In the introduction to his book, Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life, Chuck Swindoll suggests that there are recurring seasons to life that come to us by the direction of our Creator, the One who governs all of life.  “Each of the four seasons offers fresh and vital insights for those who take the time to look and think… As each three-month segment of every year holds its own mysteries and plays its own melodies, offering insights and smells, feelings and fantasies altogether distinct, so it is in the seasons of life.  The Master is neither mute nor careless as He alters our times and changes our seasons.  How wrong to trudge blindly and routinely through a lifetime of changing seasons without discovering answers to the new mysteries and learning to sing new melodies!  Seasons are designed to deepen us, to instruct us in the wisdom and ways of our God.  To help us grow strong…like a tree planted by the rivers of water.” 

We also recognize that there are a series of life stages that most of us move through as we live out God’s plan for our lives.  We begin as children, then become teenagers, young adults, newly married, young couples with children, middle-aged couples with teenagers, empty nesters and finally senior citizens.  Each life stage has its own set of challenges, pressures, and rewards, and therefore shapes us accordingly.  It also tends to color the way we view the world and how we relate to God.

One of the foundational doctrines of our Christian faith is that God is sovereign over all creation including us as His creatures.  He holds the heart of the king in His hand and directs it wherever He wishes (Proverbs 21:1) and while “the mind of man plans his way, it is the Lord who directs his steps” (Proverbs 16:9).  He created us at the time and in the exact way He wanted us to be, with the physical features, intelligence, talents, abilities and spiritual gifts that will enable us to accomplish “good works which He prepared beforehand” (Ephesians 2:10).

He is also using the circumstances of life, even those that seem unfair or puzzling to us, to shape us into the image and likeness of His son Jesus Christ (Romans 8:28-29).  One of the great mysteries, and comforts, in life is that nothing happens to us, or in the world in which we live, that is outside of God’s knowledge or control.  God is in control and is working out His plan and purposes for all of creation for His honor and glory.

It was Socrates who said, “the un-reflected life is not worth living”, a concept we need to pay attention to today.  God is speaking to us by His Spirit, through the Word of God, prayer, our life circumstances and through our varied experiences in the stages and seasons of life.  But are we listening?  He is teaching us about ourselves, the world in which we live, and the way He would have us live.  But are we learning what He wants us to know?  As we pray and reflect upon these experiences of life, we mature in faith and tend to view ourselves, the world in which we live and our relationship to God differently.  Our love for God and others grows stronger, our priorities become clearer and life becomes simpler.  We are freed of our pride and our sense of self-importance, thus enabled to embrace a life of humility and servant-hood.

Life lessons abound in every stage and season of life.  God in His sovereignty is working out His plan in your life and mine.  But we must stop and take time to reflect, to study and to pray in order to understand what God is seeking to accomplish in our lives.  A friend of mine often asks people to consider whether they want to live another 30 thirty years or if they want to live the same year, 30 times?  The answer seems obvious yet many forfeit the opportunity to experience the fullness of life because they fail to take time to reflect upon, and learn from, the seasons and stages of life.  What would God have you learn today?

As we move into fall, I would invite you to consider making a retreat with us at the St Benedict Center in Schuyler, NE, November 15-18, 2018.  Our Doorway to Discovery weekend is a 3-day guided retreat that provides ample opportunity to take time out and reflect on the current season of your life and where God is taking you over the next months.  Many have found it to be a deeply rewarding experience.  You can find more information by clicking on the ministry tab of our website.  Whatever their specific emphasis, every opportunity will serve to strengthen you in your walk as a disciple of Jesus Christ and lead you into a deeper understanding of what it means to live in the kingdom of God.  Plan now to take advantage of one or more of these opportunities. It will enable you to make the most of whatever season or stage of life you are in.

No doubt this is true because as fallible human beings we find so many ways to get disconnected from or to question our personal experience of abiding in God’s love.  It didn’t take me very long to come up with a medium length list of behaviors or ways of thinking that diminish our experience of God’s love.  Or at the very least block our awareness of the depth and persistent nature of the love of God, regardless of our circumstances.  I have listed a below just a few of them.

Disobedience- In John 15:10 Jesus says if you want to “abide” in His love, keep His commandments.”  From this verse and others, Jesus connects our walking in obedience to His revealed will as the first step to an abiding experience of His love.  And I don’t think He is talking about perfect obedience as the standard but is the desire of our heart and the intention of our will generally, to walk in obedience?  Little regard for obeying God’s will impacts our experience of receiving God’s love.

Expectations- Most of us have in our minds a definition of what it looks and feels like to be loved by God.  It might be that we haven’t even really clearly worked through all of these expectations for ourselves, but they often rest in the unconscious as ungodly beliefs.  We expect to have all of our most heartfelt prayers answered in a positive way and at the right time.  We expect to be spared many of the trials and tribulations of life.  We expect to always have enough money for the things we believe we need/want.  We expect to enjoy good health and to receive healing when we are ill.  In short, we expect life to be rewarding, and fulfilling the majority of the time, or close to it.  Unbiblical expectations of God and our life with God diminish our experience of God’s love.

