Chapter 30 gave us a multi-faceted view of “The Lord’s Prayer” using 7 Bible passages, as follows:
Matthew 26:40-41
John 16:23-24
Luke 11:1-14
Matthew 6:6-15
Luke 18:1-8
John 17
John 12:23-28
Invocation:
“Lord Jesus! Reveal me to the Father. Let His name, His infinite Father-love, the love with which He loved Thee, according to Your prayer, be in me. Then shall I say aright, ‘My Father?’ Then shall I apprehend Your teaching, and the first spontaneous breathing of my heart will be: ‘My Father, Your Name, Your Kingdom, Your Will.’ Amen.” (Andrew Murray in With Christ in the School of Prayer)
Prayer:
“The only lesson that the disciples asked Jesus to teach them was how to pray. And recorded in the Lord’s Prayer is the model which Jesus incorporated to teach them how to have sweet communion with the Father. Let is shape your prayer life, and be the model of communion for you.”
Hymn:
The hymn for Chapter 30 was “The Lord’s Prayer”.
Benediction:
“Father, what can I say in this hour but to cry out as these disciples cried out, Lord, teach me how to pray. Teach me my need. Tear away this veil from my eyes that makes me think I have any adequacy in myself. …Give me rather, this conscious sense of dependence, this awareness that nothing I do will be of any value apart from a dependence upon you. In Jesus name. Amen”
(Ray C. Stedman in Jesus Teaches on Prayer)
Meditation Selections:
The meditation selections included excerpts from the writings of Evelyn Underhill, Georgia Harkness, Oswald Chambers, Frederick Buechner, Andrew Murray and Norval Geldenhuys. (Googling their names may give you some insight into their backgrounds and experiences, if that's of any interest to you.)
Some of the interesting quotes from the meditations included:
• “Every just man, says Osuna, needs the seven things for which this prayer – or this scheme of prayer – asks.”
• “It is not part of the life of a natural man to pray. …Prayer is the way the life of God (in us) is nourished. …We look upon prayer as a means of getting things for ourselves; the Bible idea of prayer is that we may get to know God himself.”
• “According to Jesus, by far the most important thing about praying is to keep at it.”
• “In true worship the Father must be first, must be all. The sooner I learn to forget myself in the desire that He be glorified, the richer will the blessing be that prayer will bring to myself. No one ever loses by what he sacrifices for the Father.”
• “The prayer for bread and pardon must be accompanied by the surrender to live in all things in holy obedience to the Father’s will…”
What do any of these quotes (or any of the meditations in Chapter 30 not quoted) mean to you? Please post your responses to the blog site:
(http://lhcndeeperlifeclass.blogspot.com/).
Thanks for your participation.
John
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Chapter 29 - God's Absence
Chapter 29 illustrated the illusion of “God’s Absence” in 7 Bible passages, as follows:
2 Corinthians 1:1-11
Deuteronomy 7:1-9
Hebrews 12:1-13
Job 19:1-27
1 Peter 4:1-19
Job 23:1-17
Isaiah 40:12-31
Prayer:
Rest your prayers in the love of an ever-present God. Remember that he is not present because you feel he is present nor is he absent because you feel he is absent. He is always present because he has promised to be. Speak to him because he is there.
Hymn:
The hymn for Chapter 29 was “Under His Wings” by William O. Cushing. (If you are not familiar with the song, just Google the hymn name and you will get multiple sources to read and/or hear it, as well as its history.)
Benediction:
“Almighty God, you are ever present in the world without (outside of) me, in my spirit within me, and in the unseen world above me. Let me carry with me through this day’s life a most real sense of your power and your glory. Hallowed be your name. Amen” (John Baillie in A Diary of Private Prayer)
Meditation Selections:
The meditation selections included excerpts from the writings of Thomas R. Kelly, Paul Tournier, Richard J. Foster, Tilden H. Edwards and Hannah Whitall Smith. (Googling their names may give you some insight into their backgrounds and experiences, if that's of any interest to you.)
Some of the interesting quotes from the meditations included:
• “Either the world is holy or it’s not. Either the creator’s work is a sign of himself or it’s a sham. …We try to hedge in the holy… we take the big black crayon in our hands and draw these little islands where we will let God live in the world. …We draw more lines around Bibles and sanctuaries, thus adding a few more islands to this archipelago of the holy, and there you have it. Little concentration camps for Christ.”
• “If we are really listening, we shall know that the one who is eternally young never passes (comes) in the same way more than once. He is inexhaustibly inventive.”
• “It is difficult to undo our own damage, and to recall to our presence that which we have asked to leave. …What have we been doing all these centuries but trying to call God back to the mountain…?”
• “I can never say, ‘God is there and I am here,’ as if I were separated from my Source. For God is the core of my being and the core of all beings.”
