Cross Training - The Inward Discipline of Prayer Pt. 2

Allan Kraft in his book "Good News for Those Trying Harder" stated this about the Inward Disciplines.   

"Not long ago, I read that a person my age should drink 16 glasses of water a day. The next morning I brought to my office a large pitcher filled with water. Throughout the day that pitcher on my desk frequently reminded me of my need, and I'd pour another glass and drink. Overall, it was a positive experience—other than having to go to the bathroom 27 times in a period of eight hours. Remaining hydrated, I learned from that experience, requires intentionality. I had to stop periodically in the midst of my busyness, become aware of my body's need for liquid, and take a few moments to drink a glass of water. In a similar way, to drink deeply of Jesus is to build into our lives frequent moments in which we intentionally stop and become aware of his presence with us."

Becoming aware of Christ's presence within us is.  Hmmm!  That is an amazing concept.  Have you ever taken a moment and considered what that may look like.  Here is what I believe to happen when a person pursues the Inward Disciplines.  I believe they are stretched, I believe they are confronted with their own inward inability to follow a standard that, in our own mind, lies beyond our personal abilities.  So why pursue the disciplines?  G.K. Chesterton provides a simple answer - "Christianity has not so much been tried and found wanting, as it has been found difficult and left untried."  I'm not sure this is the only answer to the question, "why pursue the disciplines," but it comes close to explaining the importance of our faith being "tried."  

 The subject of prayer needs to be studied under the microscope of the disciplines.  Prayer is one of the disciplines I think we can take or leave based on God's past performances in our prayer pursuits.  If God adequately answered our prayers to our liking, then we find prayer to be easily pursued.  But God only gets so many chances and then we throw in the towel.  What we fail to understand is that prayer is not a "man-centered / God-shaping" discipline.  It is a "God-centered / man-shaping" discipline.  God is the object of focus, we are the chasers.  Christ never said to the disciples when he called them, "hey what you doing, can I try that?"  NO!!  What he said, in ever so simple terms was, "Follow me" and "take on my yoke." 

The discipline of prayer then becomes a "God-pursuit" instead of what we have made it out to be which is a means to throw all of our personal requests at Him.  Think of it this way, what would your closest relationship look like if all they did was make "REQUESTS" of you all day long.  I believe the Lord loves our requests, but what I think He loves even more is the discipline of character building that incorporates a one-way communication line, God to us.

Cross Training - The Inward Discipline of Prayer

I find it so amazing when times come up where I have to, or need to, talk about prayer.  I thought to myself just today, "if prayer were a weight room I wouldn't even have a Universal set in mine."  The opportunities that come my way when  I have to preach or teach on prayer I enjoy because I really like having to study about a discipline that I don't always quite understand. Richard Foster said this about Prayer - “Prayer is the central avenue God uses to transform us… The closer we come to the heartbeat of God the more we see our need and the more we desire to be conformed to Christ.”  

 I guess the question I have then is, what is it about prayer that transforms me?  Is it my initiative to pray?  Is it the amount of time I pray?  Is it the words I say?  Do I need to add an occasional "Thee" or "Verily, Verily" or "Whereforartthou?"  Maybe its my posture?  You can't beat a good posture when it comes to praying you know.  Think about it, there's the head bowed posture, the kneeling posture, the fall asleep in bed posture, the prostrate on the floor posture, and my personal favorite, the headache posture.  That's the one you use in the restaurant when you want to pray but not make it so obvious to everyone around you.

Better yet, maybe it's something so completely different then all of these.  Kyle Snodgrass said that “The believer’s entire life is one large prayer to God.”  Prayer is a lifestyle.  Prayer encompasses all of the disciplines as a means of intercession and communion with the God of grace.  As we practice the discipline of prayer, as we practice the discipline of worship, God's Word, Service, these all become an expression of prayer because not only are we communicating audibly in prayer but we are communicating prayer through action.  Donald Whitney tells us, “As we place ourselves in them [disciplines] to seek communion with Christ, His grace flows to us and we are changed.”

I think the discipline of prayer is misunderstood.  It's not about any form, ritual or practice.  It's simply about taking time to put aside our own agendas and putting a conversation between you and the God of transforming grace FIRST!  I love the freedom of prayer because the Lord allows me the freedom to question, to scream, to yell, to cry, to quietly listen, and unfortunately at times, to listen to His correction.   

Can't wait to hear from you!!

Cross-Training - The Inward Disciplines

QUICK REMINDER!!  IT TAKES 28-DAYS TO START A NEW HABIT!!

I love the opportunity to study about the Disciplines.  More then that, I love to read about others who write about the mastery of the Disciplines, because I am everything but a master at the disciplines of my personal faith.  When you think about the word "discipline," you might immediately cringe at the thought of having one more part of your life come under personal discipline.  You might add, that means more sweat and determination and focus and I am lacking on all three counts.  

