Dec 07

I Gave Away My Favorite Bible

Bible, Christian Life, Spiritual Disciplines, Theological Musings 14 Comments »

I gave away my favorite Bible this morning… and by favorite, I mean favorite. I drove down to Fort Lewis (now called Joint Base Lewis McChord) to pray with a soldier and his wife who was having surgery to remove a tumor behind his ear. As we prayed, I asked his wife if she had a Bible with her to read while her husband was in 7+ hours of surgery. She said she didn’t. So I gave her my Bible. As I left Madigan Army Hospital, I got a little tearful. It’s not that I was having “giver’s remorse.” It was this… in that moment I was simply overcome by how much God has loved me, spoken to me, and guided me through that particular copy of His word. I’ve preached hundreds of sermons from that very Bible. Its margins are filled with a decade’s worth of notes, observations, and quotes. I’ve read, prayed, and journaled through book after book of that Bible. I’ve read story after story from its pages to my son. I’ve clung to it for dear life in some of my darkest days. Some of its pages are stained with my very tears.

Please hear me. There’s nothing sacred about that particular copy of the New American Standard Bible. I’ve never set up a little shrine in my office and burned candles to my black leather Bible. But there is something absolutely sacred and life-giving about God’s word. As I said “goodbye” to the couple and my favorite Bible, I realized how truly living and active God’s word is (Hebrews 4:12). I prayed that His words would jump off the page and into the heart of that young wife as her husband was under the knife.

As I returned to my office, I immediately went online in search of a new Bible. In a couple of days it will show up with clean, note-less margins. And once again, God will love me, speak to me, and guide me though His holy, beautiful, life-changing word. He will show me the power and glory of Jesus. He will call the Spirit to clearly illumine His heart for me, for my family, for my neighborhood, for our church, and for our world.

I’m looking forward to the new adventure…

 

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Sep 07

VERTICAL: New 4-Week Series on Prayer

Northshore Baptist Church, Sermons, Vertical (Prayer) 7 Comments »

“Prayer is God’s invitation to enter His throne room so He can lay His agenda over our hearts.” ~ Henry Blackaby

When I read Blackaby’s quote, here are some questions I ask. Why don’t we accept God’s invitation to enter His “throne room” more? If we do accept His invitation, what do we do when we get there? And what is His agenda that He lays over our hearts? These are some of the questions we’ll attempt answer in our new 4-week series of prayer called “Vertical: Aligning our Hearts with God’s.”

In prayer, our hearts are the most connected to God, the most transformed by God, and the most motivated for the mission of God. As we talk about prayer, our prayer practices must be grounded, shaped, and informed by a biblical perspective on prayer. And the best pattern and model for what our prayer should look like is the prayer Jesus gave us – “The Lord’s Prayer” (Matthew 6:9-13). Jesus’ prayer reveals the ultimate purpose and “how to” of prayer. We pray for relationship, for petition (our needs), and for impact. And in the experience, conversation, and process of prayer, our hearts are aligned with God’s. This is what prayer is all about.

Join us Sundays, September 11 – October 2 as we learn how to align our heart with God’s through prayer. Here are the four messages in the series:

September 11 – The Purpose of Prayer

September 18 – The Prayer of Relationship

September 25 – The Prayer of Petition

October 2 – The Prayer of Impact

I look forward to seeing you at Northshore during this important series. And I am expectant about what God will do in and through our lives as our hearts are aligned with His!

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Feb 21

Effective Prayer

Christian Life, Gospel of Mark, Spiritual Disciplines, Theological Musings 1 Comment »

From The Struggle of Prayer by Donald Bloesch…

“The efficacy of our prayers is tied to the discretion of God. He will answer the prayers of the faithful, but He will answer in His own way and in His own time. He will often give us beyond what we ask for. As Luther phrased it, ‘We pray for silver, but God often gives us gold.’

Yet God may also answer with a refusal. He will not reject our prayer, but He may well reject the way we wish our prayer to be answered. We must not insist on our solution after it becomes clear that God chooses to impose another solution. There is a time to resist and there is a time to submit. God may delay His answer in order to secure our humble dependence on Him. We need to wait for the right time, which is known only to Him. It was seven years before William Carey baptized his first convert in India.

