Today we want to focus on growing in prayer. We define this characteristic with these statements:

• Our prayer life is constantly growing in richness.
• Our prayer life is in proper alignment with the emphases and priorities of the Lord’s Prayer.
• We are spending sufficient time in prayer, solitude and in listening to God speak through his Word.
• We are able to pray with contentment and peace that God’s will would be done in our lives.
• We are growing more and more in gratitude.

Wednesday is a day of worship, a day where we give praise to our God for his amazing love and grace.

My prayer goal for this week is ________________________________________.
Our goal for last week was ____________________________________________.


Let’s pray:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us, not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Read the following passage from Psalm 103
Praise the LORD, my soul;all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the LORD, my soul,and forget not all his benefits—
      who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
      who redeems your life from the pitand crowns you with love and compassion,
      who satisfies your desires with good thingsso that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.
He made known his ways to Moses,his deeds to the people of Israel:
The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;
he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;
      as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
      for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.
The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field;
      the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.
But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’s love is with those who fear him,
      and his righteousness with their children’s children—
      with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.
The LORD has established his throne in heaven,and his kingdom rules over all.
Praise the LORD, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding,who obey his word.
Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will.
Praise the LORD, all his works everywhere in his dominion. Praise the LORD, my soul.

Reading to Worship
Today, we want to focus on prayer as a form of worship. This prayer from the Psalms speaks powerfully to the nature of our God.

The normal response to encountering God is worship. When that doesn’t happen, our first question must be to ask why. Why isn’t our heart moved when we hear his voice in his Word? Do a heart-check to see if there is anything blocking your way to worship as you read this passage.

Using some words and thoughts from our passage, answer one of the following questions as we prepare our hearts and minds to worship (please make these statements as personal to you as possible).

• What strikes you as you read this passage?
• What do we learn about God from this passage?
• What is the relationship of praise to discipleship and spiritual formation?
• The Psalmist urges us not to forget God’s benefits. What has God done for you?
• What spiritual priorities are evident in this prayer?
• What does prayer do for God? What does it do for us?
• If praise is so important, why don’t we invest in it more?
• How could this passage lead you to worship?

Question:
What do we need to do to grow in our ability to praise?

Thoughts to Ponder
"Our prayer must not be self-centered. It must arise not only because we feel our own need as a burden we must lay upon God, but also because we are so bound up in love for our fellow men that we feel their need as acutely as our own. To make intercession for men is the most powerful and practical way in which we can express our love for them."  (John Calvin)

“Time spent alone with God is not wasted. It changes us; it changes our surroundings; and every Christian who would live the life that counts, and who would have power for service must take time to pray.”  (M.E. Andross)

"Prayer is weakness leaning on omnipotence."  (W. S. Bowd)

The One Thing
Today, we want to develop a pattern of daily prayer. Praying the Lord’s Prayer daily (or two or three times) is a great habit to have. Praying the Jesus Prayer (Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner) throughout the day is a good way to keep centered on Christ. Prayer walks and prayer lists are both helpful. Our desire is to give you numerous tools so that you can find the one or two that works best for you. But today, we want to encourage you to pray the Psalms. Reread Psalm 103 and choose one verse that you want to pray throughout the day. For instance, you may choose verse 8 (The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love) or verse 12 (as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us) or verse 17 (But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’s love is with those who fear him). Try to pray around this verse five or six times during the day so that it resounds in your soul. You don’t have to pray long; short sentence prayers are best here. The key is to pray when the Spirit moves you and to pray when you need to be reminded that God is present. Today, pray the Psalms and find God’s peace and will as you do.

Closing Prayer
Abba Father, pour out your love upon us so that we may love you and love our neighbor as ourselves. Our hearts are also small. Enlarge them with your glory so they are fit for you. Open our eyes to your love so that we will always walk in your ways. Fill us with your Spirit that we may be your people. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Today our focus is growing in being relevant and engaging our culture. Here is how we describe this virtue:

• We have attempted to engage our culture skillfully at some point.
• We are having more spiritual conversations that are winsome, gentle, gracious and engaging with people who are lost.
• Unchurched people see us as loving people; and they speak highly of our character, integrity and compassionate lifestyle.
• We are growing in our awareness of the needs of others (both here and around the world) and how we can make a difference in their lives.
• We feel we are removing (and not creating) barriers to faith in the lives of people so that the only barrier left is the clear offense of the cross.