Shame/Unworthiness- Shame is that state of mind where we are just absolutely convinced there is something wrong with us.  That we are uniquely and fatally, therefore irredeemably, flawed.  In our minds, we are so damaged that even God’s love is not enough to make us whole.  The sins, and sometimes iniquity, of abandonment, rejection, abuse of all kinds can tempt us to believe that we are simply not worthy of God’s love.  Our deep sense of unworthiness leads us to believe that God doesn’t love us.  This too diminishes our experience of God’s love.

Discontentment- Failure and disappointment tempt us to become discontented with our lives, and in turn lead us to a lack of gratitude.  Pride tells us that we deserve better than we have received and once that message is received a lack of being satisfied and ingratitude are not far behind.  It is the devil’s work that tempts us to look around and compare ourselves to others.  The result is often more pride and selfishness along with a grumbling heart, for God resists pride but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6).  All will serve to diminish our experience of God’s great love for us.

The above examples are not an exhaustive list but rather possibilities to stimulate your thinking.  The main idea here is since God loves never changes, why does our experience/awareness change?   God is the constant and our experience is the variable.  God wants to us to abide in His love because He is the source of the fruitful and abundant Christian life.  The devil wants to keep us from by robbing, killing and destroying.

Scriptures on Meditation

Joshua 1:7-8; Psalm 1; Psalm 119:9-16, 97-106; Proverbs 4:20-22; John 8:31-32; Romans 10:17; Romans 12:2; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 4:12

“Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success” (Joshua 1:7-8)

“My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your sight; Keep them in the midst of your heart. For they are life to those find them, And health to all their whole body” (Proverbs 4:20-22).

“Jesus therefore was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32).

“Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).

• We are commanded to meditate upon the whole book of the Law.

• We are commanded to meditate “day and night.”

• We are to be careful “to do” all that is written in it.

• Observance of the law will bring prosperity and success (the good life Biblically defined).

• We are to keep them in the “midst of our hearts” as opposed to our mind only.

• Meditation brings life and health to the whole body.

• Abiding (literally, remaining) in Jesus’ words is proof of our being a disciple (learner, follower) of Jesus.

• Meditating upon the Word of God enables us to know the truth and experience genuine freedom.

• Meditation upon the Word engenders faith, the ability to believe and overcome.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia- In the biblical world meditation was not a silent practice. Haga means “growl,” “utter,” or “moan,” in addition to “meditate,” or “muse.” No doubt meditation involved a muttering sound from reading half aloud or conversing with oneself…Meditation takes place any time of the day or night (Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:2). It produces inward strength and joy (Psalm 63:5f). The object of meditation is particularly the law with its precepts (119:15), statutes (v 48), testimonies (v 99), and promises (v 148). The glorious splendor of God’s majesty, along with His wondrous works or miracles, is also the content of meditation (143:5; 145:5). Meditation takes place in the heart, the seat of emotional and rational life. (ISBE Vol. 3 pgs 305-6)

The discipline of meditation brings us into direct contact with the primary means of receiving God’s grace, the Word of God. By exposing our minds to the truth of God’s Word we receive understanding by putting those truths into action we demonstrate wisdom and the validity of our faith. We also begin to develop a Biblical worldview that enables us to live out a life of prosperity and success.

John Backus in his book, Telling Yourself the Truth, reminds us that not all of our thoughts are in keeping with reality but they are simply lies that we have told ourselves so long that we have come to believe them. In fact they have come to give us a distorted view of reality and crippled us emotionally and spiritually. 

• The world says that our worth is determined by our performance, God says that we are precious in His sight because He created us and we belong to Him.

• The world says that if you make a mistake or if things don't work out you are a failure, God says making mistakes is part of the human condition and the life of faith.

• The world says the one with the most toys wins, but God says, "even when one has an abundance life does not consist of their possessions" (Luke 12:15)

• The world says grab for all that you can in life because you only go around once, God says "whoever wishes to save his life will lose it but whoever loses his life for my sake shall find it." (Matthew 16:25)

We must replace the lies that we have come to believe with the truth of the Word of God in order that we might be transformed to live the life that God would have for us.

In Romans 12:2 the apostle Paul writes, “ And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” The Greek verb that we translate “transformed”, metamorphoo, is a passive imperative. The imperative voice means it is a command and the passive voice indicates that the power to be transformed lies not in ourselves but comes to us by God’s grace.

The same verb is used in the Transfiguration account where Jesus is transfigured before Peter, James and John, “His face shone like the sun and His garments became white as light.” And again in 2 Corinthians 3:18, “But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”

You will also recognize that this is the same verb that we get our English word metamorphosis, which is used to describe the process of caterpillar being changed into a butterfly and a tadpole into a frog. The term is used to describe a marked change in appearance, character and function. Meditating upon the Word of God puts us in the place where we are transformed into the image and likeness of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.