It is well to recognize that there will always be a tension and sometimes a contradiction between our desires and God’s will. The reason is that sin still darkens the minds even of believers, so that we do not always know or desire what is best for us. God is infinite, whereas we are finite; He is the Creator, we are only creatures. This immeasurable gulf between God and man is vividly portrayed by the prophet Isaiah: ‘My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts’ (Isaiah 55:8-9).

The paradox of prayer that is not answered according to human expectation but that is fulfilled in the perspective of eternity is admirably set forth in the following poem:

He asked for strength that he might achieve;

he was made weak that he might obey.

He asked for health that he might do greater things;

he was given infirmity that he might do better things.

He asked for riches that he might be happy;

he was given poverty that he might be wise.

He asked for power that he might have the praise of men;

he was given weakness that he might feel the need of God.

He asked for all things that he might enjoy life;

he was given life that he might enjoy all things.

He has received nothing that he asked for, all that he hoped for.

His prayer was answered!

In our prayers we will not always get what we expressly desire, but we will receive what we need.”

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Feb 07

The Servant Prayer

Bible, Gospel of Mark, Spiritual Disciplines 2 Comments »

In Mark’s Gospel, the first ten chapters cover the three years of Jesus’ earthly ministry. And the final six chapters cover one week, the Passion Week. Up to this point, Jesus has been training the twelve disciples, teaching them His heart and His kingdom values, and showing them what happens when the rule and reign of God shows up in the lives of people. Before we enter into the final week of Mark’s Gospel, Jesus has one more lesson for the disciples and for us… a lesson that’s the culmination of His heart and His mission for this world. The heart of Mark 10:32-52 calls us to pray and live out the Servant Prayer:

#1 To know what You have done for me

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Jesus doesn’t give His life simply as the supreme example of servanthood. Something much larger is happening… something much more significant. When Jesus dies on the cross and gives His life for us, He pays a ransom. He’s paying the price to free us from the penalty of our sin and rebellion against God. Jesus giving “His life a ransom for many” is the clearest statement in Mark’s Gospel about the redemptive purpose of God in Jesus’ death.

On the cross, Jesus dies in our place as a substitute. We deserved death because of our sin and treason against God, but Jesus takes it in our stead. We are freed from and forgiven the penalty of our sin. Understanding this is crucial as we press into the remainder of this Servant Prayer. It is the heart change that Jesus accomplishes as He pays the penalty for our sin that enables us to then live out Jesus’ heart of servanthood.

Pastor Tullian Tchividjian wrote in his book Surprised by Grace:

It’s the gospel (what Jesus has done) that alone can give God-honoring animation to our obedience. The power to obey comes from being moved and motivated by the completed work of Jesus for us. The fuel to do good flows from what’s already been done. So, while the law directs us, only the gospel can drive us.

It is only as we grow in our understanding and application of what Jesus has done for us that we begin to grow in our understanding and application of serving the people and world around us.

#2 To seek greatness in serving

Each year USA Today honors overlooked and often unappreciated football players by naming them to what the newspaper calls its All-Joes Team. Now in its 19th year, the All-Joes award celebrates men who sacrifice their egos for the good of their team. USA Today writes:

Our Joes are not average or even sloppy, but rather unheralded, unloved and, sometimes, underpaid since the one prerequisite for being an All-Joe is that you cannot have a Pro Bowl on your résumé. The NFL’s stars wouldn’t succeed without the adjacent All-Joes. They would never make the Pro Bowl minus those who perform the grittier tasks. That’s one reason the All-Joe team doesn’t allow Pro Bowl picks on its roster and it lends bitter truth to its motto: If you work hard, good things will happen — to someone else.

