There is a sadly predictable absurdity in the fact that a cold experience of reality, such as the death of our dear "Gran" last week, could so completely unravel my posting consistently on the blog. I'm disappointed about that turn of events; obviously, for a number of reasons. However, I've also been somewhat surprised to discover that I'm okay with it as well. The grief, travel, family-time and general chaos of the last week have derail my writing about prayer and also prevented me from sharing my final lesson on the subject with the Springfield congregation last Sunday (Don't worry, we will fit it in after the first of the year at some point), but those things did NOT derail my praying. In fact, quite the contrary. Through a variety of experiences and circumstances over the last couple weeks, I've been conciously aware of my acute need for God's grace and sustaining provision. Wonder of all wonders this awareness of my own need and inadequacy has not led me to feel to busy to pray as I try to sort things out for myself, rather it has frequently and far more consistently led me to my knees. There, I've been asking for the help I need from the only one who holds the power to provide it. That's not a win on my part, but it is a victory God has provided that is worth celebrating.
I hope the last month have provided some moments of joyful celebration like that in your prayer life as well. I hope that you know the expiration of this thirty day emphasis on prayer is not the end of our commitment to prayer but a bit more like the fading of the last echo of the starter's gun. Our journey of prayer, individually and collectively has just begun. There is more, much more to be shared and discussed about prayer. I have so much more to learn and experience. I look forward to doing that with you in the weeks, months, years ahead. I also think this is probably not the last blog post I'll be writing. I'll be taking a short break (oh, who am I kidding, I'll be continuing the break I've already been taking for the last week and half), but then this blog will re-emerge in some form and fashion. It will be slightly different I expect. We'll discuss prayer there, but much more than that. Oh, and I won't be committing to posting every single day either. I'm not built for that, and truthfully I doubt any of you want to hear something from me every day any way. Not sure what will emerge, but I am excited about the possibilities, and I am already praying for the conversations we'll have together.
May God bless you all this Christmas season, and may He move mightly in our hearts and through our hands in the year to come!
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Day 23
It's been a while. I'm really sorry. I've been feeling a little overloaded and rather worn out. Probably one responsible for the other, though that's a "chicken or the egg" kind of dilemma. Regardless, as a result of those feelings/circumstances my prayer life has suffered over the last few days, which only frustrates me even more. Makes me feel like I'm still viewing prayer as a burden or an obligation rather than a blessing and source of strength, especially in times of weakness or strife.
Granted I've done a LOT of reading, talking and writing about prayer the last few weeks. I am sure that the overall effort involved in all of that could contribute to feeling a little "burdened" about my own prayer life. Nevertheless, I find it troubling that in a time of difficulty and frustration I run away from prayer rather than lean on it. Why do I do that? Why would I neglect prayer at a time when I'm facing something where additional interaction with and help from God would be so helpful? Then again, don't we all do things like that in different areas of our life. Go left when we know we should go right, or intentionally avoid those things that would help us most...especially when we can use the excuse of busyness.
That isn't to say that I've completely ignored prayer completely (...even if I've ignored blogging about it for a few days) or stopped communicating with God. Yes, my excitement and expectation about prayer; the depth and richness I've experienced in my recent prayers, has wained quite a bit recently. Despite that, I've continued making efforts to spend time in prayer. Though I long for a return to greener pastures of prayer, I am trying to take some solace in the fact that regardless of the pitch, strength or volume of my prayer voice, God is still listening as long as I will still speak with him. Thought I'd share a couple things I've done to try and put up a fight so to speak over the last few days:
Granted I've done a LOT of reading, talking and writing about prayer the last few weeks. I am sure that the overall effort involved in all of that could contribute to feeling a little "burdened" about my own prayer life. Nevertheless, I find it troubling that in a time of difficulty and frustration I run away from prayer rather than lean on it. Why do I do that? Why would I neglect prayer at a time when I'm facing something where additional interaction with and help from God would be so helpful? Then again, don't we all do things like that in different areas of our life. Go left when we know we should go right, or intentionally avoid those things that would help us most...especially when we can use the excuse of busyness.
That isn't to say that I've completely ignored prayer completely (...even if I've ignored blogging about it for a few days) or stopped communicating with God. Yes, my excitement and expectation about prayer; the depth and richness I've experienced in my recent prayers, has wained quite a bit recently. Despite that, I've continued making efforts to spend time in prayer. Though I long for a return to greener pastures of prayer, I am trying to take some solace in the fact that regardless of the pitch, strength or volume of my prayer voice, God is still listening as long as I will still speak with him. Thought I'd share a couple things I've done to try and put up a fight so to speak over the last few days:
- Rote Prayer - I have a couple prayer books and some books on prayer that include a section of collected prayers from other christians and early believers. When I don't have words of my own in a given moment, I've been able to lean on the words of others. I often find these prayers penned by others are a source of far more of a blessing than I was initially prepared to receive.
- Praying from Scripture - Along the same lines, I've prayed a fair amount from Scripture lately. In particular, I turn to the various prayers recorded in the Bible and to the Psalms. If you haven't prayed a Psalm before, I highly recommend you do that every once in a while...powerful voices crying out to God! Obviously, I spent a lot of time praying through and sometimes just praying word-for-word the Lord's Prayer from Matthew 6.
- Praying with Others - Some of you may not feel comfortable with this, but it's been quite helpful. I've tried to take advantage of several opportunities lately to pray in a group. Some of them were easy opportunities, like volunteering to pray before a meal with my family or offering to do evening prayers with Sophie before bed. Other times, I've simply followed the impulse to pray with someone in the midst of a conversation or interaction with a group. Someone needs to lead a prayer during your LifeGroup meeting, raise your hand. You're in a conversation with some people where a concern or hurt is being discussed, suggest you all stop and pray about it. There is strength in praying with others. More than that, if I feel like God and I are a little distant at the moment, including others in a prayer narrows that gap a bit in my mind a little. Obviously, nothing really changes in that moment, but psychologically I'm pulled into the moment of prayer a little more fully because of the tangible presence of others who are there praying beside me.
