to be beautiful in God’s sight: Have you ever seen someone beautiful dressed, well made up, lovely jewellery and so forth. You may think how lovely they look and then they open their mouth and what comes forth is plain ugly?

As part of getting dressed we need to spend some time in self-reflection on the interior- what are the areas of ourselves that are ugly, need cleansing, need work.  Just think of how much time many people spend on making themselves beautiful exteriorly, but do they spend even a quarter of that on their interior. How much time do I spend on my interior to make beautiful in the sight of God?

 

So, as you can see, there are abundant opportunities in the process of getting dressed where we can be close to God and chat with Him.  They can be moments of great closeness with Him or we can choose to miss them.   Can we honestly say that we are too busy getting dressed that we have no time for God?

If this is something you have not considered doing before, it may feel a little strange.  Be guided by Holy Spirit as to how you might implement this step if it is right for you.

Experiment and see what works for you.  Maybe take one or 2 of these suggestions and work with them until they feel integrated.  If these suggestions don’t resonate with you, come up with your own process of connecting with God.

 I have to say that I have implemented these some years ago and then I stopped.  I started using them again during lock down last year during the coronavirus.  I found that it helped me not only maintain a good self image but bringing back God into my day at this time really strengthened my soul.  I know God blessed me abundantly.   I pray that He gives you what you need at this time of the day.

What will we choose this week- to keep God first place in our lives and bring Him into every action, thought, word and deed or will we make ourselves into our own God?