On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out,“If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me,as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. - John 7:37-39 ESV
Blog/Vlog
Recently, I found myself browsing in the outdoor and automotive sections at Target. (You fellas know that no date night is complete without a trip to Target.) I happen to love these sections of the store. New accessories for automobiles like extra USB ports for the iPhone, a variety of air fresheners, and cleverly-packaged jumper cables always seem to grab at me from the sales rack. “Buy me,” they plead.
I often use the Lord’s prayer as a guide for my own fellowship with God. I mean, think about it, it’s the one place in the New Testament where believers are specifically told how and what to pray. As Jesus said, “Pray then like this” (Matthew 6:9). So it only makes sense to obey him. Now, I don’t pray it word-for-word. I take more of a thought-for-thought approach.
I toiled in prayer for many years. Or better said, I toiled in prayerlessness for many years. It wasn’t because my heart was opposed to being with God. I just didn’t know how to be with him. And when I say, “be with him,” I’m talking about being a person who, as the Spirit directed us through the writing of the Apostle Paul, to be devoted to prayer.
“Chris, I’ve been a Christian for twenty-five years and when it comes to prayer, I don’t know how to put one foot in front of another.”
These were the words of one of my dearest friends in my office a decade ago. I’m sure I obliged him by offering some pointers on getting his prayer life off the ground. But his words did leave me feeling slightly unsettled because I, too, struggled in prayer.
Two weeks ago I visited an apartment complex where one of our missional communities lead a gathering for children and a discovery Bible study within the home of a resident. We've recently had a few people come to faith within this apartment. Exciting, right? God is blowing our minds.
Being With God, Part 3
This was my first heartfelt prayer: “God, I don’t want to serve you, but I will.”
I was seventeen and finally gave in to God. I knew that I couldn’t run from him anymore. So I said it. Those were my exact words. Sounds real spiritual, doesn’t it? For years I ridiculed that prayer. But I’ve come to realize that it was about as pure a prayer as I have ever prayed in my entire life.
Being With God, Part 2
I used to hate prayer. But that was before I became a new kind of person. It all started back in 1997. I thought the most important day in my life was January 3 that year, when I said, “I do,” to my wife. But when a preacher in Waco, Georgia took us aside for a few hours, just a month later on February 5 (long story), and explained the gospel to us, our eyes were opened. I was raised from the dead.
Being With God, Part 1
I sort of feel like Tiger Woods’ golf coach in writing this blog about learning how to be with God (AKA prayer). Who’s really qualified to coach Tiger Woods, a guy many would say is the best golfer on the planet? And if such a person exists, why is this person coaching and not playing? Like seriously. If you’re good enough to *coach* Tiger Woods, surely you can play against him!
Over the previous eight parts of this series, we’ve covered a lot of ground. And it all culminated in entry [seven][10] and [eight][11] in which we interpreted the first two verses of the Book of Galatians together and then applied what we learned to our own lives. If you felt the process was clunky, keep at it. It will begin to feel natural in time.