I'm sure there are other things to do when you feel like you're in a valley in your prayer life or stuck in a rut with your prayers. Maybe some of you would like to share some other things that you've found are helpful practices or tools for this??? We'd love to have you share them in a reply below. I hope your prayers are full and frequent right now. If they're not, I hope you're still seeking God's presence even in the midst of a difficult day (...or week). Maybe some of the ideas above will be helpful.
Til next time...keep praying!!!
Friday, December 9, 2011
Day 18-19
I shared in my last post an insight that emerged from some prayer time with my daughter, Sophia. As I said then, there was another part of that experience that prompted some helpful thoughts about prayer. After I prayed that evening, it was Sophie's turn. She was a very willing prayer that night. She jumped right in with her standard "Dear God" and flowed right into several specific things that she wanted to share with God. Much of what she prayed in my presence that night was predictable. Sophie has several things she is very consistent about including in her prayers. What struck me that night, was not the specifics of what she prayed, but rather the overwhelming theme of all that she prayed for. Almost everything thing she spoke that night began with the phrase "Thank you for..." and then filled in with the usual cast of characters: her grandparents and their pets (she really loves to pray for those dogs), her sisters, her mom and dad, her teacher and school, our church, her dolls (a few even meriting specific mention by name), etc. As I listened to her and thought about it afterwards, I was glad that Sophie is learning to be so comfortable with expressing gratitude to God. However, it also raised a challenging thought over the concept of "balance" in our prayers. Obviously this applied more to my own prayers rather than the budding prayer life of a 4 year old, by a concern sprang up over how often I find myself in a rut in my prayer life. I realize now that these ruts are also an important factor in my past struggles with prayer. I began to wonder, how often do I find myself stuck in the "requesting" mode or "thanksgiving" mode or some other aspect of prayer in a way that is detrimental to the other key components of communication with God?
Many of you may remember some rote prayer you were taught as a child as a place to begin the journey of prayer. Or perhaps some shared with you one of the many formulas or models out there for helping people organize and go through their prayers. The most common and personally memorable one for me was an acronym: ACTS, which stood for:
Many of you will recognize that model I'm sure. While none of these are ever perfect or completely adequate on their own, they can be good aids in learning to pray. More importantly almost all of them share a common implication, prayer isn't just about communicating one specific thing or in one specific way. If it was, why would we need any kind of model or aid. Consider the prayer Jesus gave us in the "Sermon on the Mount." If prayer was just about asking for things, wouldn't he have just said "And when you pray, just ask for whatever you need," and then moved on to the next part of his lesson? He doesn't do that, though. Nor does Jesus just give us a singularly themed mantra to chant. Despite its brevity, this prayer (commonly called "The Lord's Prayer") is amazingly robust and leads us to communicate about a variety of different things from a variety of internal postures. Wonder, obedience, gratitude, humble need, confidence, broken confession, etc., more than most of us really know how to unpack yet.
I guess the summary thought for me is this: balance in our prayer life is important, because God is important in so many different ways than any of us will ever really comprehend. To get into stale patterns or ruts of only communicating with God in a few specific, limited ways...no matter how good or right it is communicate in those ways...leaves us vulnerable to minimizing the greatness and significance of God in our life and all of creation. I must admit, there is a small alarm going off in the back of mind as I write this, because I believe there is an easy way to misinterpret or misapply this idea and create equally unhealthy prayers that can be overindulgent or too self-serving. Perhaps I need to share some about that in a future post. However, while caution is always appropriate, it should never be used as excuse for failing to say or do what we ought to. So, the challenge for our prayers today is to examine them a little and see if there are some important ways or things we're not opening up about because we're only praying over things or in ways that we've already grown comfortable. I believe balance is a critical component to a healthy, robust prayer life.
Many of you may remember some rote prayer you were taught as a child as a place to begin the journey of prayer. Or perhaps some shared with you one of the many formulas or models out there for helping people organize and go through their prayers. The most common and personally memorable one for me was an acronym: ACTS, which stood for:
Adoration
Confession
Thanksgiving
Supplication
Many of you will recognize that model I'm sure. While none of these are ever perfect or completely adequate on their own, they can be good aids in learning to pray. More importantly almost all of them share a common implication, prayer isn't just about communicating one specific thing or in one specific way. If it was, why would we need any kind of model or aid. Consider the prayer Jesus gave us in the "Sermon on the Mount." If prayer was just about asking for things, wouldn't he have just said "And when you pray, just ask for whatever you need," and then moved on to the next part of his lesson? He doesn't do that, though. Nor does Jesus just give us a singularly themed mantra to chant. Despite its brevity, this prayer (commonly called "The Lord's Prayer") is amazingly robust and leads us to communicate about a variety of different things from a variety of internal postures. Wonder, obedience, gratitude, humble need, confidence, broken confession, etc., more than most of us really know how to unpack yet.
