I remember being a toddler, holding onto the coffee table, and then letting go and trying to walk! OK, so I don't really remember that but I have seen enough children go through that process that I assume that I experienced something very similar. There is a beautiful life and adventure that we get to enjoy if we can ever get the courage to just "let go".
Letting go and learning how to better do that is the primary focus of the practice of centering prayer that we began discussing yesterday. For the last several months I have made this practice a part of my life. There are some simple elements to centering prayer that I want to share with you.
1) Start by finding a quiet place where you will be free from distractions and disruptions
2) Take a deep breath, let it out and settle into the moment
3) Set aside 15-20 minutes to just sit in total silence and stillness
The goal of this time is to just "let go"of all of the thoughts you have as they begin to arise. This will be no easy task but try and not give any attention to the thoughts that come up in your mind. Simply let them go. In order to better help with this you may choose a sacred word to focus on during your time. A word like, love, grace, peace or even Jesus!
If we could tap into the benefits of this practice then we would be better suited to "let go" of our negative emotions when something goes wrong in our lives or people hurt us.
As I shared with you yesterday, Father Thomas Keating is a great voice of learning for me on this practice. If you notice below you can watch an 8 minute video of him introducing the practice of centering prayer.
This coming Wednesday, September 3, we will be experiencing Night of Worship at LifePoint Church. The subject of my conversation will be cenetering prayer and we will even spend a few minutes in practice together.
My challenge for you today is to just begin thinking about this practice and make yourslef ready to start walking in it. Here's one thing that I know, life happens wether we are ready or not and if we could walk in peace and learn to let go of all the emotions and hurts that arise in a given day we would be better equipped to follow Christ. Centering Prayer is crucial for this journey.
Sunday we will talk about the discipline of Study and next Wednesday we practice centering prayer. See you there!
Friday, August 29, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Contemplative Practices
Over the last year I have stepped into a new arena with my "discipline of prayer". I've heard a lot about meditation over the years and have even considered myself to walk in that at some points of my journey but making it a regular part of my walk has been a rewarding adventure.
I'm not going to say a lot here because my feeling is that this is probably a fairly new area for most Christ followers so we will take it slow and unpack a few thoughts over the next several days.
In Psalm 104:34 the psalmist said, "May my meditation be pleasing to Him, as I rejoice in the Lord." Now, speaking of prayer that is a good prayer to have in our hearts and on our lips. Lord, may my meditation be pleasing to you! I guess if I'm going to pray that prayer then I should have some time of meditation.
I'm reading a book right now called "The Cloud of Unknowing", which I don't necessarily recommend, but am enjoying even though it's a tough read. It was written in the late 14th century by an anonymous English Monk. Here's a quote:
"Lift up your heart to God with a humble impulse of love and have himself as your aim, not any of his goods..."
The way we make God our aim and not any of His goods is to discipline ourselves with some time of contemplative practice and exercise. For me this has been expressed in recent days in a practice called centering prayer. It is a 20 minute time of prayer where I sit in silence and learn to "let go" of the thoughts as they arise in my heart and mind.
One of the premier voices on the subject of centering prayer is Father Thomas Keating. You can read a little bit about him by clicking here. For the next several days I will invite you into my life and practice of centering prayer.
For today let me just give you a simple challenge. Try spending 10-15 minutes at some point today sitting in total silence. Find a place that is quiet and free from distractions and interruptions. As you sit, there will be 1000 thoughts that flood your way but try and let them go and don't give any of them your attention.
It won't be easy. That's why I call it a CHALLENGE! Are you up for it?
I'm not going to say a lot here because my feeling is that this is probably a fairly new area for most Christ followers so we will take it slow and unpack a few thoughts over the next several days.
In Psalm 104:34 the psalmist said, "May my meditation be pleasing to Him, as I rejoice in the Lord." Now, speaking of prayer that is a good prayer to have in our hearts and on our lips. Lord, may my meditation be pleasing to you! I guess if I'm going to pray that prayer then I should have some time of meditation.
I'm reading a book right now called "The Cloud of Unknowing", which I don't necessarily recommend, but am enjoying even though it's a tough read. It was written in the late 14th century by an anonymous English Monk. Here's a quote:
"Lift up your heart to God with a humble impulse of love and have himself as your aim, not any of his goods..."