Two questions often emerge when thinking about the Spiritual Disciplines - Why? and How?  WHY do I need the Disciplines and HOW am I supposed to pursue them?  First, the WHY of the Spiritual Disciplines.  The Disciplines of faith, simply, are a necessary tool for discovery.  Discovery of what you might add?  Discovery of grace, God's divine grace.  In fact, what the disciplines do is place us in the paths of God's grace.  Donald Whitney states that "As we place ourselves in them [disciplines] to seek communion with Christ, His grace flows to us and we are changed."  Ah Ha!!  There is the White Elephant in the room of Discipline - "Change."  This is the HOW of the Disciplines.

The Spiritual Disciplines not only reveal God's grace to us, but the Disciplines are also responsible for personal CHANGE, the one thing that holds many of us back from moving forward in God's grace and beyond our "Alter Call" or "Salvation Experience."  You see, I know a lot of good people who have tremendous personal salvation stories, but whose lives struggle in experiencing and living out grace, and I wonder if it is partly due to that lack of change that has taken place in their lives due to the disciplines.  A good analogy (at least I think it's good) of a believer's life that lacks the disciplines is like a one-legged ice skater.  A believer who lacks the disciplines never really discovers the flow of God's grace, and therefore, lacks propulsion.  Don't get me wrong here, because we certainly need to be aware that the amount of time you spend in the Spiritual Disciplines does not necessarily coincide with how graceful life becomes.  The disciplines only help us to discover the flow of God's grace in the midst of an ungraceful world, giving us more and more strength to stand firmly in the awkward currents of life.  

I find that life throws fewer and fewer curves at us when we discover how the disciplines ground us. 

Cross Training - The Disciplines of Faith

Donald Whitney in his book "Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life," writes about a past-time that has long been overlooked or forgotten in the life of a believer.  It is the topic of the Christian Disciplines.  Some of you might be thinking right now, "Ah, great, Randy wants to talk about the regulations of the church and all the rules I'm supposed to follow."  Actually, No, I'm not, but I am going to talk about a lost practice within the church and every believer, that I believe needs to be regained if we are to understand the deep chasms of faith that await us.

I love what Whitney says about the disciplines -- "The Spiritual Disciplines are those personal corporate disciplines that promote spiritual growth.  They are the habits of devotion and experiential Christianity that have been practiced by the people of God since biblical times." 

Kent Hughes in his book, "Disciplines of a Godly Man," tell the story of Winston Churchill.  "In our time Winston Churchill has been rightly proclaimed the speaker of the century, and few who have heard his eloquent speeches would disagree... But the truth is, Churchill had a distracting lisp which made him the butt of many jokes and resulted in his inability to be spontaneous in public speaking.  Yet he became famous for his speeches and his seemingly impromptu remarks... Actually, Churchill wrote everything out and practiced it!  He even choreographed the pauses and pretended fumblings for the right phrase.  The margins for his manuscripts carried notes anticipating the "cheers," hear, hears," "prolonged cheering," and even "standing ovation..."  A naturally disciplined hard-working man!

Hughes remarks that "none of us naturally seeks after God, none is inherently righteous, none instinctively does good (Romans 3:9-18).  Therefore, as children of grace, our spiritual discipline is everything -- everything!  I repeat... discipline is everything!"

In a nutshell, Spiritual Disciplines are the catalyst for Godliness and living life victoriously.  Think about it, if we are to be "successful" at whatever hobby or joy of life we are a part of, then we need to find out how to practice the task with perfection in mind, not to strip the task of joy and life, but so that we can enjoy the task because we have developed the disciplines that motivate success. 

Whitney says the disciplines are "like God's channels of transforming grace."  What he wants us to understand is that disciplines help in making God's grace in our lives more apparent, more real, more obvious.  When we refuse to pursue the disciplines God's grace in our lives remains distant and incomprehensible. 

For the next couple of weeks we are going to be looking at the discipline of God's Word.  Here is what I would like to propose.  I would like you to to take Psalm 119 and read a portion (Ps. 119 is already broke into segments in most Bibles) for 28-days.  They say it take 28-days to develop a new habit and I would like to begin with the habit of daily reading God's Word.  There is my challenge.  More next time.

Randy

Beginning the new year provides a great opportunity to look at the year behind and the year ahead as a church.  I am always curious about churches that "get it."  You know what mean,  when I say "get it."  I mean they understand what Jesus meant about being an incarnational church.  I really love the story Rick Warren gives illustrating how God can sometimes move within a church. 

Southern California is well known for its beaches.  It’s part of the country that popularized the music of the Beach Boys, beach party movies, and of course, surfing.  Although the surfing fad has evolved into skateboarding for most American kids, the real sport is still popular in southern California…  If you take a class on surfing, you’ll be taught everything you need to know about surfing… But you’ll never find a course that teaches “How to Build a Wave…”  Surfing is the art of riding waves that God builds… A lot of books and conferences on church growth fall into the “How To Build A Wave” category… But growth cannot be produced by man… Only God can create waves.