I guess the summary thought for me is this: balance in our prayer life is important, because God is important in so many different ways than any of us will ever really comprehend. To get into stale patterns or ruts of only communicating with God in a few specific, limited ways...no matter how good or right it is communicate in those ways...leaves us vulnerable to minimizing the greatness and significance of God in our life and all of creation. I must admit, there is a small alarm going off in the back of mind as I write this, because I believe there is an easy way to misinterpret or misapply this idea and create equally unhealthy prayers that can be overindulgent or too self-serving. Perhaps I need to share some about that in a future post. However, while caution is always appropriate, it should never be used as excuse for failing to say or do what we ought to. So, the challenge for our prayers today is to examine them a little and see if there are some important ways or things we're not opening up about because we're only praying over things or in ways that we've already grown comfortable. I believe balance is a critical component to a healthy, robust prayer life.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Day 17
***Editorial Note: No joke. I fell asleep iPad in hand last night mid-post. So this is technically Day 17's post, but not actually posted...or completed until the next morning. I've left the original conclusion of the post intact simply for the entertainment it will provide to some of you.***
Brooke had a business meeting a few towns over this evening, so I was flying solo for the evening. I helped M&M with their homework and studying, got dinner ready (translated: called Papa John's), had everyone out the door to Bible study and then got to do the bedtime routine with Sophie. We read Annie and the Wild Animals and then the story of Jonah out of The Jesus Storybook Bible, which by the way is pretty great! I'm not typically a fan of those books that make up the children's story bible genre (for a couple different reasons I'll not get into here, though feel free to ask sometime if you're curious), but I really appreciate this particular book. Plus, Sophie loves to read her bible story each night. What parents who are believers wouldn't be thrilled with that? I'm tangent-ing right off the cliff here. Sorry, back on track. The other part of bedtime routine with Sophie is prayer time. There are different variations of how we do this, but in some order, form or fashion parent and child both pray. Occasionally, it's difficult. Sophie might try to get only the adult to pray, or negotiate before starting the number of specific things she has to say before she can say "in Jesus name. Amen!" Sometimes, she gets little distracted (okay a LOT) and just drifts off into another conversation entirely or starts singing a random song. My favorite experience is when she get's stuck in a loop and starts repeating the same prayer items, especially when she says at some point "Oops, I already said that" mid prayer and then just keeps right on going. Most of the time however, it's the most precious part of my day.
Tonight while Sophie and I were praying, I noticed a couple of interesting things. First, while I was praying Sophie stopped me several times to ask questions about what I was saying. At first, I felt myself wanting to be frustrated by that, like she was trying to be disruptive of or disrespectful toward our prayer time together, but after the second or third time I realized that wasn't it at all. She wasn't being intentionally rude or trying to keep me from praying. She was listening and there were things that I prayed about that she wasn't sure about or didn't understand and wanted to make sure she knew what I was praying for. She was participating in my prayer. It wasn't just my conversation with God, this was our conversation. She was involved and felt just fine speaking up when she felt like she needed to clarify something to stay involved. Obviously, this mian akl (uhoh! I think someone fell asleep about here) Sorry, as I was trying to say...obviously, this kind of interaction might not work out so well in a public prayer, or in prayer gathering among adults probably would be a little rude or obnoxious. However, the spirit of this experience still applies to any prayer time, alone or in a group. When we pray we're sharing a conversation that requires thoughtful, active engagement. Just mindlessly speaking or repeating the same patterns or words without actively considering their meaning or your intent in speaking them really misses the point.
As I think back, I probably have a pretty developed pattern for my "prayer's with Sophie." Those patterns probably come from a noble intent, wanting to teach Sophie the right Spirit for and important aspects of prayer. Unfortunately, I think I've unconsciously created a pattern that seemed "age and corresponding attention span appropriate" to do that teaching for me, rather than actively modeling healthy prayer for her when we pray. Truthfully, a lot of that probably connects to the fact that I wasn't particularly capable of consistently modeling healthy prayer without that pattern because as I've shared before, prayer has been an area of great struggle for me lately. You know what??? I'm taking a little encouragement from this encounter. I think as a result of the intentional focus and work we've devoted together to prayer, Sophie heard something different in my prayer last night. I think part of the reason Sophie's interruptions occurred is because I was praying out loud with her about more specific, immediate concerns and thoughts than I usually do in those times. I prayed for people in particular whose names aren't on my standard list of "must-mentions" during prayer times with the family. Remembering it this morning, it seems I was (unbeknownst to me at the time) mixing it up a little in my prayer. I believe God is making some changes inside me through this season concentrating on prayer. I'm grateful for that. However incrementally minor these changes may be, I think its going to produce positive results. For me and those, like Sophie, whom I am blessed to pray with.
I'll post later today about another interesting thought that arose during my prayer time with Sophie last night. This ended up longer than I expected. So, I'll include that in my official "Day 18" post later on. Have a great day everyone.
Pray continually. Pray for each other.
Brooke had a business meeting a few towns over this evening, so I was flying solo for the evening. I helped M&M with their homework and studying, got dinner ready (translated: called Papa John's), had everyone out the door to Bible study and then got to do the bedtime routine with Sophie. We read Annie and the Wild Animals and then the story of Jonah out of The Jesus Storybook Bible, which by the way is pretty great! I'm not typically a fan of those books that make up the children's story bible genre (for a couple different reasons I'll not get into here, though feel free to ask sometime if you're curious), but I really appreciate this particular book. Plus, Sophie loves to read her bible story each night. What parents who are believers wouldn't be thrilled with that? I'm tangent-ing right off the cliff here. Sorry, back on track. The other part of bedtime routine with Sophie is prayer time. There are different variations of how we do this, but in some order, form or fashion parent and child both pray. Occasionally, it's difficult. Sophie might try to get only the adult to pray, or negotiate before starting the number of specific things she has to say before she can say "in Jesus name. Amen!" Sometimes, she gets little distracted (okay a LOT) and just drifts off into another conversation entirely or starts singing a random song. My favorite experience is when she get's stuck in a loop and starts repeating the same prayer items, especially when she says at some point "Oops, I already said that" mid prayer and then just keeps right on going. Most of the time however, it's the most precious part of my day.
Tonight while Sophie and I were praying, I noticed a couple of interesting things. First, while I was praying Sophie stopped me several times to ask questions about what I was saying. At first, I felt myself wanting to be frustrated by that, like she was trying to be disruptive of or disrespectful toward our prayer time together, but after the second or third time I realized that wasn't it at all. She wasn't being intentionally rude or trying to keep me from praying. She was listening and there were things that I prayed about that she wasn't sure about or didn't understand and wanted to make sure she knew what I was praying for. She was participating in my prayer. It wasn't just my conversation with God, this was our conversation. She was involved and felt just fine speaking up when she felt like she needed to clarify something to stay involved. Obviously, this mian akl (uhoh! I think someone fell asleep about here) Sorry, as I was trying to say...obviously, this kind of interaction might not work out so well in a public prayer, or in prayer gathering among adults probably would be a little rude or obnoxious. However, the spirit of this experience still applies to any prayer time, alone or in a group. When we pray we're sharing a conversation that requires thoughtful, active engagement. Just mindlessly speaking or repeating the same patterns or words without actively considering their meaning or your intent in speaking them really misses the point.
