The Prayer of Entry

I cross the bridge into the silent bliss of my interior castle. I close the drawbridge and forbid all outside influences from entry into this holy place that is my soul.

Here in my castle, I am alone with the divine. 

Under the divine’s light and companionship I discover the depth and beauty of my soul. 

I embrace the power of prayer; I open myself to divine guidance.

I surrender myself to become as a channel for grace, healing and service as the divine directs my life.

Here I embrace my devotion to the divine.

Here in the silence of my castle I pause to animate my soul’s dignity. 

I feel my interior self calling me from within. I resonate deeply to my own divinity.

I am prepared to encounter, to become, to dialogue with my own divinity, the god that is within me.

Here in my castle my faith becomes a fire cleansing my soul of every fear.

Each time I enter my castle, I trust even more deeply in the presence and wisdom of the divine in my life.

I surrender my mind, my heart, my need for safety, and my need for rational explanations and orderly instructions to the divine’s will for me.

I trust that all that is in my life is as it should be.

I release the need to know why events happen as they do, whether painful or glorious.

I release the need to let others know they have harmed me and I ask forgiveness from those whom I have harmed. 

I release my fear of being abandoned on this earth and left to face my life alone for I am never alone.

I release my fear of becoming infirmed.

I surrender in trust that I am on this earth with purpose.

I am guided, I am cared for and every prayer is heard and every prayer is answered.

I am a channel for grace and I delight in the silent bliss that surrounds me in the sacred center of my castle, in the intimate presence of the divine.

In this silence, the only voice I hear is the divine.

Teresa of Avila – 16^th century mystic Carmelite nun