• “Adam sinned and, in his panic, frantically tried to do the impossible: he tried to hide from the Presence of God. …If God is present at every point in space, if we cannot go where He is not, cannot even conceive of a place where He is not, why then has not that Presence become the one universally celebrated act of the world?”
• “There is here no measuring with time, no year matters, and ten years are nothing. …like the tree which does not force its sap and stands confident in the storms of spring without the fear that after them may come no summer. It does come. But it only comes to the patient, who are there as though eternity lay before them …patience is everything!”
• “The truth is this: He wants to make us in His own image, choosing the good, refusing the evil. How should He effect this if He were always moving us from within, as He does at divine intervals, toward the beauty of holiness?”
• “…the scientist-philosopher Pascal said ‘All things are the veils which cover God.’ If that is the case, and everything masks God, then everything also speaks of him….”
• “One of the experiences of prayer is that it seems that nothing happens. But when you stay with it and look back over a long period of prayer, you suddenly realize that something has happened.”
What do any of these quotes (or any of the meditations in Chapter 29 not quoted) mean to you?
Please post your responses to the blog site:
(http://lhcndeeperlifeclass.blogspot.com/).
Thanks for your participation.
John
2 Corinthians 1:1-11
Deuteronomy 7:1-9
Hebrews 12:1-13
Job 19:1-27
1 Peter 4:1-19
Job 23:1-17
Isaiah 40:12-31
Prayer:
Rest your prayers in the love of an ever-present God. Remember that he is not present because you feel he is present nor is he absent because you feel he is absent. He is always present because he has promised to be. Speak to him because he is there.
Hymn:
The hymn for Chapter 29 was “Under His Wings” by William O. Cushing. (If you are not familiar with the song, just Google the hymn name and you will get multiple sources to read and/or hear it, as well as its history.)
Benediction:
“Almighty God, you are ever present in the world without (outside of) me, in my spirit within me, and in the unseen world above me. Let me carry with me through this day’s life a most real sense of your power and your glory. Hallowed be your name. Amen” (John Baillie in A Diary of Private Prayer)
Meditation Selections:
The meditation selections included excerpts from the writings of Thomas R. Kelly, Paul Tournier, Richard J. Foster, Tilden H. Edwards and Hannah Whitall Smith. (Googling their names may give you some insight into their backgrounds and experiences, if that's of any interest to you.)
Some of the interesting quotes from the meditations included:
• “Either the world is holy or it’s not. Either the creator’s work is a sign of himself or it’s a sham. …We try to hedge in the holy… we take the big black crayon in our hands and draw these little islands where we will let God live in the world. …We draw more lines around Bibles and sanctuaries, thus adding a few more islands to this archipelago of the holy, and there you have it. Little concentration camps for Christ.”
• “If we are really listening, we shall know that the one who is eternally young never passes (comes) in the same way more than once. He is inexhaustibly inventive.”
• “It is difficult to undo our own damage, and to recall to our presence that which we have asked to leave. …What have we been doing all these centuries but trying to call God back to the mountain…?”
• “I can never say, ‘God is there and I am here,’ as if I were separated from my Source. For God is the core of my being and the core of all beings.”
• “Adam sinned and, in his panic, frantically tried to do the impossible: he tried to hide from the Presence of God. …If God is present at every point in space, if we cannot go where He is not, cannot even conceive of a place where He is not, why then has not that Presence become the one universally celebrated act of the world?”
• “There is here no measuring with time, no year matters, and ten years are nothing. …like the tree which does not force its sap and stands confident in the storms of spring without the fear that after them may come no summer. It does come. But it only comes to the patient, who are there as though eternity lay before them …patience is everything!”
• “The truth is this: He wants to make us in His own image, choosing the good, refusing the evil. How should He effect this if He were always moving us from within, as He does at divine intervals, toward the beauty of holiness?”
• “…the scientist-philosopher Pascal said ‘All things are the veils which cover God.’ If that is the case, and everything masks God, then everything also speaks of him….”
• “One of the experiences of prayer is that it seems that nothing happens. But when you stay with it and look back over a long period of prayer, you suddenly realize that something has happened.”
What do any of these quotes (or any of the meditations in Chapter 29 not quoted) mean to you?
Please post your responses to the blog site:
(http://lhcndeeperlifeclass.blogspot.com/).
Thanks for your participation.
John
Monday, April 13, 2009
Chapter 28 - Guidance
Chapter 28, in 7 Bible passages, enlarged our understanding of God’s “Guidance”, as follows:
1 Samuel 3:1-10
Exodus 13:17-22
John 10:1-15
Genesis 24:1-67
1 Samuel 16:1-13
Judges 6:11-40
John 16:5-15
Prayer:
The Christian life has often been compared to the taking of a journey or pilgrimage. And this is so. There is a sense in which we are but “passing through this land.” But we must always remember that we are never the Guide. We never blaze an uncut trail; Christ has gone before. In your prayer this week think of God as Guide, and ask him to direct your path.