As I think back, I probably have a pretty developed pattern for my "prayer's with Sophie." Those patterns probably come from a noble intent, wanting to teach Sophie the right Spirit for and important aspects of prayer. Unfortunately, I think I've unconsciously created a pattern that seemed "age and corresponding attention span appropriate" to do that teaching for me, rather than actively modeling healthy prayer for her when we pray. Truthfully, a lot of that probably connects to the fact that I wasn't particularly capable of consistently modeling healthy prayer without that pattern because as I've shared before, prayer has been an area of great struggle for me lately. You know what??? I'm taking a little encouragement from this encounter. I think as a result of the intentional focus and work we've devoted together to prayer, Sophie heard something different in my prayer last night. I think part of the reason Sophie's interruptions occurred is because I was praying out loud with her about more specific, immediate concerns and thoughts than I usually do in those times. I prayed for people in particular whose names aren't on my standard list of "must-mentions" during prayer times with the family. Remembering it this morning, it seems I was (unbeknownst to me at the time) mixing it up a little in my prayer. I believe God is making some changes inside me through this season concentrating on prayer. I'm grateful for that. However incrementally minor these changes may be, I think its going to produce positive results. For me and those, like Sophie, whom I am blessed to pray with.
I'll post later today about another interesting thought that arose during my prayer time with Sophie last night. This ended up longer than I expected. So, I'll include that in my official "Day 18" post later on. Have a great day everyone.
Pray continually. Pray for each other.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Day 16
Sorry about not posting yesterday. Rough day. Just completely blanked on my "blog commitment." I'll try not to let that happen again.
I'm thinking of Maria today, one of sisters from the Spanish speaking service. Tonight our building will house the wake for her son, Ariel. He died last week in a tragic accident. Though Ariel was an adult, it is still terribly tragic to me when a parent has to bury their child. In my mind, it's one of those things that clearly and painfully evidences the reality that our world is broken. I find my body literally shudders at the thought of experiencing the grief Maria has encountered.
I hope that many of us in the DC area will take the time to stop by this evening and join Maria and her family in their mourning. There are no perfect answers or healing words any of us could offer in the midst of this kind of grief, but we can offer the small comfort of compassionate presence. The other resource we have to offer our grieving sister is prayer. This afternoon, I'd like to plead with each of you to be in prayer continuously for Maria and her family. I'll close with the prayer
I'm thinking of Maria today, one of sisters from the Spanish speaking service. Tonight our building will house the wake for her son, Ariel. He died last week in a tragic accident. Though Ariel was an adult, it is still terribly tragic to me when a parent has to bury their child. In my mind, it's one of those things that clearly and painfully evidences the reality that our world is broken. I find my body literally shudders at the thought of experiencing the grief Maria has encountered.
I hope that many of us in the DC area will take the time to stop by this evening and join Maria and her family in their mourning. There are no perfect answers or healing words any of us could offer in the midst of this kind of grief, but we can offer the small comfort of compassionate presence. The other resource we have to offer our grieving sister is prayer. This afternoon, I'd like to plead with each of you to be in prayer continuously for Maria and her family. I'll close with the prayer
Father,
There is no one greater than you. Your power, wisdom, holiness and love are beyond comprehension to us. In your greatness, we beg you to see our brokenness and be merciful with us.
For our sister Maria and her family, Father we beg for your grace to flow freely in their lives. Hold them close while they grieve. Fill their hearts with loving, hopeful memories of Ariel. Father, you know all too well how painful the death of a son is for a parent. I pray that you will surround Maria with your children as she mourns the loss of her own. May their presence and your Holy Spirit give her strength to endure the pain of this difficult day, and those that will follow. In time, please lift Maria up into the marvelous, heartwarming rays of your glory, and fill her heart with hope and peace in the assurance she has of the future life after death you have promised to those who put their trust in you. Thank you for hearing my prayer, which is offered in the name of your son, Jesus. Amen.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Day 13
Control is a big issue for me in prayer...really, in all areas of life in general. I don't mean control in the sense of "being in charge," but rather I don't like things where I feel as though I have zero ability to influence the results. I don't enjoy feeling helpless, powerless, useless. Consequently, I usually just avoid things where I assume that will be the case.
For example, I love being in the mountains! I really love the winter! And I really, really love being out in the mountains during the winter. Do you know what I hate, though? Snow skiing. Why? Because I felt (and truly was) completely out of control the first time I tried it. I don't mind the speed, but give me a snow mobile or a 4 wheeler in the snow any day. See, those things have handlebars, an accelerator and brakes. Sure, I could still have a wreck or a fall, but at least I'm able to steer, exert some measure of control over where I'm going, how fast and when (or whether or not) I stop. I like to have a say in the way things turn out.
Strangely, prayer presents a similar challenge for me. As we've discussed before, a primary function of prayer is seeking God's mercy...asking God for his help. Of course, asking for help isn't easy for many of us. Asking for help means admitting you need help. In my mind, that sounds an awful lot like facing the reality of how little control I have over where my life is going. Over the last couple weeks, I've realized that's a pretty shortsighted way of seeing prayer. While it is true that we human beings aren't really very "in control," that we need lots of help to get through life in one piece, we don't have to see prayer as a painful reminder of our helpless condition. Rather prayer is a reason for hope in the midst our helplessness. James 5:13-16 tells us:
Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.
Did you see that? Are you suffering? The NIV asks, “Is any of you in trouble?” Have you discovered you’re flying down the mountain of life on a couple flimsy pieces of fiberglass and the snowplow technique the others guaranteed would keep you in control doesn’t actually work that well for you? James says, “Start praying!” Not because that’s all that’s left to do, but because that’s the very best thing you can do. There is someone greater than you and he isn’t just a good skier, he can move mountains. He spoke them into existence. Prayer shouldn’t be avoided just because it makes us acknowledge that we need help and don’t really have much control over life. Whether we acknowledge it or not, that’s the state we’re in. Instead, we should see that prayer gives us hope in spite of the condition we’re in. We should be thrilled to have the opportunity to pray.
