Charisa Stories

Tag: prayer

  • Teeing Up Spiritual Truth from Spring Training

    An annual highlight of my sports directing career was visiting Spring Training for Texas Ranger telecasts. I started in Port Charlotte, Florida and then shifted to Surprise, Arizona. I loved the relaxed atmosphere and the opportunity to watch players at all levels work on their skills.

    I was blessed to cover the careers of some amazing players and one of those was Michael Young. In 2005 he won the American League Batting Title with a .331 average while collecting a league best 221 hits.

    What stunned me in the spring of 2006 was watching Michael Young during batting drills. The AL batting champ was hitting off of a batting tee! I remember coaching young kids who balked at hitting off a tee because they felt too “grown up” to revert to T-Ball. I wish I could have shown them how an All-Star batting champ never felt too advanced to focus on fundamental skills.

    That lesson of a star athlete focusing on the most basic fundamentals daily led to application of a familiar Scripture passage.
    When I first came to faith, I was so excited to learn the basic skills of faith. How do I study the Bible? How do I pray? How do I grow in my faith? But something seemed to happen as I accumulated some seasons under my belt.

    I no longer prioritized the fundamentals. I started looking for the ­latest trend in faith. Which trendy Christian leader should I emulate next? I too often defined myself by movements, instead of by Jesus, the Cross, and His finished work. For me, Spring Training was another reminder that I desperately need the indispensable basics of faith.

    Fundamentals are best taught by those who have the gift of teaching and complete knowledge of the skills required. You hope you can find an expert to teach you. That is exactly why the disciples came to Jesus and asked for His help on how to pray. They had watched Him pray. They knew how important prayer was to Jesus. Now they asked Him to teach them. Here is Luke’s “pray-by-pray” of that moment.

    One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

    He said to them, “When you pray, say:

    ‘Father,
    hallowed be your name,
    your kingdom come.

    Give us each day our daily bread.
    Forgive us our sins,
    for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
    And lead us not into temptation.’”
    (Luke 11:1-4, NIV)

    Over much of my ADD-challenged Christian journey, I would skip straight to the “give us our daily bread and forgive us our sins” parts of that prayer. I managed to miss the most important foundational aspect of this insightful prayer. The first fundamental is contained in the opening word.

    Father.

    I get to relate to God as my Father! That privilege comes only from my relationship with Jesus. Noted preacher Haddon Robinson stated that in the entire Old Testament, God is called Father only seven times, and it is always in respect to the nation of Israel. There is never a recorded instance where any individual dared to address the Sovereign God as Father.

    Now Jesus comes on the scene, and Robinson writes about the amazing contrast:

    “Yet in the New Testament, at least 275 times, that is how we are instructed to speak to God. Because of Jesus’s death and resurrection, when we come to the sovereign majesty of the universe the word that should fall readily from our lips is Father.”

    That is a game changer! I can come to the God of the universe, who knows my sin, my weakness, and my failure, and call Him Father! Are you kidding me?

    I also tended to zoom by the next essential teaching.

    Hallowed be your name.

    Prayer starts not with a shopping list of what I want God to do, but instead with worship and recognition of who God is. We are coached by Jesus to remember how great God is and to recognize that His ways are not our ways. We are taught to remember that His holiness is perfect, and His grace is our hope. Hallowed be Your name.

    When I learn those fundamentals, the rest of my prayer time falls into place. He is my Father who loves me and wants the best for me. He hears me, and He responds. If the answer is no, that is an answer. That may mean my request will be answered later. It may be answered differently. It may not be answered at all. But through all of those responses, I trust that He is holy, powerful, and present.

    Here are two more fundamentals to “tee” up your time in prayer.

    Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

    Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. (Philippians 4:6)

    I have come a long way in my growth as a follower of Jesus. I have a long way to go but I have grasped one important truth. I need to remember the fundamentals of my faith on a daily basis. I can’t think of a better prayer coach than Jesus. But I need to review His instruction on a regular basis.