“The Bible uses two different Hebrew words to convey the idea of meditation, and together they are used some fifty-eight times. These words have various meanings: listening to God’s Word, reflecting on God’s works, rehearsing God’s deeds, ruminating on God’s law, and more. In each case there is a stress upon changed behavior as a result of our encounter with living God. Repentance and obedience are essential features of an biblical understanding of meditation (highlighting mine)…Christian meditation, very simply, is the ability to hear God’s voice and obey his word” (Foster 15). In contrast to other forms of meditation, which often seek to empty the mind, Christian meditation has as its goal the filling of the mind with the Word of God. It is to so reflect upon, rehearse and ruminate over that the Word, that the Biblical truth or principle being considered becomes a part of us in an experiential way. In a very practical way we begin to live out the truth of Romans 12:2 as our lives are “transformed by the renewing of our minds.” 

Points to help us in our meditation.

• We must maintain an attitude of prayerful reflection throughout the day. We must be careful to not be so busy or preoccupied with life’s daily concerns that we cannot quiet our hearts when we sit down for specific times of meditation. It would be like going for a 5 mile run, stopping, and then expecting that your breathing and heart rate to be the same as if they were at rest. It takes time to transition one’s physical body and so with the spirit as well. We need to maintain a reasonable pace to life that allows for the nurture and development of our spiritual lives.

• We also must learn to use our imagination as we reflect upon each text. Try and view the scene from the perspective of one of the people mentioned in the text. What has just happened or is happening to the people involved? How would you feel if it was you? What do your five senses tell you about what is happening in the text? What do these things reveal to you about God and His love for you? 

• It is also helpful to find a place and posture that minimize distractions. Try and choose a location that is comfortable for you and will allow you to focus exclusively on the text. Also, have a journal and extra piece of paper available to jot down anything that you would want to remember. Finally, recognize that it will take time to quiet your heart, free yourself of all distractions (external and internal) and to recognize God’s voice. We can’t be in a hurry and expect to hear from God.

• Finally, there is the practice of Scripture memorization, an invaluable aid to growth in the spiritual life. It would be difficult to over emphasize the benefits of memorizing key verses and passages of Scripture as a part of our being people of the Word. In the hands of the Holy Spirit, the Word is able to keep us from sin, provide supernatural guidance and direction for living, reveal the nature, character and purposes of God and lead us in the way of a prosperous and successful life.

In psalm 119, a psalm that offers praise to the Scriptures, the psalmist reminds us of the power of the God’s Word, “Thy word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against Thee” (11). “Thy commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever mine” (98). “Thy word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path” (105). “Thy testimonies are wonderful; therefore my soul observes them. The unfolding of Thy words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple” (129-130). “My soul keeps thy testimonies, and I love them exceedingly. I keep Thy precepts and Thy testimonies, for all my ways are before Thee” (167-168). 

Take fifteen minutes and try implementing some of the above suggestions with one of the following texts, Revelation 3:14-22; Matthew 14:22-33 (Jesus Walks on Water); Luke 7:40-50 (Parable of the Two Debtors). Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in your reflection and to enable your imagination. Don’t press for any personal application but let the Holy Spirit reveal to you anything He would have you know or change. Jot down on a piece of paper any major thoughts or reflections.

In one of my morning times with the Lord recently, I was asking Him for direction on a number of concerns in my life, some personal, some vocational.  Some of them were newer questions but others were things that I had been praying about and reflecting on for some time.  As I considered one in particular I began to sense my frustration rising.  The situation was/is beyond my human capability to figure out, let alone resolve, and my expectation was that by now God should have revealed the way forward.  Out of that frustration I said to God, “are you ever going show me what to do?”  And then I waited.  It wasn’t long before I heard the words in my spirit, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.”  (Proverbs 3:5-6)

I didn’t sense that it was a rebuke but rather a patient Father reminding His son how He relates to His children.  The experience triggered my returning to the first time I was introduced to that verse of Scripture.  It was the winter of 1984 and my wife Barb and I were taking a Bible study class on Sunday morning at our church, Calvary Lutheran Church of Golden Valley, MN.  It was entitled a Discovery class and it used the Navigators Bible study, Lessons on Assurance.  It was a 6-week class that shaped me for a lifetime.  In the course of those 6 weeks we examined 5 promises that God has made to every believer in Jesus.  They are assurances, promises, God makes to us that we can rely on regardless of our current circumstances.  God assures us of 1) our salvation, 2) He answers prayer, 3) victory over sin, death and the devil, 4) He forgives our sin upon confession, and 5) He will guide us through life.  In the course of each lesson we looked up various Scriptures and answered the questions in the booklet which were helpful but the life changing component was memorizing Scripture verses and meditating upon them throughout the week.  There was a memorization verse for each topic and the one for guidance was Proverbs 3:5-6.

My initial experience with each of these promises was over 32 years ago and they have borne fruit in my life ever since.  Praise God!  But even so I needed to be reminded on this particular morning that our God is a God of promises and that He can be trusted to keep His promises.  It wasn’t that I forgot the truth but rather I lost sight of the way God desires to relate to His children.  Most often when we think of God guiding us, we envision a road map and a timeline that shows every step of the whole journey.  God gives us a compass and says “Go north.”  In the former we thank God and go on our way, trusting in our own ability to read the map and reach the destination.  But God prefers the Holy Spirit directed GPS approach that says in 600 feet turn right on to Wilderness Avenue, continue for 8 miles and then turn left on I Am Confused Boulevard.  It is often only at the end, when we have reached the destination that the pathway makes any sense to us.