I loved going to the ocean with my 3-girls.  They were an absolute ball to body surf with.  Now, as a parent, I didn't always get the chance to enjoy the experience as much as they did because I was to busy watching to make sure they were still right-side-up, but I still look back with laughter.  What I especially remember is how we would all lump together and look for the next best wave.  Sometimes we would see one to the north and other times to the south, and sometimes we got lucky being in the right place at the right time.  Nevertheless, it was always fun to watch my girls chase waves.  

I find the same principle to be true in the church today.  Sometimes we get "lucky" and happen to be in the right place at the right time when that amazing wave comes in, and sometimes we need to look around and chase a wave.  I look at chasing waves as it relates to the church and her health.  You see, just like waves come in at varying levels so God's activity comes in, in ways that are not always consistent.  Communities change, environments change, ministry needs change, and the church needs to be aware of these changes so that we can minister to people where they are.  Though our building may be permanent and stationary our legs and handiwork are not as we connect to the needs of people.  

Most people assume if you go to the ocean there will be waves, just like if you go to a church there will be ministry happening inside.  Not always true!  Ministry is GOD INITIATED and CHURCH ASSEMBLED.  We just need to be consistently looking out for waves.

Poetry In Motion - Pt. 2

As I write this I am punching my keys due to the fact that just as I was finishing this blog, everything I had written disappeared never to be found again.  You can imagine there was a bit of frustration.  Nevertheless, as I look at this unfortunate turn of events I have to wonder, maybe this was the Lord saying, "I don't like what you wrote, it was absolute jibberish, therefore, I am going to erase it from your computer."  Now you can take this in one of two ways.  You can take it as a Pessimist (glass half-full) or you can take it as an Optimist (glass half-full). 

Have you ever had to work beside someone that was a pessimist?  I'm sure you have.  For the optimist they can be a bit aggravating.  I have found, however, the need for the pessimist in our world today.  You see, I believe the pessimist is the person who keeps us sharp, constantly thinking about the items that need special forethought and are not emotionally charged.

Psalm 22 is an amazing Psalm of David because it has both elements - pessimism and optimism.  It is written in two segments, despair and then thanksgiving.  David is writing during a particularly difficult time of his life and shares a statement that is later quoted in the New Testament by Christ while on the cross - "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me" (Ps. 22:1).  Some believe that Jesus actually may have recited this entire Psalm while he hung on the cross.  I find it amazing how David's words later became Christ's, both crying out to God in the midst of terrible loneliness.  Jesus, especially, was experiencing this terrible emotion, not with surprise and wonder, but with the reality of his Father turning his back on the lamb that carried the sin of the world.  Alone, an emotion not familiar to Christ. 

But thankfully there is the second segment of Psalm 22 - thanksgiving.  The glass is half-full, not half empty.  I find the honesty of David in his despair and Christ on the cross refreshing when I think of mine and others circumstances, sometimes of loneliness and despair, but never dwelling in the valley of death.  Psalm 22 reminds us, as well, of the promise that often lies beyond our sight.

24 For he has not ignored the suffering of the needy. He has not turned and walked away. He has listened to their cries for help.

  Psalms 22:24 (NLT)

Poetry In Motion

Sorry for the delay.  Been having some issues with our computer systems here and have not been able to update the blog like I would hope.  I have started a new series, even though I am already starting week 3 of "Poetry In Motion."  I thought I would take some time and examine some of the Messianic Psalms during this advent season.  Week 1 really looked at Psalm 110 which is a Psalm of Christ the King.

Psalm 110, the most quoted Psalm in the NT, is a psalm about power regained.  Psalm 110 is a Kingly psalm.  It is often thought to be a psalm that is sung during a coronation or enthronement of a Davidic king.  In the NT Psalm 110 is quoted 27-times. 

I like this anonymous authors description of Psalm 110 - "The power of the Psalm is seen in its Messianic promise - the promise of God becoming a man and touching earth in order to reclaim His creation.  The subject is the Priest-King.  David wrote Psalm 110 as a poem to be read, a song to be sung."

The principles behind this Psalm target the Kingly Christ, the throne of Christ and the connection point of both in our lives.  What I mean is, if Christ is truly King, as this Psalm proclaims, then naturally their is a personal application for us all.  That application targets the throne room of Christ in our personal lives.  Let's take it a step further.  What does Christ look like as the King of our lives, meaning having complete control.

I envisioned 5 principles regarding Christ's control and presence in our lives lived out.

• In the midst of your enemies.
• In the midst of your battles.

Christ's control is then further fleshed out in the victories of a Christ controlled life.

• He reminds us of his constant presence.
• He reminds us that he will go to war for us.
• He will give us rest.

Truly powerful lives are those that seek less and less control.  Strange isn't it!?  Tell me your thoughts.  I would love to hear of moments in your life that you fought God's control and eventually came to an understanding with him that true power would never come until you gave up the throne of your life.

Randy