Giving Thanks

Today was the first day of school for my children. All the prep was finished late last night. First day clothes were selected and laid out. I made a quick run to the store for a couple of items that still needed to go in backpacks. The most important preparation of all was prayer. Just before bed we all gathered in our room. The kids and mom piled up on the bed. We took a few minutes to first take turns giving thanks for the summer. Everyone shared favorite memories with God and one another via a prayer.
 

Painting a Picture

Next, we shifted to praying for one another for the school year. We took turns. We prayed for good friends, good grades and good times. We lifted up new experiences and asked for the best. We prayed for protection and guidance. Through prayer we painted a picture of our hopes for the new year. Everyone prayed for everyone. We were very specific in our prayers. Our prayers reflected the unique nature of individual hopes and fears as we stand on the threshold of a new year. It was a great way to go into the year.
 

A Prayer Answered

Today, when I picked up my son and asked him how the day went, he felt it went very well. We were concerned about a conflict in his schedule. The available changes weren’t very appealing. He was really excited when he got in the car because he discovered that he misunderstood what one of the classes was and that he really liked it. He told me how cool the class was. I reminded him that the night before his mother had prayed that this problem would have some cool creative solution. A cool creative solution came that we never saw. We talked about how we should respond when prayers are answered. I encouraged him to give thanks for a quickly answered prayer. It was a mentoring moment in recognizing God at work. It was a mentoring moment in thinking about how we should respond.
 
If you have children that you can pray for and with about school. I highly encourage you to gather for a few minutes as a family to do it. We had never done this as a family at the beginning of the year. You can bet it will become a beloved tradition now.
 
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Photo by Ruth Arnold

Any prayer discipline can be improved just by applying a few prayer tips.

1)  Schedule your prayer time. You can prayer at anytime and all the time, but have you set aside a time just to be with God?  We make time for what is important and having a daily time just for God improves your consistency.

2)  Pray outloud. I use to like to pray on long drives.  Unfortunately, I found that my mind frequently wandered, until I started praying out loud.  I am sure some passing motorist thought I was crazy talking to myself because this pre-dated handsfree cell phone devices.  Neverthess, I found that I could sustain my attention if I would just pray outload.

3) Pray on paper. Writing your prayers out will physically engage you in prayer like praying outloud.  Journaling your prayers not only will help you maintain focus, but I find that the process of writing is very clarifying. If you are not sure where to start on writing prayers, try just writing a letter to God.  ”Dear God, ….”

4) Use a devotional guide. Using a prayer guide will prompt you to pray for things you normally wouldn’t.  One my favorites is a little book called a A Diary of Private Prayer by John Baillie.  It’s an inexpensive paperback that provides morning and evening prayers for a month along with blank pages to write your own prayers.  While the language is a bit dated the spirit of the writing is so amazingly fresh.

5) Pray with someone. Particularly, having a small prayer group can be a very powerful experience.  Be sure that you spend the bulk of your time actually in prayer.  I have been in prayer groups that rapidly became discussion groups about prayer and then spent only a few minutes actually praying. Some groups passively resist moving into prayer by spending a long time gather prayer requests from one another.

6) Keep a prayer list. Do you ever tell someone you are going to pray for them and then forget about it until you see them again?  You had all the greatest intentions in the world, but just forgot. Keeping a prayer list can help prevent this from happening.  A prayer list also prompts you to watch for how God is responding.  It hones your spiritual awareness.

7) Be sure to listen.  Have you ever been in a one-sided conversation with someone who can’t shut-up?  Make sure that you aren’t being that person with God.  Learn to take time in your prayers to be still and listen.  If your not sure what that might look like read the post, Do we really expect God to answer?.

You don’t need to do all of these at once.  Pick one or two prayer tips and periodically mix up your prayer life in order to keep your awareness high.  The key is to stay very intentional in your prayer life so you don’t fall into a rut.  In fact, take that as a bonus tip…

Mix it Up.