In the Proverbs 3:5-6 verses we have 3 choices to make, 3 responsibilities if you will, if God is going to fulfill His promise.  First, we are to trust Him with all our heart.  The apostle James calls it “faith without any doubting” (James 1:6).  No wavering allowed.  Just a confident expectation that God is worthy of our trust and He knows what He is doing.  Second, we are to avoid the trap of having to know in advance or be able to figure things out before we can be confident of moving forward in life.  Our culture tells to trust in ourselves, to be confident in our own abilities but this puts in a place where we are susceptible to worry and anxiety and diverts us from realizing God’s plans and purposes.  Finally, we are to acknowledge Him in all that we do, whether we think the activities are related or not. Demonstration of being faithful in small things is often required to release the bigger and more important things of the Kingdom.  The promise God makes to us is that when we fulfill these instructions “He will make our paths straight.”  It is a promise to guide us through life.  And what a marvelous promise it is.  The Creator and Sustainer of the universe, the One who knows all things, past and future, the One who loves us with an unfailing and incomprehensible love will guide us through the best life possible.

Learning to trust in the promises of God is both simple and profound.  The process is not difficult to understand but in the midst of the pressures of daily life making the right choice can be challenging.  I would recommend memorizing Proverbs 3:5-6 and meditate on it until its truth is guiding your thought life and your decision making on a daily basis.  It is one of the guiding principles that will allow you to experience the abundant life of the Kingdom of God. 

The discipline of submission is another of the disciplines that seems to be so out of touch with the world in which we live.  The cry of our culture is that we “deserve” to have our every need met, we should never be in pain, of any kind, and that we should never have to wait.  Instant gratification and exaltation of the individual’s rights and desires are societal norms that are never to be questioned.  Yet the Scriptures present a much different ideal for those who would be disciples of Jesus Christ and it is expressed in the synonymous terms of surrender and submission.  We are not to rise up and demand what is coming to us but in love and humility voluntarily surrender our rights for the good and benefit of others.

The following definition from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia helps us to begin thinking rightly about this important discipline.

The primary meaning of both “subject” and “submit” has to do with subordination, ie. being placed under the control or authority  of another.  Subordination can be either voluntary or enforced…The most common NT term rendered by “subject” and “submit” is Greek hypatasso.  The active voice (usually rendered “subject” or “put in subjection”) means “place under” and denotes an enforced subordination….the situation is different, however, where the middle or passive of hypatasso is used to describe the attitude that Christ has toward God (1 Corinthians 15:28) or that Christians are to have toward God (Hebrews 12:9; James 4:7), toward civil authorities (Romans 13:1, 5; Titus 3:1; 1 Peter 2:13), toward church leaders (1 Corinthians 16:16; 1 Peter 5:5), and toward one another in general (Ephesians 5:21)…As many exegetes have observed, such subordination is an action of free agents.  It does not involve a breaking of the will or servile submission to another’s rule; rather, the verb “describes a voluntary attitude of giving in, cooperating, assuming responsibility and carrying a burden (highlighting mine) (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Vol. IV, 643-644).

It is imperative that we understand, and practice, the voluntary aspect of the discipline of submission if we are going to avoid the abuses that are often associated with this discipline.  Submitting to God, practicing mutual submission and submitting in love and humility will all go a long way toward keeping us on the Biblical path of dying to the various expressions of self will and selfishness.

Richard Foster on Submission

Submission is a concept as broad as life itself and a Discipline found throughout Scripture.  It raises issues that are deep and difficult: issues of submission to the ways of God, issues of submission to the state, issues of submission to the Christian fellowship, issues of submission in the Christian household and much more.  As we hammer out our understanding of these matters, we will always want to hold before us the life and death of Christ as the divine paradigm by which all the verbs of Christian submission are to be conjugated. (Study Guide for Celebration of Discipline, Richard J. Foster)

I said that every Discipline has its corresponding freedom.  What freedom corresponds to submission?  It is the ability to lay down the terrible burden of always needing to get our own way.  The obsession to demand that things go the way we want them to go is one of the greatest bondages in human society today.  People will spend weeks, months, even years in a perpetual stew because some little thing did not go as they wished.  They will fuss and fume.  They will get mad about it.  They will act as if their very life hangs on the issue.  They may even get an ulcer over it. 

In the Discipline of submission we are released to drop the matter, to forget it.  Frankly, most things in life are not nearly as important as we think they are.  Our lives will not come to and end if this or that does not happen.

The biblical teaching on submission focuses primarily on the spirit with which we view other people.  Scripture does not attempt to set forth a series of hierarchical relationships but to communicate to us an inner attitude of mutual subordination.

In submission we are at last free to value other people.  Their dreams and plans become important to us.  We have entered into a new, wonderful, glorious freedom- the freedom to give up our own rights for the good of others.  For the first time we can love people unconditionally.  We have given up the right to demand that they return our love.  No longer do we feel that we have to be treated in a certain way.  We rejoice in their successes.  We feel genuine sorrow in their failures.  It is of little consequence that our plans are frustrated if their plans succeed.  We discover that it is far better to serve our neighbor than to have our own way.  (The Celebration of Discipline, 111-112)

Seven Acts of Submission

The Triune God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit; we yield our body, mind and spirit for his purposes.