    Martin Luther said that we need to be preaching the gospel to ourselves every day because we forget the gospel every day. That is so true especially in this disoriented culture we live in. Focus on the fundamentals. On God the Father. On who God is. On the finished work of Jesus. I can tell you that your spiritual strikeouts will be reduced.

  • Silence is Golden

    I love to watch Maggie when she is overseeing her backyard domain. Sometimes she goes to the fence and lets out a couple of deep-throated barks to let some perceived threat know that she is on duty. Or she patrols every inch of the yard, sniffing as if it is her first and not her one-thousandth time to do this.

    But the routine I love most is when she lies in the yard with head high, surveying her kingdom in silence. She is completely dialed in, listening for any disturbance that might need her attention. Maggie is most able to take in her world when she drops the barking and growling.

    Well played, Maggie. You are doing something most of us humans have a difficult time mastering—simply being silent and observing God’s world. 

    There is hardly ever a complete silence in our soul. God is whispering to us well-nigh incessantly. Whenever the sounds of the world die out in the soul, or sink low, then we hear these whisperings of God. He is always whispering to us, only we do not always hear, because of the noise, hurry, and distraction which life causes as it rushes on.

    Sounds like our lives, doesn’t it? And yet that observation was written in the mid-1800s by hymn writer Frederick W. Faber. More than a century and a half later, it hasn’t gotten quieter. It is hard to imagine that the sounds of the world are not exponentially more cacophonous today. Perhaps the bigger issue isn’t that the world is noisier and more distracting than ever. The relational danger may be our ability to pull into the cocoon of noise-canceling headsets and remove ourselves completely from our surroundings. Sometimes it helps concentration to limit the noise. The challenge is to not let headphones and earbuds become another impediment to finding  sacred moments.

    I remember walking up to one of my younger television crew members and going through a very well-thought-out description of what we needed for the broadcast that night. I waited for his confirmation, but instead he turned, pulled out well-hidden earbuds, and looked surprised.

    “What?”

    I had no idea he was in another world while I was talking to him. He had no idea I was lurking right next to him and talking. It was no big deal. We laughed, and I repeated the instructions. Going forward, I did determine to first make eye contact with whomever I was talking to for the best results. It made me think about how often we miss moments of laughter or relational opportunities when we retreat from others.

    Yesterday when I took Maggie for a walk, I instinctively reached for my phone and headset. Typically, I listen to music along the way. I can get lost in music, which is not a bad thing. But today I knew I needed something else. I needed to be quiet, reflective, and prayerful about some things that were troubling my soul.

    To be honest, some tunes from my rock-and-roll days would have been a much-preferred course. But I knew I needed to think and pray. So while Maggie excitedly sniffed and explored, I prayed for a person who has been challenging. Did I want to do that? Hardly. But I knew it was important, and I needed quiet to allow the Holy Spirit to speak to my heart. There is something healing and helpful in praying for those who oppose us. It reminds me that God is the One in control. When I trust that, I can relax.

    It will also come as no surprise that the Owner’s Manual addresses our need for silence and solitude.

    Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him.
    He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken.
    (Psalm 62:5-6)

    Perhaps the most consistent role model for the need for solitude and silence was Jesus.

    Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.
    (Mark 1:35, NIV)

    Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.
    (Luke 5:16, NIV)

    Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them.
    (Luke 6:12-13, )

    Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain
    by himself.
    (John 6:15, NIV)

    Jesus understood the need to recenter and reconnect with the Father. He understood the power of quiet to be able to hear the voice of His Father. How can we think we are able to function spiritually and emotionally without occasional silence and solitude? Finding periods of quiet is different from seeking a day or extended time of Sabbath that we explored earlier. This is not something I am accomplished at. In the past when I was alone, I needed the television in the background or music in my ears. I am learning that sometimes I just need silence. Silence that used to make me feel a bit unsettled is now becoming a welcome respite to think and pray. A.W. Tozer said that “only after all the noise has spent itself do we begin to hear in the silence of our heart, the still, small, mighty voice of God.”