Like James tells us at the end of the passage above, “The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.” I don’t know all the details of how that works, but I know that daily I’m finding more and more hope and peace in the midst of my hopelessness through the blessing of prayer. In fact, by acknowledging my lack of control in prayer I’m discovering that prayer actually gives us a possible avenue for impacting the outcomes in our lives. We make the best choices we can in the things we can control. In the countless other things we can’t control, we can open up our hearts before the Father and ask him to help and be merciful with us. What a gift we’ve been in prayer?
Friday, December 2, 2011
Day 12
Today is my 11 year anniversary. Talk about an answer to prayer...lots of prayers. I am blessed to have Brooke as wife. I'm grateful she married me 11 years ago today. In many ways, amazed that she's stuck with my through some awfully difficult times between then and now. I have no doubt that our prayers, and those of so many other people around us, have played a major role getting us this far.
Relationships are tricky. Probably because there are...you know...people involved. Let's be honest, we're kind of complicated and extremely difficult to deal with at times. Family, friends, co-workers, fellow believers, teachers, neighbors, etc. Doesn't matter what kind of relationship is it, they're tricky. I'm reminded today of the important role prayer plays in fostering healthy relationships and empowering us to be godly participants in our various relationships throughout life. How often are you praying about your relationships? As we build our relationship with God through communicating with Him in prayer, it seems we ought to also make sure we regularly ask God to be at work in our many relationships with others.
Oh, a little reminder here about yesterday's post. There was a question posed at the end that I'd like to encourage to still consider and respond to. Take a look here and respond when you have a chance this weekend.
Relationships are tricky. Probably because there are...you know...people involved. Let's be honest, we're kind of complicated and extremely difficult to deal with at times. Family, friends, co-workers, fellow believers, teachers, neighbors, etc. Doesn't matter what kind of relationship is it, they're tricky. I'm reminded today of the important role prayer plays in fostering healthy relationships and empowering us to be godly participants in our various relationships throughout life. How often are you praying about your relationships? As we build our relationship with God through communicating with Him in prayer, it seems we ought to also make sure we regularly ask God to be at work in our many relationships with others.
Oh, a little reminder here about yesterday's post. There was a question posed at the end that I'd like to encourage to still consider and respond to. Take a look here and respond when you have a chance this weekend.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Day 11
Smart phones. Seems a bit of a paradox to me. I think the "smarter" my technology gets, the duller I become. Obviously, that's a bit of an overstatement (I hope?). However, I do believe many improvements in our technology can produce debilitating consequences in a variety of areas of our life if we are not careful about how we utilize it. An easy example of this is the impact of my "super smart" iPhone on my family conversations. Very early on after I got my first iPhone, Brooke expressed a lot of frustration about me bring my phone with me at meal times. At home, in a restaurant or even in other people's homes, my phone was always with me. She didn't like that. I tried to explain to her that it was mobile phone, created to travel with you everywhere so you could always be accessible. However, she pointed out to me that it was actually having the opposite effect. I would spend so much time "using" my phone, sometimes in a productive way but more often just to entertain myself, that I was completely distracted from the opportunity to interact with those sitting at the table with me. My phone had become a roadblock to meaningful to interacting with my friends and family at meals and a hindrance to developing those relationships. I was too distracted to my communication device to do any real communication.
Now, I'm a natural introvert, so I'm particularly vulnerable to being distracted from communicating with others. I've tried very much to respond to that challenge from Brooke. I've gotten better, but many of you know I'm still easily distracted my phone...or anything else for that matter. Oddly enough, do you know what happened when Brooke got her first iPhone a few months later? I noticed she started bringing it to the dinner table and stopped trying to get me to communicate so much during meals. I don't share that to pick on Brooke. Rather I think it suggests that to varying degrees we are all vulnerable to curtailing communication when we allow too many distractions to enter the equation.
As you might imagine, distractions have played a powerful role in my struggle develop and maintain a consistent, deep prayer life. I know it has been a tremendous factor in the highs and lows of my prayer journey for the last couple weeks. Ringing phones, emails, family concerns, knocks on the door, worries about writing a sermon...and yes occasionally some app on my iPhone. Many of them were good things, but they still served as distractions. Distractions can wreak havoc on my prayers. I expect many of you have experienced that truth of that statement in your own life. So, I'd like to pose another question to you all out there. What can we do to combat the enemy of distraction in our prayer life? Share a practical suggestion or specific way you've found to deal with distractions in your prayer life. How can we leave our iPhones elsewhere, so to speak, when we approach God's table of fellowship and prayer?
Have a great Friday. Take some time to respond to today's question. Most importantly, make sure you take some time to communicate with the Father in prayer.
Now, I'm a natural introvert, so I'm particularly vulnerable to being distracted from communicating with others. I've tried very much to respond to that challenge from Brooke. I've gotten better, but many of you know I'm still easily distracted my phone...or anything else for that matter. Oddly enough, do you know what happened when Brooke got her first iPhone a few months later? I noticed she started bringing it to the dinner table and stopped trying to get me to communicate so much during meals. I don't share that to pick on Brooke. Rather I think it suggests that to varying degrees we are all vulnerable to curtailing communication when we allow too many distractions to enter the equation.
As you might imagine, distractions have played a powerful role in my struggle develop and maintain a consistent, deep prayer life. I know it has been a tremendous factor in the highs and lows of my prayer journey for the last couple weeks. Ringing phones, emails, family concerns, knocks on the door, worries about writing a sermon...and yes occasionally some app on my iPhone. Many of them were good things, but they still served as distractions. Distractions can wreak havoc on my prayers. I expect many of you have experienced that truth of that statement in your own life. So, I'd like to pose another question to you all out there. What can we do to combat the enemy of distraction in our prayer life? Share a practical suggestion or specific way you've found to deal with distractions in your prayer life. How can we leave our iPhones elsewhere, so to speak, when we approach God's table of fellowship and prayer?
