The Bible and the Boy

Yesterday I went to Starbucks to get inspiration.  For some reason when I am at Starbucks my mind kicks into gear and the Lord really speaks to me as I prepare sermons.  When I arrived I found a table and set my Bible and backpack on it before walking up to order a drink.

As I wait in line I keep looking over at my table, where an 8-year-old boy keeps hovering and staring at my Bible.  I smile at him while I wonder what he is doing by my stuff.  He then opens the Bible up, looks at me, then closes it...realizing he got caught.  But he stays close, touching it one more time before his mom comes by with is hot chocolate.

When the boy was hovering around my table, I was worried.  What is this boy going to do?  Where are his parents?  It is just a book...why is he so interested?

When I walked back to the table with my coffee I looked at the Bible on the table and it hit me.  This boy was not just getting into whatever he saw...he was curious to see something he had never seen.  Leather cover, gold edges, and a bookmark ribbon.  This wasn't a normal book!  Of course he was curious, because books don't usually shine gold.  My heart sank.

How young was I when I saw my first Bible?  I don't even remember...I grew up knowing what a Bible was and looked like.  This boy, on the other hand, probably had never even seen one.  It is not his fault that his parents don't believe and have a Bible...but it is his reality.

This Thanksgiving, really think about how blessed you are.  To be able to hold the word of God in your hands, to read it, to be changed by it, and to pass those wonderful truths on to your kids.  To know and love God is the greatest gift we have been given.

I am often overwhelmed with how good God is towards me, and I can't help but ask, why?  The list of my sins is great, but God's mercy and grace are far greater!  Celebrate that this Thanksgiving!

Finding a Parking Spot

Dependence on God is hard in our American "yes you can," "pull yourself up by you bootstraps" culture.  We are all about independence, which is why stories that display true dependence on God can really help open our eyes to what true dependence looks like.  Here is one of those stories, as told by Paul Miller in "A Praying Life":

After raising 5 children on a meager pastor's salary, Rosa "went with her husband the share the gospel in the slums of Uganda and the streets of Dublin."  She is now 82 years old and a full time missionary in London.  Her son read a book on prayer that said that we shouldn't pray for things such as parking places because those requests are selfish.  After hearing this, Rosa "looked a little incredulous, coked her head, started laughing, and said 'how else would you find a parking place?' "    

The experiences this woman has had through raising 5 kids on a pastor's salary and doing missionary work in Uganda, Dublin, and London have made her completely reliant on God for everything, and she has stories to tell about God answering those prayers.

We don't pray for things that are normal to everyday life, such as finding a parking place.  Maybe becasue we lack dependence or maybe because we are cynical and assume we will get a spot anyway, so why pray.  But if we completely changed our view of the world we would realize, like Rosa has, that everything is dependent on God...otherwise...how else would we find a parking spot?

Where your Confidence Lies

"If you are not praying, then you are quietly confident that time, money, and talent are all you need in life.  You'll always be a little too tired, a little too busy.  But if, like Jesus, you realize you can't do life on your own, then no matter how busy, no matter how tired you are, you will find the time to pray." -Paul Miller 


It is true.  We are far too confident in ourselves.  We don't realize how dependent we really are.  But in reality, there is not a muscle I can move or a thought I can think without God granting it to be so, for all things are held together by Christ (Col 1:17).  Our lack of praying reveals more than we want it to.  Our lack of praying says we don't need God, but God says we do.  


Martin Luther truly understood his dependence in God, as seen in quotes such as this: "Tomorrow I plan to work, work, from early until late. In fact I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer."  May our hearts attitude towards prayer be like his!  That the more we have to do the more we depend on God and seek Him in prayer!  

Snippets of Prayer

"While being constant in prayer is an important way of praying, this is no substitute for focused times of prayer.  For example, a husband and wife who only talk in snippets to one another throughout the day would have a shallow relationship.  You'd be business partners, not lovers.  You can't build a relationship on sound bites." -Paul Miller

Life is busy and often times the only time we make for prayers are snippets throughout the day.  Thanking God for a safe trip to work, praying for you spouse when you think about them, praying a meeting goes well, etc.  While this is good to do, when do we spend time in concentrated prayer?  When was the last time you sat in prayer for an hour?  That sounds like a long time, but only because we put everything else ahead of our relationship with God.  We can spend hours watching the Rangers game, hours on a date, hours with our kids...but an hour in prayer is difficult!

I invite you to join me in this challenge: Purposefully plan out an hour this week that you will spend in prayer and follow through with it.  Set an alarm so you don't keep looking at your watch.  Pray, listen, and just enjoy your time with God.  It might be awkward, but that is okay...most first dates are awkward, but it will get better.  After your hour, look at your daily schedule and plan a time each day where you can spend time in concentrated prayer.  It doesn't have to be an hour...just needs to be concentrated time, like 15-20 minutes.

Happy Praying!            

The Criteria is Weariness

"When we slow down to pray, we are immediately confronted with how unspiritual we are, with how difficult it is to concentrate on God...Nothing exposes our selfishness and spiritual powerlessness like prayer."*  But this is okay.  We are called to come to God like little children, and little children never hesitate or try to hide their selfishness.  They come as they are.*

When I was learning to walk, my older brother would quickly notice I was getting the attention so found thought it would be a pertinent time to pracitce his football skills and throw me to the floor.  My parents didn't just roll their eyes because I couldn't handle his blow...no...they cheered when stood without the help of the table and would help remove the obstacle of my brother (after capturing it on film of course).  They were excited to see me take a step and fall, because that was who I was and that is what I could do.

God is the same way.  He gets exited when we come to him.  We may get thrown to the ground on the way or fall down after a few steps...but unsteady prayers is often what we have to offer, and that is okay.  Jesus doesn't say to come to him when we have prayer life figured out, he says "come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest" (Mt 11:28).  "The Criteria for coming to Jesus is weariness.  Come overwhelmed with life.  Come with your wondering mind.  Come messy."*  But please...COME!  

*From "A Praying Life" by Paul E. Miller 

Don't Seek the Experience

"Deep in our psyches we want an experience with God or an experience in prayer.  Once we make that our quest, we lose God.  You don't experience God; you get to know him.  You submit to him.  You enjoy him.  He is, after all, a person" -Paul Miller 

We all have those times in our life where God felt so close...so real.  We can't help but think about those times and want to experience them again.  But what happens when we pursue this experience?  It becomes about an emotional feeling, and not about God.  And just like a roller-coaster, the thrill is amazing while it lasts, but once it is over you must ride another roller-coaster to feel that way again.  This leads us into a cycle of experience instead of a deeper relationship with God. 

Laura and I have some great memories together.  We have flown over the longest water fall in the world, snorkeled at the 2nd largest barrier reef while touching sting rays, toured London in 10 hours during a layover...but the moments that are the sweetest and most meaningful are the ones where we have been lost in conversation.  It didn't matter where we were or what we were doing...it was those times that matter.  Yes, the experiences we have had are amazing, but it was the deepening of our relationship that has mattered most.  Through my pursuit of Laura there will be many great memories and experiences, but those are just a result of my pursuing her, not the purpose.  This is the same with God.  We should seek not the thrill of the ride but rather the beauty of the deepening relationship.  

  

I am not saying those experiences are wrong, just that pursuing them is, because it makes it the goal to use spiritual things and God to make me feel a certain way.  This makes me central, and not God.  I am the created one, therefore my life needs to be about Him: loving Him, obeying Him, and pursuing Him.  

Pray for the purpose of knowing God, not to just experience what He gives.