    That requires us to slow down, give up our perceived control, and simply be quiet. I can tell you it does not come naturally in this culture.

    Being alone and quiet so you can hear the still voice of the Holy Spirit is about a heart attitude more than location. For me, there is one really important benefit of reflective quiet in the presence of God: it interrupts my typical prayer time of delivering a monologue to God. I was taught to make my requests known in prayer after a little perfunctory praise. I went down my list, and I was done. One-way conversation. I am outta here!

    Forcing myself to be quiet gives me a chance to look inward. To see where I might need to allow the light of God’s grace to shine on some dark area. I allow myself to be fully in the moment and not worried about tomorrow. I allow myself the time to reflect on who I am and how the Father looks at me. It clears my mind to clearly think about what needs to be done. I remind myself that I don’t have to constantly manage and be in control.

    Psalm 46:10 is a familiar verse.

    Be still, and know that I am God!

    The Hebrew word for “be still” might be better translated as “cause yourselves to let go” or “let yourselves become weak.” Sitting quietly with my Bible open to a psalm invites the quiet voice to speak. Often there is nothing but stillness. Isn’t that how a good relationship works? When you feel relaxed and protected with your spouse, you can have periods of silence that actually speak volumes about how you feel about each other. It is in quiet solitude with God that I am wholly present and available to Him. Is there a better indicator of affection  than  undivided attention?

    If my mind is left unattended, it is like Maggie as a puppy. It runs randomly and without restraint. I have had to learn to slow down, unplug, and be still. And I have had a major surprise: I am really enjoying it.

    It is a lesson I intend to build on. God is powerful enough to teach an old dog new tricks. I invite you to find a place to be quiet today. In the sounds of silence, God may very well meet you there.

    GOD’S TAKE

    For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.

    (Psalm 62:5, ESV)

    A DOSE OF GRACE

    Find some time to give God your undivided and silent presence. Start with five or ten minutes. It may feel awkward. Simply tell God that you desire to be in His presence. Tell Him that you want to be attuned to His direction or correction. But most of all, tell God that you simply want to receive His love. Remember there is no condemnation if your mind wanders. This will take some practice, but it is worth it.

    Want to read more or find out how to connect more fully with God in 21 days? Click here to check it out.

  • Bring a “To Go” Box to Church

    Bring a “To Go” Box to Church

    I am a big fan of restaurant to go boxes. When I am full I can pack up the leftovers and be nourished again later. Recently I have adopted the “to go box” strategy when I go to church.

    I very intentionally pray for something I can pack away and take home that will nourish me spiritually and emotionally for the rest of the week. It is fascinating how God has honored that prayer by giving me something to put in my spiritual to go box each week.

    This week my to go box got filled during adult Bible class. We are going through the Old Testament book of 1st Samuel and the story of Hannah was discussed.

    Hannah was the wife of Elkanah who was married to a second wife named Peninnah. Elkanah seemed to emotionally favor Hannah but there was a problem. She was unable to bear children. That was a crushing burden to bear and especially when Peninnah openly taunted Hannah for being barren. Some thought that not being able to bear a child meant God was punishing that women for some sin. You can only imagine the hurtfulness of the comments from Peninnah.

    The story of Hannah is so rich and full of things to put in the to go box. The fact that Hannah did not quit worshiping and going to the Temple in spite of her circumstances is amazing. Even as she went to the Tabernacle Penninah would taunt her. How many Christians quit going to church in much less stressful settings? But she persevered.

    Hannah also recognized that she could not change things herself. While the text clearly stated that she was saddened by Penninah’s ugly comments there is no record of her responding in kind. Instead Hannah trusted God to hear her cries. Finally she reached a point of desperation that she channeled into dependence on God.

    After a sacrificial meal at Shiloh she left and went to pray because she was too upset to eat. Eli the priest was stationed in his customary spot by the entrance of the Tabernacle. He apparently had a front row seat to watch Hannah’s anguished prayer. She begged God to give her a son and promised to give that child back to the service of the Lord. Hannah poured out her heart and feelings to God with such deep emotions that Eli thought she must be drinking. In fact the text records that the Priest told her to throw away her wine!