My prayer for you is that you experience ever deepening conversations with God. Blessings from The Practical Disciple

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Do you ever feel as if you are praying the same things over and over again?  Or, do you find yourself at a loss for words only minutes into praying?  Does your mind wander when you pray?  These are extremely common problems which can readily be addressed by simply adopting a prayer model.  I have found that praying an A.C.T.S. prayer is a great way to both focus my prayer and expand my prayer vocabulary.  It is one of my favorite prayer disciplines.  A.C.T.S. stands for:

Adoration

Confession

Thanksgiving

Supplication

Adoration

What does it mean to adore someone?  It means that you love them.  You love who they are and what they do.  When I adore God I use what I call the formula of praise.  This formula is a recurring pattern I noticed in the Psalms.  David adores God in three ways:  First, he tells God that he loves Him.  Second, he praises God for who God is.  Third, he praises God for what God does.  To learn more about the formula of praise and to see examples click here and read the post, The Formula of Praise.

Confession

When I extol the goodness of God through adoration I find myself humbled.  I am reminded of my sins.  So I move from adoration into confession.  When you confess try to be specific about acknowledging what you have done wrong.  Get beyond generic confessions such as, “I haven’t been as loving as I should be.”  Be specific, “God I have been avoiding Janet because I am angry with her.  Forgive me for pushing her to the side so that I don’t have to deal with my anger.  It is sinful for me to not give her the grace I have received.”  Being specific will help you change.  Notice in the example that I actively acknowledged my action as sin and why it is wrong.  That sort of processing your actions within your prayers will help you change, but you only get there by being specific.  To learn more about confession click here and read the post, Eradicating Spiritual Virus.

Thanksgiving

I am not sure I need to say much about thanks because most of us readily know how to say thank you and what gratitude is.  I do want to point out two things.  First, my experience has been that having thanks in my prayer model forces me to consider what I am grateful for on the days I feel less than grateful.  Paul told the Colossians, “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.” (Colossians 3:16)  Second, I actively give thanks for the whole of creation.  I don’t only focus on the people and circumstance of my life.  I give thanks for the earth, the plants, the trees, the animals, the birds, the stars, the sun, and the moon and all of these amazing pieces of creation that God has intricately woven together to make life possible.

Supplication

To supplicate simply means to ask. At this point in your prayer offer God the concerns of your heart.  Pray for friends, family, community, situations and yourself.  Pray for whatever concerns you.  Take time to intercede for others.  I used to think that intercession just meant praying for someone else in general.  However, as I studied the scriptures about interceding, I noticed that intercession almost always means praying about someone’s spiritual well-being.  You may want to adopt someone specific to pray for daily.  I find that to be a very powerful prayer discipline.

Lastly, when trying a new prayer discipline like praying A.C.T.S. prayers, do it for several weeks before judging the merits of the practice.  Your entire first week you may be just getting comfortable with the practice.  I highly recommend living into a practice a minimum of three weeks.  Research suggests that it takes as much as 18 days for something to become a habit or norm for us.  Persevere for a season so that you can see the fruit.

Blessings from The Practical Disciple.

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Last night I was skimming Facebook status lines before I called it a day and noticed one in particular by my friend Angie S. in Missouri. She offered a prayer for teachers Her status read as follows…

Angie S. has been saying prayers all day for all of her friends associated with educating children! I pray you have a great/fun school year, students willing to grow/learn, supportive/cooperative/non-judging parents, that you are able to go to work each day feeling refreshed and ready, that you are able to be the voice for students who lack the support at home, and that you are able to remember that each child is a child of God and someone’s baby. I also pray that you are having so much fun that the school year flies by and that you feel inspired like you did your first year in the “business”! Good luck all my fellow educators – teachers from preschool up to college, principals, support staff – all of you make such an amazing difference in the lives of many students! Don’t forget that!

I know this prayer comes from a knowing empathetic heart because Angie taught High School Mathematics for a number of years. Would you join me in joining Angie in offering a prayer for teachers between now and the beginning of school. Thanks.