Hymn:
The hymn for Chapter 28 was “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah” by William Williams. (If you are not familiar with the song, just Google the hymn name and you will get multiple sources to read and/or hear it, as well as its history.)
Benediction:
“Father, you alone know what lies before me this day, grant that in every hour of it I may stay close to you. Let me today embark on no undertaking that is not in line with your will for my life, nor shrink from any sacrifice which your will may demand. Suggest, direct, control every movement of my mind; for my Lord Christ’s sake. Amen” (John Baillie in A Diary of Private Prayer)
Meditation Selections:
The meditation selections included excerpts from the writings of Thomas R. Kelly, Paul Tournier, Richard J. Foster, Tilden H. Edwards and Hannah Whitall Smith. (Googling their names may give you some insight into their backgrounds and experiences, if that's of any interest to you.)
Some of the interesting quotes from the meditations included:
• “…this total Instruction proceeds in two opposing directions at once. We are torn loose from earthly attachments and ambitions. – contemptus mundi. And we are quickened to a divine but painful concern for this world – amor mundi. He plucks the world out of our hearts, loosening the chains of attachment. And He hurls the world into our hearts, where we and He together carry it in infinitely tender love.”
• “God guides us, despite our uncertainties and our vagueness, even through our failings and mistakes. …He leads us step by step, from event to event.”
• “…that basic insight found scattered throughout Christian literature that each of us is a child of royal lineage. Royal means a status that cannot be earned, only given. …Christian spiritual guidance in all its forms exists to reveal this condition in us and encourage our reconciliation with transforming power to our royal Source…”
• “You must recognize the fact that God’s thoughts are not as man’s thoughts, nor His ways as man’s ways; and that He who knows the end of things from the beginning alone can judge of what the results of any course of action may be.”
• “There are four ways in which He reveals His will to us – through the Scriptures, - through providential circumstances, - through the convictions of our own higher judgment, - and through the inward impressions of the Holy Spirit on our minds. …And in all true guidance these four voices will necessarily harmonize, for God cannot say in one voice that which He contradicts in another.”
• “God’s promise is, that He will work in us to will as well as to do of His good pleasure. …The way in which the Holy Spirit, therefore, usually works in this direct guidance is to impress upon the mind a wish or desire to do or to leave undone certain things.”
What do any of these quotes (or any of the meditations in Chapter 28 not quoted) mean to you? Please post your responses to the blog site:
(http://lhcndeeperlifeclass.blogspot.com/).
Thanks for your participation.
John
1 Samuel 3:1-10
Exodus 13:17-22
John 10:1-15
Genesis 24:1-67
1 Samuel 16:1-13
Judges 6:11-40
John 16:5-15
Prayer:
The Christian life has often been compared to the taking of a journey or pilgrimage. And this is so. There is a sense in which we are but “passing through this land.” But we must always remember that we are never the Guide. We never blaze an uncut trail; Christ has gone before. In your prayer this week think of God as Guide, and ask him to direct your path.
Hymn:
The hymn for Chapter 28 was “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah” by William Williams. (If you are not familiar with the song, just Google the hymn name and you will get multiple sources to read and/or hear it, as well as its history.)
Benediction:
“Father, you alone know what lies before me this day, grant that in every hour of it I may stay close to you. Let me today embark on no undertaking that is not in line with your will for my life, nor shrink from any sacrifice which your will may demand. Suggest, direct, control every movement of my mind; for my Lord Christ’s sake. Amen” (John Baillie in A Diary of Private Prayer)
Meditation Selections:
The meditation selections included excerpts from the writings of Thomas R. Kelly, Paul Tournier, Richard J. Foster, Tilden H. Edwards and Hannah Whitall Smith. (Googling their names may give you some insight into their backgrounds and experiences, if that's of any interest to you.)
Some of the interesting quotes from the meditations included:
• “…this total Instruction proceeds in two opposing directions at once. We are torn loose from earthly attachments and ambitions. – contemptus mundi. And we are quickened to a divine but painful concern for this world – amor mundi. He plucks the world out of our hearts, loosening the chains of attachment. And He hurls the world into our hearts, where we and He together carry it in infinitely tender love.”
• “God guides us, despite our uncertainties and our vagueness, even through our failings and mistakes. …He leads us step by step, from event to event.”
• “…that basic insight found scattered throughout Christian literature that each of us is a child of royal lineage. Royal means a status that cannot be earned, only given. …Christian spiritual guidance in all its forms exists to reveal this condition in us and encourage our reconciliation with transforming power to our royal Source…”
• “You must recognize the fact that God’s thoughts are not as man’s thoughts, nor His ways as man’s ways; and that He who knows the end of things from the beginning alone can judge of what the results of any course of action may be.”
• “There are four ways in which He reveals His will to us – through the Scriptures, - through providential circumstances, - through the convictions of our own higher judgment, - and through the inward impressions of the Holy Spirit on our minds. …And in all true guidance these four voices will necessarily harmonize, for God cannot say in one voice that which He contradicts in another.”