The way we make God our aim and not any of His goods is to discipline ourselves with some time of contemplative practice and exercise. For me this has been expressed in recent days in a practice called centering prayer. It is a 20 minute time of prayer where I sit in silence and learn to "let go" of the thoughts as they arise in my heart and mind.
One of the premier voices on the subject of centering prayer is Father Thomas Keating. You can read a little bit about him by clicking here. For the next several days I will invite you into my life and practice of centering prayer.
For today let me just give you a simple challenge. Try spending 10-15 minutes at some point today sitting in total silence. Find a place that is quiet and free from distractions and interruptions. As you sit, there will be 1000 thoughts that flood your way but try and let them go and don't give any of them your attention.
It won't be easy. That's why I call it a CHALLENGE! Are you up for it?
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
An Appointment with God
Why Not? We make appointments with everybody else and never seem to be able to find time to just hang with God. I hear what the real spiritual people in the crowd are thinking: "My whole life is God's and He is in everything, so why would I make an appointment with Him?"
On the one hand if that's your thinking then I applaud you because you are absolutely correct. However, let's just be real for a minute. How much do we acknowledge the presence of God in our daily lives? I think this reality is why we need to make regular, scheduled appointments to just hang out with God in Prayer.
Paul told us in I Thessalonian 5:17 to"pray without ceasing." So that is one passage that indicates that our moment by moment lives should be impacted and influenced by the continual communion between us and our Father. However, I think the way we increase the possibility of that really happening is by having fixed times of prayer in our daily agendas.
This past Sunday we called this "fixed hour prayer". Don't get so caught up with the "hour" word that you decide to not give it a try. I think if we could go to the place where we spend an hour with God in Prayer that would be an amazing time in our lives (Read Matthew 26:36-41). Maybe after yesterdays post you could have some fun turning this passage into a prayer.
Today's challenge:
Could we at least start with 15-20 minutes. Don't just say yes. Go to your calendar for the next 5 days and put it in your schedule. Remember, if you are participating in our current series of talks live or by podcast, that we are not talking about striving to earn God's acceptance. There is nothing we can do to earn anything from God.
All we have is because of God's grace (unconditional love and favor). While we are not trying to earn anything we can still put forth an effort to learn and grow. Dallas Willard said, "While grace is opposed to earning it is not opposed to effort". Put forth some effort this week to hang out with God in Prayer!
On the one hand if that's your thinking then I applaud you because you are absolutely correct. However, let's just be real for a minute. How much do we acknowledge the presence of God in our daily lives? I think this reality is why we need to make regular, scheduled appointments to just hang out with God in Prayer.
Paul told us in I Thessalonian 5:17 to"pray without ceasing." So that is one passage that indicates that our moment by moment lives should be impacted and influenced by the continual communion between us and our Father. However, I think the way we increase the possibility of that really happening is by having fixed times of prayer in our daily agendas.
This past Sunday we called this "fixed hour prayer". Don't get so caught up with the "hour" word that you decide to not give it a try. I think if we could go to the place where we spend an hour with God in Prayer that would be an amazing time in our lives (Read Matthew 26:36-41). Maybe after yesterdays post you could have some fun turning this passage into a prayer.
Today's challenge:
Could we at least start with 15-20 minutes. Don't just say yes. Go to your calendar for the next 5 days and put it in your schedule. Remember, if you are participating in our current series of talks live or by podcast, that we are not talking about striving to earn God's acceptance. There is nothing we can do to earn anything from God.
All we have is because of God's grace (unconditional love and favor). While we are not trying to earn anything we can still put forth an effort to learn and grow. Dallas Willard said, "While grace is opposed to earning it is not opposed to effort". Put forth some effort this week to hang out with God in Prayer!
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
When you Pray
In Matthew 6 Jesus gives us some amazing instructions in the area of Spiritual Disciplines. This is the conversation we are having at LifePoint during the current series called "Pillars". This past Sunday we discussed "prayer" as a discipline. Jesus begins His instructions in verse 5 with these words, "And when you pray."
Did you catch that? The assumption on Jesus' part is that we WOULD pray. He makes the assumption that we will so he gives us some direction and even a model to follow.
One of the ways that we pray is by turning God's word into specific, practical prayers for the life we have been called to live.
Sunday I used the illustration of the "Lord's Prayer" as a great place to start. In this blog I want to share a few other verses with you and show you how we might turn that into a specific prayer. Remember that we are learning to walk in these disciplines together.