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Summer months for many people include travel. I find that travel can present some challenges to maintaining my normal routines for prayer and Bible reading, but they are not insurmountable. Yesterday, I drove to our church camp to serve as a chaplain for a couple of days with our camp staff who are going through training. When I got to my room, the first thing I did was set up my devotional space. You can see it in the picture above. Something that is sacred or holy is something set apart for God. That little space is my sacred space for the next few days. It’s where I will take time set apart from the rest of my day to encounter God.

In my devotional space there are several items I brought from home and my office. These things serve as mental anchors to my home routines and are visual triggers to keep me faithful to my spiritual disciplines. Here is what is in my space.

1) My devotional bible. I use a Kay Arthur Inductive Study Bible for my devotional reading. It has no headings, footnotes or commentary. It’s basically raw text with wide margins for keeping notes. I do most of my reading from it because I like to first look at text and pray about it without being led by any other commentary. I use an ESV (English Standard Version) Study Bible, when I start moving into more research.

2) A candle. In the picture, a red glass candle holder with a cross on it sits behind the bible. That candle holder is from my office and was a gift to me. I often begin my devotional time by lighting a candle and saying the words, “I light this candle as a reminder of Christ’s presence with me.”

3) A blue mug full of colored pencils. I brought the mug and pencils from my office, as well. I annotate my devotional bible using colored pencils. I use colored pencils intentionally because they won’t bleed through the pages like highlighters or pens. To learn more about this practice read the post, What to write in your bible.

4) My journal. The black book in the picture is my journal. I journal in lots of ways. When I wrote my Novena, I intentionally wrote it on loose leaf paper, because I wanted to file it for easy reference next year. I find a bound journal more convenient when I am on the road. It’s smaller and I can readily pull it out when I am killing time in an airport or want to lie in bed and journal at the end of the day.

5) A little plastic turtle. You may not have noticed him in the picture. But in front of the blue mug is a little turtle. When I use to travel, I would get something from my kids to take with me as a tangible reminder of them and I would put it in my devotional space. For my son, I regularly brought a small plastic turtle I had bought for him while on vacation. For my daughter I carried a tiny clay vase with a dragon fly on it that I had bought her. This little turtle happened to be on my beside table when I was packing; so, I tossed him in as a reminder of my whole family. When I see him I remember my family in prayer while I am away from them.
 
Your travel set-up can be very simple. May be it’s picking a certain chair in your room to be your prayer spot and leaving your bible or a devotional guide in it as a visual reminder. Even if you don’t pick a space, carrying an object with you that spiritually reminds you of God and home can be very helpful. I began this practice when I was a missionary in Alaska by simply carrying a pocket cross. You can read more about that in the post, Surround yourself with objects that teach. I suspect that experience was the root of my practice now of creating a sacred space while traveling.
 
This practice has served me well and kept me true to my spiritual disciplines when traveling. I hope you will try it next time you travel. I am confident that you will find it is a blessing.
 

Verse:

There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. (1 Corinthians 12:6-7)

Meditation:

The verses upon which we have reflected over the past several days have revealed many benefits that come into the life of a believer with the gift of the Holy Spirit. We have looked at power, love, self-discipline, community, peace, and a whole list of fruits. But, to what end are all these things given?  Is drawing near to the Holy Spirit nothing more than a self help program?  Not at all. The gifts we receive from the Holy Spirit are for the common good.
 
If you are wondering about the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life, do not look so much at what it has done for you, but how the transformation of you has effected the common good. Does your joy bring joy to a community? Does your love lift the body of Christ? Does your power inspire, strengthen and support God’s family? Do your spiritual gifts build the body of Christ? Does your gentleness reveal the mercy of God? Does your kindness point to the cross?
 
Even then look at your community and ask if that community reveals God to the world. When Christ promised the Holy Spirit in the Gospel of John and he prayed for believers he also prayed that they might be one. He wanted them to have that unity and joy so that others would come to believe. When all is said and done that is the true proof that what is moving in your life is the Holy Spirit. If God is honored, glorified and made more manifest to the world then the Holy Spirit is truly moving in power.
 