    I think I might have gotten a bit defensive (okay, a lot defensive) if a religious leader accused me of being a drunk when I was honestly pouring out my heart to God. But once again Hannah showed grace.

    15 But Hannah replied, “Not so, my lord! I am a woman under a great deal of stress. I haven’t drunk wine or beer. But I have poured out my soul before the Lord. 16 Don’t consider your servant a wicked woman. It’s just that, to this point, I have spoken from my deep pain and anguish.”

    17 Eli replied, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant the request that you have asked of him.” 18 She said, “May I, your servant, find favor in your sight.” So the woman went her way and got something to eat. Her face no longer looked sad.[

    Hannah prayed. She asked God to intervene. She trusted Him to hear her. But she not know if that request would be granted. She had years and years of sorrow weighing down her soul.

    What I packed in my “to go box” this week was Hannah’s response. She had poured out her heart. She trusted God. She decided that only He could change her situation and she had communicated honestly. After that moment of complete transparency Hannah recognized she had done all she could. She went back and began to eat again. And Scripture says her face no longer looked sad.

    There are many things I ask of God. Sometimes I ask with great anguish for those prayers to be answered the way I am asking. Hannah showed me a great response. When I honestly pray and lay those requests at the altar I can walk away with my face not showing sadness but gratitude for a God who listens. John writes these words.

    And this is the confidence that we have before him: that whenever we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. (1 John 5:14, NET)

    Hannah’s faith was rewarded with a son named Samuel. God heard her petition. I am convinced He hears my petitions and especially when I tear down the walls of self-dependence. My desire may not be His will but I believe with all of my heart that God hears me and He will answer.

    Here are the contents of my to go box this week.

    1. Bring my requests to God with honesty.
    2. Leave them at the altar with a trusting heart.
    3. Walk away with a happy countenance knowing God can be trusted to hear and answer according to His will.

    Sometimes the answer is not what I want. But here is what I have learned in five decades of following Jesus. He is faithful.

    So I am asking you to take your to go box to church next week. I would love to hear what you pack in there!

  • What Would My Last Message Be?

    What Would My Last Message Be?

    When I was a little boy I remember the standard prayer at bedtime. I know it was meant to comfort but one line always freaked me out.

    Now I lay me down to sleep.

    I pray the Lord my soul to keep.

    If I should die before I wake,

    Wait? What? If I should die before I wake? I think I will just stay awake for awhile thank you very much.

    Six decades later that prayer makes a lot more sense. If I should die before I wake I believe I will be in the presence of Jesus. I am not anxious to leave this life but I am not afraid.

    I talked about loss in my book Stay: Lessons My Dogs Taught Me about Life, Loss, and Grace. I wrote that “preparing for death is preparing for life,” a principle that has radically changed my perspective. The corollary truth is when you are not afraid to die you are not afraid to live. Recognizing how finite my existence is allows me to live in the moment and enjoy God’s tender mercies every morning. I am forgiven so I don’t have to live in regret of the past. He is in control so I don’t have to live in fear of the future. I can live right now in freedom and peace.

    The other thing I ponder is what message would I like to communicate as my final word? I have been blessed with some wonderful friends and colleagues who would likely say some nice things about me. I would like them to understand a very important truth. I learned some great lessons from my Dad and others as I was growing up. But I can tell you with complete assurance that my life would have likely gone off the rails without my relationship with Jesus. His love both restrained and sustained me. I believe my insecure and selfish heart would have taken me down a different path without my faith. Any quality that you find positive in my life has been given or enhanced through my relationship with Jesus. Anytime I have disappointed or did not show love it was because I took my eyes off of Him.

    Paul writes these words in Philippians.

    8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 9 Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4, NLT)

    I would like to paraphrase Paul’s words for my final message.