The Scriptures; we yield ourselves to first hear the Word, second to receive the Word, and third to obey the Word.

The family; freely and graciously the members of the family make allowances for each other.

Our neighbor; if they are in need we help them.  No task is too small, too trifling, for each one is an opportunity to live in submission.

The body of Christ; if there are jobs to be done and tasks to be accomplished, we look at them closely to see if they are God’s invitation to the cross-life.

The world; we make a determination to live as a responsible member of an increasingly irresponsible world.

Questions for Reflection and Discussion

In what ways has the discipline of submission been abused?

Are you currently experiencing the freedom of Biblical submission?

Which of the seven acts of submission represents the greatest challenge for you personally?

Chapters 37-50 of Genesis record the life of Joseph, one of the four patriarchs.  Prayerfully consider each of these chapters, especially 50:15-21, and reflect on how Joseph’s response to life provides a model for godly submission.  How did the events of his life prepare him for God’s chosen time and place for service, and for reconciliation with his brothers?

Take Lord and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding and my entire will, All I have and call my own.  You have given it all to me.  To you Lord I return it.  Everything is yours; do with it what you will.  Give me only your love and your grace, that is enough for me.      (Ignatius of Loyola)

God would also show me over the course of the weekend that this oversight is often played out in our daily walk with Jesus as well.  We express a desire to live for the will of God and to be filled with His Holy Spirit in order that we might be used of God in ministry but if we examine our lives closely we find that there is no room for God.  First, there are all the activities that we choose to get involved with, some of which may even be ministry related. We choose to be busy with a great many things, such as work, family life, church functions, our children’s activities, personal recreation, vacation, travel, a variety of hobbies, socializing with friends and a host of other activities.  While none of these activities is inherently sinful, we must be careful to recognize that they are, for the most part, pursuits of our own choosing.  Further, we must recognize they may not represent God’s will for us and we shouldn’t automatically expect that God will bless them.

In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 the apostle Paul reminds us that our lives are not do with as we please, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?  For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”  Jesus expresses the same truth in Matthew 10:38-39, “And he who does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me.  He who has found his life shall lose it, and he who has lost his life for my sake shall find it.”  At the heart of all sin is our will asserting itself saying, “I know what is best for me.”  When we live our lives based upon what we want to do, when we want to do it or in the way that we want to do it, we quench the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives through our sin and rebellion.

On this last retreat one of the areas of life we considered was have we fully surrendered our lives to the call of Christ the King.  Have we so re-ordered our lives that we can say with Jesus that “I live only for the will of the Father” (John 5:19).  The whole hearted response that Jesus is looking for is found modeled for us by Peter, James and John in Luke chapter 5.  Jesus and Simon are standing on the shore of Lake Gennesaret while Jesus is teaching the crowds from the Word of God.  In order to gain some relief from the crowds Jesus gets into Simon's boat and tells him to put out a little way from shore.  From there Jesus sat down and taught the crowds who had gathered to hear Him.

When he was done speaking He tells Simon to "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch".  Simon answers and says "Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but at your bidding I will let down the nets".  At first glance it appears that Simon is simply being obedient to Jesus' request, but in reality Simon is telling Jesus that they, experienced fishermen, have just spent the entire night fishing and caught nothing and now it is midday and you think you are going to catch fish?  Simon's compliance is merely an act to humor Jesus.

We know from the rest of the story that upon letting down their nets they capture a great quantity of fish.  So great in fact, their nets begin to break and as they begin to take the fish into their boats, the boats begin to sink.  Simon Peter's response is to fall at the feet of Jesus and say, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord" (vs 8).  Peter's confession is both accurate and immediate.  His confession, as ours should be, is not a singular occurrence that happens at the beginning of his following Jesus but is a first step in his daily walk with God.

Have we made room for God? Is it a question that we answer only once or twice per year?  The fullness of the Christian life is found as we make room for God every day of our lives and not just the unique occasions like a retreat weekend.  Take some time today and consider how you have answered this call of God upon your life, your life will be the richer for it.

Many within the church today are Biblically illiterate and have based their understanding of God upon a variety of sources that may or may not be correct. “Although most Americans believe they already know the fundamental truths of the Scriptures, the Barna Research Group has discovered that fewer than 10 percent of American Christians (bolding mine) actually possess a Biblical worldview, a perceptual filter through which they see life and its opportunities. Lacking that filter, most Christians make important decisions on the basis of instinct, emotion, assumptions, past experience, external pressure or chance…In short, the spirituality of Americans is Christian in name only. We desire experience more than knowledge. We prefer choices to absolutes. We embrace preferences rather than truths. We seek comfort rather than growth. Faith must come on our terms or we reject it” (Barna, The Second Coming of the Church, 23).

In order to live the abundant life, one must accurately understand the nature and character of God, the events of life that are taking place around us and finally, we need to understand ourselves. If we are to live as God intended, and withstand the spiritual attacks of the world, the devil and even our own flesh, we must be firmly grounded in God’s truth. The study of the Word of God will enable us to develop a Biblical worldview and rightly understand what God requires of us as a response to the grace that we have received in salvation. But we first must come to grips with the fact that most of us have developed our understanding of God from a collection of sources including; sermons, Sunday school, friends, the media and personal experiences. These understandings may not reflect Biblical teaching and need to be brought in line with the teaching of Scripture.

