Today’s Readings: Psalm 119:97-120; Nehemiah 13:4-22; Matthew 6:7-15; Hebrews 11:13-19; Psalm 119:121-152
Featured Reading: Matthew 6:7-15
When I was growing up, I was told there was one way to think about God – that was to think of God as being located somewhere out there (or should I say, “Somewhere up there”). Consequently, I spent most of my time in prayer bringing God up to date on the happenings down here and asking God to intervene to change any outcomes with which I was uncomfortable. It wasn’t until several years later that I moved toward a system of belief that invited me to include God’s imminent presence “down here” as well. Once I began to think of God’s presence as imminent, my prayer practices began to evolve as well. The most obvious change was that I stopped worrying about bringing God up-to-date on the events of my life. A more subtle change was that I stopped putting the focus of my prayer life on trying to change God; instead, I began to use my time of enhanced connection with God to help change myself and my own heart. Instead of using my time of prayer to lobby for a specific outcome, for instance, I began to ask for the strength to deal with the circumstance - regardless of the outcome. What an important shift that was! So what got me to thinking about this shift in my theology and practice of prayer? The words attributed to Jesus in today’s reading from Matthew. In that passage Jesus said: “In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do” (Matthew 6:7 from The Message). Today, I would invite you to spend some time considering your practice of prayer and meditation. How do you understand that connection? Til next time…
Featured Reading: Matthew 6:7-15
When I was growing up, I was told there was one way to think about God – that was to think of God as being located somewhere out there (or should I say, “Somewhere up there”). Consequently, I spent most of my time in prayer bringing God up to date on the happenings down here and asking God to intervene to change any outcomes with which I was uncomfortable. It wasn’t until several years later that I moved toward a system of belief that invited me to include God’s imminent presence “down here” as well. Once I began to think of God’s presence as imminent, my prayer practices began to evolve as well. The most obvious change was that I stopped worrying about bringing God up-to-date on the events of my life. A more subtle change was that I stopped putting the focus of my prayer life on trying to change God; instead, I began to use my time of enhanced connection with God to help change myself and my own heart. Instead of using my time of prayer to lobby for a specific outcome, for instance, I began to ask for the strength to deal with the circumstance - regardless of the outcome. What an important shift that was! So what got me to thinking about this shift in my theology and practice of prayer? The words attributed to Jesus in today’s reading from Matthew. In that passage Jesus said: “In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do” (Matthew 6:7 from The Message). Today, I would invite you to spend some time considering your practice of prayer and meditation. How do you understand that connection? Til next time…
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