The motto of the All Joes team really is applicable to those who are servant-hearted: “If you work hard, good things will happen… to someone else.” I’d tweak it… if you live in the grace of Jesus Christ, good things will happen… in and through you… to the people in your world as you serve them in the name of Jesus. We serve others because Jesus first served us. And the Servant Prayer calls us to seek greatness in serving others. While the world entices us with the idols of power, position, and prestige, Jesus invites us to pick up the towel and basin and wash feet. D.L. Moody once said, “The measure of a man is not how many servants he has, but how many men he serves.” Seek greatness in Jesus’ His kingdom by serving.

#3 To follow You with spiritual eyes

The Servant Prayer ends by asking Jesus for the spiritual eyes to follow Him… asking Jesus for the gift of seeing people and the world around us the way He sees people and the world around us. It is asking Jesus to give us the spiritual eyes to be people who are servant-hearted and kingdom-minded. It is asking Jesus to give us the spiritual eyes to see through the deception of the world’s values and to give us the spiritual eyes to live with kingdom values. Jesus, please grant me the faith to follow You with spiritual eyes… with eyes that know what You have fully done for me… with eyes and a heart that seek greatness in serving others.  Jesus, please grant me the faith to follow You with spiritual eyes as I deny and surrender myself and daily pick up my servant’s cross and servant’s towel and follow after You.

When we pray the Servant Prayer, we’re transformed by Jesus’ great grace to be people that follow Him and serve the world around us with His eyes. We become people who are servant-hearted and kingdom-minded.

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Nov 10

The Spiritual Discipline of Confession

Christian Life, Spiritual Disciplines No Comments »

“Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me;” (John 16:7-9)

In Gordon Smith’s The Voice of Jesus, we are taught the spiritual discipline of confession. Our confession of sin is first and foremost rooted in the reality that we are loved by God (Romans 5:8). God loves us extravagantly so, and our sin impedes our ability to hear Jesus’ voice in our lives. Smith writes, “God is calling us away from sin, from that which is not life but death, from that which undercuts our capacity to hear the voice of Jesus and be all that we are called to be” (p. 91).

Confession is the spiritual discipline that enables us to respond intentionally to the convicting ministry of the Spirit.

The spiritual discipline of confession includes (see The Voice of Jesus pp. 103-107):

  • The prayer of humility. We are sinners in need of mercy.
  • Acknowledgment of Wrong. We must agree with the Spirit that we are not living in what is true and good.
  • Acknowledgment of Responsibility. We must admit personal responsibility and culpability and no scapegoat and blame others or our circumstances.
  • Repudiation and turning from sin. We experience grief and remorse from our sin, but true confession also involves turning and repentance from our sin.
  • Acceptance of forgiveness. When we come to Jesus in confession, He promises to forgive us (1 John 1:9).
  • Reformation and accountability. Confession involves purposeful action towards change and transformation. We must develop concrete action steps to live in this new place of freedom and forgiveness. And there is great value in intentional accountability with another Christian brother or sister.

We are loved by the Father and we respond in gratitude. We are also convicted of our sin, and we respond in confession. This forgiveness frees us to hear Jesus voice more as the Spirit illumines our hearts and minds in the Scriptures, which in turn allows us to hear and follow Jesus’ guidance and He leads us in times of choice. See “The Prayer of Wisdom” for the pattern and character of our prayers.

Learn to practice the spiritual discipline of confession. Is there anything you would add to the spiritual discipline of confession?

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Nov 07

RE-POST: A Guide to Spending the Day with Jesus

Gospel of Mark, Spiritual Disciplines 4 Comments »

Jesus said, “Come off by yourselves; let’s take a break and get a little rest.”

~ Mark 6:31 (The Message)

For the past decade, I have been taking regular days away… days with Jesus, filled with solitude, study, and prayer.  Honestly, I don’t know how I would survive the demands of ministry and life without them.  Up until a year ago, I took them once a quarter.  Now, I’m taking them once a month. Over the years, I have shared this “Guide to Spending the Day with Jesus” with folks who want to know either how to do a day of solitude or who want to know what my days away look like.  So here’s what I do:

Before you go:

1) What do you need to experience with Christ during this day away?

2) Where have you been in the Word in the past couple of months and weeks, and where has God been speaking to you?

