How often have I heard folks tells me that they find it hard to pray? More times than I can remember. I wonder why so many of us find it so hard to pray and yet all who believe in Christ as Lord and Saviour, know that he is the one who hears us and responds.
But is he expected to hear us when we don't pray? Well my answer is yes and no! Yes because there are times when our world is so dark that we simply cannot pray and Jesus knows all about it and is with us in it helping us to travel through it. No because we cannot and must not take him for granted, assuming that even if in our busy lives we have no time for him he will know what we should have / might have prayed but didn't.
Relationship should not ever be one sided. Finding that time each day to speak with, listen to and thus grow deeper in relationship with Christ is the bedrock of our faith journey. Without it aren't we simply doing our own things in our own strength and so expecting God to rubber stamp them for us?
John Wesley is quoted as saying "I have so much to do that I spend several hours in prayer before I am able to do it.", I would love to say thats me too, but it isn't. However I can say that my daily quiet time produces some of the best and most profitable thoughts, ideas, understandings and corrections as I journey with Christ.
If you are thinking how do I pray? Then remember Christs answer, what is called the Lord's Prayer, use it as a template to frame your prayers rather than as a prayer to recite. If we get our prayer life on a strong footing everything else will follow.
Tuesday, 18 January 2011
Thursday, 6 January 2011
De-cluttering
The New Year heralds our move to a new church in Harlow, Essex and anyone who has moved house will have experienced the process of sorting through our "treasured" possessions" knowing that some of it just has to go!
If you asked my wife she would tell you that I hate throwing stuff away, because you never know when its going to be useful. But lets face it when it has sat in the attic or the garage for years, unused, gathering dust, it is not likely to be used again is it?
Our clearing has resulted in a heap of stuff, that we moved with us three years ago, having to go out. Charity shops, clothes banks and the recycling yard as well as "freecycle" (great for recycling things locally by giving to others for free) all benefit and I am having to learn to be hard on myself to get rid of things. De-cluttering my wife calls it.
Today I have to do the garage which includes boxes of old VHS videos (which don't play), paint pots, boxes of bits and pieces, posters, signs I made for one thing and another, many are things that took me time to make for an occasion or project but no longer have uses. There will be some painful goodbyes, but it has to be done.
In many respects our lives and especially our spiritual lives can become very cluttered with "baggage" and ideas and taboos that we hold on to like an old well worn overcoat that we don't want to let go off for fear of the void that it might leave in us.
The writer of Hebrews tells us to throw off all that "hinders" us or "holds" us back. That is anything that slows down or potentially derails our relationship with God through Christ in our walk of faith. What sorts of things - well I would suggest, personal and / or spiritual habits or attitudes that really don't stack up with scripture. Example - not finding time to for a one on one with God each day; Example - driving when we could walk; Example - holding a grudge against someone when we should forgive and let it go. Our walk with God should be a body, mind and Spirit one, total.
So how about spending a moment or two de-cluttering yourself? Check out what might be hindering or holding you back in your walk with God and getting rid of them, put them out, talk to someone about it if it will help, but don't just ignore them / it and carry the clutter with you.
Go for a less junk filled, de-cluttered walk with God that will fit you better for all that He has planned for you.
Our clearing has resulted in a heap of stuff, that we moved with us three years ago, having to go out. Charity shops, clothes banks and the recycling yard as well as "freecycle" (great for recycling things locally by giving to others for free) all benefit and I am having to learn to be hard on myself to get rid of things. De-cluttering my wife calls it.
Today I have to do the garage which includes boxes of old VHS videos (which don't play), paint pots, boxes of bits and pieces, posters, signs I made for one thing and another, many are things that took me time to make for an occasion or project but no longer have uses. There will be some painful goodbyes, but it has to be done.
In many respects our lives and especially our spiritual lives can become very cluttered with "baggage" and ideas and taboos that we hold on to like an old well worn overcoat that we don't want to let go off for fear of the void that it might leave in us.
The writer of Hebrews tells us to throw off all that "hinders" us or "holds" us back. That is anything that slows down or potentially derails our relationship with God through Christ in our walk of faith. What sorts of things - well I would suggest, personal and / or spiritual habits or attitudes that really don't stack up with scripture. Example - not finding time to for a one on one with God each day; Example - driving when we could walk; Example - holding a grudge against someone when we should forgive and let it go. Our walk with God should be a body, mind and Spirit one, total.
So how about spending a moment or two de-cluttering yourself? Check out what might be hindering or holding you back in your walk with God and getting rid of them, put them out, talk to someone about it if it will help, but don't just ignore them / it and carry the clutter with you.
Go for a less junk filled, de-cluttered walk with God that will fit you better for all that He has planned for you.
Tuesday, 28 December 2010
Who's responsible?
I was reading my Bible this morning, the story of Ahab and Elijah. It seemed so reminiscent of our culture today, when theres a problem its "not my fault" is often what we hear or say, no-one prepared to take responsibility for their actions. Maybe because we don't like being seen in a bad light, perhaps because we don't really like being wrong or are not prepared to take the consequences for our actions?
