The most important book for my spiritual development that I’ve read in the last couple of years is titled simply “Jesus of Nazareth” written by Joseph Ratzinger, who is now Pope Benedict XVI. This was written from his personal quest to discover who Jesus is. Despite the fact that he is a fantastic scholar, this book is not a dense scholarly tract, but a very readable tour through the gospels in search of Jesus.
Lately I’ve been discussing practical advice on starting the new year by starting new patterns of our lives. Firstly, by getting up early to study and pray. This lays a foundation for the day to keep us organized and focused rather than a day characterized by rushing from one crisis to the next mostly caused by our failure to focus and plan.
Ratzinger said something interesting while discussing the Lord’s Prayer (the Our Father in Catholic tradition, I guess). When we pray “Thy Kingdom come,” he says, we should pray with a listening heart. After all, the Kingdom is a relationship with Jesus. We should be listening, right? He knows more than we. He saw the face of God.
As you prepare your day by arising earlier, studying and praying, pause and listen. It may only be five minutes. I’ve gone as long as a couple of hours, but I can’t do that every day and still do my day job.
What is God trying to tell you today?
Faith Venture 
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