3) What are you “wrestling” with in this season of your life (specific circumstance, sin, relationship, etc.)?

During the drive to wherever you’re going:

Pray that the Lord would give you direction (Scriptures, a book to read, format for the day, etc.)… remember this is a “dynamic, fluid” day with Christ… not a rigid, hyper-formatted day.

When you get there:

1) Get the environment the way you need it… coffee, temperature, noise reduction (if there’s a clock that ticks really loud, it’s annoying, so remove the battery or move it to another room), and find the best place to really meet with the Lord… where you can stretch out in prayer, with books, etc.

2) Here’s a tentative time schedule that I use (once again, not too rigid)

7:30 Arrive and get situated

8:00 Prayer (I actually get down on my knees)… I ask the Lord to clear the noise in my head and heart, and in my life.  It actually takes me about 20-30 minutes for this noise to clear… so be patient (this fruit of prayer does not yield itself to the lazy).  I ask the Lord to meet with me… to give me a “vision” (not hyper-charismatic, but a picture or image of what He wants me to experience today… one time it was an open meadow in the mountains that represented His freedom… one time it was a picture of my father who truly represented faithfully the love of the Heavenly Father).  I also ask the Father to let me know where He wants to take me today… Scripture… prayer… reading, etc.)

8:45 The Word.  I listen to the Lord or sometimes pick a Scripture to reflectively study and meditate upon.  Typically the Lord has led me to something and I spend the next 2-3 hours studying it, reflectively meditating upon it, journaling through it, praying through it.  This is another weird thing that I do, but I actually will craft a worship service (with songs, readings, prayers, etc) around this passage and theme for the day.  I will often use them when I return.  The point is to find an expression of this time with the Lord.  Perhaps for you, write a chapter of a book, write a song, write a poem, write a movie scene… whatever you need to do to integrate this is in with your passions and calling in life.

11:30 Prayer.  I spend some more time on my knees with the Lord asking Him to “cement” this into my heart and life.

12:00 Lunch and a drive to process more

1:00 This is the fluid part of the day.  Sometimes the Lord simply wants me to pray more… especially intercessory prayer.  Sometimes I’ve prayed for the concentric rings outward from my life (Family, Ministry, Staff and Elders, specific people in the congregation).  Sometimes I read a book.  Sometimes I strategically plan ministry stuff.  Sometimes I take a nap.  Sometimes I go for a run or go on a hike. Whatever happens, I always feel that it’s very effective because I’m really connecting with Christ at this point… very actively and experientially… as if He’s right there with me (which He is through the Spirit).

I also typically leave with an “action plan” on things the Lord has impressed upon my heart that day… where to take it when I return to “reality” with family, ministry, life, etc.

I review these days away (and action plans) frequently to see how I’m doing (perhaps a stewardship issue) with the things the Lord laid upon my heart during my time with Him that day.

4:00 Prayer for the Lord to continue to integrate this more deeply into my life.

4:30 Pack up and drive back to home

Remember, this is not a formula… it’s a dynamic relationship. Even though we don’t want to propagate the “Jesus is my girlfriend thing,” how would you spend the day with someone you really enjoy being around?  This is key!  And remember to journal and write these things down… when you begin to get 2, 3, or even 4 days away over a year or two, it’s really cool to go back and see how the Risen Christ is transforming you into who He desires you to be.

What do you do on a day of solitude, word, and prayer? What helps you connect more deeply with Jesus?

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Sep 05

The Prayer for Wisdom*

Ecclesiastes: Meaning of Life, Spiritual Disciplines 5 Comments »

(*The pattern of prayer explained here is taken from Gordon Smith’s The Voice of Jesus)

One of the most incredible miracles of being a follower of Jesus is that we have the Holy Spirit, God Himself, living inside of us guiding, directing, and leading us towards wisdom and discernment. There’s a process to what the Holy Spirit does in our lives, and our response to His movement brings us to a place of wisdom and discernment. There’s a character to our prayer. That character and pattern of our prayers is: Gratitude, Confession, Meditation, and Discernment. It’s a pattern of prayer that responds to who God is and what He does through the Holy Spirit.