• “God’s promise is, that He will work in us to will as well as to do of His good pleasure. …The way in which the Holy Spirit, therefore, usually works in this direct guidance is to impress upon the mind a wish or desire to do or to leave undone certain things.”
What do any of these quotes (or any of the meditations in Chapter 28 not quoted) mean to you? Please post your responses to the blog site:
(http://lhcndeeperlifeclass.blogspot.com/).
Thanks for your participation.
John
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Chapter 27 - Place
Chapter 27 clarified the “Place” to meet God in our lives in 7 Bible passages, as follows:
Hebrews 10:19-27
Mark 1:35-39
Acts 1:1-11
Genesis 13:1-18
2 Samuel 24:18-25
Luke 14:7-14
Matthew 6:5-14
Prayer:
Let your prayers this week be that God will direct you to some particular place for your regular prayer and that he will make it a sacred and holy place for you.
Hymn:
The hymn for Chapter 27 was “Near to the Heart of God” by C. B. McAfee. (If you are not familiar with the song, just Google the hymn name and you will get multiple sources to read and/or hear it, as well as its history.)
Benediction:
“Father, teach me your Kingdom is all about (around) me, teach me it is within me, teach me so that I may withdraw into it and so that I may live my life centered there. Amen”
Meditation Selections:
The meditation selections included excerpts from the writings of M. Basil Pennington, Henri J. Nouwen William Law, E. Stanley Jones, Thomas Howard, Oswald Chambers, Morton T. Kelsey, Madeleine L’Engle and Jane Howard. (Googling their names may give you some insight into their backgrounds and experiences, if that's of any interest to you.)
Some of the interesting quotes from the meditations included:
· “…the place where one enjoys God.”
· “…to pray always in the same place … would have an effect upon your mind … as would very much assist your devotion.”
· “…a prayerful life … is not a life in which we say many prayers, but a life in which nothing, absolutely nothing, is done, said, or understood independently of him who is the origin and purpose of our existence.”
· “The Holy Spirit came upon the waiting group not in the Temple nor in a synagogue but in the upper room. …Religion was put where it belongs – in the human heart. Her (the Temple’s) holiness had shifted from places to persons. And rightly so.”
· “I would like to suggest that at least one place (among others) which may be hallowed anew as the place where … all of life may be offered up in oblation to the Most High, is the family household.”
· “… ‘enter into thy closet’; and remember, it is a place selected to pray in, not to make little addresses in, or for any other purpose than to pray in, never forget that.”
· “…find a place where the outer confusion can be shut off… . The purpose is not to create, or make something happen, but to allow it to happen, and where it takes place is an individual matter.”
· “My special place is a small brook in a green glade, a circle of quiet from which there is no visible sign of human beings. …If I sit for a while, then my impatience, crossness, frustration, are indeed annihilated, and my sense of humor returns.”
· “…a sense of place…these days is not achieved easily. …all the old symbols are gone. …So what are we to do…? …Live here, wherever here may be, as if we were going to belong here for the rest of our lives.”
What do any of these quotes (or any of the meditations in Chapter 27 not quoted) mean to you?
Please post your responses to the blog site:
(http://lhcndeeperlifeclass.blogspot.com/).
Thanks for your participation.
John
Hebrews 10:19-27
Mark 1:35-39
Acts 1:1-11
Genesis 13:1-18
2 Samuel 24:18-25
Luke 14:7-14
Matthew 6:5-14
Prayer:
Let your prayers this week be that God will direct you to some particular place for your regular prayer and that he will make it a sacred and holy place for you.
Hymn:
The hymn for Chapter 27 was “Near to the Heart of God” by C. B. McAfee. (If you are not familiar with the song, just Google the hymn name and you will get multiple sources to read and/or hear it, as well as its history.)
Benediction:
“Father, teach me your Kingdom is all about (around) me, teach me it is within me, teach me so that I may withdraw into it and so that I may live my life centered there. Amen”
Meditation Selections:
The meditation selections included excerpts from the writings of M. Basil Pennington, Henri J. Nouwen William Law, E. Stanley Jones, Thomas Howard, Oswald Chambers, Morton T. Kelsey, Madeleine L’Engle and Jane Howard. (Googling their names may give you some insight into their backgrounds and experiences, if that's of any interest to you.)
Some of the interesting quotes from the meditations included:
· “…the place where one enjoys God.”
· “…to pray always in the same place … would have an effect upon your mind … as would very much assist your devotion.”
· “…a prayerful life … is not a life in which we say many prayers, but a life in which nothing, absolutely nothing, is done, said, or understood independently of him who is the origin and purpose of our existence.”
· “The Holy Spirit came upon the waiting group not in the Temple nor in a synagogue but in the upper room. …Religion was put where it belongs – in the human heart. Her (the Temple’s) holiness had shifted from places to persons. And rightly so.”
