The Greatest Life Ever

God is looking for?

I have spent the day in prayer for the church I pastor, it's leadership, staff and my family.  It has been very rewarding.  One of the most grabbing moments of the day was when read from one of my favorite authors, E.M. Bounds and his book "Power through Prayer".  I have quoted him directly.  Since he lived in the 1800's the language will reflect that.  It's interesting to hear him speak of the problems of and the solutions needed in the 1800's and how they most certainly apply today.

E.M. Bounds wrote, "We are constantly on a stretch, if not on a strain, to devise new methods, new plans, new organizations to advance the Church and secure enlargement and efficiency for the gospel. This trend of the day has a tendency to lose sight of the man or sink the man in the plan or organization.  God's plan is to make much of the man, far more of him than of anything else.  Men are God's method.  The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men...The glory and efficiency of the gospel is staked on the men who proclaim it...What the Church needs today is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use- men of prayer, men mighty in prayer.  The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men.  He does not come on machinery, but on men.  He does not anoint plans, but men-men of prayer."

I kneel convicted.  Pray.  Pray.  Pray.

One of the Most Unusual Places I ever prayed.

This view puts life in perspective for me. I'm standing in the courtyard of the house of Caiaphas the High Priest. Jesus was being kept in a deep cistern just sixty feet from here. I'm standing in the area where Peter stood when he denied knowing Jesus. You can see a statue to my left that commemorates the occasion.

From where I'm standing I can see the Garden of Gethsemane at the base of the far hill, the Kidron Valley between it and walled city of Jerusalem and the ancient steps that date back before Jesus' time coming up from the Kidron Valley along side the house of Caiaphas. There's no question Jesus used these steps when he left the Upper Room to go to the Garden and when he returned later that night Under arrest.

I don't have a photo of it but I stood in that cistern today and read Psalm 88. It was probably 20' deep and 10' wide with a small opening in the top that Jesus would have been lowered through by ropes into the hole in the ground. Definitely the most unique place I've ever read scripture and then prayed The Lord's Prayer with others.

Does Anyone Really Want a Spare Prayer?

"Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?" 

-- Corrie Ten Boom

Need I say anything else?

I Miss You

The other day I was talking with my daughter who will graduate from Greenville College in Greenville, Illinois this year.  She has turned into an incredible and beautiful young woman.  I could not be prouder and more blessed.  I also find myself missing her more and more.  I don't know why it has "hit" me like this, but it has.  I have found myself calling her and her brother up (who is a freshman at the same college) out of the blue and saying "I miss you." 

As I sat down to write my blog this morning I asked the Lord what he would want me to say to my readers and what I heard was, "Tell them I miss them."  I thought of the words I saw on a bill board somewhere that read, 

"Remember how you used to talk to me as a child right before going to bed? 

I miss that."

- God

God wants to reconnect with someone today.  Is it possible it's you?  Imagine, the God of the Universe who has galaxy upon galaxy to attend to has noticed your absence.  Even though God's plate and Day Timer is so full God want's to re-establish a better relationship with you. 

Don't dismiss the idea.  Instead, why not re-connect with God like you used to.  Talk to God from your heart just like you used to as a child when you didn't care what other people thought of your praying.  God enjoyed some of the crazy little conversations where we prayed for our stuffed animals and thanked God for the colors of the rainbows.  Maybe it's time for you to kneel beside your bed tonight, fold your hands and talk to God like you used to instead of like you think you have to.

I can guarantee you'll be glad you did.

One Hearing Aid that will Help You Hear the Voice of God

Last week I wrote about the benefits of listening for the voice of God.  This week I'm going to share how a person can listen for God to speak to them.  Believe it or not God has provided humanity with some holy hearing aids just for that purpose.