    “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. I hope you saw in my life some things that were true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Whatever you might have received from me grew out of the sustaining love, grace, and peace of God.”

    I know my heart. I know the crossroads I came to in different seasons of my life and how God gracefully and lovingly rescued me over and over. So my final message to my believing friends would be one of encouragement and hope.

    Trust God and trust who He says you are because of the finished work of Jesus. Believe you are forgiven of all sins past, present, and future. Wholly accept that you are a brand new creation and live in grateful freedom. Drink in the inexhaustible grace of God every day. Allow God to love you as His beloved and then pay that love forward for His glory. Look through the lens of grace and you will find sacred moments in every single day. Recognize that everything about your walk with Jesus is a gift of grace. It is all about the finished work of Jesus on the Cross. At the moment you believe that Jesus is the way to salvation you are gifted with everything you need to live for Him.

    Forgiveness.
    Security.
    The Spirit of God dwelling in your heart.
    A new identity.
    The hope of eternity with Jesus.
    Grace and love that is completely unrelated to your performance.

    Those gifts make me want to serve God out of gratitude and not out of begrudging compliance to avoid judgment.

    For my friends who don’t share my faith I would ask one favor. Don’t focus on Christians who fail. Focus on Christ who succeeded.

    Jesus conquered death. He paid for your sins. I would ask you to examine the impact of Jesus on His culture. It was the message of Christ that gave value to women, children, the poor, and the ignored. When you study His words and life you will see that many of His followers have fallen short, including me. Jesus also taught that some would claim to be His followers who were not in any way known to Him. Those counterfeiters get lumped in with true followers.

    So my final request would come out of deep love for you. Examine the claims of Jesus with an open heart and mind. Don’t reject Christ because of Christians. That is an easy thing to do. Read the Gospel of John and ask for the Spirit to reveal truth to you. If you choose to reject the claims of Jesus I would sadly accept that decision. If I am wrong about my eternal destiny I would still have no regrets about the way the teachings of Jesus influenced my life. I would do it all over again.

    I can’t force you to follow Jesus. I hope I can be a small influence for you to thoughtfully and honestly examine the life and claims of Jesus. Following Jesus changed everything in my journey. I would not be a good and loving friend if I did not share that with you.

  • Training Camp for Jesus Followers is Now Open!

    Training Camp for Jesus Followers is Now Open!

    I love football. The opening of football training camps gets my juices going. I watch some of the greatest athletes in the world getting ready to play a highly skilled game. So what do they start with every summer at training camp?

    Footwork and technique drills. Coaches demanding constant repetition of fundamental skills. The best teams are the ones that most consistently execute the basic fundamental aspects of their craft.

    Legendary Coach Vince Lombardi famously began each training camp by gathering wide-eyed rookies and grizzled veterans around him. He would begin by holding the pigskin in front of him and solemnly proclaiming this truth. “Gentlemen, this is a football.”

    Vince Lombardi – Green Bay Packers

    From that rather rudimentary start he would detail the importance of understanding the fundamentals of the sport. I can learn something from that approach. When I first came to faith many, many seasons ago I was so excited to learn the fundamentals of faith. How do I study the Bible? How do I pray? How do I grow in my faith? But something seemed to happen as I accumulated some seasons under my belt. I forgot the fundamentals. I started looking for the latest trend in faith. I defined myself by movements instead of by Jesus, the Cross and His finished work. For me football training camp is an annual reminder that I desperately need the fundamentals of faith.

    Fundamentals are best taught by those who have the gift of teaching and complete knowledge of the skills required. You hope you can find a Hall of Fame coach to teach you. That is exactly what the disciples did when they came to Jesus and asked for His help on how to pray. They had watched Him pray. They knew how important prayer was to Jesus. Now they asked Him to teach them how to pray. Here is Luke’s “play by play” of that moment.