Whatever the reason we need to ask ourselves "how do I react to getting something wrong or there being bad consequences to my actions or words?".
We believe in a God who having created humans with the freedom to choose, saw that we can and do get stuff dreadfully wrong and often with no way to put it right or restore our broken relationship with him. God chose to intervene, which we have just celebrated at Christmas, taking personal action to restore what we get wrong. Accepting the consequences of humanities' wrong choices, he came as one of us, taking those consequences upon himself and putting them right by dying on a cross so that we might not be punished or take those same consequences.
Ahab's choice was to blame Elijah - troubler of the people, he called him, for the fact that God had shut the heavens and they had had bad harvests. When the real problem was Ahab (and his ancestors') installing other god's in Israel. But Ahab was king, in his own mind he only did right so it cannot have been his fault, it must be someone else's - Elijah's; how wrong he was, read the rest of the story and you will see just how wrong!
When we see things going wrong in our societies today, do we ask ourselves what are we getting wrong or what do we need to put right with God? Possibly we would rather look for someone else to blame, the government, a particular social or ethnic group, circumstances or whatever ...
Its a challenge to all who call Jesus their saviour to own up to our mistakes, Don Francisco wrote a pointed song about this a few years back "It's your own fault" wrong choices or plain old foolishness, often this will have a material price as we put right what we got wrong. We can do something about it, we can own up and take responsibility, we can ask God's forgiveness and not blame others for our mistakes.
Whatever the reason we need to ask ourselves "how do I react to getting something wrong or there being bad consequences to my actions or words?".
We believe in a God who having created humans with the freedom to choose, saw that we can and do get stuff dreadfully wrong and often with no way to put it right or restore our broken relationship with him. God chose to intervene, which we have just celebrated at Christmas, taking personal action to restore what we get wrong. Accepting the consequences of humanities' wrong choices, he came as one of us, taking those consequences upon himself and putting them right by dying on a cross so that we might not be punished or take those same consequences.
Ahab's choice was to blame Elijah - troubler of the people, he called him, for the fact that God had shut the heavens and they had had bad harvests. When the real problem was Ahab (and his ancestors') installing other god's in Israel. But Ahab was king, in his own mind he only did right so it cannot have been his fault, it must be someone else's - Elijah's; how wrong he was, read the rest of the story and you will see just how wrong!
When we see things going wrong in our societies today, do we ask ourselves what are we getting wrong or what do we need to put right with God? Possibly we would rather look for someone else to blame, the government, a particular social or ethnic group, circumstances or whatever ...Its a challenge to all who call Jesus their saviour to own up to our mistakes, Don Francisco wrote a pointed song about this a few years back "It's your own fault" wrong choices or plain old foolishness, often this will have a material price as we put right what we got wrong. We can do something about it, we can own up and take responsibility, we can ask God's forgiveness and not blame others for our mistakes.
Saturday, 18 December 2010
The Harder Path
Snow stops just about everything when it turns up in Southern England. Its something that because of its rarity just can't be planned for. Today against the advice of the traffic sites I decided that I would drive to my son's University to collect him and bring him home for Christmas.
The traffic sites told of untold woe on the motorways (freeways) around my area and long jams with yet more heavy snow to follow. 5 miles from home I caught the tail back on the M23 northbound and decided to take a chance and use a cross country route that most would not take because of the snow. Apart from taking a lot of care, driving slowly, making sure I would not hit the car in front (if there was one) when braking and so on, it worked fine. What seemed to be the hardest path turned out to be the best route and it got me where I needed to go and back while many were snarled up for hours on the motorways. My route took more care and concentration but worked!
It struck me that often in life Christians, like non Christians, opt for what seems the easiest path when making choices, decisions etc., like me opting for the motorway rather than narrow, snow covered roads. The path that looks hardest looks that way because it may not fit our plans, desires or requirement for an easy option and yet if we take it, it turns out to be the best. In Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress" Christian found this out when choosing to wrestle through harder path, the slough rather than taking the easy path back home as his friend Pliable did!
God set the example when He chose the path of coming to earth as a human, which we will celebrate shortly at Christmas. Jesus told his disciples that the path they would walk would lead them into trouble and anyway who wants to give up everything?
The path we are called to over this Christmas season is the harder one, to have fun without getting drunk, to enjoy company without inappropriate actions, to joke without using coarse humour, to enjoy the food but not stuff ourselves silly. OK so we might stand out from the crowd and some might make fun of us, but if we stand for what we believe then we can shine a light onto the Christmas celebrations in our work places, colleges and schools and families that shows the true spirit of the season ...
A people set apart (Holy), living for Christ and freely choosing his ways over the worlds and yet having fun all the same.
