This past year was especially difficult for my family. There were many months in which we didn't know if and how we were going to pay our bills, feed our family, pay for my husband's multiple back surgeries...or even pay for then shoes my son needed.
It would have been easy to think... If we don't tithe this month...than we can pay off our hospital debt instead of having to make payments for a few more months...we can ... we need...we can...
In summary, without grace we are not the church.
It is as nonsensical as a book club that doesn’t read or a band without instruments. A church community that exemplifies grace is one that prioritizes the need for confession and forgiveness, just as Jesus called His followers to display.
Loneliness is a real problem in the world, and Americans are among the most lonely people on the planet. Through technology we are “connected” more than ever before, and yet we experience less community. People seem to be craving community now more than ever before. There is a part of us that recognizes that we were created for community.
But this realization doesn't end there. This also shows how vital community itself is. If we remember back to the Last Supper, where communion was established, we don't see Jesus alone, we see men sitting together and supporting one another in a time of upheaval.
Paul was absolutely making a sacrifice, and I would consider his act of driving across the country with me pretty grand, but what made the most lasting impression on me was that his decision to help was not much of a decision at all. It wasn’t second nature to him, it was first! In this way, he demonstrated the love of Jesus.
The question has been posed to us; “What is the church to do in a time like this?” The answer in this is the same in all situations – we have to turn to Jesus and Jesus alone. The root of much of this is a loss of love that Christ demonstrated and ultimately died for – the loss of love for each other and recognizing that each human is of great worth to our Savior because His death was for all men and all people even while they were still sinners.
While having a daily time of prayer is certainly not a bad thing, it is important to remember, like in any relationship, that our line of communication with God must always be open. To restrict the time in which we speak with our King to a strict schedule is to reduce our relationship with them from a personal and intimate friendship to a robotic correspondence, dictated by an arbitrary routine.
This week, as we consider our spiritual rhythm of prayer in pursuit of greater intimacy with God, we think about the new practices we can try or the old habits that we can recall. I challenge you to read through these and consider what you would like to try, add, and improve in your prayer life. This is certainly not an exhaustive list, but it’s a great starting point.
In prayer, God wants us to come before him as we are, however we are feeling. There is no need to hold back. Everything belongs: our nervousness; our aggression; the good and the bad; EVERYTHING. God can handle it! We do not need to fear being honest with God.
And it’s a painful dentist visit if you get too far behind. That’s sort of how it’s been during the years of not reading scripture daily: scum-y. And the scum builds. Self-talk is scum-y, conversations with strangers are scum-y, talking with friends and family becomes scum-y.
I realized during our Rooted study last year that this is a response of feeling responsible for so many things. I realized after addressing control through that lens it is often also a way of protecting myself emotionally. I have been addressing that in prayer over some months now. I ask God often to "convince me that trusting Him is easier than trusting myself."
The Bible is meant for ongoing meditation. One way to study the scriptures is through the rhythm of Lectio Divina. In this method, we seek to experience the presence of God through reading and listening, prayer, meditation and contemplation.