Prayer:

Holy Spirit, I have prayed that you take captive my words and my thoughts in prior prayers, but to what end did I pray these things? I pray this day that all that I say and do can bring Glory to God the Father and reveal the grace of his son Jesus Christ. I want you to saturate not only what I do, but how I do it. When I labor, may I not only labor for the Lord, but in a manner that is worthy of Him. May I bring joy, gratitude and humility to my action. May I bring kindness, gentleness and peace to my interactions. May I have the mind of Christ, who was willing to humble himself even to the point of death on a cross. Frankly, though I know that these are the proper words to prayer, there is part of me that fears such prayers. Do I really mean them? Or, am I just saying it because it is what is good and right? Help me Holy Spirit to have integrity between the words I am willing to pray and the action I am willing to take. I know that by your Spirit all things are possible and God’s strength can be revealed through my weakness. May it be so. Amen.
  

Call Before You Fall

Verse:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-25

Meditation:

In yesterday’s verse we were urged to set our minds on the Spirit that we might live by the Spirit. In today’s verses, Paul paints a picture of what living in the Spirit looks like. Given what we learned yesterday; specifically, that the focus of our minds produces are actions and eventually our character, what thoughts are necessary for us to find the fruit of the Spirit in our lives? What thoughts lead toward joy? What thoughts produce patience? What thoughts kindle kindness? etc.
 
Similarly, we must understand what thoughts lead us away from the fruits. We must recognize what thought patterns push us toward being impatient, cruel, bitter, envious, etc. Whenever we recognize that we are trapped in those thoughts, we need to call upon the Spirit to help us walk faithfully.
 
Yesterday, I was lying in a hospital emergency room being checked out after a car accident. I saw a sign on the wall of someone holding a nurse call button and above it where the words, “Call before you fall.” I commented to my wife that it was a sermon in a sentence. When we find ourselves thinking thoughts contrary to the Spirit we need to call out to the Spirit before we take any steps. If we do not, then we are sure to fall.
 

Prayer:

Holy Spirit, I quiet my heart before You so that I might become aware of  any thoughts contrary to You. I would like to be able to observe my thoughts without reflexively reacting to them. Bring me that awareness. I want enough objectivity in my relationship to my thoughts so that when I stray from  you I can see it happening and choose differently. Then I pray that through your power, I am able to disassociate from my mind of the flesh and embrace a mind of the Spirit. When I consider the vast stream of never ending thoughts that rush through my head, bringing them under the control of your Spirit seems nearly impossible. But, I know that all things are possible through You. Thank you for your gift of power, love and self-discipline. I give you my mind. Use it for your purposes. Amen.
 
P.S. In regards to my car accident–The car was totaled, but I am not. Just got some nasty bruising and swelling from my safety belt doing its job. I want to thank the many friends and family who have offered prayers and words of encouragement.
 

If you are new to this Ghost Dose series, you may want to read the post, A Protestant Novena, A Dose of the Ghost..

Verse:

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. Romans 8:5-6.
 

Meditation:

How you live is a by-product of what you think. We are reminded of this truth in today’s scripture and I am reminded of an old proverb.

Sow a thought, reap a deed
Sow a deed, reap a habit
Sow a habit, reap a character

If your life is reflective of the Spirit, then it is almost assuredly true that your reflect on the things of the Spirit in your mind. If you life does not reflect the Spirit then it is time to take a hard look at the focus of your mind.

So what are things of the Spirit upon which we should focus our minds? The first thing that comes to mind for me is unity. When Paul addressed the conflict between Jews and Gentiles in the first letter to the Corinthians he noted,

For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body— Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:13)

He also urged the Ephesians to maintain peace saying,

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:1-3)

Obviously, walking in the spirit involves actively working on peace and unity. The journey toward community begins in the mind. You first judge a person in your mind. You first speak a hurtful word in your mind. You first lie, gossip or slander in your mind. You first consider forgiving in your mind. You first consider letting go of a hurt in your mind. To win the battle for peace, you must surrender first to the peace of the Spirit in your mind.
 