Paul wrote in Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things." (I love this passage and use it all the time)
Here's how I might pray this passage back to God:
"Lord, today I am going to be bombarded by many thoughts. I'm going to be confronted with things that are not true, there will be temptations I will be confronted with to embrace impure thoughts or actions, so I ask you to help me focus this day on truth. God, I know that truth is whatever you say regardless of how I think or feel so let me keep that in the front of my mind. When impure pictures or thoughts come my way help me to turn away and see you!"
Here's another passage:
Roman's 12:1 "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, this is your spiritual act of worship."
Prayer idea:
"Wow God! In light of all you have done for me the least I can do today is to make myself available to you. I present myself to you today, so take my gifts, talents and abilities and use them for your plans and purposes!"
For those of you who were there Sunday I referenced Ephesians 6:10-18. Here's a challenge. Grab your Bible, take a few minutes and read the passage and then formulate a prayer that you could pray back to God to make this passage come alive and become relevant in your life. You may even want to take a few minutes and write the prayer and spend a few days reading/praying it until it starts to lodge in your heart.
This Sunday we will look at the discipline of "Study" and that will give us a greater opportunity to grow in God's word and it will enhance our times of praying through scripture.
"And WHEN you Pray!"
Did you catch that? The assumption on Jesus' part is that we WOULD pray. He makes the assumption that we will so he gives us some direction and even a model to follow.
One of the ways that we pray is by turning God's word into specific, practical prayers for the life we have been called to live.
Sunday I used the illustration of the "Lord's Prayer" as a great place to start. In this blog I want to share a few other verses with you and show you how we might turn that into a specific prayer. Remember that we are learning to walk in these disciplines together.
Paul wrote in Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things." (I love this passage and use it all the time)
Here's how I might pray this passage back to God:
"Lord, today I am going to be bombarded by many thoughts. I'm going to be confronted with things that are not true, there will be temptations I will be confronted with to embrace impure thoughts or actions, so I ask you to help me focus this day on truth. God, I know that truth is whatever you say regardless of how I think or feel so let me keep that in the front of my mind. When impure pictures or thoughts come my way help me to turn away and see you!"
Here's another passage:
Roman's 12:1 "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, this is your spiritual act of worship."
Prayer idea:
"Wow God! In light of all you have done for me the least I can do today is to make myself available to you. I present myself to you today, so take my gifts, talents and abilities and use them for your plans and purposes!"
For those of you who were there Sunday I referenced Ephesians 6:10-18. Here's a challenge. Grab your Bible, take a few minutes and read the passage and then formulate a prayer that you could pray back to God to make this passage come alive and become relevant in your life. You may even want to take a few minutes and write the prayer and spend a few days reading/praying it until it starts to lodge in your heart.
This Sunday we will look at the discipline of "Study" and that will give us a greater opportunity to grow in God's word and it will enhance our times of praying through scripture.
"And WHEN you Pray!"
Monday, August 25, 2008
Closing Ceremonies and Spiritual Disciplines
So the 2008 Summer Olympics have come to a close and what a great event it was to watch. As I sat in front of the TV watching the closing ceremonies my mind began to think about all of the hard work that had gone into making the games what they were.
First you had all of the volunteers and effort put forth by those in China that made it all flow and made the opening and closing events some of the greatest in history. Then you had all of the "discipline" by the athletes that actually competed in the games. Nobody showed up in China, hoping to win, having not put in thousands of hours in training and working out.
I think there is a connection between these games and the reality of the discipline that will be required of us to experience the life Christ has called us to experience. In our current series "Pillars" we are talking about some of the ancient paths of following Christ and the Spiritual Disciplines that when present in our lives, create space for God to breathe and work within us.
As I watched the athletes flood into the stadium last night I thought of Paul's words:
First you had all of the volunteers and effort put forth by those in China that made it all flow and made the opening and closing events some of the greatest in history. Then you had all of the "discipline" by the athletes that actually competed in the games. Nobody showed up in China, hoping to win, having not put in thousands of hours in training and working out.
I think there is a connection between these games and the reality of the discipline that will be required of us to experience the life Christ has called us to experience. In our current series "Pillars" we are talking about some of the ancient paths of following Christ and the Spiritual Disciplines that when present in our lives, create space for God to breathe and work within us.