In spite of the Bible being the best selling book in America, the general public, and the church of Jesus Christ, are woefully ignorant of its contents. Further, there is a serious lack of understanding when it comes to studying the Bible as God’s living Word to us. We believe the Bible to be the inspired Word of God, without error in the original manuscripts and wholly sufficient for life and faith. Yet, our interpretation and application of the Word often disregards the intended meaning of the author, the original meaning of words, as well as the context and literary form being used. The end result is we bend the text to say something the author (the Holy Spirit) never intended. 

How to Study the Word of God

• Prepare Yourself – Worship, confession, prayer (guidance of H S), obedience

We dare not underestimate the importance of preparing ourselves spiritually to receive the Word. To spend time in personal worship, reading one of the psalms or singing several verses of a hymn or chorus, along with a time of Spirit directed confession helps to insure that our heart is open and ready to receive God’s truth. Further, we must determine in our hearts that we will obey whatever God reveals and then ask for the guidance and ministry of the Holy Spirit. It is God’s Holy Spirit who authored Scripture and He is the one best able to help us understand both the meaning of an individual text and its application for us in our current situation.

• Read through the Bible once each year.

• Read in different translations for new insight and discovery.

• Read several chapters repetitively looking for major themes, teachings.

• Seek first to understand what the author is saying

• Determine the intended meaning of the author (human and Holy Spirit)

• What does the Bible mean by what is says?

1. Avoid spiritualizing, superficial interpretations and reading into the text.

We must be careful to let the text speak and not bring to the text our preconceptions as to its meaning and application, even, maybe especially, if we have looked at it before and believe that we understand it. Some texts are self evident, others are less clear and still others require significant study and reflection to grasp their meaning. Allow yourself time and don’t just guess at the right meaning to a text. If you don’t understand it, say so and seek outside help to bring clarity and understanding.

2. Bridge the gaps of language, culture, history etc. with outside resources.

In most study Bibles now there are a host of helps that enable us to get at the original setting for every text. We must stop and make sure we know whom the author is and what their situation was like. To whom were they writing and what do we know about that individual or class of people that might bring additional insight into the text. Finally, we must pay strict attention to the usage of words and their meanings respecting both morphology (word form) and syntax (word order). Words can have multiple meanings (ie. sarx which we translate flesh, Galatians 2:20; Galatians 5:19) or nuances of meaning but never violate the base sense of their meaning.  We must grow familiar with the use of concordances, grammars, Bible maps, commentaries and supporting historical works. 

3. Interpret within the immediate context and the unity of Scripture.

Context determines how a particular word might be translated and we recognize that Scripture will never contradict itself. To insure that we are interpreting within the original context we must read and consider, as a minimum, the preceding and following verses, with preferably the whole chapter or book in view. Without respect for this rule we can make a text say almost anything we want.

4. Respect historical context, grammatical principles and types of literary genre. 

We have already touched on this a little in number 2 when we discussed the bridging the language and culture gaps between the authors of Scripture and ourselves but to drive home the point I am talking about the fact that Scripture uses a wide variety of literary devices and literary forms to convey its message. In Matthew 18:1-10, Jesus uses hyperbole in His teaching to the disciples about humility. And in doing so states that if our hand or foot should cause us to stumble we should cut them off, or in the case of our eye causing us to stumble to pluck it out. These are not literal instructions for dismemberment but the use of language to bring home the point regarding humility and the reception of children.

Further, we must recognize that the Bible includes a wide variety of literary genre including; proverbs, prophecy, poetry, idioms, parables, Biblical narrative (history) and epistles, with each group having their own specific rules of interpretation. If we consider the “accepted” interpretation of Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it”, people generally believe that this is a “promise” or universal “law” that guarantees success in parenting if the right pattern is followed. Yet, a proverb is a short pithy saying that expresses a wise, general truth about life and in no way “guarantees” a given outcome. We must be careful to respect the type of literature we are studying if we are going to hear clearly and accurately God’s voice.

• Meditate upon what the Holy Spirit reveals to you.

• Memorize key verses and passages that are meaningful to you.

• Journal to detect recurring themes and life issues.

There is power in the act of writing down those truths that God reveals to us, for it enables us to clarify our thinking and get specific in our application. Journaling also allows us the opportunity to go back and refresh our minds regarding discoveries from previous times of study. Be sure to jot down words, phrases and concepts that you do not understand in order that you can go back later and resolve these questions. 

• Put into practice that which you discover.

The apostle James warns us of the danger of studying for the sake of accumulating knowledge, “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man shall be blessed in what he does” (James 1:22-25).

• Teach what you discover to someone else.

While there is an admonition to be careful about becoming a teacher (James 3:1), there are also tremendous rewards to sharing our discoveries with others. Teaching others keeps us fresh in the word and forces us to truly understand and apply each truth before sharing it with someone else. Our level of understanding is expanded and our rate of retention is increased many times. 

• Find a coach (spiritual guide) to encourage you and keep you accountable.