· “I would like to suggest that at least one place (among others) which may be hallowed anew as the place where … all of life may be offered up in oblation to the Most High, is the family household.”
· “… ‘enter into thy closet’; and remember, it is a place selected to pray in, not to make little addresses in, or for any other purpose than to pray in, never forget that.”
· “…find a place where the outer confusion can be shut off… . The purpose is not to create, or make something happen, but to allow it to happen, and where it takes place is an individual matter.”
· “My special place is a small brook in a green glade, a circle of quiet from which there is no visible sign of human beings. …If I sit for a while, then my impatience, crossness, frustration, are indeed annihilated, and my sense of humor returns.”
· “…a sense of place…these days is not achieved easily. …all the old symbols are gone. …So what are we to do…? …Live here, wherever here may be, as if we were going to belong here for the rest of our lives.”
What do any of these quotes (or any of the meditations in Chapter 27 not quoted) mean to you?
Please post your responses to the blog site:
(http://lhcndeeperlifeclass.blogspot.com/).
Thanks for your participation.
John
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Chapter 26 - Time Management
Chapter 26 illustrated “Time Management” in 7 Bible passages, as follows:
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Psalm 90:12
2 Corinthians 5:18-6:2
Job 7:1-10
Psalm 39:4-6
James 4:13-17
Ephesians 5:10-17
Prayer:
The hassle with being a better manager of your time is making the decisions about what is now most important and what is no longer important. But if you ask God what he’d remove if it were his life, he would gladly tell you.
Hymn:
The hymn for Chapter 26 was “Take Time to Be Holy” by William D. Longstaff. (If you are not familiar with the song, just Google the hymn name and you will get multiple sources to read and/or hear it, as well as its history.)
Benediction:
“O Christ, when I look at you I see that you were never in a hurry, never ran, but always had time for the pressing necessities of the day. Give me that disciplined, poised life with time always for the thing that matters. For I would be a disciplined person. Amen”
Meditation Selections:
The meditation selections included excerpts from the writings of Anthony Bloom, M. Basil Pennington, Evelyn Underhill, Susan Annette Muto, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, James Stewart, and Henri J. Nouwen. (Googling their names may give you some insight into their backgrounds and experiences, if that's of any interest to you.)
Some of the interesting quotes from the meditations included:
· “There is absolutely no need to run after time to catch it. It does not run away from us, it runs toward us.”
· “…when you can use five minutes, three minutes or half an hour for leisure and for doing nothing …you sit down and say, ‘I am seated, I am doing nothing. I will do nothing for five minutes,’ and then relax and continually throughout this time (one or two minutes is the most you will be able to endure to begin with) realize, ‘I am here in the presence of God, in my own presence and in the presence of all the furniture that is around me, just still, moving nowhere.’ …you must (then) decide that within (these two or five minutes) which you have assigned to learning that the present exists, you will not be pulled out of it by the telephone, by a knock on the door, or by a sudden upsurge of energy that prompts you to do at once what you have left undone for the past ten years.”
· “There is in the lives of most of us a good bit more freedom and flexibility to organize (a time of apartness), if we really want to.”
· “Spiritual achievement costs much, though never as much as it is worth.”
· “Once we begin wisely allotting time for reading and reflection, wondering and writing, we shall soon notice the reward. Life becomes less pressured. Christ, not the clock on the wall, becomes the center of our lives. Amazingly, we seem to accomplish more…”
· “Since meditation on the Scriptures, prayer, and intercession are a service we owe and because the grace of God is found in this service, we should train ourselves to set apart a regular (time) for it… This is not ‘legalism’; it is orderliness and fidelity…”
· “But look at Jesus. Busy and crowded as our days are, his were emphatically more so. …and yet the harder the days were, the more time did Jesus make for prayer.”
· “The only solution is a prayer schedule that you will never break without consulting your spiritual director. Set a time that is reasonable, and once it is set, stick to it at all costs. …Let everyone know that this is the only time you will not change and pray at that time.”
What do any of these quotes (or any of the meditations in Chapter 26 not quoted) mean to you? Please post your responses to the blog site:
(http://lhcndeeperlifeclass.blogspot.com/).
Thanks for your participation.
John
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Psalm 90:12
2 Corinthians 5:18-6:2
Job 7:1-10
Psalm 39:4-6
James 4:13-17
Ephesians 5:10-17
Prayer:
The hassle with being a better manager of your time is making the decisions about what is now most important and what is no longer important. But if you ask God what he’d remove if it were his life, he would gladly tell you.
Hymn:
The hymn for Chapter 26 was “Take Time to Be Holy” by William D. Longstaff. (If you are not familiar with the song, just Google the hymn name and you will get multiple sources to read and/or hear it, as well as its history.)