Have a great Friday. Take some time to respond to today's question. Most importantly, make sure you take some time to communicate with the Father in prayer.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Day 10
Just want to share one of my all-time favorite prayers with you today. You can find it 1 Kings 18. It's prayed by Elijah in his contest with all the prophets of baal on Mt. Carmel.
God, may your greatness and glory be revealed through us. May all those around us see that you are calling them back to their creator and their home. Amen
O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your bidding. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.Frankly, it's a prayer we all need to be praying for our church and our community.
God, may your greatness and glory be revealed through us. May all those around us see that you are calling them back to their creator and their home. Amen
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Day 9
In case you missed it, on Sunday we discussed three critical things we must keep in proper perspective in order to really open ourselves up to a healthy, committed prayer life. I referred to the following three things as "prerequisites to prayer":
Many of us find it very difficult to ask for help. Ask my wife, this is a particularly pronounced struggle for me. Yet the undeniable truth is this...we ALL need help at times. In fact, most of the time we need help from others in a variety of ways, to one degree or another. Each of us knows this internally, but we seem to spend a lot of time trying to convince ourselves and each other this isn't the case. In our time and cultural, independence and self-reliance are firmly entrenched in the highest tier of personal traits, and the indoctrination process starts early. Think about it, every time a child learns to do something "on their own" we all clap and cheer and tell them how grown up they are. There isn't anything wrong with that on its own. Actually those kinds of celebrations are wonderfully appropriate. However, there is an important, yet extremely fine line between a healthy self-image and the delusional, destructive sense of self-suffiency that plagues our society. Learning to walk or hold your own fork as a child is great. Growing into an adult who refuses to ask for directions and doesn't ever read the instructions before trying to assemble (Just speaking generically here. Obviously, not referring to myself.) is not good at all.
Each of us in our own unique ways struggles with this tendency towards independence and self-reliance. So, is it any wonder so many of us struggle with prayer? When we pray, we acknowledge more than God's greatness. We also are admitting to our own inadequacy. At its core, prayer is us asking God for help, admitting our need for more power than we possess on our own. In fact, that's how prayer began in the first place. People began crying out to God when they found that life was more than they could handle on their own. It is still the same with us today. Life is bigger and tougher than anything we can deal with by ourselves. We need help. You know it. I know it. Though God most certainly knows it, maybe it's time we owned up to it in his presence and began asking him more often for the help we so often need.
Have a great evening and a prayer-filled tomorrow. Be in prayer continually. Pray for one another.
- Better Understanding of God's Identity - God is sovereign over all creation and capable of answering our prayers.
- Better Understanding of Our Own Identity - We must acknowledge our weakness, limitations and inadequacy in order to really appreciate the blessing we have in the opportunity to pray to God.
- Better Understanding of God's Initiative - God is not simply a great being willing to be benevolent towards weak and needy humanity. Rather God is a loving, committed parent who has adopted us into his family as co-heirs, and who longs to give good gifts to us, his children.
Many of us find it very difficult to ask for help. Ask my wife, this is a particularly pronounced struggle for me. Yet the undeniable truth is this...we ALL need help at times. In fact, most of the time we need help from others in a variety of ways, to one degree or another. Each of us knows this internally, but we seem to spend a lot of time trying to convince ourselves and each other this isn't the case. In our time and cultural, independence and self-reliance are firmly entrenched in the highest tier of personal traits, and the indoctrination process starts early. Think about it, every time a child learns to do something "on their own" we all clap and cheer and tell them how grown up they are. There isn't anything wrong with that on its own. Actually those kinds of celebrations are wonderfully appropriate. However, there is an important, yet extremely fine line between a healthy self-image and the delusional, destructive sense of self-suffiency that plagues our society. Learning to walk or hold your own fork as a child is great. Growing into an adult who refuses to ask for directions and doesn't ever read the instructions before trying to assemble (Just speaking generically here. Obviously, not referring to myself.) is not good at all.
Each of us in our own unique ways struggles with this tendency towards independence and self-reliance. So, is it any wonder so many of us struggle with prayer? When we pray, we acknowledge more than God's greatness. We also are admitting to our own inadequacy. At its core, prayer is us asking God for help, admitting our need for more power than we possess on our own. In fact, that's how prayer began in the first place. People began crying out to God when they found that life was more than they could handle on their own. It is still the same with us today. Life is bigger and tougher than anything we can deal with by ourselves. We need help. You know it. I know it. Though God most certainly knows it, maybe it's time we owned up to it in his presence and began asking him more often for the help we so often need.
O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name, make known his deeds among the peoples. Sing to him, sing praises to him, tell of all his wonderful works. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his presence continually.
1 Chronicles 16:8-11
Have a great evening and a prayer-filled tomorrow. Be in prayer continually. Pray for one another.
Day 8(ish)
Oops. I messed up and forgot to post something on Monday. Sorry. The good news is that I didn't forget to pray. In fact, I spent several minutes of my prayer time yesterday morning asking God to help me work hard and stay focused yesterday as I feel particularly behind after the holiday weekend. God was merciful I had stayed longer than usual yesterday and really made some progress on my "to do" list. Unfortunately, I stayed so focused on other things that I forgot to keep my commitment to write something here about prayer. I hope you'll forgive me.
More to come later today that is actually intended for today, so I'll share something short that I really enjoyed reading over Thanksgiving weekend.
Hope everyone has a great day. Keep praying!
More to come later today that is actually intended for today, so I'll share something short that I really enjoyed reading over Thanksgiving weekend.
God our provider, all good gifts come from you. Make us so thankful for your gifts that we cannot help but share them with others. Own us as your fools as we abandon the stuff of this world for the treasures of your kingdom. Amen.
Hope everyone has a great day. Keep praying!
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Day 6
We've made it to the end of our first week. If you've joined with the rest of us in this commitment to renew and deepen our prayer lives and stuck with it this week, way to go! If you've slipped up along the way, no problem. Just dust yourself off and try again. If you've not yet joined in this pursuit, there's still plenty of time left to come along on this journey into prayer. It's been a challenging and exciting ride and I'm sure there are more great things to come.
