When God Answers

When God responds to a prayer it is a gift that we need to honor.  There are three distinct ways that I try to respond to answered prayer.  

1) Give thanks.  Give credit where credit is due.  When you see that God has done something acknowledge it.  Say to God that you realize that it is him at work in your life and you are grateful. 

2)  Tell the story.  When God answers prayer share the story.  The psalms speak repeatedly about praising or thanking God publicly.  When we share stories about what God has done, we strengthen our faith and the faith of others.  When someone asks you how you are, if God has been evidently at work in your life, you can respond I am blessed and tell them how.

3) Be obedient.  Often times answered prayer may have a calling in it.  God may expect something of you.  If so, then be obedient to whatever it is that you sense God is asking of you. Some times the calling is not obvious.  I had a friend who told me about a God-incident where she thought of a women who had not entered her mind in years.  She couldn't shake wondering about her and then the next day a letter came in the mail from this person.  On the envelope she had written, "The Lord told me to write you."  It was all way to improbable to just be coincidence, so she decided it must be God at work some how.  She was a bit at a lost when I told her that she need to do something about it.  I explained that God doesn't do those things so that we can just marvel at the overwhelming improbability of it.  God obviously wanted them to reconnect.  She reinvested in the friendship.  I don't know where it led to, but the need to reconnect was a good way to honor the gift.

I have found honoring God's gifts in these ways strengthens my bond with God.  I have also found that God unfolds the gift even more when I honor it.  I am not sure if my own intentionality around spotting and responding to God's grace allows me to recognize God's activity more or if God sends more my way because I am faithful with what I am given.  I suspect that my increased recognition of God's activity is a little of both.  I am seeing more, but God is also entrusting more.

When you get done reading this, stop and think about how you have seen God at work.  Once you think of something that God seems to have done in your life, then give thanks, consider whom you can tell, and figure out if there is some way you need to respond.  I guarantee that a regular diet of doing these forms of honoring God will enhance your relationship tremendously.  Blessings from The Practical Disciple.

p.s.  I would love hearing your God-incident stories and how you honored the gift.

Discerning God's Will--Part 1

In my prior post I raised questions about understanding or discerning God's responses to our prayers.  Over the next few weeks I am going to post a series of sermon that I hope will give you some practical understanding of discernment.

This first piece addresses obstacles that impede our ability to see or hear God clearly at work.  I liken the task to trying to peer beneath the surface of water.  If the water is calm and clear and we know how to get beneath the surface we can enter a whole new and amazing world.  On the other hand, water that is quickly moving or polluted is nearly impossible to see into.   

We have lots of pollutants in our lives that can obscure our spiritual vision.  Sin is probably the first and foremost pollutant.  Once again, this is why some practice of personal confession is so vital to a healthy spiritual life.  Distractions are another major obstacle.  We have many competing voices pulling for our attention.  Learning to pick out God's voice from the others is an art and a discipline.  Lastly, incomplete business can be another obstacle.  Sometimes God is silent because we have not yet been faithful with what already has been given.

As you listen think about what sin may be unaddressed in your life, what distractions constantly pull y our attention away from God and lastly, those tasks that God has called you to do that you have avoided.  Until these obstacles are removed it is going to be tough discerning God's will. Blessings from the Practical Disciple.

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Do We Honestly Expect God to Answer?

This morning I was reading, Freedom of Simplicity by Richard Foster and I ran across this short paragraph.

"We who line in a world of half-truths and rationalizations and intellectual gymnastics that keep us from hearing and obeying the word of Christ need to hear their witness. Because we live in a different culture, we must once again ask what it means to live faithful lives in our day. But we must ask fully expecting to receive an answer and fully expecting to be given the power to obey the call." (p.66, Foster)

The italic emphasis is mine because those words  brought to mind a significant epiphany.  I realized not to long ago that if I was really honest with myself I wasn't expecting God to respond to my petitions.  You might be wondering why I would say such a thing.  Well, I noticed that I never paused to listen after asking.  For example, if I asked God to guide and lead me around a decision, than it just makes sense that I should stop and listen after the request.  Yet, I never did.  What did this say about how much I honestly believed my own prayers?  What it said to me was, I didn't.

That moment of awareness has since prompted me to actively listen for God speaking.  I now try to quiet my mind before I ask God something and then afterwards, truly listen for a response.  What does that response look like?  Some times when I quiet my mind and listen a person will come to mind.  If I contact that person, often times he or she will share something pertinent to my question.  Some times a memory may pop up or the answer to my question will come to mind.

When I don't receive some immediate response, I now strive to be attentive to how God may be answering me in some other way, such as a dream, turn of events, door opening or closing or some other providential synchronicity.  What I have found is that asking and truly believing, means looking and expecting as well.  

What questions or petitions have you made to God recently?  What have you done to actively discern God's response?  How do you see God speaking to you?  And if God has spoken how have you responded?

Give that some thought.  In a day or two come back and I will be posting a sermon series on Discerning God's will.  I hope it is a blessing to you. 

Expanding your Prayer Vocabulary through Prayer Books

A reader commented on how great the prayer was that I shared in the post, "Eradicating Spiritual Virus." The prayer came from the Book of Common Prayer. Printed prayers used as a guide for our own prayers can be a wonderful way to expand our prayer vocabulary and awareness. I have two particular favorites that have distinct strengths to them.

One is The Book of Common Prayer and its strength is the fact that is "common." It is common in the sense that we hold or share it together. As I use the Book of Common prayer as a guide for my own prayers, I am always mindful of the fact that I am in all probability joining my prayers with countless other people who may be saying those very same prayers at that time. My brother in Christ who is a pastor in Harrison, Arkansas or lay person in another country is very likely reading the same scripture and voicing the same prayers that day. Being invisibly tied to these other faith family members is a powerful thing. I almost feel as if I am attending a worship with my whole family despite being alone as I do it. I will admit that I find the Book of Common Prayer a bit confusing to use at first, but well worth the effort of learning how to navigate it.

Another favorite prayer guide for me is the classic, A Diary of Private Prayer, by John Baillie. For those of you unfamiliar with this little known classic, Baillie lays out a month of morning and evening prayers. The page opposite of each prayer is blank for you to write in your own prayer. What I love about this prayer book is that Baillie thinks to pray about so many things I might never pause to consider. Baillie is compassionately mindful of his community. He is much more selfless in his prayers than I find myself to be. This humility inspires me. The language in places is a bit archaic, but even that I appreciate. The spots of unfamiliarity cause me to pause and really consider the meaning of the words. I have filled out at least three of these diary's over the years and two of them where my anchor during particularly stormy moments of life. For these reasons and many more, A Diary of Private Prayer is my current recommended resource.

Lastly, I find that a prayer book is a tangible trigger that moves me to praying more frequently and for longer periods of time. A prayer book tightens and tames my wandering focus. God deserves my very best in prayer and a prayer book moves me closer to that excellence. Blessings from The Practical Disciple.

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