Benediction:
“O Christ, when I look at you I see that you were never in a hurry, never ran, but always had time for the pressing necessities of the day. Give me that disciplined, poised life with time always for the thing that matters. For I would be a disciplined person. Amen”
Meditation Selections:
The meditation selections included excerpts from the writings of Anthony Bloom, M. Basil Pennington, Evelyn Underhill, Susan Annette Muto, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, James Stewart, and Henri J. Nouwen. (Googling their names may give you some insight into their backgrounds and experiences, if that's of any interest to you.)
Some of the interesting quotes from the meditations included:
· “There is absolutely no need to run after time to catch it. It does not run away from us, it runs toward us.”
· “…when you can use five minutes, three minutes or half an hour for leisure and for doing nothing …you sit down and say, ‘I am seated, I am doing nothing. I will do nothing for five minutes,’ and then relax and continually throughout this time (one or two minutes is the most you will be able to endure to begin with) realize, ‘I am here in the presence of God, in my own presence and in the presence of all the furniture that is around me, just still, moving nowhere.’ …you must (then) decide that within (these two or five minutes) which you have assigned to learning that the present exists, you will not be pulled out of it by the telephone, by a knock on the door, or by a sudden upsurge of energy that prompts you to do at once what you have left undone for the past ten years.”
· “There is in the lives of most of us a good bit more freedom and flexibility to organize (a time of apartness), if we really want to.”
· “Spiritual achievement costs much, though never as much as it is worth.”
· “Once we begin wisely allotting time for reading and reflection, wondering and writing, we shall soon notice the reward. Life becomes less pressured. Christ, not the clock on the wall, becomes the center of our lives. Amazingly, we seem to accomplish more…”
· “Since meditation on the Scriptures, prayer, and intercession are a service we owe and because the grace of God is found in this service, we should train ourselves to set apart a regular (time) for it… This is not ‘legalism’; it is orderliness and fidelity…”
· “But look at Jesus. Busy and crowded as our days are, his were emphatically more so. …and yet the harder the days were, the more time did Jesus make for prayer.”
· “The only solution is a prayer schedule that you will never break without consulting your spiritual director. Set a time that is reasonable, and once it is set, stick to it at all costs. …Let everyone know that this is the only time you will not change and pray at that time.”
What do any of these quotes (or any of the meditations in Chapter 26 not quoted) mean to you? Please post your responses to the blog site:
(http://lhcndeeperlifeclass.blogspot.com/).
Thanks for your participation.
John
Monday, March 16, 2009
Chapter 25 - Consciousness
Chapter 25 framed Biblical “Consciousness” in 7 passages, as follows:
Isaiah 32:14-20
1 John 3:19-4:6
Philippians 4:2-9
Romans 8:26-27
1 John 5:1-12
1 Corinthians 2:6-16
Acts 9:1-9
Prayer:
Everything is clamoring to become a part of you. You must carefully choose the things and thoughts you will allow to get inside. Ask God to begin to cleanse your consciousness. Then determine in prayer that you will guard the threshold of your mind.
Hymn:
The hymn for Chapter 25 was “Prayer Is the Soul’s Sincere Desire” by James Montgomery. (If you are not familiar with the song, just Google the hymn name and you will get multiple sources to read and/or hear it, as well as its history.)
Benediction:
“Father, protect me from the onslaught of things, both good and evil, that will bid for my attention this day. Make me to remember that all that I allow inside my heart will become some part of me as I pray. Let me come to you in singleness of heart and purity of desire. In the name of Christ. Amen”
Meditation Selections:
The meditation selections included excerpts from the writings of Albert E. Day, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Howard Thurman, M. Basil Pennington, Thomas R. Kelly, and Henri J. Nouwen. (Googling their names may give you some insight into their backgrounds and experiences, if that's of any interest to you.)
Some of the interesting quotes from the meditations included:
· “… the consciousness of man can enter into a living, knowledge-communicating, life-transforming relationship with God. … the consciousness of such a relationship would not be possible if the human consciousness can be aware only of what the eyes see and the ears hear and the hands touch and the tongue tastes and the nostrils smell. … God is a legitimate inference from events. …But God may also be an immediate object of consciousness.”
· “If God does not have power to speak to us, how should we possess the power to speak to Him? Thus, prayer is part of a greater issue. It depends upon the total spiritual situation of man and upon a mind within which God is at home (blogger’s emphasis). … The issue of prayer is not prayer; the issue of prayer is God.”
· “When a pool is greatly agitated by the breezes and the wind, one can throw in a pebble or even many pebbles and there is no noticeable effect. When a pond is perfectly at peace and one casts a pebble into it, the gentle waves spread in every direction till they reach even the farthest shore. … when we come to achieve a deeper inner quiet, then we are much more discerning.”
· “How, then, shall we lay hold of that Life and Power, and live the life of prayer without ceasing? … offer your whole selves, utterly and in joyful abandon, in quiet, glad surrender to Him who is within.”
