devotion

Summertime Prayer

/ Will N. / Leave a comment

In this change of season, Lord, we ask also for a change of heart.

Take our reservoirs of defensiveness and self-preservation, and let these stored energies be transformed into streams of kindness and compassion.

Lord, in a culture that tells us to demand more and more, allow us to find satisfaction with less and less.

Grant us the awareness and humility to see when our hearts are being pulled away from the center of who we are called to be in Christ.

Open our eyes that we might see ourselves more clearly, and in the realization of our weakness, return to You and Your strength.

May a better sense of our own limitations cause us to experience a growing grace toward our neighbors.

Clarify our desires- help us to recognize the dangers that arise from settling for passing entertainment and distraction when we actually long for purpose and meaning.

Restore within us the wonder and joy of seeing holy things.

Give us the child-like awe of watching bubbles spiraling upward, spying rainbows emerging from the midst of summer storms, and tasting Sno-cone sweetness running down our chins on a hot July day.

Help us to love this creation that You have given us to enjoy- open our eyes that we might take less for granted and give praise for more and more of life’s pleasures.

Draw us to constant celebration of the goodness of Your very good world in each aspect of our lives.

Open our souls to be filled to overflowing with appreciation and wonder.

Let the beauty of Your gifts, as well as the truth of Your Word, draw us back to You through all our days.

Overwhelm us with Your ever-renewing kindness and compassion.

May our hearts, broken by the hardships of life, be refreshed by the awareness that You are with us and continually strengthen us.

Implant within us a greater desire and growing commitment to walk according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh.

Help us to see that we cannot stand in our own power nor survive in our own strength.

Cause us to admit that we cannot thrive without Your presence and the fellowship of Your people.

Draw us away from our individualistic pursuits of power and recognition that we might form together the community of faith You long to inhabit and empower to live out Your mission in our world.

Let our dreams of Your kingdom be so deep and broad that they are doomed to fail without Your approving participation and our mutual cooperation.

Help us to faithfully see ourselves, both strengths and weaknesses, and to yield all for Your glory and the good of Your kingdom.

In all things, may we be drawn together as we are drawn more and more to Jesus.

In His holy and awesome name, we pray, amen.

Asking for directions…

/ Will N. / Leave a comment

When we are willing to ask for help, we receive as well as give a blessing.

When we are willing to humbly open our lives to instruction and correction, we create an opportunity for others use their talents and gifts to edify and encourage us.

While on campus for Freed-Hardeman University’s annual Bible Lectureship last year, I stopped outside the Brewer Sports Center to check my schedule for the day’s sessions before heading over to the campus-wide chapel service. Many ministry/missionary booths were on display inside the main gym, and several people were coming and going- hurriedly seeking to make it to their next session.

A middle-aged man I did not know approached me and said, “I am sorry to bother you, brother, but it is my first time here on campus and perhaps you could help me. Do you know where the Loyd Auditorium is?”

I smiled, looked up, and said, “You’re on the right track. That’s it right there,” and pointed to the large building standing directly in front of him. He laughed at himself, thanked me, and walked off toward the prominent building.

Would he have found the auditorium without involving me?

Almost certainly, but he willingly admitted he wasn’t sure and needed help. Because he was willing to acknowledge he was lacking information, he asked for help and avoided unnecessary wandering or confusion. He was on the right path, but he wasn’t sure of his awareness and rather than unnecessarily going further with his uncertainty, he asked for directions.

Spiritually, we can find ourselves wandering with only a vague idea of where we are headed. Sometimes we choose to take the chance that will run into a sign or make it safely just by following the largest crowd. In reality, we have access to the direction of God’s word, a perfect waymaker in Christ, and willing guides in other believers who have traveled the same roads many times and by their experience in the Christian life can help point us on our way. Often the path to the goal is right in front of us if we are willing to follow it and ask for help along the journey.

As we travel forward in the life of faith, we must allow God’s word to guide our steps and never be afraid to admit when we feel lost or confused. We all will have doubts and fears along the journey, but we cannot allow fear, embarrasment, or pride to prevent us from seeking the help we need.

In asking for help, we admit our limitations, and we open a door for others to use their gifts for God’s glory.

In looking to Jesus, we see a perfect path to follow. In leaning on each other and the wisdom of those who have walked this life before us, we receive the blessing of their experience, and they receive the blessing of sharing our fresh enthusiasm as we seek to walk in the way of Jesus.

Embracing a daily spiritual practice…

/ Will N. / Leave a comment

Embracing daily spiritual practices should not be seen as an attempt to earn God’s grace or to increase His love for us- in Christ, we already have those blessings in abundance and no action on our part can merit more of God’s saving grace or bountiful gifts.

Spiritual practices should instead be centered in our desire to know God more fully and our desire to then seek His will for our lives more faithfully.

Realizing this difference changes our perspective.

When we are occasionally tired and fail to pray or busy and fail to study, we are not afraid of God’s wrath at our weakness, but we instead miss our time spent in His presence.

We are so connected to Him that to not spend time in devotion causes a loneliness in us and a longing hunger to renew our commitment to Him.

I want to grow in intimacy with God not out of some passionless sense of duty or fear, but out of a genuine desire to spend time and communion with my Father and my Friend.

When we reach this point relationally with God, devotion becomes a conversation we long for rather than a hurried errand we feel pressured to fit into our already packed day. We will long to meet the Lord in the morning and to come into our quietness with Him each night.

Rather than driving us toward isolation, such private times serve to deepen our relationship not only with God but with other like-minded believers. As we maintain daily intimacy with God, our times of gathered worship with others are not just a religious chore to be checked off but a centering of our lives celebrated in community with fellow Christ followers. When we find greater joy in the daily sharing of time with God, the strength of that personal relationship should stir within us a longing for the collective worship we find in His church.

As we mature, each believer will recognize the need for different approaches and rhythms in private devotional life, yet all of us can come to love God more deeply and see His will for us more perfectly through faithfully spending time each day in His presence. When we love being with Him and make growing our relationship with God a priority, we are better equipped to take the inner strength gained in solitary devotion into the daily tasks of life and to become more closely attuned to the spiritual needs of others.