The first one is the LD 100 which stands for "Lectio Divina" and means divine reading.  This involves reading the bible as a letter written just for you instead of a book for everyone.  It involves a person reading the scriptures with their heart instead of their head.  It's about reading for formation instead of information.  Put another way, instead of a person trying to master the text the person let's the text master them.  This way a person reads chunks of scripture slowly, stopping to ponder words and phrases that stick out to them.  Instead of trying read as much scripture as possible and rushing through it a person savors the words pausing on those that seem to command their attention.

There are four questions that I like to use to help me listen for what God might be trying to say to me.  1) What is God telling me about God through these words?  2) What is God telling me about myself through this passage?  3) What is God trying to say to me right now through these words?  And 4), In light of this, one action I will take is?  Keep a notebook to journal in because you'll be surprised at what you hear from God just by wearing the LD 100.

The other day I reviewed a journal entry of mine dated January 31, 2009.  The passage I was reading was from 1 Chronicles chapter 1.  In this passage God asks King Solomon what he would like from him and Solomon says "wisdom" so he can lead the people of Israel.  Reading through chapter 1 I was reminded that God is all knowing and all powerful and that there is nothing that God can't do.  When I asked what is God telling me about myself I sensed God saying, "that I am very limited as a person."  What was God trying to say to me through 1 Chronicles?  That there is nothing that I lack that God can't provide and that if I was smart, I would ask God for wisdom to lead his people as well.  It was like God was saying, "Bryan, if you'll seek me and my wisdom you'll do more here than you ever thought."  In light of that, I changed my praying so that it included asking God for divine wisdom in pastoring his people.

What might God say to you?  Try the LD 100 and listen for what you've been missing all along.  Let me know how it works out for you.

The Better Life Begins with Better Praying

I apologize for not being more consistent with my blogging lately.  But over the last month I've been in the process of moving into a new home during the busiest time of year for me and the church. 

That being said, I have spent some time lately learning about prayer which is really just conversing with the Creator.  And I was reminded about a simple truth.  And that is that the better I become at praying the better my life seems to be.  Several observations came to my mind about praying.

PRAYER CHANGES LIVES

PRAYER CHANGES CIRCUMSTANCES

HISTORY BELONGS TO THE PRAY-ERS.

TOMORROW IS WON OR LOST BY THE WAY WE PRAY TODAY.

Here are some quotes I found on the internet the other day that I found encouraging and motivating.  I hope God may use them to jump start your prayer life like God did mine.

 

“Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks.”

- Philips Brookes

 

 “Prayer does not change God, but changes him who prays. “

- Soren Kierkegaard

“Prayer moves the hand that moves the universe.”  Unknown Source

 “Seven days without prayer makes one weak."  Unknown Source

 

“Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.” Saint Augustine  

 

“Bow, stubborn knees!”  - William Shakespeare

 

“I have so much to do that I spend several hours in prayer before I am able to do it.”  - John Wesley

    

“I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had absolutely no other place to go.” -- Abraham Lincoln

"Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?"

- Corrie Ten Boom

“When I pray, coincidences happen, and when I don't pray, they don't.” -William Temple

"God does nothing but by prayer, and everything with it." - John Wesley

 

"Most men pray for power, the strength to do things. Few people pray for love, the quality to be someone." - Robert Foster

"The greatest tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer." - F.B. Meyer

"Prayer does not fit us for the greater work; prayer is the greater work."   - Oswald Chambers

 

"The reason why we obtain no more in prayer is because we expect no more. God usually answers us according to our own hearts." - Richard Alleine

 

If you’d like to learn more about the connection between better living and better praying and you’re in the Little Rock area join me on Wednesday nights at 6:30PM for “Feed Your Faith with Bryan and Nate”.  We’ll be studying and practicing how to become better pray-ers using the book Partners in Prayer by John Maxwell.  I’m also preaching a series from January 10 – February 7 titled Conversations with the Creator.  Part two is this week and it is titled “Help for Starting the Conversation.”

How to Pray When You Don't Know What to Pray

There are periods in my life when I don't know what to say when I pray.  And that's hard to admit, because I'm also a pastor.  But there are those seasons when prayer is hard and arduous, it doesn't come easy and quite frankly I don't know what I say. 