Final Thoughts Concerning Study

• We need to be diligent in our handling of the Word of God recognizing that it is God who either approves or disapproves of our work. When we are finished with our study of the Word we need to be certain that we have accurately reflected the intended teaching of the Holy Spirit.

• The Holy Spirit, who is the author of Scripture, is also the one who will lead us into a correct understanding of His intended meaning. As we begin, we need to pray for the illumination of the Holy Spirit, and for hearts that will receive God’s truth when it is revealed.

• The Word of God is sufficient to lead us into a life of godliness, ministry and service. As such it is authoritative in all areas that it addresses, and should be received with humility of spirit.

• The Word of God is the primary means of grace and lasting life transformation takes place as our minds are renewed by the truth of the Word of God. Feelings and experiences are an important part of our walk with God but must remain subject to God’s Revelation, the Bible, as we seek to understand God and the world around us.

• Also, we need to act on Foster's suggestion that we begin to study "non verbal" books.  He rightly points out that we can learn much about God and the spiritual life by studying nature, human relationships and ourselves.  In the process of self-examination we often discover the fears, circumstances and situations that control us.

In Matthew 6:5-15 Jesus makes the following points.

1. Jesus warns us to not practice our piety before men as religious folks are often tempted to do. The fact that we pray, the length of our prayers, the words we choose and the objects of our prayers are to be our heart felt desires directed at God alone. Praying to impress others is hypocrisy and is soundly condemned. (Verses 5-6)

2. We are to avoid the temptation to ramble and keep our prayers short and to the point. The use of many words does not impress God, nor does it make our prayers more effective. (Verses 7-8)

3. When in doubt how, or what to pray, we can meditate upon the various petitions within the Lord’s Prayer and allow God’s Holy Spirit to direct our prayers. (Verses 9-13; and Romans 8:26)

From the other texts we learn:

• We go without because we fail to ask God
• We are to be persistent in prayer (praying for the same concerns)
• We are to pray without ceasing (always)
• We are to offer our prayers with thanksgiving
• We are to pray in faith, without any doubting
• We are to pray in accordance with God’s will
• Prayer is the answer for an anxious heart
• Prayer brings the peace of God, that surpasses human understanding, and will guard our hearts

“Of all the Spiritual Disciplines prayer is the most central because it ushers us into perpetual communion with Father.  Meditation introduces us to the inner life, fasting is an accompanying means, study transforms our minds, but it is the Discipline of prayer that brings us into the deepest and highest work of the human spirit…To pray is to change.  Prayer is the central avenue God uses to transform us.  If we are unwilling to change, we will abandon prayer as a noticeable characteristic of our lives…In prayer, real prayer, we begin to think God’s thoughts after him: to desire the things he desires, to love the things he loves, to will the things he wills” (Foster, Celebration of Discipline p. 33).

In his book, Celebration of Discipline, Foster also highlights the following:

1. Prayer is the deepest and highest work of the human spirit. There is nothing more important in life than to pray.

2. No matter where we are in our walk with God, we need to learn how to pray.

3. We need to pray with expectation, believing that God will answer.

4. Listening is as much, or more, a part of praying than talking.

5. Effective prayer focuses on the needs of others, and becomes even more effective when connected to a compassionate heart.

6. The imagination is a powerful tool in the work of prayer.

Our primary text for reflection comes from the Sermon on the Mount and it is Jesus teaching His disciples to pray.  The prayer that He gives them we know as the Lord’s prayer, or the Our Father.   It is likely many of us could recite it from memory but have we ever really studied this prayer of Jesus, let alone the meaning of each petition and its value as a model for a life of prayer.  In the next few paragraphs I want to break it down just a little bit and offer a few suggestions for your reflection.

As a reminder these instructions on how to pray are given in the context of a more extended teaching on what it means to be Christian and what one’s life should look like if they are living within the kingdom of God.  In the preceding verses Jesus has taught on love, forgiveness, sins of the heart and the high standards of life within the kingdom of God. 

In verse 1 of chapter 6 Jesus warns of practicing our righteousness before men and then in verse 5 of praying as the hypocrites do, standing on the street corners praying in order that they might be seen by men.  The example of the Gentiles is also to be avoided in that they thought they would be heard for their many words and meaningless repetitions.

The prayer begins with an invocation, “Our Father who art in heaven” and then has 3 petitions that are God focused, “Hallowed by Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as in heaven.”  These petitions are then followed by 3 (or 4) more petitions that focus on our needs, “Give us this day our daily bread”, “forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors”, “and lead us not into temptation,” “but deliver us from evil.”

 The benediction is not included in the most reliable manuscripts and may not have been a part of the original text.   The prayer directs our attention first to the holiness of God, the establishment of His kingdom and the fulfillment of His will and then moves to ask for meeting of our needs as His creatures.  The order is important because it takes our eyes off of ourselves and our situation and puts them back where they belong; on God, His purposes and His abilities.