Gratitude is our response to the Holy Spirit’s assurance that we are loved by the Father. We must always start here… the love of God for us. Nothing is so fundamental to the Christian journey as knowing and feeling that we loved by the Father. It is from the experience of God’s love that we know the grace of God and live out every other dimension of our Christian faith. So the Holy Spirit begins by assuring us of the Father’s love for us, toward us, in us, and through us. And our response is gratitude for that love.

Confession is our response to the Holy Spirit’s conviction of sin. When we know the depths to which we are loved and known by the Father, then our sin becomes all the more “despicable.” I don’t say that to take us into deeper places of self-loathing and shame. I say that to ask, “how can we walk away from that love in our sin and disobedience?” The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin and then disciplines us because He loves us… because He wants to remove all of the barriers and roadblocks that prevent us from seeing and experiencing the Father’s love. Our response to the Spirit’s conviction of sin is confession.

Meditation is our response the Holy Spirit’s illuminating our hearts and minds through Scripture. Knowing that we loved by the Father, having confessed our sin and rebellion against Him and His love, we are now ready to come to God through His Word. Our minds and hearts are clear to hear His voice and to see His character and plan as revealed through His Word. And the Holy Spirit illuminates (shines light on) the Word, and our hearts are changed in the process. Our response to that light is to meditate upon it.

Discernment is our response to the Spirit guidance in times of choice. Now that we are beginning to know and experience the assurance that we loved by the Father, convicted of our sin in His perfect love, and having come to His Scriptures to shape our hearts and minds in light of who Jesus Christ really and fully is, now and only now are we ready to hear the voice of Jesus through the Holy Spirit as He leads and guides in times of choice.  The problem is that we often jump immediately to wanting the Spirit’s guidance in times of choice. When we go here without having practiced gratitude, confession, and meditation, we short-circuit the process and cannot clearly hear the voice of Jesus through the leading of the Holy Spirit. If we know we are loved, if we know we are forgiven and freed from our sin, and if we know the heart and character of God as revealed in the Scriptures, then we are much more likely to make the right choices through the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Try praying with this pattern and see how the Holy Spirit develops wisdom and discernment in your life and experience.

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Jun 06

Praying the Names of God

Bible, Hebrews: Supremacy of Christ, Sermons, Spiritual Disciplines, Theological Musings 2 Comments »

If Christian faith finds it’s object as God, then we need to go to the Scriptures to see how God reveals Himself.  One of the key ways that God reveals His character and nature to us is by revealing His name to us.  And here’s what’s interesting… God knows His name.  He’s not revealing His name in the Scriptures for Himself. He’s revealing His name for us. He speaks His name for us, for our needs, to engage the needs of the people with whom He is in covenant relationship.  A practical application in living by faith is Praying the Names of God.  Here are some of the names by which God reveals Himself to us:

  • El Shaddai: “God Almighty.” Stresses God’s loving supply and comfort; offers His power as the Almighty one standing on a mountain and who corrects and chastens (Gen. 17:1; 28:3; 35:11; Ex. 6:31; Ps. 91:1, 2).
  • El Elyon: “The Most High God.” Stresses God’s strength, sovereignty, and supremacy (Gen. 14:19; Ps. 9:2; Dan. 7:18, 22, 25).
  • El Roi: “The Living One who sees me.” God sees us when we are far from home; He meets us where we are and gives us a future and a hope. (Genesis 16:1-16.)
  • Yahweh Yireh: “The Lord will provide.” Stresses God’s provision for His people (Gen. 22:14).
  • Yahweh Nissi: “The Lord is my Banner.” Stresses that God is our rallying point and our means of victory; the One who fights for His people (Ex. 17:15).
  • Yahweh Shalom: “The Lord is Peace.” Points to the Lord as the means of our peace and rest (Jud. 6:24).
  • Yahweh Sabbaoth: “The Lord of Hosts.” A military figure portraying the Lord as the Commander of the armies of heaven (1 Sam. 1:3; 17:45).
  • Yahweh Ro’hi: “The Lord my Shepherd.” Portrays the Lord as the Shepherd who cares for His people as a shepherd cares for the sheep of his pasture (Ps. 23:1).
  • Yahweh Tsidkenu: “The Lord our Righteousness.” Portrays the Lord as the means and source of our righteousness (Jer. 23:6).
  • Yahweh Shammah: “The Lord is there.” Portrays the Lord’s personal presence (Ezek. 48:35).
  • Yahweh Elohim Israel: “The Lord, the God of Israel.” Identifies Yahweh as the God of Israel in contrast to the false gods of the nations (Jud. 5:3.; Isa. 17:6).