Thought I'd use the space today to pose a question to you: Does location matter? When it comes to praying, does it matter where you are when you pray? Are there right and wrong places to pray, or can you just pray anywhere/anytime? Do you find some location makes a difference in the prayers you pray? Does the Bible have anything to say about this or provide any examples for us to follow in this? This concern has come up some in my study lately. More importantly, it's been a big part of my thoughts about my own prayers this week. So, I'd love to hear some feedback from some of you guys...does the setting matter when it comes to praying?
Thought I'd use the space today to pose a question to you: Does location matter? When it comes to praying, does it matter where you are when you pray? Are there right and wrong places to pray, or can you just pray anywhere/anytime? Do you find some location makes a difference in the prayers you pray? Does the Bible have anything to say about this or provide any examples for us to follow in this? This concern has come up some in my study lately. More importantly, it's been a big part of my thoughts about my own prayers this week. So, I'd love to hear some feedback from some of you guys...does the setting matter when it comes to praying?
Friday, November 25, 2011
Day 5
The blog is officially online! I hope this blog will benefit this time of a prayer in a few ways. First, I am confident this will make it easier for me to write my daily posts. This site's software is geared specifically for this kind of writing and will give me a little more freedom and potential for creativity. Second, I believe this will make it more convenient for all of you to read these posts when you actually have time to spend a few minutes considering whatever is written that day, instead of just trying to read a long message caught in a long line of emails that probably hit your inbox everyday.
One other really cool function of using a blog is the ability for readers to post their own thoughts or responses. Several of you have taken the time to send me a message back over the last few days. Those of meant the world to me (I'm trying to respond to them all in some way, but sorry got a little behind over the holiday). Some of those are the kind of thing that would really benefit the whole group or foster some healthy discussion. So now you'll have the ability to write a response directly to my post each day which others can see. I will probably even offer up some specific questions or requests for response that can push our prayer discussion to greater depths as a group. If you have a personal response that you'd rather not share publicly, no problem, you can still just send me an email. Obviously, this is a really exciting addition to me personally.
So, how's your prayer life today? Have you taken the time to really open up to God some and share your heart with him? I hope so. I'm praying that this is so. Before I sign off for the day, I'd like to commend a couple of books to you that have and continue to be invaluable companions to me in this time of focusing on prayer. I have really enjoyed reading Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference by Philip Yancey, a popular level book written by a really thoughtful, honest and devoted believer, who also happens to be a really good writer. The other book that I have spent a lot of time consider in the few weeks is Richard J. Foster's Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home. This book is an introduction or primer on prayer from a phenomenally insightful teacher and practitioner of the spiritual disciplines. Foster's book in particular has been extremely encouraging and educational for me. I believe it would be the same kind of tool for many of you.
Have a great rest of the day. Be in prayer continually. Pray for one another.
One other really cool function of using a blog is the ability for readers to post their own thoughts or responses. Several of you have taken the time to send me a message back over the last few days. Those of meant the world to me (I'm trying to respond to them all in some way, but sorry got a little behind over the holiday). Some of those are the kind of thing that would really benefit the whole group or foster some healthy discussion. So now you'll have the ability to write a response directly to my post each day which others can see. I will probably even offer up some specific questions or requests for response that can push our prayer discussion to greater depths as a group. If you have a personal response that you'd rather not share publicly, no problem, you can still just send me an email. Obviously, this is a really exciting addition to me personally.
So, how's your prayer life today? Have you taken the time to really open up to God some and share your heart with him? I hope so. I'm praying that this is so. Before I sign off for the day, I'd like to commend a couple of books to you that have and continue to be invaluable companions to me in this time of focusing on prayer. I have really enjoyed reading Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference by Philip Yancey, a popular level book written by a really thoughtful, honest and devoted believer, who also happens to be a really good writer. The other book that I have spent a lot of time consider in the few weeks is Richard J. Foster's Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home. This book is an introduction or primer on prayer from a phenomenally insightful teacher and practitioner of the spiritual disciplines. Foster's book in particular has been extremely encouraging and educational for me. I believe it would be the same kind of tool for many of you.
Have a great rest of the day. Be in prayer continually. Pray for one another.
Day 4
Originally published on November 24, 2011
Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done. -- 1 Chronicles 16:8
Bet you thought I'd forget today. Hope you are having a wonderful time celebrating with loved ones. I'll be short and sweet. I simply want to encourage you to make sure you don't just call it Thanksgiving, but that you actually make it Thanksgiving. Take some time to give God thanks for all that he is and has done for us.
Praying for you all.
Day 3
Originally published on November 23, 2011
Luke 5:15-16 (NRSV) -- But now more than ever the word about Jesus spread abroad; many crowds would gather to hear him and to be cured of their diseases. But he would withdraw to deserted places and pray.
Hope everyone is having a good day today. I imagine that many of you may be headed home early to start the holiday weekend or hit the road to be with family and friends for Thanksgiving. I'm really looking forward to the weekend as well. Thought I'd share the verse above with you before the holiday. I find it awfully encouraging that even Jesus himself thought it was necessary to step back from busyness of life, even in the midst of some of his greatest moments of ministry, and pray. Given the pace of life in our part of the world, this seems awfully relevant to our discussion. Making time to pray was a priority for Jesus and it should be for us. Prayer was a big part of how he kept himself strong enough to deal with the stresses of his demanding life. Furthermore, prayer helped Jesus stayed focused on God's priorities for his life.
Our world is busy. Our lives can be very demanding and extremely complicated. Far too often I find myself feeling so busy and setting prayer aside until I feel like I have more time free. Yet there is Jesus in the midst of his ministry often taking the time to retreat and prayer. Prayer is a precious gift, but that doesn't mean we should view prayer as some non-essential indulgence that we only use when all of our "real priorities" have already been brought under control. Prayer is not a luxury, it's a necessity. I hope the holiday weekend will provide you the opportunity to withdraw from some of the busyness and brokenness of our world for a little while and pray...just like Jesus did.
