This week the church I go to, Immersion in Des Moines, is starting a series on prayer. Prayer has always been one of my weaknesses. I’m good at reading, and sometimes even serving, because those are very tangible things. I’ve always seen prayer though as being the most vague and ambiguous spiritual discipline. It frustrates me. I always tell myself I’m going to get better at it, but I never know how.
I co-lead a small group for InterVarsity here on Drake’s Campus called 101. It’s like a Christian basics group. This last week we talked about prayer, and a lot of great questions came up that I thought should be re-posted here. I think we often do something blindly because we’re Christian without even thinking about what it means. Some of the questions:
- Why do we pray? Is there Biblical justification for asking God favors? Does our prayer change things?
- “Ask and you will receive” – really? What does that mean? Are there limits on that?
- How do we make it two-way communication instead of me just talking to God?
- How on Earth can I pray for everything I need to pray for?
- Why do I have a right to ask for things with all the suffering around me?
Aren’t these great questions? I’m wont even attempt to answer them, because I’m not even sure there are clear answers. Nonetheless, I think the questions need to be asked. It’s good to question. It’s good to ask. It’s good to be confused and searching.
Maybe this series on prayer will clear things up for me. And maybe it wont. Hopefully either way I’ll learn a little something about what it means to be someone who prays to a living and active God.
Think about it.
There’s two things I’m learning today, and the last few days, that kinda go together.
The first is that I know I wanted to relax this Lent season and take a break from being online so much, and also from reading more than I can handle in terms of Christian/Theologically heavy books. Translated that means a little less Twitter, less blog-reading, less Facebook, less compulsive e-mail checking, etc. It’s been incredibly refreshing. I’m not pushing myself to stay “connected”. Really though, I’m more connected with my offline friends, the friends I have in the real world. I’m wayyyy less tired these last couple weeks than I was to start the semester off, and it’s AWESOME.
The second thing I’m learning is about the idea of “life“. As a sidenote, I’m doing an Old Testament one-year reading plan, while doing my own track for the New Testament, and I’m really starting to catch on that the themes are incredibly parallel between the two testament’s. Much more so then I ever before realized. Anywho, here’s what Leviticus 18:5 and 1 Peter 1:23 says, respectively:
“It you obey my laws and regulations, you will find life through them.”
“For you have been born again…This new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God.”
See how the two go together yet?
New life, and life period, comes from God. From the Word of God. It wont come from other books, from blogs, from social media, from anything of this world. I believe that God is calling me to spend less time in other books and other people’s thoughts, and more time in His Word and His thoughts. He might be calling you to do the same also.
I want to spend more time in the Bible than I spend in blogs, books, e-mails, etc. I dont know if that will happen, but I definitely know I need a little bit of re-focusing. I haven’t read a book other than the Bible [and school books of course] for about a week and half, and it’s been so refreshing. Now, I’ll probably being reading again soon, and staying caught up on blogs again soon, but I’m hoping to do so with a little less intensity.
Dont get me wrong, I love being online, I love reading, I love all that peripheral stuff. But if it comes at the expense of less time with God and with real people, then maybe it’s an idol in your life. I realize those are strong words, but if they’re coming before God, then it’s true. I do it all the time, so dont feel like you’re the only one.
Spend a little more time with God this week and a little less time with your computer.
Think about it.
P.S. Justin Wise wrote a somewhat similar post this week on his blog, Be Deviant.
It’s been a week since I last blogged, not quite living up to the standards I set for myself about a week and a half ago about blogging three times a week. Here’s the deal though, that was a mistake. I’m gonna blog what I want, when I want. To put limits on it is just not possible right now with me being a student.
Today is Ash Wednesday, which means it is the beginning of this 40-day period known as Lent. It’s not a biblical tradition, but one that has been carried out by the church for hundreds of years. I think it’s cool. It gives us an excuse to really focus on God for 40 days. And in our busy lives we live, that sadly becomes kind of necessary.