(For a more in-depth study, see J. Hampton Keathley’s article “The Names of God”).

When we pray the names of God, we take an honest look at where we’re at. We identify the need that we’re facing.  And then we choose which name of God speaks to our need.  We go to a passage of Scripture where God reveals Himself with that particular name, and we discover how and why God revealed Himself in that way for that particular need.  And then we come to Him with our need, in prayer, in conversation with Him, and we call Him by His name.

For example, if I’m in a place where I’m struggling in the middle of the battle, and I need to know that God is the One who fights the battle with and for me, I pray His name Yahweh Nissi (the Lord is my banner). If I’m in a place where I need God to provide for my need, emotional, physical, spiritual, I come to Him in prayer with His name Yahweh Yireh (the Lord provides).  His name is not some incantation.  His name is His character, and faith is a firm, resolute confidence in the character and nature of God… that God is who He says He is and that God does what He says He does.  And His names represent that reality.  So we pray in faith, praying the names of God.

Is there a name of God that is particularly meaningful for you right now?

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Jun 04

A Guide to Spending the Day with Jesus

Leadership Development, Spiritual Disciplines, Theological Musings 2 Comments »

“As often as possible Jesus withdrew to the out-of-way places for prayer”

~ Luke 5:16 (The Message)

For the past decade, I have been taking regular days away… days with Jesus, filled with solitude, study, and prayer.  Honestly, I don’t know how I would survive the demands of ministry and life without them.  Up until a year ago, I took them once a quarter.  Now, I’m taking them once a month. Over the years, I have shared this “Guide to Spending the Day with Jesus” with folks who want to know either how to do a day of solitude or who want to know what my days away look like.  So here’s what I do:

Before you go:

1) What do you need to experience with Christ during this day away?

2) Where have you been in the Word in the past couple of months and weeks, and where has God been speaking to you?

3) What are you “wrestling” with in this season of your life (specific circumstance, sin, relationship, etc.)?

During the drive to wherever you’re going:

Pray that the Lord would give you direction (Scriptures, a book to read, format for the day, etc.)… remember this is a “dynamic, fluid” day with Christ… not a rigid, hyper-formatted day.

When you get there:

1) Get the environment the way you need it… coffee, temperature, noise reduction (if there’s a clock that ticks really loud, it’s annoying, so remove the battery or move it to another room), and find the best place to really meet with the Lord… where you can stretch out in prayer, with books, etc.

2) Here’s a tentative time schedule that I use (once again, not too rigid)

7:30 Arrive and get situated

8:00 Prayer (I actually get down on my knees)… I ask the Lord to clear the noise in my head and heart, and in my life.  It actually takes me about 20-30 minutes for this noise to clear… so be patient (this fruit of prayer does not yield itself to the lazy).  I ask the Lord to meet with me… to give me a “vision” (not hyper-charismatic, but a picture or image of what He wants me to experience today… one time it was an open meadow in the mountains that represented His freedom… one time it was a picture of my father who truly represented faithfully the love of the Heavenly Father).  I also ask the Father to let me know where He wants to take me today… Scripture… prayer… reading, etc.)

8:45 The Word.  I listen to the Lord or sometimes pick a Scripture to reflectively study and meditate upon.  Typically the Lord has led me to something and I spend the next 2-3 hours studying it, reflectively meditating upon it, journaling through it, praying through it.  This is another weird thing that I do, but I actually will craft a worship service (with songs, readings, prayers, etc) around this passage and theme for the day.  I will often use them when I return.  The point is to find an expression of this time with the Lord.  Perhaps for you, write a chapter of a book, write a song, write a poem, write a movie scene… whatever you need to do to integrate this is in with your passions and calling in life.