Be in prayer continually. Pray for one another.
Day 2
Originally Published November 22, 2011
I've been thinking a lot lately about some of the things that make it difficult for some of us to find the consistency in our communication with God that we really want. There are lots of different things I suspect provide that kind of roadblock for many of us and hopefully we will have some opportunities to discuss several of them during this time. However, I am frustratingly aware of one concern that I often allow to hinder my prayers: I'm not sure what to say. It isn't that I don't have anything to say, there are tons of things that need I need to share with the Father. There are so many things I need to say thanks for, confess, plead with God about, acknowledge, praise, question, express, etc. The truth is, I don't know where to begin. What if there is more to say than I have time? What if I don't bring up the most important stuff first? What if I can't figure out the best way to say what's on my heart? What if I've been neglecting my prayers lately and it feels a little awkward? What if God was paying attention to the way I behaved yesterday? What if God doesn't want to hear from me right now unless I can properly apologize for and sincerely repent for that mistake?
I've been thinking a lot lately about some of the things that make it difficult for some of us to find the consistency in our communication with God that we really want. There are lots of different things I suspect provide that kind of roadblock for many of us and hopefully we will have some opportunities to discuss several of them during this time. However, I am frustratingly aware of one concern that I often allow to hinder my prayers: I'm not sure what to say. It isn't that I don't have anything to say, there are tons of things that need I need to share with the Father. There are so many things I need to say thanks for, confess, plead with God about, acknowledge, praise, question, express, etc. The truth is, I don't know where to begin. What if there is more to say than I have time? What if I don't bring up the most important stuff first? What if I can't figure out the best way to say what's on my heart? What if I've been neglecting my prayers lately and it feels a little awkward? What if God was paying attention to the way I behaved yesterday? What if God doesn't want to hear from me right now unless I can properly apologize for and sincerely repent for that mistake?
For some of you, those may seem like silly thoughts. For many of us, they're very real and can be rather paralyzing when it comes to prayer. One of the books I've been reading lately led me to consider again the story of the Prodigal in Luke 15. In that story, when they are finally reunited the Father embraces his child and celebrates his homecoming. Despite all the mistakes, all the sin that son had dirtied his own life with the Father runs to his son, throws his arms around him and kisses him. Whatever we've done, wherever we've been the Father is longing to hear from us and embrace. This is the entire story of the Bible: God loves us and pursues a relationship with us, even though we are unworthy and awfully prone to messing up our relationships. As it relates to prayer, this story is rather helpful as well when we consider the son's words to his Father. The whole way home the son was scripting, refining and rehearsing exactly what he would need to say to the Father. Yet by the time they are finally face to face, the exact words seem to be irrelevant. The Father embraces his son before he can even begin his prepared remarks, and once the son finally gets the words out it seems the Father doesn't almost ignores the specifics of the son's speech. He's just glad his son has come home. All he wanted, was for his child to come back home and back into his Father's presence. So it is with prayer. We can certainly grow in our prayer and improve our ability to speak honestly and powerfully with God. But more than anything, God just wants to hear from us. He wants us to turn to him and open up our lives with him, pour out our hearts before him. He's just a Father who wants his children to love him enough to spend time with him and share their lives with him. Prayer is one of our greatest avenues for doing this.
I hope you've taken some time to visit with the Father today. If you did, regardless of the exact words you used, I'm sure that God was glad to hear from you.
Be in prayer continually. Pray for one another.
Day 1
Originally Published - November 21, 2011
Good afternoon church,
I hope all of you are doing well and that your holiday week is off to a good start. You have all been in my prayers today. Yesterday in worship we talked about given to prayer in the Scripture and wrestled with the question of whether or not our lives reflect the same kind of commitment to and appreciation for the gift of prayer. If you weren't with us yesterday, you can find the sermon audio by clicking on this link. The sermon isn't anything special, but I really believe God is calling our church family to rediscover the spiritual gift and discipline of prayer. I am prayerfully hoping that all of us will respond to this call from God together. Perhaps this lesson can provide a good launching point for that.
I hope all of you are doing well and that your holiday week is off to a good start. You have all been in my prayers today. Yesterday in worship we talked about given to prayer in the Scripture and wrestled with the question of whether or not our lives reflect the same kind of commitment to and appreciation for the gift of prayer. If you weren't with us yesterday, you can find the sermon audio by clicking on this link. The sermon isn't anything special, but I really believe God is calling our church family to rediscover the spiritual gift and discipline of prayer. I am prayerfully hoping that all of us will respond to this call from God together. Perhaps this lesson can provide a good launching point for that.
As part of yesterday's sermon, I asked everyone to commit themselves to daily prayer and the intentional pursuit of a deeper understanding of prayer . Each of us needs to make prayer as a priority in our lives every day, not just for the next month. However, we want to spend some concentrated working on it and exploring what it means to be a "praying church." For some of us prayer comes quite naturally, but for others it can be a struggle. Over these 30 days, we'll have the opportunity to encourage each other, pray for each other and work together to make prayer a priority in our lives, homes and our church family.
One of the ways I have planned to support this commitment to prayer over the next 30 days is by writing about it some every day during this time and sharing it with you all. So, for the next 30 days I will be sending out an email like this as a reminder to make prayer a priority that day. The daily form will vary, but I'll typically include some great idea (someone else's obviously) or an encouraging thought I run across in my studies for this series on prayer. Or, perhaps just share a personal reflection or prayer. After all, I'll be walking through this prayer journey with you all for the next month as well.
I will probably create a space on the church website or open a blog site for these as well to make it as easy to access as possible for you all. So look for info on that soon. I do hope you will join me in this exciting time of prayer and spiritual growth. I've taken up enough of your time for now. So, I'll leave you with this quote from the great theologian Karl Barth:
To be a Christian and to pray are and the same thing; it is a matter that cannot be left to our caprice. It is a need, a kind of breathing necessary to life.
May God bless you this evening. Be in prayer continually!
Grace and Peace,
Josh
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