Tuesday is a day of reading for prayer, a day where we take God’s Words to us and pray them back to God and allow his thoughts, priorities and values to shape our prayers.

My prayer goal for this week is ________________________________________.
Our goal for last week was ___________________________________________.


Let’s pray:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us, not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.


Read the following passage from 1 Corinthians 2:1-10
     And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.
     We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”-- he things God has prepared for those who love him—these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.


Pray Around The Text. . . .
Today, we want to pray that we would engage our culture with wisdom, grace, courage and skill. We want to be warm and winsome while we communicate God’s truth lovingly.

As you read this passage, you may find yourself at odds with some of what the text is saying or with what it is calling you to do. Be honest with your struggles before God and wrestle with them in prayer.

Today, you may take a few moments to pray around, through, and with our text, allowing the text to shape, mold and structure your requests as we have in the past. Allow the Spirit to guide your thoughts as you grapple with the implications of this passage on your life.


To Consider As We Pray
“Evangelism is not a professional job for a few trained men, but is instead the unrelenting responsibility of every person who belongs to the company of Jesus.”  (Elton Trueblood)

“How shall I feel at the judgment, if multitudes of missed opportunities pass before me in full review, and all my excuses prove to be disguises of my cowardice and pride.”  (Dr. W. E. Sangster)

"Evangelism is the bridge we build between our love for God and our love for other people.”  (George Barna)


One Thing to Do Today
What does it mean to engage our culture by being relevant and winsome, informed and interesting? Our God is a missionary God, and he calls us to go into his world with his message in a way that moves people to think about the claims of Christ. Of course, the Holy Spirit does the real work, but God calls us to speak powerfully into the lives of the people he puts in our path. Our strategy is not to retreat and play it safe, but to pray and engage.

One way we engage our culture is through the removal of spiritual barriers, and one way we do that is by having a compassionate lifestyle. Open your eyes and hearts to others today and make a difference in your world. Serve those in need and demonstrate the love of Christ wherever you go.


Closing Prayer:
Abba Father, pour out your love upon us so that we may love you and love our neighbors as ourselves. Our hearts are also small. Enlarge them with your glory so they are fit for you. Open our eyes to your love so that we will always walk in your ways. Fill us with your Spirit that we may be your people. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Today, we want to focus on growing in authenticity. Here is how we describe this virtue:

• We are more transparent and honest to the people around us.
• We have fewer secrets and struggles in our lives, things about which no one knows.
• We have someone who knows us well and helps us stay accountable and challenges us to grow.
• We know that we struggle to live up to our beliefs, but we feel like we are less hypocritical, less self-deceived and more authentic.
• We are actually dealing with the heart issues behind our sin rather than just managing it or by exhibiting good behavior.

Monday is a day of reading for repentance, a day where we confess our sins and receive God’s grace, pardon and mercy in abundance.

My prayer goal for this week is __________________________________________.
Last week, my prayer goal was __________________________________________.


Let’s pray:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us, not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.


Read the following passage from James 1:19-27
     My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
     Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
     Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.


Pray Psalm 139:23-24 as you reflect upon this passage.

Lead us. . . .
(Review if helpful) Reading for repentance involves the following eight steps (Surprise!).

• See yourself in the Text (which words jump off the page and confront you in this passage?).
• Uncover your idols (In what false hopes are trusting? What things do you believe you need to have to be happy in life? Where do you feel justified in your actions? What empowers your sin?).
• Reverse direction (What would it mean to turn away from your sin and pursue God?).
• Pray and ask, “What would growth look like?”
• Receive God’s grace and pardon.
• Inhale God’s beauty, goodness and love.
• Savor God’s mercy
• and Endeavor to live in newness of life (Live your repentance out loud).

Today, we want to move through this passage by seeing ourselves in the text.

In your opinion, are Christ-followers more angry or less angry than people who do not know Christ? Why? Are you an angry person?

James says we should not merely listen to the word and so deceive ourselves. How do we deceive ourselves spiritually?

James encourages us to do more than listen to the word. What does that mean? How do we do that?