As I watched the athletes flood into the stadium last night I thought of Paul's words:
You've all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You're after one that's gold eternally. I don't know about you, but I'm running hard for the finish line. I'm giving it everything I've got. No sloppy living for me! I'm staying alert and in top condition.
I Corinthians 9:24-27 (The Message)
Are you giving it all you've got? Yesterday we looked at the discipline of prayer and this week we will take it a little further. My challenge for you today is to think through the four types of prayer we discussed and begin to spend some time in each area. If you missed the message you can listen to it on our "podcast" page and the four prayers are listed on our home page.
Start with conversational prayer throughout this day. As you go about living and being remember that God really does care for you and he longs for us to talk to Him. Stop right now, thank Him for his love and spend the day in constant communion with Him. More to come tomorrow!
I Corinthians 9:24-27 (The Message)
Are you giving it all you've got? Yesterday we looked at the discipline of prayer and this week we will take it a little further. My challenge for you today is to think through the four types of prayer we discussed and begin to spend some time in each area. If you missed the message you can listen to it on our "podcast" page and the four prayers are listed on our home page.
Start with conversational prayer throughout this day. As you go about living and being remember that God really does care for you and he longs for us to talk to Him. Stop right now, thank Him for his love and spend the day in constant communion with Him. More to come tomorrow!
Friday, August 22, 2008
Hospital Food
Don't you just love hospital food? OK, don't answer that!
Carey (my wife) is resting well after her back surgery today. This kind of jumped up on us from out of the blue this week. We are so grateful for all of our friends and family who have called, prayed and cared for us so far. We have a month or so of some slow recovery time but God is good and we will be better for it.
This past Sunday I talked about learning to pull away and have solitude and silence as part of Sabbath. This may be a way to have a Sabbath break but I bet tonight's stay won't involve solitude or silence. Probably right when Carey gets to sleep they'll wake her up to take a "sleeping pill". Gotta love it!
This Sunday we will continue our series "Pillars" as we take a deeper look at the need for spiritual disciplines in our lives. We will talk about how Jesus said that the way to clean the outside of our lives is to focus on the inside. Don't miss it!
Carey (my wife) is resting well after her back surgery today. This kind of jumped up on us from out of the blue this week. We are so grateful for all of our friends and family who have called, prayed and cared for us so far. We have a month or so of some slow recovery time but God is good and we will be better for it.
This past Sunday I talked about learning to pull away and have solitude and silence as part of Sabbath. This may be a way to have a Sabbath break but I bet tonight's stay won't involve solitude or silence. Probably right when Carey gets to sleep they'll wake her up to take a "sleeping pill". Gotta love it!
This Sunday we will continue our series "Pillars" as we take a deeper look at the need for spiritual disciplines in our lives. We will talk about how Jesus said that the way to clean the outside of our lives is to focus on the inside. Don't miss it!
Monday, August 18, 2008
Wild Goose Chase
Mark Batterson has done it again! I just finished reviewing a copy of his new book, "Wild Goose Chase" and I feel like I need to grab my backpack, head to North Georgia, and start hiking the Appalachian Trail. That's one of my "life goals"One of the main thrusts of the book is setting goals and pursuing the things God has put in your heart to do. Most of us sell ourselves short and by doing so we are selling God short.
Mark says that if we are going to experience God's best for our lives then we must learn "to play offense. You've got to play to win!"
Last year I had the privilege of hearing Mark speak and then talking with him for a few minutes at the Catalyst Conference. He's one of those guys that has become a long distance mentor to me through his speaking and writing both from books and his blog.
I would encourage you to make his blog a part of your daily reading! You can connect at: www.markbatterson.com
One of the greatest challenges that I have faced in several years came from Mark's inspiration: sitting down and developing a list of 100 Life Goals. He speaks of this practice in his newest book.
It has been said that "we will all end up somewhere in life so why not end up there on purpose."
Today, I encourage you to purchase a copy of "Wild Goose Chase", read it the minute it lands in your hands, and then spend the rest of your life chasing the Wild Goose.
Find out more at www.chasethegoose.com or go straight to www.amazon.com and order your copy!
Thanks for the challenge Mark!
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Spiritual Disciplines and Personal Rhythm's
Today we continued our series, "Pillars" by introducing the need in our lives for spiritual disciplines. I mentioned that the bridge between God's grace that is for forgiveness of sins and God's grace that leads us to a life of obedience is built by spiritual disciplines.
