Did you grow up in a small town? The town I grew up in was so small we didn’t have a traffic light or even a blinking caution light!
When I was in college and people asked where I was from, I didn’t tell people the actual town I grew up in because no one would know where it was. Instead, I told them about the next town over which was much larger and at least regionally recognizable. Things aren’t much different now, because I still live in a small town.
If you were on Family Feud and the question was, “Practices Christians have to restore their soul.” I bet right after prayer you would name reading the Bible.
But if you’re honest it’s really not helping you rediscover your soul. Maybe you would say it feels more like a chore than something that breathes life into you.
Do you find it difficult to pray? Do you feel guilty about not praying more? Maybe you don’t know where to start. Maybe you know lots of templates and acrostics on “how” to pray, but at the end of the day there really isn’t a lot of praying going on.
Here is what I want to encourage you to do as you head into the fall. Start with praying about what matters most to you. You probably can think of lots of things that should matter to you…like the poor…political leaders. And because we don’t often pray about those things we feel guilty. We feel like a failure before we even start.
Have you ever questioned whether God was good? It’s one of the most important questions for you to settle about the nature of God.
Your answer will make the challenges of your life easier or more difficult.
My wife and I went to visit a friend last week who was having surgery at Sloan Kettering in NYC. After visiting with him it was time to head back to the train station. It was a beautiful day and I was excited about finally being outside after a long winter. Google Maps said it was only an hour walk from the hospital to the train station. No big deal. Right?!?
My wife was not so excited about an hour walk through the city. She kept saying this weird word…Uber…Uber… I’m thinking she must mean she is Uber-excited about walking. I tried to convince her it would be an adventure!
Last week I was blessed to take a trip of a lifetime to Israel with my wife. I had wanted to go for some time, but with scheduling (and budgeting) I couldn’t make it work.
Then last year I couldn’t shake the impression that God wanted me to go. I felt so strongly about it that we renewed my wife’s passport in preparation. I prayed about different trips with people I knew but none of them worked out. Then a friend reached out to me about joining a pastor’s trip to Israel. It was the perfect fit I had been praying for!
What if there was one thing you could do today that would change your entire Christmas for the better? What if this one thing could change every day next year for the better too? And not just next year but every year would be better.
I know it sounds like hype. But the moment you hear what it is you will know I’m right.
What are you looking forward to this Christmas? Christmas is a time of expectancy.
Children get this sense of expectancy better than anyone else. Every morning my kids ask me how many more days till Christmas. They can’t wait to find out what will be under the tree!
Have you ever felt like God just wasn’t answering your prayers? You were persistently praying, but nothing was happening. Or worse, it’s become painfully obvious the answer was “no.” The opportunity passed, the door closed, the job was filled, they married someone else.
What makes it hurt a little more is when your friend prays for the exact same thing and gets it immediately while you’ve been praying for years. You’re praying for a baby to love and your college roommate (Fertile Myrtle) just announced she is having her third (#blessed).
Everyone who loves Jesus recognizes they should read the Bible…more than they do. We know it’s the primary way God speaks to us. I mean it is called the “Word.” And what do you use in a conversation? Words.
Most followers of Jesus would also admit to feeling guilty for not reading more than they do. It doesn’t help that Apple just rolled out Screen Time which shows you in brilliant color just how little you use the Bible app compared to other apps on your phone. In full transparency, my results showed I read the news way more than I do the Bible app.