11:30 Prayer.  I spend some more time on my knees with the Lord asking Him to “cement” this into my heart and life.

12:00 Lunch and a drive to process more

1:00 This is the fluid part of the day.  Sometimes the Lord simply wants me to pray more… especially intercessory prayer.  Sometimes I’ve prayed for the concentric rings outward from my life (Family, Ministry, Staff and Elders, specific people in the congregation).  Sometimes I read a book.  Sometimes I strategically plan ministry stuff.  Sometimes I take a nap.  Sometimes I go for a run or go on a hike. Whatever happens, I always feel that it’s very effective because I’m really connecting with Christ at this point… very actively and experientially… as if He’s right there with me (which He is through the Spirit).

I also typically leave with an “action plan” on things the Lord has impressed upon my heart that day… where to take it when I return to “reality” with family, ministry, life, etc.

I review these days away (and action plans) frequently to see how I’m doing (perhaps a stewardship issue) with the things the Lord laid upon my heart during my time with Him that day.

4:00 Prayer for the Lord to continue to integrate this more deeply into my life.

4:30 Pack up and drive back to home

Remember, this is not a formula… it’s a dynamic relationship. Even though we don’t want to propagate the “Jesus is my girlfriend thing,” how would you spend the day with someone you really enjoy being around?  This is key!  And remember to journal and write these things down… when you begin to get 2, 3, or even 4 days away over a year or two, it’s really cool to go back and see how the Risen Christ is transforming you into who He desires you to be.

What do you do on a day of solitude, word, and prayer? What helps you connect more deeply with Jesus?

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Jun 04

Praying the Psalms

Bible, Hebrews: Supremacy of Christ, Sermons, Spiritual Disciplines, Theological Musings 2 Comments »

One of the spiritual disciples that the people of God have historically done is pray through the psalms. The psalms are a collection of songs that the people of God have sung and prayed through all of life’s ups and downs.  There are psalms of orientation that point us to the character of God as we praise Him for who He fully is.  There are psalms of disorientation that are sung and prayed as we cry out in confusion and despair, as life is difficult.  And there are psalms of reorientation that re-center and refocus us to the character and nature of God.  In all of the psalms, the focal point is the character and nature of God.  As we pray the psalms, fixating and focusing on the character of God, here’s what happens: “Our perseverance is rooted in His promise which changes our perspective.” When we pray the psalms, we see His great promises, which are based in His great character.  And that gives us perseverance and changes our perspective.

Think for a moment about the Old Testament prophet Jonah.  When he was in the belly of the whale, a definite place of crisis, in chapter 2 he cries out to God in prayer. But here’s the deal… his prayer was not a spontaneous, original prayer.  He prayed the psalms. Every part of his prayer in chapter 2 can be traced back to one of the psalms. This doesn’t mean that we don’t ever come to God in spontaneous conversation, but it does mean that God has given us these powerfully beautiful psalms to root us in who He is, what He’s done, and what He will do on behalf of His people.

Psalm 1, the very first psalm in the psalter, roots us in the practice of praying the psalms.  The very first psalm orients us to the character of God. The psalms help our roots go deep… and when the droughts come, we know where to find nourishment. When the storms come, our roots are deep within the bedrock of God’s character. As we pray the psalms, we go deep with God.

Take a psalm or a couple of verses of a psalm each day.  Read it slowly and meditate upon it. Pray through it. Journal through it. How does the psalm reveal the character and nature of God?  How does your life relate to the confession and cry of the psalmist? How do the character, nature, and promise of God change your perspective? See your life in light of what God is saying about Himself through the psalm. Give it a try… prayer through a psalm or a couple verses from a psalm this week and see how your vision and view of God is shaped as you live in those seasons of orientation, disorientation, and reorientation.  This is a key way in which we can take serious the character of God by taking serious His promise and perseverance.

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