When You are Walking in the Valley

If you were to read the social media feed of your friends you might be inclined to believe that they go from mountain top to mountain top. Don’t blame your “friends” that is the nature of the social media feed. But it can make your personal valley feel a little more intense. One of the key words in valleys is loneliness. This means that one of the key words of healing during time in the valley is “presence”.

When I am in the valley I want to feel like I am not alone. Job’s friends had it right, before they started talking, by simply being with Job. God knows how to help us when we are going through the valley. “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil for you are with me.” (Psalm 23:4)

One of the things that I am learning right now about prayer is a powerful element of the journey is simply acknowledging that He is with me. Simply being silent and enjoying His company is prayer. This can be powerful in the valley. If I don’t know what to say just sitting there and being with Him can bring healing to my heart. I am not alone.

[tweetthis]Simply being silent and enjoying His company is prayer.[/tweetthis]

Although not the point of this post let me end this with a song to encourage you that if you are in a hard spot it is not forever. Tunnel by Third Day

 

 

3 Trends in Prayer in the Church

One of the members of my advisory council is Dick Eastman, who is a member of the US National Prayer Committee and the head of Every Home for Christ. While sitting down with him once I asked him what he sees as trends in the prayer movement around the world. He shared with me two of them and I would like to add a third that I have seen as well.

Twenty-four hour a day prayer: Although the most famous in this trend is IHOP and 24-7 Prayer the idea of continual prayer is popping up all over the place. Even those churches that can’t do an ongoing 24-7 time will do seasons (maybe a weekend) or place (a prayer room) to facilitate long term prayer. Dick even showed me signup sheets from the church in China that is getting in on this trend.

Children and Prayer: Prayer is not just for adults. Engaging kids from a young age in the life of prayer can make a difference for the rest of their lives. Not too long ago I got an email from a Sunday School teacher in an African country who was online looking for resources to teach children on prayer. This leads to my observation on a trend in prayer.

Technology and prayer: I don’t believe we have even close to capitalized on the power that can be harnessed in the prayer movement. We are beginning to see glimpses of this with blogs like this one, apps for personal prayer and prayer request entry points. I think this is only a beginning. Every move of God has been helped by its latest technology. We have yet to see the full power of a Twitter/YouTube prayer movement.

What things are you see that is happening in the movement of prayer?

[tweetthis] We have yet to see the full power of a Twitter/YouTube prayer movement.[/tweetthis]

2 Helpful Things So That You Can Pray

I see a lot of people who say that they struggle to pray. There are various reasons but here are 2 areas that you can quickly do something about today. 1 Peter 4:7 says, “The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.” (Emphasis mine) Peter gives us two things that will help us pray.

First he encourages them to be clear minded. Many translations use the word “sober” for “clear minded”. He is not only highlighting the dangers of getting drunk but an even broader danger of disconnecting from life. I talk before about the danger of not being engaged in life. The context of this passage is that time is coming to an end so now is the time to let distractions go and focus on the important things.

Second, he challenges them to be self controlled. This could also be a challenge to be disciplined. Rather than looking at this from the negative standpoint of “I am not disciplined enough so I don’t pray” lets flip it around. We can build our prayer life by building habits. The easiest way I know to build a prayer life that is fun and enjoyable is to have a time that you are free to pray. If you did nothing else but give yourself enough margin for “prayer time” you would have a great start to building a powerful life of prayer.

Let’s be a people who are clear minded and self controlled so we can pray!

Brake check on your following of Jesus

If you have ever tried to follow someone, either in a car or elsewhere, you know that following has interesting challenges. As I was following a pastor to a restaurant after speaking at his church I began to think about the importance of distance in following someone. If you are following another car and get too far behind another car can get between you and then you will lose sight of them. The other danger is also true. If you get to close to the car in front you might not see something in front of them and run into them when they have to break.

The same is true as we try to follow Jesus and live a life of the Spirit. The first danger is that we get too far behind. Jesus is moving and we should be too! If God leads us somewhere and we drag our feet the things of life may sneak between us and Him and we will miss where He is going. This is an especially true challenge if you are a person that doesn’t like change. God may do something different just to see if you are still following Him. As Mark Batterson says, “Change of Pace + Change of Place = Change of Perspective.” Sitting still can keep us from missing what God might have for us.

[tweetthis]Sitting still can keep us from missing what God might have for us.[/tweetthis]

Those of you who are nodding your head right now because that is easy for you might need to be aware of the other danger. Getting too close or even getting ahead of Jesus. This is the side of the equation that often I need to guard against. If I see Jesus going somewhere rather than letting Him set the pace I try to get there before Him. I say, “I think I know how this is going to work” and start filling in the steps. When I do that I can be working in my own strength and miss the resources that Jesus would have provided.

That is why we are encouraged to, “keep in step with the Spirit.” (Gal 5:25) As you look at your own walk with Jesus are you getting ahead or falling behind? Do you know what you are most likely to do in order to guard against it?

A lesson you can use from my “almost a month” in northern MN

For most of this month I have been staying in a house about four-five hours from my home. It was an interesting experience for me. I had scheduled all of my speaking up that direction so I was still spending time preaching. I had a few goals for my time up there. First, I am working on my third book so this was some time for writing. Second I am working on what I am calling the “Clear the bookshelf challenge.” For about a year now I have been working through the books on my bookshelf with the idea that I wanted to read each book completely, or just get something out of it, or give it away. This time in northern MN was some extra reading time. The third goal was an experiment in solitude.

Now it wasn’t exactly solitude, but it had some elements that I wanted to test. First, my time online would be limited since the house did not have Wi-Fi. I had internet through my phone but needed to watch my data use. Other than my preaching I only had one appointment while I was up there. The first week I would spend by myself. The second week my daughter would join me, and the last week and half my wife and mother in law would be there.

There were various lessons learned, but one of the most important ones is that solitude helps us learn to trust God. Before I went up there I was reminded of the quote by Richard Foster: “Solitude helps us resign as CEO of the universe.” I have a matching challenge fundraiser going on for the ministry for the summer, but I have to trust that God will do in two months what I am not sure can be done in three. Allowing a space for silence is letting God speak for you.

[tweetthis]Solitude helps us resign as CEO of the Universe.-Richard Foster[/tweetthis]

Not that I am never to speak again, I am writing this post after all. But stepping back gave me time to let God take the lead. It is easy as a “follower” of Jesus to guess where He is going and try to get there before He does.

Many of you wouldn’t need to get away for three and a half weeks to be reminded of this important lesson. Maybe an hour of silence would be a challenge. How about a short walk without your cell phone? As I gave him space not only did He teach me trust, but He filled that space with an awareness of His love and presence. Will you experiment with solitude in your life?