Beginning in verse 9 Jesus says, “Pray, then in this way:”

Our Father, who art in heaven

We begin by recognizing God as our heavenly Father, a prayer of relationship that comes to us by virtue of our faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.  We do not pray to an abstract or impersonal God but the Creator of the heavens and the earth who is also our Father.  As such He cares about our every need, is personally interested in every aspect of our lives and will always act in a way that is consistent with our best interests.  And His residence is in heaven, a place of majesty, authority and power.  It is recognition of our belonging but it rightfully goes only to those who have personal faith in Jesus.

Hallowed by Thy name

The word hallowed is one that may be confusing for us in that it is not a commonly used word today but it comes from the Greek word “hagios” which is to make holy.  Therefore when you pray “hallowed by Thy name” you are setting God apart in your thinking and feeling and treating Him with all the respect that is due His character.  It is a positive restatement of the second commandment that says that you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.  The person that hallows God’s name lives in such a way that the essence of God’s nature is on display in how we act and talk and respond to life.

Thy kingdom come

In praying for the Lord’s kingdom to come we are praying first of all that God would reign in our lives as individuals.  That God would come and rule over us, and all creation.  We are asking that the rule of God would be over all the earth and that His plans and purposes would be fulfilled among us.  It is also to pray for Jesus return to earth and establish His rule and unhindered authority for all time and eternity.  We look forward to His coming again and establishing a new heaven and a new earth.

Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven

In this petition we are asking that God’s will would be done in our lives, that His revealed will in the Word of God would become our will and that His plan for our lives would be realized whatever the cost.  When we were saved by God’s gracious activity in our lives, we were also given gifts, talents and abilities that would enable us to accomplish the plans and purposes that God has for us.  Elmer Towns in his book, Praying the Lord’s Prayer for Spiritual Breakthrough suggests that we are praying at least four things when we pray this petition.

1. Help me find Thy plan
2. Help me understand Thy plan
3. Help me submit to Thy plan
4. Help me to accomplish Thy plan

It is at its heart a prayer of surrender to the will of God, it is a request that God’s will be done in your life.

Give us this day our daily bread

Virtually all the commentators that I looked at believe that the expression daily bread is symbolic for all our physical needs.  So when we pray for daily bread we are praying for food and clothing, shelter and all that is required to sustain our physical life.  I believe that we are also praying for physical health and all the resources necessary to fulfill God’s plan for our lives.  When we are living our God’s plan we can fully expect that He will provide all that is required to carry it out.

And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors

In this petition we have one of the more troubling verses in all of Scripture in that we ask God to forgive us as we have forgiven others. These are comforting words if our heart is right toward others in our life but terrifying words if we harbor un-forgiveness, resentment or bitterness toward others.  The unwillingness, or inability, to forgive grieves the Holy Spirit and creates for us a prison of bitterness that will slowly but surely destroy us.  The key is to become willing to forgive immediately, completely any and all who have wronged us.  

And do not lead us into temptation

With this petition we are asking God to help us avoid temptation, to so enlighten our minds and strengthen our wills that we will make life choices that not only strengthen us in a time of temptation but will enable us to avoid those situations where we are tempted.  I believe that the Holy Spirit seeks to warn us long before we find ourselves in a situation where we do not have the strength to stand.  If we are tempted to sit in front of the TV and watch hours of worthless or questionable programming, the Holy Spirit may say get rid of cable or maybe the TV all together.

If the internet is a problem for you he Holy Spirit may say don’t use it unless your spouse or somebody else is nearby to keep you honest.  If debt is a problem and you tend to spend too much money on impulse purchases or needless trinkets, the Holy Spirit may say cut up your credit cards and develop a budget that will allow you to give to others and help meet the needs of the poor.

But deliver us from evil

Here we are confessing that we understand that we are locked in a spiritual battle with our old nature, the world system and the devil and his demons (angels).  We also recognize that we are not able to stand in our own abilities or power but it is God who enables us to stand in the face of supernatural enemies.  The enemy has a plan to destroy you that is tailor made for your life experience, strengths and weaknesses.  And rarely does he come in a full frontal attack but rather it is with half-truths, misapplied truths and deceptions of the mind that appeal to the flesh and seem right to the mind.  (Job 1:6-12; Luke 22:31-32; 1 Peter 5:8)

For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.

In this the benediction to the Lord’s Prayer, we acknowledge God as the King of kings and the Lord of lords, the one who not only hears our prayers but is able to do something about them.  We acknowledge that we want God to be king in our lives, that He is sovereign over all creation and that all praise and glory belong to Him forever and ever.  Amen.

Learning to Pray

1. Begin by reading through Matthew 6:1-15 and take note of any verses, words or expressions that jump out at you regarding your current experience of prayer.

2. Ask Jesus to teach you to pray and then slowly pray the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13. Take note of what the Lord shows you and record for future reference and use.    

3. Meditate upon each of the petitions and ask the Lord for insight on how to apply them to your own life. Do you really desire to make God’s name holy in your life and sphere of influence? Have you fully surrendered to God’s will as revealed in the Bible? Are you harboring any un-forgiveness toward anyone? Are you obeying all of God’s directives in order to avoid temptation?

4. The Lord’s Prayer can serve as a model for our own prayer life as we gain more familiarity with each of the petitions and their meanings. If you haven’t already commit this prayer to memory in a translation of your choice then practice praying with each of the petitions as your guide.