Happy Christmas
The traffic sites told of untold woe on the motorways (freeways) around my area and long jams with yet more heavy snow to follow. 5 miles from home I caught the tail back on the M23 northbound and decided to take a chance and use a cross country route that most would not take because of the snow. Apart from taking a lot of care, driving slowly, making sure I would not hit the car in front (if there was one) when braking and so on, it worked fine. What seemed to be the hardest path turned out to be the best route and it got me where I needed to go and back while many were snarled up for hours on the motorways. My route took more care and concentration but worked!It struck me that often in life Christians, like non Christians, opt for what seems the easiest path when making choices, decisions etc., like me opting for the motorway rather than narrow, snow covered roads. The path that looks hardest looks that way because it may not fit our plans, desires or requirement for an easy option and yet if we take it, it turns out to be the best. In Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress" Christian found this out when choosing to wrestle through harder path, the slough rather than taking the easy path back home as his friend Pliable did!
God set the example when He chose the path of coming to earth as a human, which we will celebrate shortly at Christmas. Jesus told his disciples that the path they would walk would lead them into trouble and anyway who wants to give up everything?
The path we are called to over this Christmas season is the harder one, to have fun without getting drunk, to enjoy company without inappropriate actions, to joke without using coarse humour, to enjoy the food but not stuff ourselves silly. OK so we might stand out from the crowd and some might make fun of us, but if we stand for what we believe then we can shine a light onto the Christmas celebrations in our work places, colleges and schools and families that shows the true spirit of the season ...A people set apart (Holy), living for Christ and freely choosing his ways over the worlds and yet having fun all the same.
Happy Christmas
Tuesday, 14 December 2010
Delight in a gift
While recording a Christmas message today for the church I am soon to become Pastor of, I got to thinking. What presents really make us pleased, happy, overjoyed?
I was using a model of Ferrari 348 which my eldest son thought was a great present when we lived in Italy. In fact we still have his treasured collection of such cars at home. To him such a gift was just the best. My wife the other day mentioned a birthday gift that she had be given. I remember the look on her face of pure joy. She needed a new toilet bag (for bathroom stuff like shampoo, deodorant etc.) and she got a lovely blue one. The funny thing was that the bag came as a free gift with cosmetics that had been purchased as the real present and were inside it. She was so enamored with the bag that it never occurred to her that there was more. Our little Grand daughter or course delights in a different sort of present and prefers the Teddy that my wife knitted for her.
Whats the point you might be thinking? Well the point is this, different gifts have a different impact on each of us, what excites one does nothing for another. We are quite capable of seeing and hearing about the most incredible of gifts but because its not what we expected or thought we wanted, we turn it down.
Just such a gift for many is the child whose birth we celebrate at Christmas, the child who as a man presented us with a gift from God that so often is ignored because its misunderstood, thought to be impossible or just not required. Cast aside like so many unwanted Christmas gifts.
But maybe the way its presented by those charged with it is what is really the issue and not the gift at all. After all if you were offered a gift, battered, bent and covered in dirty, torn and well used paper, it might well put you off. When Christ is seen through those who profess faith in Him, what do they see, is it the kind of present which even though they had never thought they needed, suddenly realise they can't do with out? As James reminds us its what we do that gives the truth or the lie to what we claim to believe. Its that acting out of our faith that will give the gift the beautiful look that attracts others to Christ.
So this Christmas, be a light in the world, shine for Christ, live out the truth of your faith and attract others to the greatest present of all, God's gift of life.
I was using a model of Ferrari 348 which my eldest son thought was a great present when we lived in Italy. In fact we still have his treasured collection of such cars at home. To him such a gift was just the best. My wife the other day mentioned a birthday gift that she had be given. I remember the look on her face of pure joy. She needed a new toilet bag (for bathroom stuff like shampoo, deodorant etc.) and she got a lovely blue one. The funny thing was that the bag came as a free gift with cosmetics that had been purchased as the real present and were inside it. She was so enamored with the bag that it never occurred to her that there was more. Our little Grand daughter or course delights in a different sort of present and prefers the Teddy that my wife knitted for her.Whats the point you might be thinking? Well the point is this, different gifts have a different impact on each of us, what excites one does nothing for another. We are quite capable of seeing and hearing about the most incredible of gifts but because its not what we expected or thought we wanted, we turn it down.
Just such a gift for many is the child whose birth we celebrate at Christmas, the child who as a man presented us with a gift from God that so often is ignored because its misunderstood, thought to be impossible or just not required. Cast aside like so many unwanted Christmas gifts.But maybe the way its presented by those charged with it is what is really the issue and not the gift at all. After all if you were offered a gift, battered, bent and covered in dirty, torn and well used paper, it might well put you off. When Christ is seen through those who profess faith in Him, what do they see, is it the kind of present which even though they had never thought they needed, suddenly realise they can't do with out? As James reminds us its what we do that gives the truth or the lie to what we claim to believe. Its that acting out of our faith that will give the gift the beautiful look that attracts others to Christ.
So this Christmas, be a light in the world, shine for Christ, live out the truth of your faith and attract others to the greatest present of all, God's gift of life.
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