· “‘In the beginning,’ John Eudes said, ‘your thoughts will wander, but after a while you will discover that it becomes easier to stay quietly in the presence of the Lord.’ … When you are faithful in this, you will slowly experience yourself in a deeper way.”
What do any of these quotes (or any of the meditations in Chapter 25 not quoted) mean to you?
Please post your responses to the blog site:
(http://lhcndeeperlifeclass.blogspot.com/).
Thanks for your participation.
John
Isaiah 32:14-20
1 John 3:19-4:6
Philippians 4:2-9
Romans 8:26-27
1 John 5:1-12
1 Corinthians 2:6-16
Acts 9:1-9
Prayer:
Everything is clamoring to become a part of you. You must carefully choose the things and thoughts you will allow to get inside. Ask God to begin to cleanse your consciousness. Then determine in prayer that you will guard the threshold of your mind.
Hymn:
The hymn for Chapter 25 was “Prayer Is the Soul’s Sincere Desire” by James Montgomery. (If you are not familiar with the song, just Google the hymn name and you will get multiple sources to read and/or hear it, as well as its history.)
Benediction:
“Father, protect me from the onslaught of things, both good and evil, that will bid for my attention this day. Make me to remember that all that I allow inside my heart will become some part of me as I pray. Let me come to you in singleness of heart and purity of desire. In the name of Christ. Amen”
Meditation Selections:
The meditation selections included excerpts from the writings of Albert E. Day, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Howard Thurman, M. Basil Pennington, Thomas R. Kelly, and Henri J. Nouwen. (Googling their names may give you some insight into their backgrounds and experiences, if that's of any interest to you.)
Some of the interesting quotes from the meditations included:
· “… the consciousness of man can enter into a living, knowledge-communicating, life-transforming relationship with God. … the consciousness of such a relationship would not be possible if the human consciousness can be aware only of what the eyes see and the ears hear and the hands touch and the tongue tastes and the nostrils smell. … God is a legitimate inference from events. …But God may also be an immediate object of consciousness.”
· “If God does not have power to speak to us, how should we possess the power to speak to Him? Thus, prayer is part of a greater issue. It depends upon the total spiritual situation of man and upon a mind within which God is at home (blogger’s emphasis). … The issue of prayer is not prayer; the issue of prayer is God.”
· “When a pool is greatly agitated by the breezes and the wind, one can throw in a pebble or even many pebbles and there is no noticeable effect. When a pond is perfectly at peace and one casts a pebble into it, the gentle waves spread in every direction till they reach even the farthest shore. … when we come to achieve a deeper inner quiet, then we are much more discerning.”
· “How, then, shall we lay hold of that Life and Power, and live the life of prayer without ceasing? … offer your whole selves, utterly and in joyful abandon, in quiet, glad surrender to Him who is within.”
· “‘In the beginning,’ John Eudes said, ‘your thoughts will wander, but after a while you will discover that it becomes easier to stay quietly in the presence of the Lord.’ … When you are faithful in this, you will slowly experience yourself in a deeper way.”
What do any of these quotes (or any of the meditations in Chapter 25 not quoted) mean to you?
Please post your responses to the blog site:
(http://lhcndeeperlifeclass.blogspot.com/).
Thanks for your participation.
John
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Chapter 24 - Anxiety
Chapter 24 challenged us with 7 Bible passages to help us discern the presence of “Anxiety” in daily life situations, as follows:
Philippians 4:6-7
Matthew 5:25-34
Luke 12:1-12
Matthew 13:1-23
Luke 11:38-42
Luke 21:34-36
1 Peter 5:6-7
Prayer:
Can you identify your greatest fear? And could you confess it to God? If you keep it hidden within you he can never cleanse it, much less use it to his glory. Offer your fears and anxieties to him this week.
Hymn:
The hymn for Chapter 24 was “Come, Thou Long-expected Jesus” by Charles Wesley. (If you are not familiar with the song, just Google the hymn name and you will get multiple sources to read and/or hear it, as well as its history.)
Benediction:
“O God, who is the life of all who live, the light of the faithful, the strength of those who labor, and the repose of the dead: I thank you for the timely blessings of the day, and humbly beseech your merciful protection all the night. Bring me, I pray, in safety to the morning hours; through him who died for me and rose again, your Son my Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.” (The Book of Common Prayer)
Meditation Selections:
The meditation selections included excerpts from the writings of Howard Thurman, Annie Dillard, Thomas à Kempis, George MacDonald (edited by C. S. Lewis), Andrew Murray, Hannah Whitall Smith, Anthony Padovano, Joshua L. Liebman, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Philip S. Watson, and Henri J. Nouwen. (Googling their names may give you some insight into their backgrounds and experiences, if that's of any interest to you.)