Usually, people who celebrate Lent give something up for 40 days. Some of the more common things are chocolate, deserts in general, pop [soda], video games, etc. I happen to be giving up pop, because I drink wayyy too much of it. Mark Batterson however mentioned in his blog last week that it’s also a good idea to add something to our lives. Something that will benefit our relationship with God. I think it’s an awesome concept, and actually possibly more beneficial than giving something up.
So, I decided that I’m going to journal at the end of every day for just like 15 minutes. I want to institute a habit of reflection and prayer on my days. I dont want to become a drone, where the days just meld together and I have no meditation or reflection whatsoever. I’m quite excited. This also follows a recognition that I need to simply relax more. I had this goal of reading 50 books this year, but that seems to be a little ambitious for me with all my school work and extracurriculars. I’m sure I’ll revisit that in a while, but for now it needs to be put on hold. I ended up just pushing myself too hard and being tired every single day, and that’s not fun.
All in all, I’m hoping these next 40 days can really transform what my spiritual life looks like, and maybe it can for you too.
Think about it.
P.S. I tried to link to Mark Batterson’s blog, but apparently Safari 4 doesnt agree with WordPress. Here’s the URL to the post I mentioned. http://evotional.com/2009/02/what-are-you-fasting-for-lent.html
I’m speaking at InterVarsity Christian Fellowship tonight here at Drake U. We’re doing a “Sunday School Remix” series in which we take the most famous stories of the Old Testament that you learn when you’re little, and dig out the adult themes.
I’m speaking about Moses. I’m quite excited. What follows is pretty much an outline of what I’m talking about.
Moses gets credit for being one of the most Godly men that has ever walked the Earth. And for good reason. He parted the Red Sea, delivered the Ten Commandments and even wrote multiple books of the Bible. He was very human though. We often miss that part. When God first approached him about setting free the Jewish peopl, he wanted nothing to do with it.
- Ex 3:11 “‘Who am I to appear before Pharoah?’, Moses asked God. ‘How can you expect me to lead the people out of Egypt?’”
- 3:13 “But Moses protested, ‘They wont believe me.’”
- 4:1 “But Moses protested again, ‘Look, they wont believe me!’”
- 4:10 “Moses pleaded with the Lord, ‘I’m just not a good speaker. I never have been and I’m not now. Even after you have spoken to me, I’m clumsy with words.’”
- 4:13 “Moses again pleaded, ‘Lord, please send someone else!’”
- 6:12 “Moses objected, ‘How can I expect Pharoah to listen, I’m no orator.’”
He doesn’t feel like a leader. He doesn’t feel like he has the right qualities to be effective for God. He says he’s not a good speaker. He says “Why would they listen to me?”. He tells God to send somone who plays the part better. What’s cool though is that God could care less. He’s specially chosen Moses for this task. Just like he’s specially chosen us to do His work here and now.
We don’t need to have “leadership” qualities. It’s bombared into our head though isn’t it? We have leadership conferences, leadership books, leadership mentor programs.. We obsess over this idea. All these things are theoretically teaching us how to gain the right qualities in order to lead effectively. Take these characteristics x, y, and z and boom! Leader. Do all this stuff and you’ll be impactful and successful and powerful.
That can be kind of intimidating. What if you’re just not a born leader? What if you dont have charisma? What if you’re not naturally a “people-person”? Moses’ mentor was God. That was it. The good Lord gives us this incredible promise in Exodus 4:12. “Now go, and do as I have told you. I will help you speak and I will tell you what to say.” God promises to be with us, and all we have to do is “go”. If we give just a little bit, He will blow it out of the water and split the Red Sea [excuse the pun 
].
Moses didnt look like a leader. He didn’t feel like a leader. Honestly, there’s probably a lot of us that feel the exact same way. We think we dont have the right qualities. God is with us though, and He is the only thing we need to be a great leader and to do amazing things.
God will use you no matter what personality traits you do or dont have. It’s not just those people who are born preachers who are called to change the world. Moses was a very ordinary man who did incredible things because he put faith in God to overcome his lack of charisma and speaking ability.
“Seek first His Kingdom, and all these things will be given to you.” Matt 6:31.
Think about it.