Recently I came across a couple of passages of scripture that God used to bring me out of my dry spell.

The first is Romans 8.26.  "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.  We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express."   I simply read this passage and confessed to the Holy Spirit, that for whatever reason I was having trouble praying and was wondering if he'd pray for me while I sat in silence.  I didn't feel anything special happen within but trusted that the Spirit would be true to the word He brought into being. 

The second passage I read was James 1.5.  "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him."  So, in addition to asking the Holy Spirit to pray for what I needed, even though I didn't know what that was, I asked the Holy Spirit for wisdom on what to pray for or how to get my prayer life unstuck again. 

Within a couple of days my prayer life was moving again.  It was quite amazing.  I feel like it's gaining steam once again and that I'm more spiritually alive than I have been for sometime.

Conversation with Christ - Bevo 19

Day 3 Bevo 40 Days of Love

Sleeping in could be good for your soul

It's been hard for me to make my weekly blog.  I have to confess I just have not put the time into it.  For those who don't know I have been appointed to serve as the Sr. Pastor of Asbury United Methodist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas beginning June 29, 2008.  Although that seems far enough away, it's not.  I've spent this last week of vacation trying to ready our house to put on the market.  I was hoping to have it listed this weekend, but that "ain't" going to happen.  I've painted, re-painted, packed, re-packed, repaired etc trying to get the house ready to show.  And quite frankly, this disciple is plum worn out.  So much so that my devotional life has also taken a vacation. That's not the way I want it.  But, that's reality. 

This week has reminded me of two truths for disciples.  First, the importance of staying in contact with my Lord.  I believe that one of the most important activities a disciple can engage in is daily devotional time or prayer time.  Some designated and un-distracted time alone with Jesus.  I need to hear his voice.  And secondly, I remember hearing someone say that one of the most spiritual things we can do at times is sleep.  Sometimes we're so tired that even if we spent time in prayer we'd be too tired to listen.  When that is the case then sleeping or resting may be what is most important.  And that makes sense, after all the Lord is also the Lord of the Sabbath. 

How is it with your devotional life?  Do you need to take a sabbath and rest so that you can give yourself more fully to the Lord in your quiet time?  Or is it time for you to Nike it (just do it) and make that appointment to spend unhurried time with Jesus tomorrow?

Secrets for Staying in the Study of Scripture IV

   

    A really good secret is hard to keep isn't it?  I don't know about you, but the greater a secret is the more I want to share it.  Some secrets are just not meant to be kept secret.  And that's where I find myself this morning.  I'm going to share a secret with you. 
    What I'm about to share with you God has used to motivate me to study the Scriptures.  This more than anything else has had the greatest impact over all.  Are you ready?  Here it comes.  Ask the God of heaven to give you that desire. 
    Kick back and meditate on that for a moment and let it sink in.  When I find it increasingly difficult to stay in the word I start praying, "Lord God, give me the desire to want to read and study your word."  It's as simple as that.  Always, and I repeat, always, God has answered this prayer for me. 
    And why wouldn't He?  We know it's God's desire for people to read and study the Scripture, so why wouldn't God answer that prayer?  One reason would be that people aren't asking this of the Spirit.  If people don't ask the scripture tells us they won't receive.  Jesus said, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." 
    It really is as simple as that.  If you, or if you know someone who is not in the word on a consistent basis pray daily for God to give you the hunger and thirst for the word your spirit needs.  And then do not be surprised when you find yourself wanting to pick up the bible and read it just for the sake of reading it.  And don't be surprised if you find yourself looking for a bible study opportunity.  And don't be surprised if you start carrying the bible to worship and other venues or sticking it in your briefcase to enjoy later that day.
    This is one secret that is not supposed to be kept.  So, blab this one and the others in this mini-series to all you know.  I believe doing so will impact the lives of many.