Over the next several weeks we will look in detail at some of the specific practices that allow us to experience spiritual formation. This is the diligence to do the hard things that are part of following Christ. It's one thing to believe in Him but to follow requires paying a price.
One of this biggest part of that price is to focus on some proper and healthy rhythm's for life. As of last week I have engaged a personal coach to help me manage my life's rhythm's. Sometimes we may think that we can do it all on our own and that we don't need a coach but even the greatest enlist the help of others.
Tiger Woods is one of the greatest golfers to ever play the game and yet he has a coach. It's because he understands that even though he has many skills there are still things that he doesn't see in his own game.
As we pursue this life of disciplines I encourage you to surround yourself with people who will help you grow. People who will speak into your life.We all need encourager's and coaches.
Over the next several weeks we will look in detail at some of the specific practices that allow us to experience spiritual formation. This is the diligence to do the hard things that are part of following Christ. It's one thing to believe in Him but to follow requires paying a price.
One of this biggest part of that price is to focus on some proper and healthy rhythm's for life. As of last week I have engaged a personal coach to help me manage my life's rhythm's. Sometimes we may think that we can do it all on our own and that we don't need a coach but even the greatest enlist the help of others.
Tiger Woods is one of the greatest golfers to ever play the game and yet he has a coach. It's because he understands that even though he has many skills there are still things that he doesn't see in his own game.
As we pursue this life of disciplines I encourage you to surround yourself with people who will help you grow. People who will speak into your life.We all need encourager's and coaches.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Night of Worship
Last night we had one of the most amazing times ever at "Night of Worship". For those of you not familiar we gather the first Wednesday of the month about 8-9 months out of the year for a time of music and communion. Some months I share some brief thoughts as I did last night on suffering. You can get the basics from my post yesterday.
My post today is really not about anything I shared but about the amazing time of worship through song that Chris and our band lead us into. We are so fortunate at LifePoint to have a guy like Chris with his gifts, talents and passions to see people truly experience Christ. That's exactly how I left feeling last night. (I experienced Christ)
We go through life a lot of times knowing about God but to experience Him takes our journey to a new level.
Kudo's to Chris, the band, the guys in the sound/media booth, the ladies who set up the room and anyone else who made last night possible. Today I have been able to continue the experience in my heart because of your efforts and availability.
If you missed last night join us in September for what I know will be another great time!
My post today is really not about anything I shared but about the amazing time of worship through song that Chris and our band lead us into. We are so fortunate at LifePoint to have a guy like Chris with his gifts, talents and passions to see people truly experience Christ. That's exactly how I left feeling last night. (I experienced Christ)
We go through life a lot of times knowing about God but to experience Him takes our journey to a new level.
Kudo's to Chris, the band, the guys in the sound/media booth, the ladies who set up the room and anyone else who made last night possible. Today I have been able to continue the experience in my heart because of your efforts and availability.
If you missed last night join us in September for what I know will be another great time!
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
The Benefits of Suffering
OK, so not my favorite title or subject! However, I think we have to face the reality that suffering has a place in our lives. I will talk briefly about this at Night of Worship this week.
It seems to me that whenever we talk about suffering, especially as followers of Christ, that we have this negative tone in our conversation. What if we could begin to see suffering for what it really is, "An opportunity to see God in unique ways and an opportunity to grow." The Bible doesn't seem to share this negative view we have of suffering.
As a matter of fact James said "Consider it pure joy, my brothers when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance." James 1:2-3
May I suggest that you go and read the verses that follow for a better grasp on the benefits of suffering in our lives.
Today, no matter what we are facing could we ask God to reveal himself to us in unique ways and allow us the strength and grace to persevere!
It seems to me that whenever we talk about suffering, especially as followers of Christ, that we have this negative tone in our conversation. What if we could begin to see suffering for what it really is, "An opportunity to see God in unique ways and an opportunity to grow." The Bible doesn't seem to share this negative view we have of suffering.
As a matter of fact James said "Consider it pure joy, my brothers when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance." James 1:2-3
May I suggest that you go and read the verses that follow for a better grasp on the benefits of suffering in our lives.
Today, no matter what we are facing could we ask God to reveal himself to us in unique ways and allow us the strength and grace to persevere!
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