Prayer:

Holy Spirit, take captive my every thought of my neighbor. May I only think that which will lead to greater unity, greater encouragement, and greater love.
May every ugly thought be tempered by your grace.
May every angry thought be softened and washed away by your unconditional love.
May every envious thought be satisfied by the knowledge that all I need you have already provided.
May every impure thought be purified by your holiness.
May every judgmental thought be abandoned for words of encouragement.
Holy Spirit, by your holy fire forge within me a burning passion for peacemaking.
Amen.
 
If you are new to this series of post you may want to read the post, A Protestant Novena, A Dose of the Ghost.
 
 

Verse:

“For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.” (2 Timothy 1:6, NASB)

Meditation:

Today’s verse reminds us of simple yet often ignored truth, the gift of the Spirit requires responsible continued attention. The greek word translated “kindle afresh” in the New American Standard Bible, is a difficult word to translate cleanly. An examination of five versions yielded four different translations.

• The English Standard Version and New International Version-”fan a flame”
• New Revised Standard Version-”rekindle”
• King James-”Stir up”
• New American Standard Bible-”kindle afresh”

 
The translation challenge that results in so many different version is that the greek word is a compounding of several things. Perhaps, a more literal and accurate translation would be something to the effect of “to fire to life again.” Regardless of the translation the image given is a of having been given a fire that needs continued tending to burn and burn well. I teach fire making skills to camp counselors and children every Summer. I can’t tell you how many times I have started a fire for a struggling group only to leave for a little bit and find it nearly extinguished for a lack of care.
 
Caretaking a fire requires feeding and stoking. You must continually feed a fire so that it has fuel to keep burning. Often times you also have to interact with the fire to keep it going. You may have to rearrange some logs so they get better air flow or you may need to shuffle the coals around to expose them. I am learning through scripture and through this novena that the gift of the Holy Spirit needs to be also feed and interacted with. Through studying the Word we can feed the gift of the Holy Spirit. By exercising our spiritual gifts we can feed the gift of the Holy Spirit. Through prayer, particularly asking the Spirit to teach us and/or leaning on the Spirit for strength, comfort and discernment we can interact with the Spirit. What will you do today to actively feed or stoke the fire that has been placed in you?
 

Prayer:

Holy Spirit, Paul told Timothy in an earlier letter “do not to neglect the spiritual gift within you.” (1 Timothy 1:14)  His language in this letter is even more proactive. This word reveals to me a history of being passive in attention to you. I prayer that I will continue when this novena is complete to seek to learn more about you. I would like to come away with a plan from this nine day period of reflection for knowing specifically, how I should continue to “rekindle” or “kindle afresh” this gift.  I give you thanks for this word today.  Amen.

 
If you missed the beginning of this “Dose of the Ghost” series, just read this post, A Protestant Novena, A Dose of the Ghost.
 
 

Verse:

“For God did not give you a spirit of timidity, but of power, love and self-discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:7

Meditation:

The greek word that is translated self-discipline can also rightly be translated self-control, moderation, or prudence.   The idea behind it is one of rightly exercising restraint in moral matters. The spirit reveals to us truth, but it is not enough to only know the truth. We have a response ability to respond appropriately. The good news is that through the gift of the Holy Spirit we are empowered to exercise restraint and diligence in moral matters. We not only know what is right or wrong but we are empowered to do the right thing or resist doing the wrong thing. We are no longer alone in resisting and confronting sin.
 

Prayer:

Holy Spirit, your entrance into my life in many ways robs me of my excuses.  I know through God’s promises that I am a new creation and that my old self has passed away.  I know too that through you I have the power to resist that which is evil.  Their really is no excuse for me to do the wrong thing.  If I do, it is a blatant exercise of self will against you.  I prayer that daily I will yield myself over fully to your promptings, your courage, your strength, your goodness, and your holiness.  Paul told Timothy to kindle the gift that had been given to him, that gift being you.  Open my eyes to see and understand how to kindle a spirit of self-discipline so that I might more fully serve and honor God in all things.  Amen.