Don't Forget to Breathe

Of all the great lessons Mr. Miyagi taught Danielson, arguably the most important was, "Don't forget to breathe.  It is very important."  As we learned in our sermon today, prayer is the breath of our spiritual lives.  There are certianly some techniques and exercises that teach us how to experience deeper and richer communion with God through prayer.  But in the end, I still find the best advise to be what I said near the end of the sermon, "Pray as you can, not as you can't."  I don't know who first uttered that simple sentance, but it brings great relief to people like me who contantly wonder what there is about prayer that I have not yet learned to practice.  Do what you can NOW but keep  learning.

Everyone loves a story.  I received a number of comments after the sermon about the stories I read about "Aunt Sally" from Mark Thibodeaux's book, "Armchair Mystic: Easing Into Contemplative Prayer."  For those desiring to go deeper into the final stages of prayer that I talked about this moring, I would consider this book a wonderful first step.  I wrote a brief review a couple of years go that you can find if you click here.  (Scroll down the page to find my review.)

I have heard that the best exercise is the one that you actually do!  The same is true for prayer.  Learning about prayer is wonderful; Praying is more wonderful still!

Finding Your Rhythm

As I reflect on today's sermon I find myself amazed at how simple life should be.  The sun rises and falls every day, the tides roll in and out over and over and over.  Summer follows Spring which comes right after Fall and Winter every year.  Flowers always bloom in spring and trees always lose their leaves in Fall.  We could say it's like clockwork, but in reality, the clock is made possible by the rhythm God has set in the universe. 

If life should be simple, why does it feel so complex?  The short answer would be that sin has entered into God's perfect creation and caused an element of chaos to be present.   This explains why sometimes the rolling waves can become a  highly destructive tsunami!  For many, however, the chaos is not an occasional event but has become a lifestyle.  We choose to live frantic, harried, haggard, crazy lives.  How do does one get off the treadmill? 

I must credit Henry Nouwen for the three point outline I used today to describe how Jesus lived according to God's rhythm.  The concepts of Solitude, Community, and Ministry have helped me a great deal to slow my life down and follow the leading of God's Spirit.  To read Nouwen's insightful article click here.  Life really can be much simpler than many choose to live around us.  Look to Jesus and he will show you the way.

Seven Disciplines of Jesus

You realize that every sermon I preach to the Clear Lake Church I must first preach to myself.  Often while I'm standing up front preaching I'm still preaching to myself.  How can I teach anyone anything unless I myself am a student.  When it comes to examining the seven disciplines of Jesus we talked about this morning, I find myself in the disciple who said, "Lord, teach us to pray." 

The most profound statement I made to myself in this week's sermon was an insight I think I got from Dallas Willard's book, The Spirit of the Disciplines.  It was the idea that we often try to obey Jesus' teachings while living like the rest of the world, instead of following the disciplines of Jesus' life.  I read that statement and thought to myself, "Of course!"  How can anyone possibly obey Jesus unless they live like Jesus?  It was then that I knew I needed to preach on the disciplines of Jesus' life.  The discipline comes first, obedience follows.  

Spiritual training in God's gym follows this order: Exercises, Discipline, Habit, Lifestyle. How often we want to follow the lifestyle of Jesus without learning the disciplines of his life.   This morning in class we learned one small exercise to develop the discipline of prayer in our lives.  What would happen in your attitudes this week if you simply said the "Jesus prayer" as you drove to work each morning?"  What would happen if you said the prayer as you fell asleep each night this week? 

We will be learning several such exercises to help us focus on the Lord and grow in our obedience to all of his commands.  And as John reminds us, "his commands are not burdensome" (1 John 5:3).  Jesus' commands are designed to set us free, to allow us to really live!  But first, we've got to get our mind's right.  We've got to allow the Master to train us in God's gym.

Let the Training Begin

 A few hours after I was baptized, way back on February 20, 1977, I read the New Testament book of James in it's entirety and offered a brief prayer to God asking for help in living this new life I had just been given.  Thus began my quest for spiritual formation.  In the 34 years since that day I have experimented with many spiritual disciplines and exercises seeking to know how best to cooperate with God's Spirit who is working to form me into the image of Christ.  

In my early years we talked about Spiritual Growth instead of Spiritual Formation and the tools offered were few.  In addition to weekly church attendance the Christians I associated with strongly urged me to develop the practice of a daily Quiet Time.  The first activity of each morning was thus spent in intercessory prayer and Bible reading.  This practice of Quiet Time served me well for a number of years.  Eventually, however, I realized that my daily habit had been taken over by Satan and continually led me into guilt (for not doing it enough) or pride (for my successful accomplishment).  After a great deal of struggle I just had to let the practice go away.

In it's place I've developed a number of other "habits" that have served me well.  As our series of sermons (and Bible Classes) continue I will be sharing with you some of the disciplines that have been well tested by many believers over the centuries.  After today's sermon a woman in her 60's told me that just this morning she had been praying, "Lord, I'm so tired of trying."  When she heard in the sermon the encouragement to "stop trying and start training" she knew the Lord had heard her prayer and was answering the cry of her heart. 

I've put Amazon links to some additional resources for those readers who want to go deeper.  I'll be saying more about these books in the future.  Each of the ones listed here has been personally helpful to me on my journey.  Let the Training Begin!