    One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

    He said to them, “When you pray, say:

    “‘Father,
    hallowed be your name,
    your kingdom come.
    Give us each day our daily bread.
    Forgive us our sins,
    for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
    And lead us not into temptation.” (Luke 11:1-4, NIV)

    Over much of my fumbling, bumbling Christian journey I would skip straight to the “give us our daily bread and forgive us our sins” parts. I managed to miss the most important fundamentals of this insightful prayer contained in the opening words.

    I get to relate to God as my Father! That privilege comes only from my relationship with Jesus. Noted preacher Haddon Robinson stated that in the entire Old Testament God is only called Father seven times and it was always in respect to the Nation Israel. There is never a recorded instance where any individual dared to address the Sovereign God as Father.

    Now Jesus comes on the scene and Robinson writes about the amazing contrast.

    “When you turn to the New Testament, however, 275 times or more we are told directly or indirectly that when we bow before the sovereign majesty of the universe the word that should come easily to our lips is Father.”

    That is a fundamental game changer! I can come to the God of the Universe who knows my sin and my weakness and my failure and call Him Father! Are you kidding me?

    I also tended to zoom by the next fundamental. Hallowed be your name. Prayer starts not with a shopping list of what I need God to do but instead with worship and recognition of who God is. We are coached by Jesus to remember how great God is and to recognize that His ways are not our ways. We are taught to remember that His holiness is perfect and His grace is our hope.

    Hallowed be your name.

    When I learn those fundamentals the rest of the offense falls into place. He is my Father who loves me and wants the best for me. He is holy, powerful, present, and offering unlimited grace. When I put my full weight on those fundamentals I think I can probably trust Him for some bread, forgiveness and strength to overcome temptation.

    Training camp is in session for football and followers of Jesus. I pray you and I won’t forget our faith fundamentals in this season.

    Are you ready for some football and an inspiring story of remarkable faith?
    The journey of legendary high school coach W.T. Johnston will teach some life-changing fundamentals of football, life, and faith.     Click here for details.

  • Childlike Faith and a Postcard from God

    Childlike Faith and a Postcard from God

    A few of you noticed that last week’s Monday Musing became a Tuesday Take. The reason was a little detour to the local Emergency Room. I felt a little off on Sunday but didn’t think much about it. I planned on calling the doctor on Monday but my body had other ideas. I began to develop a fever and shakes like I have rarely experienced and you already know the word that popped into my head.

    Covid.

    Joni loaded me up and headed to the ER. She said I was a little disoriented but I would submit it is hard to tell when I am oriented. At any rate, I checked in and got the Covid brain tickler along with a several hundred other tests. The quick Covid test came back negative. The diagnosis was a bladder infection and they began massive antibiotics. Just to be sure and to heighten my enjoyment I got the more sensitive Covid swab brain tickler. It also was negative.

    It is so 2020 when you celebrate that you have a bladder infection instead of Covid.

    I got home thinking I would soon be good to go. Fast forward a couple of days. The ER calls and says they found bacteria in my blood and I needed to get in as soon as I could.

    The doctor’s were concerned about sepsis which can be a bad thing. I alerted the family and friends. My phone lit up that people were praying. Six hours in I got the results from several hundred more tests that I did not need to be hospitalized and that the antibiotics were working.

    I texted the info to family and friends.

    The next day I got a Facetime call from my grandson Ethan. He shared that he had prayed for me while I was in the ER and wanted to see how I was doing. But the Postcard from God was this exchange with him.

    “Right after I prayed for you Mommy’s phone dinged with the news you were going to be okay.”

    I thought about the beauty of God’s sovereign timing. A lot of people prayed for me. The process at the hospital was long and arduous. But I believe God used that moment to show my precious grandson that prayer matters and that He listens.

    One of the remarkable and overlooked counter cultural ministries of Jesus was His view of children. Children were devalued. They were to be seen and not heard and often not even seen. Jesus turned that view upside down like so many other cultural norms with His teachings.

    About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.

    We don’t get what a big deal this was. Jesus was not only giving children value He was using them as a spiritual example! Imagine how that settled with the puffed up Pharisees.

