Whenever, Wherever, Whatever -- -Decide!

Hey, Y'all,

That last RST reminded me of this short but also potent thought--

"Wherever you are, whatever time it is, you are only a decision away from the presence of your Father."
Max Lucado

Whatever it is, wherever you are, whenever the realization hits you--think of Him, ask for Him--He is always listening for you. You just have to decide to do it and it's done.

You've been prayed for today...

Angels Watching

Hey, Y'all,
Just a quick thought today--quick but solid. It's Ps. 91:11 (in a couple of different versions):

He has given His angels charge of you
to watch over you wherever you go...
For he will command his angels concerning you,
to guard you in all your ways...

Just a thought..."wherever you go" isn't just a geographical place: so, wherever you are--body, soul, mind--God is there.
How cool is that?

You've been prayed for today...

Need Some Quiet? Some Simplicity?

Hey, Y'all,

Today's RST is again from Yancey's book on prayer and it contains several very cool thoughts. Enjoy! (and BTW, you've been prayed for today...)

"Prayer can seem dull or difficult; though if we give ourselves to it, it commonly ends up less dull and less obstructed than it began. What is dull or dark or labored on our side is not so on the side of God, who rejoices in every least motion of our good will towards Him..." Austin Farrer

I am convinced that God finds ways to communicate with those who truly seek Him, especially when we lower the volume of the surrounding static. I remember reading the account of a spiritual seeker who interrupted his busy life to spend a few days in a monastery. "I hope your stay is a blessed one," said the monk who showed the visitor to his cell. "If you need anything, let us know and we'll teach you how to live without it."

We learn to pray by praying...To begin, I need to think more about God than about myself when I am praying...How often do I come to God not with consumer requests but simply with a desire to spend time with God, to discern what God wants from me and not vice versa?...Prayer that focuses on God, meditative prayer, can serve as a kind of self-forgetfulness...After an extended time with God, my urgent requests, which had seemed so significant, take on a new light. Though my needs drive me to prayer, there I come face-to-face with my greatest need: an encounter with God Himself.

"The quieter the mind, the more powerful, the worthier, the deeper, the more telling and more perfect the prayer is." Meister Eckhart

He's Already Here--Respond?

Hey, Y'all,

Hope you had a Happy Independence Day--Happy 231st Birthday, America!--'course as a result today felt a bit like a Monday back at work, but at least it's a "Monday" followed by Friday and Sabbath--thank God! Here's another cool thought of Yancey's on prayer--see if it isn't true of you as well...

Prayer is a subversive act performed in a world that constantly calls my faith into question. I may have a sense of estrangement in the very act of prayer, yet by faith I continue to pray and to look for other signs of God's presence...

I have learned to see prayer not as my way of establishing God's presence, but rather as my way of responding to God's presence that is a fact whether or not I can detect it...My feelings of God's presence--or God's absence--are not the same as His presence or absence.

Whenever I fixate on techniques, or sink into guilt over my inadequate prayers, or turn away in disappointment when a prayer "goes unanswered," I remind myself that prayer means keeping company with a God who is already present...God is present in my life and all around me; prayer offers me the chance to attend and respond to that presence.

You've been prayed for today....

Sometimes Distant, Sometimes Close, Always A Mystery

Hey, Y'all,

Well, another week's sailed by...unbelievable...feels like the last time I looked up it was like February :-) So anyway, I was thinking it's been a while since we heard from Yancey on prayer, so here we go...

These things feed my faith:
epiphanies of beauty in nature;
sunbursts of grace and forgiveness;
the portrait of God I get in Jesus;
stirring encounters with people who really live their faith.

These feed my doubts:
God's baffling tolerance of history's atrocities;
sustained periods of God's seeming absence;
my unanswered prayers.

My meetings with God may include ecstasy and joy, or withdrawal and silence...but always they include mystery. To come to terms with this unpredictability I remind myself that every friendship has a misty side, that all relationships sometimes reveal and sometimes conceal.

When I wonder why God doesn't simply "show up" I recall that when God did, as in Old Testament days, this appearance hardly enhanced communication: usually the person fell to the ground, flattened by blinding light.

In any event, I console myself, all relationships go through hot and cold spells. Sometimes communication is verbal, sometimes silent, sometimes close, sometimes distant. Usually, of course, these lectures to myself fail to convince. I am left with the unsettling truth that God, not I, has ultimate control over our relationship.

You've been prayed for today...

Replies To "He Has Shown You What Is Good"

Hey, Y'all,

Today's thoughts are brought to you by you--they're replies to the "He Has Shown You What Is Good" RST from a few days ago. BTW, this is the last duplicate Yahoo/Gmail posting, so don't forget to add randomspiritualthoughts@gmail.com to your addressbook/contact list (otherwise your spam filter may eat it).

The first thought is actually from my friend N (you know who you are :-) "For some it truly is hard to live that way, for others it seems to come more naturally. What is it that makes the difference? I mean I've seen it both ways, in Christian and non-Christian people alike…perhaps that's just part of being human, as with everything else, we fall short and God's grace covers us. The other aspect is of being on the receiving end of living like that or not: how do we as imperfect human beings ourselves perceive it? Have we been overly critical on occasion?"

The second thought consists of excerpts from a sort of conversation (including my brothers at Grace Church and my now-in-Michigan-brother Mike R):

"You know, it occurs to me that this text would make a powerful slogan if we truly lived up to it. I mean, what higher calling could there possibly be for a man (and wouldn't it pretty much encompass everything if we tried) to act in a just and fair and upright manner, to strive to demonstrate kindness and mercy in thought and deed, and to truly walk humbly with our God. Man...words to live by if ever there were any...and that's my prayer for you today, that you too will strive to live those words, and that you will help me and every other brother also reach for that Godly standard..."

"If we could really see and really understand what kind of a force in the world a Christlike man really is (with all that that implies--walking closely in the footsteps of our Brother/Father/Healer/Prince/Servant Jesus), I have to believe we'd be incredibly attracted to the idea of being like that ourselves (and it would be noticeable--and attractive--to others as well). [I want to continue] to grow in that direction, to make a difference for our King in this world."

He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly, and to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:8

You've been prayed for today…

Turn To Him Last?

Hey, Y'all,

Today's thought comes our way from Olya (thanks, OlgaMona!) and is highly ironic (and painfully true):

"How often we look upon God as our last and feeblest resource! We go to him because we have nowhere else to go. And then we learn that the storms of life have driven us, not upon the rocks, but into the desired haven."
--George MacDonald

Hmmm...Ring a bell (or is it just me again? :-)

You've been prayed for today...