Some of the interesting quotes from the meditations included:
· “There is a sense of wholeness at the core of man … That warms the depth of frozen fears …”
· “I meant to accomplish a good bit today. Instead I keep thinking: Will the next generations of people remember to drain the pipes in the fall? I will leave them a note.”
· “To preserve peace in time of trouble our will must remain firm in God …”
· “The next hour, the next moment, is as much beyond our grasp and as much in God’s care, as that a hundred years away.”
· “Troubled soul, thou art not bound to feel but thou art bound to arise. God loves thee whether thou feelest or not. …Heed not thy feeling: Do thy work.”
· “All growth in the spiritual life is connected with the clearer insight into what Jesus is to us. …the more I learn to live the real life of faith, which, dying to self, lives wholly in Christ.”
· “…there are two things which are more utterly incompatible than even oil and water, and these two are trust and worry.”
· You find no difficulty in trusting the Lord with the management of the universe, and all the outward creation, and can your case be any more complex or difficult than these, that you need to be anxious or troubled about His management of you?”
· “Prayer is successful not in terms of what it logically produces or pragmatically achieves but in terms of what it forces reality to experience.”
· “… I set down my inventory of earthly desirables: health, love, beauty, talent, power, riches and fame… With a pencil stub he crossed out my entire schedule. …Then … he wrote down three syllables: peace of mind.”
· “Earthly possessions dazzle our eyes and delude us into thinking that they can provide security and freedom from anxiety. …The fetters which bind us to our possessions prove to be cares themselves.”
· “I have always been complaining that my work was constantly interrupted, until I slowly discovered that my interruptions were my work.”
What do any of these quotes (or any of the meditations in Chapter 24 not quoted) mean to you?
Please post your responses to the blog site:
(http://lhcndeeperlifeclass.blogspot.com/).
Thanks for your participation.
John
Philippians 4:6-7
Matthew 5:25-34
Luke 12:1-12
Matthew 13:1-23
Luke 11:38-42
Luke 21:34-36
1 Peter 5:6-7
Prayer:
Can you identify your greatest fear? And could you confess it to God? If you keep it hidden within you he can never cleanse it, much less use it to his glory. Offer your fears and anxieties to him this week.
Hymn:
The hymn for Chapter 24 was “Come, Thou Long-expected Jesus” by Charles Wesley. (If you are not familiar with the song, just Google the hymn name and you will get multiple sources to read and/or hear it, as well as its history.)
Benediction:
“O God, who is the life of all who live, the light of the faithful, the strength of those who labor, and the repose of the dead: I thank you for the timely blessings of the day, and humbly beseech your merciful protection all the night. Bring me, I pray, in safety to the morning hours; through him who died for me and rose again, your Son my Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.” (The Book of Common Prayer)
Meditation Selections:
The meditation selections included excerpts from the writings of Howard Thurman, Annie Dillard, Thomas à Kempis, George MacDonald (edited by C. S. Lewis), Andrew Murray, Hannah Whitall Smith, Anthony Padovano, Joshua L. Liebman, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Philip S. Watson, and Henri J. Nouwen. (Googling their names may give you some insight into their backgrounds and experiences, if that's of any interest to you.)
Some of the interesting quotes from the meditations included:
· “There is a sense of wholeness at the core of man … That warms the depth of frozen fears …”
· “I meant to accomplish a good bit today. Instead I keep thinking: Will the next generations of people remember to drain the pipes in the fall? I will leave them a note.”
· “To preserve peace in time of trouble our will must remain firm in God …”
· “The next hour, the next moment, is as much beyond our grasp and as much in God’s care, as that a hundred years away.”
· “Troubled soul, thou art not bound to feel but thou art bound to arise. God loves thee whether thou feelest or not. …Heed not thy feeling: Do thy work.”
· “All growth in the spiritual life is connected with the clearer insight into what Jesus is to us. …the more I learn to live the real life of faith, which, dying to self, lives wholly in Christ.”
· “…there are two things which are more utterly incompatible than even oil and water, and these two are trust and worry.”
· You find no difficulty in trusting the Lord with the management of the universe, and all the outward creation, and can your case be any more complex or difficult than these, that you need to be anxious or troubled about His management of you?”
· “Prayer is successful not in terms of what it logically produces or pragmatically achieves but in terms of what it forces reality to experience.”
· “… I set down my inventory of earthly desirables: health, love, beauty, talent, power, riches and fame… With a pencil stub he crossed out my entire schedule. …Then … he wrote down three syllables: peace of mind.”
· “Earthly possessions dazzle our eyes and delude us into thinking that they can provide security and freedom from anxiety. …The fetters which bind us to our possessions prove to be cares themselves.”
· “I have always been complaining that my work was constantly interrupted, until I slowly discovered that my interruptions were my work.”
What do any of these quotes (or any of the meditations in Chapter 24 not quoted) mean to you?
Please post your responses to the blog site:
(http://lhcndeeperlifeclass.blogspot.com/).
Thanks for your participation.
John
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