    I know this journey can be difficult. I know we wrestle with difficult theology. But sometimes I wonder if we make being a Christian harder that Jesus desires. Maybe if we concentrate on these simple precepts of Jesus we will find 2021 a much more fruitful journey.

    • “I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” Luke 18:17
    • “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said…” Matthew 9:9
    • Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

    Seems like a solid blueprint for this year. I hope to remember these simple lessons. Jesus never said He is only impressed with theologians. He never said to chart you own course. He never said to work 24/7 or feel guilty. He said these simple things.

    Pray and have Childlike faith.
    Follow Him.
    Rest in Him.
    Repeat.

    This journey is not about me. It is about Jesus and what He has already done. That is more than enough for us to get through anything together.

  • 21 Connect: Day 14 – The Power of Prayer

    21 Connect: Day 14 – The Power of Prayer

    I remember hearing a wonderful story about a prayer that was spoken in a little country church. The new pastor called on one of his older deacons to lead in the opening prayer. The deacon stood up, bowed his head and said, “Lord, I hate buttermilk.”

    The pastor opened one eye and wondered where this was going. The deacon continued, “Lord, I hate lard.” Now the pastor was totally perplexed. The deacon continued, “Lord, I ain’t too crazy about plain flour. But after you mix ’em all together and bake ’em in a hot oven, I just love biscuits.
    “Lord, help us to realize when life gets hard, when things come up that we don’t like, whenever we don’t understand what You are doing, that we need to wait and see what You are making. After you get through mixing and baking, it’ll probably be something even better than biscuits. Amen.”

    We make prayer so complex and hard. Philip Yancey wrote that “most of the great books on prayer are written by ‘experts’— monks, missionaries, mystics, saints. I’ve read scores of them, and mainly they make me feel guilty.”

    I can relate to that! So I decided to see what an expert had to say about prayer. That is exactly why the disciples came to Jesus and asked for His help on how to pray. They had watched Him pray. They knew how important prayer was to Jesus. Now they asked Him to teach them. Here is Luke’s “pray-by-pray” of that moment:

    One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
    He said to them, “When you pray, say:
    ‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.
    Give us each day our daily bread.
    Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
    And lead us not into temptation.’” (Luke 11 : 1-4 , NIV)


    Over much of my fumbling, bumbling Christian journey, I would skip straight to the “give us our daily bread and forgive us our sins” parts of that prayer. I managed to miss the most important foundational aspect of this insightful prayer. The first fundamental is contained in the opening word.

    Father.

    I get to relate to God as my Father! That privilege comes only from my relationship with Jesus. Noted preacher Haddon Robinson stated that in the entire Old Testament, God is called Father only seven times, and it is always in respect to the nation of Israel. There is never a recorded instance where
    any individual dared to address the Sovereign God as Father. Now Jesus comes on the scene, and Robinson writes about the amazing contrast:

    “Yet in the New Testament, at least 275 times, that is how we are instructed to speak to God. Because of Jesus’s death and resurrection, when we come to the sovereign majesty of the universe the word that should fall readily from our lips is Father.“

    That is a game changer! I can come to the God of the universe, who knows my sin, my weakness, and my failure, and call Him Father! Are you kidding me? Pastor Tim Keller puts that in amazing perspective.

    “The only person who dares wake up a king at 3:00 AM for a glass of water is a child. We have that kind of access.”

    Think about that for a moment.

    Jesus stated an interesting truth right before His instructions on how we should pray.

    When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need
    even before you ask him! (Matthew 6:7-8, The Message)

    So why even go through the effort if He knows already? Because it creates relationship with God. Jesus obviously did not mean to indicate that prayer is not vital. Look at His own example!

    Whenever Jesus faced a great challenge, He met it with prayer and Scripture. He steeled Himself for the agony of the Passion with hours of prayer. I have not met any adversity that I could not face when I meet it with God’s Word and presence in prayer. This is one place where it is okay to be constantly “plugged in.”

    Excerpted from Waking Up Slowly Book