ListenDaily – 20 April 2010: On guard...
Let us continue the 1-2-3 challenge. In case you are just joining in, it is explained below. The first minute of the 1-2-3 includes asking God, audibly, out loud, to "remove distractions and mental clutter". There are some things you can do to minimize distractions:
a) Plan on doing it the next morning, before you go to bed.
b) Do it early, before anyone gets up, before you turn the TV on, etc...
c) Do it in the quietest place you have available.
d) Don't beat yourself up if you get distracted, remember there is a great force working against our prayer life, and has been for thousands of years. "Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. 'Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?' he asked Peter. 'Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak'." (Matt.26:40-41) That being said, "Take the helmet of salvation" (Eph.6:12) and put it on! Remember, that although there is a wily, ancient enemy, you are saved! As a helmet protects a soldier in earthly battle, let the knowledge -- the knowing -- that you are saved be assurance that your mind will be protected.
e) Finally, you've done all you can, now turn it over to God. "...in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Phil.4:6-7) Do you hear that? Your heart and mind, everything you love, everything you think about, put on guard by the peace of God in Christ.
Questions:
1. Do you try to minimize distractions when you pray?
2. Does the knowledge of your salvation help you focus?
3. How does it feel to know that God wants to help you focus?
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May we ask the only One who can help. Jim.
THE 1-2-3 CHALLENGE:
Starting today, and then first thing tomorrow morning, I challenge you to listen to God, with this five minute exercise:
Do this as soon as you wake up. Set your clock a few minutes early if that is what you need to get up ahead of the household noise. Lay your Bible by your bed as a reminder. Go to the quietest place in your house, outside, your kitchen, your bathroom...wherever.
1) Pray for 1 minute that God would speak to you. Audibly, out loud, ask Him to remove Satan from your presence for this time. Ask Him to remove distractions and mental clutter. During this time, do not ask Him for anything else, do not thank Him for anything else, do not pray for anyone else (but please find another prayer time for all these things).
2) Open your Bible and read for 2 minutes. This is God talking to you through His Word. Listen to Him.
3) Close your Bible and be silent for 3 minutes. Listen for Him. He may come as a thought, a nudge, an idea. For a while, He may seem hard to hear. There is so much clutter in our minds! Keep listening.
This may seem difficult. You will hear every creaking tree branch. You will hear every barking dog. But like Elijah's time in the cave, God is not in the tree branch, God is not in the dog. Persevere. Listen for the gentle whisper
INTERESTING THOUGHT:
"Give me a hundred preachers, and I care not a straw if they are clergy or laity, who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I will shake the gates of hell and set up the Kingdom of God on this earth." John Wesley
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