Walk Boldly With Jesus

Chapter 10 The Power of Eucharistic Adoration

Episode Summary

Today instead of the normal devotional, I read Chapter 10 of my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace. I am hoping to have adoration at my retreat this weekend so I thought I would read the chapter on the power of Eucharist Adoration. I love adoration! Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Episode Notes

The Power of Eucharistic Adoration

Eucharistic Adoration is something I didn’t really do before my first retreat. I am not sure I even knew it was a thing. Then when I went to Adoration for the first time, I was not really sure what I should do. I remember being moved by the way the monstrance looked. It was so beautiful. I could not believe we could sit there and talk to Jesus. I know we can always talk to Jesus, but this was different. This was talking to Him with Him being right there. I picture Him just sitting on the altar, having a conversation with me. It is a beautiful experience.

I have had some people ask why I go to Adoration. Why don’t I just talk to Jesus from wherever I am? If you are thinking this too, I want to reassure you I do talk to Jesus anywhere and everywhere. Adoration is different because you are taking the time out of your busy day to drive to wherever Adoration is and dedicating time to just sit with Him. The best comparison I can think of would be visiting a loved one’s grave site. Somehow, being there at the grave site, you feel closer to your loved one. It feels as though you are there with them. You can talk to your deceased family members anywhere. So, why do you go to the grave site?

I remember a few very powerful experiences I had during Adoration. One time I was sitting in Adoration, and since I had not been before, I did not know what to do. I decided I was going to read the Bible while I was there. The one problem, I didn’t know where to start. Ok, I thought, maybe I will read about the 10 commandments. Another problem, I had no idea where I would find the 10 commandments in the Bible. I was very new to reading the Bible (if you can’t tell). I talked to God, and I told Him I had heard of people asking God where something was in the Bible and then just opening it randomly and ending up on the right page. I decided I would try this. I feel like I had tried it before with no luck, but I tried again anyway.

I asked God to show me where in the Bible it talks about the 10 commandments. I randomly opened my Bible, and there they were, the 10 commandments. I could not believe it. It was amazing! I decided to try again. I do not even remember what I asked for next, but I turned to a random page, and it was exactly what I was looking for. I was in awe.

I was so grateful. I couldn’t believe God, with all that He does, would take the time to show me where something is in the Bible. I was at the gift shop later that weekend, and I found a necklace that looked just like the monstrance. It was a triangle with rounded edges, and it had a diamond in the middle to represent the host. I bought it as a reminder that Jesus is always with us. I feel such joy just remembering that time in Adoration.

The next year I went to Adoration, at the same retreat location. I prayed that I could feel the presence of the Holy Spirit. I know He is always with us, but I wanted to feel His presence in a real, tangible way. I was praying, and I closed my eyes, and I saw this light. It was a white ball of light, and it was as if it was dancing on the back of my eyelids. It was so beautiful. I wanted it to last forever. I did not want to open my eyes because I did not want the light to disappear. It did not last for a long time. It was probably less than a minute. I remember just sitting there in awe again that God had shown up.

Why are we always surprised when God shows up? God tells us He will always show up, and then we are surprised when He does. Maybe it is because we are used to living in a world filled with humans. Humans don’t always show up. We make mistakes, we make bad choices, we hurt people sometimes without meaning to, and sometimes we say we will show up, and we don’t. God wants to be with us. If we ask Him, if we invite Him into our lives, He will enter our lives and transform them.

I wish I could tell you every time I go to Adoration, I have experiences like these two. I do not. Maybe it is because I am not asking for this type of experience each time. Maybe it is because He knows I do not need it. I am not sure. I do know I enjoy going to Adoration and spending time with God. I like that I can go and be in the same room with Him.

When I first started going to Eucharistic Adoration, I did not know what to do. I thought I would address this since many of you might be in the same boat. To be clear, there is no right or wrong way to do Adoration. God just wants us to be with Him, He does not care what we are doing when we come to be with Him. He would be happy if we just came and sat with Him. In fact, on March 14, 2019, at my charismatic prayer group, one of the ladies received this word, “My children, I love you to be with me. I do not need your effort, I do not need your talents, for I alone will make you fruitful. Just relax, be empty, and be with me.” However, there are many things you could do if you do not want to just go and sit there and enjoy the quiet.