In calling us to be obedient, James urges us to follow the “perfect law that gives freedom.” Why does he describe God’s moral law that way?

James says: “Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves.” What does James mean here? What is the relationship between hypocrisy and the way we talk?

How do you feel about James’ definition of true religion? Would you have defined it this way? What does this definition say to you?

What does this passage say to you? Where do you need to repent?


Prayer of Repentance:
Seeing our sin in this text is not too difficult. We all listen better to the word than we do living it out. We all harbor secret sins or deceive ourselves about the seriousness of the sins we run to day in and day out. We even deny that obedience gives freedom. And we don’t want to believe that true faith means giving ourselves away sacrificially to those who are suffering. These are the sins rooted deep in our souls. Reread this passage and let the Spirit lead you into repentance.


Receiving God’s Grace and Pardon (from Acts 13:38-39)
     Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses.


Thoughts to Ponder
"The Pharisees are not all dead yet, and are not all Jews."  (John McClintock)

"The Pharisees minded what God spoke, but not what He intended. . . . They were busy in the outward work of the hand, but incurious of the affections and choice of the heart. So God was served in the letter, but they did not much inquire into His purpose; and therefore they were curious to wash their hands, but cared not to purify their hearts."  (Jeremy Taylor)

"A bad man is worse when he pretends to be a saint."  (Francis Bacon)


What One Thing Can You Do Today?
James talks about taming the tongue so that our words are aligned with our commitment to Christ. Today, we want to set a guard over our tongue so that we glorify God with our words. There are two aspects of this. First, we want to go a whole day without saying anything negative to or about anyone. That means not being critical and not being judgmental. Second, we want to go the whole day without saying anything that is dishonest. Be honest. Be forthright. Be open and be transparent. Honor God with your words.

We also ought to take notice that true religion is looking after orphans and widows and keeping ourselves from being polluted by the world (its values, perspectives, goals, and ethics). Today, open your heart to giving to those in need so that your testimony of being in Christ is clearly matched by all of your actions.


Closing Prayer:
Abba Father, pour out your love upon us so that we may love you and love our neighbor as ourselves. Our hearts are also small. Enlarge them with your glory so they are fit for you. Open our eyes to your love so that we will always walk in your ways. Fill us with your Spirit that we may be your people. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Saturday is a day where we focus on trusting God as we walk more and more in grace.

My prayer goal for this week is _________________________________________.
My prayer goal last week was __________________________________________.


Let’s pray:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us, not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Read the following passage from 1 Timothy 6:11-19
     But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.
     Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

Learning to Trust God: A Week in Review
For the last week we have been reviewing the first six of our core spiritual values. The statements below define these values in a visible, tangible, and measurable way. Read each statement and mark it true or false compared to where you were before we started this series.

DRIVEN BY GRACE

• I am more deeply aware of my sin and my need for repentance, as well as God’s work of grace in my life, enabling me to receive the Gospel.
• I am more and more motivated by grace as opposed to being driven by guilt, obligation and/or duty.
• My love for and worship of God has increased.
• I am being more gracious, patient and kind to the people with whom I interact.
• I have a growing assurance that God is really my loving heavenly father that delights in me as I delight in him.

LOVING RELATIONSHIPS

• I feel more connected to the River’s Edge family.
• I am demonstrating love for others in tangible ways, even for those outside my inner circle.
• I am growing more and more loving, gracious and compassionate.
• I have forgiven those who have wronged me and have rectified situations where I have wronged others.
• My significant relationships are growing and thriving.

LOST PEOPLE

• I am involved in praying for the lost in a regular, specific and significant way.
• I am involved significantly in reaching out to the lost, directly and indirectly.
• I am building relationships with people who are lost, especially the people who are already in my sphere of influence.
• I am involved in ministries of mercy, compassion and justice.
• My personality, behavior, lifestyle and words create a hunger for Christ in the people around me.

GROW IN FAITH

• I feel I have grown spiritually (increasing in faith, hope and love).
• I am spending adequate time in prayer, Bible study and the spiritual disciplines and am putting into practice the things that I am learning.
• There is more evidence of the inward fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23) in my life.
• I have a better grasp of biblical truth and theology.
• I am involved in a(n) RLT small group and find that it is spurring me on to love and good deeds.  If not, is this something you might consider for 2011?