You could say the Rosary while you are there. Currently, when I go to Adoration, I say the Rosary. I have not always done that, but with the craziness of the world today, we need all the help we can get. Many churches have rosary beads and pamphlets on how to say the Rosary in case you are new to say it. You can look in the appendix of this book to see how to say the Rosary. There is also the Chaplet of Divine Mercy that you can say on Rosary beads. You will find this in the appendix as well.

Another option would be to read scripture. You can open randomly to a section of the Bible and start reading. If you don’t want to randomly open the Bible and are wondering about a good place to start, I would suggest starting with the New Testament and going on from there. The psalms and proverbs are also good starting places. Wherever you choose to start, read a little of the Bible and then reflect on what you have just read. What does it mean? Do you have any questions? How does it make you feel?

I usually take my prayer journal and write to God while I am in Adoration. I write about my day, any things I need help with, any prayer requests, and anything else I want to tell Him. Then I wait and listen to what He has to say to me. I think this is something a lot of us do not do. We talk to God an awful lot, but we don’t stop and listen to what He has to say back to us. I have always had a hard time just sitting still and trying to listen to what God has to say to me. Now, instead of trying to sit quietly and listen, I ask God to speak to me through my pen, and I write anything that comes into my mind. This has been so great. For me, it is a much easier way to hear what God wants to tell me, and I also have a record of what He said since I was writing it down as it came to me. You may be skeptical that this could work for you, but I think if you gave it a try, you would be pleasantly surprised at the outcome.

For those of you who would like more structure, I have you covered too. I found this book called “Miracle Hour” by Linda Schubert. I highly recommend you get this book if you get the chance. It is a short book (33 pages) that describes “a method of prayer that will change your life.” Linda talks about breaking your holy hour up into 12 five-minute segments. The twelve segments are Praise, Sing to the Lord, Spiritual Warfare, Surrender, Release of the Holy Spirit, Repentance, Forgiveness, Scripture Reflections, Waiting for the Lord to Speak, Intercessions, Petitions, and Thanksgiving. In her book, she goes into detail on what you could say for each of those 12 sections. I loved finding this book because I am someone who likes to have directions on how to do something. Some people love to be told there is no right or wrong way to do something. I am not one of those people.

Right before finding this book, I decided I was going to wake up an hour earlier than usual each morning and spend that time with God. I was very excited about this new idea and couldn’t wait to see how much I grew in my faith during this one hour. The next morning I woke up ready to grow. However, there were so many choices for things I could do for that one hour I couldn’t decide how to spend it. Some days I would read the Bible, do my prayer journal, or maybe say the Rosary. Whatever you do is great as you are spending time with God and dedicating time to him. I was struggling because it would take me 20 minutes of the hour to figure out what I wanted to do. I was craving structure, and then I found this book at a Life in the Spirit seminar I went to, and I was so happy to have some structure.

I know the benefits of Eucharistic Adoration, and I truly enjoy going. I also struggle to find the time to go. I put on my goals sheet (which I fill out each month) and go to Eucharistic Adoration once a week. I wrote this for about 4 months before I actually started going. Our days are busy, and life happens, and we do not make time for everything. I was speaking to a friend about my struggle with wanting to go but not actually getting there, and she suggested I sign up for an hour each week. For me, this was a great suggestion, as I do have the time to go. I was just filling that time with less important things. However, if I have a commitment to show up and be there, I will show up and be there.

If you have never been to Eucharistic Adoration, and you are looking for ways to increase or strengthen your faith, then my suggestion would be to give it a try. Many churches have certain times a month they offer Adoration. Some churches have perpetual Adoration, which means they have Adoration 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can go to onto

http://www.therealpresence.org/states/srtby_st.htm and find where Adoration is offered in your state. 

Thank you for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to seeing you all again on Monday. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I.