TRANSFORMING THE HEART

• I am pursuing the kingdom values of the Beatitudes.
• I am growing more and more devoted to Christ.
• I am seeking first the kingdom of God in all the major areas of my life.
• I am, by God’s grace, growing in humility and servanthood.
• I am trusting more and more in Christ rather than in my own resources, strength and abilities.
• I am more willing to take up my cross, deny myself, and follow Christ.
• I am less negative, divisive, demanding and selfish.
• The lure of a works-righteousness and the pull of performance have less of an influence on me so that I am not so caught up in trying to earn God’s love or maintaining a proper image or in needing the approval of others. The attraction of self-righteousness is dying.
• I am able to hold on to earthly things (even things I love) more loosely while clinging to God’s sure promises more whole-heartedly.

GIVE YOURSELF AWAY

• I am giving freely of my time, talent and treasure to advance the kingdom of God.
• I am involved in a significant ministry that I am passionate about.
• I am much more in tune with God’s call and my giftedness.
• I am producing spiritual fruit (glorifying God through our good works).
• I am learning to live in a daily conscious partnership with God.

If you were to choose just one of these headings to make it your strong focus in the up-coming weeks, which would you choose? Why?

Where do you see the most growth? Where do you see the least?

Where have you seen God at work in your life in this series to produce his character in you?

The Joy of Being a Child of God

We’ve talked a lot about "doing" in these eleven weeks, but we must never forget that “doing” never replaces “being.” There is nothing we can do that would make God love us any more than he already does and there is nothing we could do that would make him love us any less. God delights in us because we are his children, and he wants to give us these gifts because they are all characteristics of his son. Never forget: it is not “doing” that matters; it is “being” in Christ Jesus. If you are truly are resting in being a child of God, the “doing” will take care of itself.

A Thought to Ponder  
     "I was just a child," related a retired Baptist preacher, "when one spring day my father called me to go with him to old man Russell's blacksmith shop. He had left a rake and a hoe to be repaired; and they were ready, fixed like new. Father handed over a silver dollar for repairing them, but Mr. Russell refused to take it.
     "No," he said, "there's no charge for that little job." But father insisted.
     "And if I live a thousand years," said the preacher, "I'll never forget that great blacksmith's reply."
     "Sid," he said to my father, "Can't you let a man do somethin' just to stretch his soul?"

One Thing
Today, give yourself away to someone in need. It can be a small act of kindness or it can be quite sacrificial. Pray that God would give you the opportunity truly to stretch your soul and then look for ways you can serve others through the giving of your time, talent or treasure.

Although this is the end of the week, we still have three more topics to review so we will continue this series for the next three days.

Closing Prayer
Abba Father, pour out your love upon us so that we may love you and love our neighbor as ourselves. Our hearts are also small. Enlarge them with your glory so they are fit for you. Open our eyes to your love so that we will always walk in your ways. Fill us with your Spirit that we may be your people. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Friday is a day where we focus on cultivating God’s wisdom.

My prayer goal for this week is _________________________________________.
My prayer goal for last week was _______________________________________.


Let’s pray:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us, not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Read the following passage from Matthew 5:3-12
     “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
      Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
      Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
      Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
      Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
      Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
      Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
      Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
     “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Reading for Wisdom
Today, we continue to think through what our spiritual lives ought to look like by focusing on the importance of an on-going, consistent pattern of growth.

When we read, we are seeking to grow wise, to have the text mentor us so that we will be able to live out God’s Word in our day-to-day lives. The text trains us in righteousness and equips us for good works. And as we seek God’s face and listen to his voice, God fills us with his grace and begins to develop in us the mind of Christ so that we may live his will out loud.

The values of Jesus’ kingdom are dramatically different from the values we embrace. Go through this list and provide what we normally value in place of the perspective Jesus gives here.

Why do you think Jesus values these characteristics? For instance, what is it about “meekness” that Jesus puts such a high value on it? What does “meekness” do in us that allows us to grow in Christ?

Which of these characteristics is strongest in the church in America? Which are weakest? Why do you think that is?

If this is a picture of discipleship, what does that say about what it means to follow Jesus?

Thoughts to Ponder

"If you plan to build a tall house of virtues, you must first lay deep foundations of humility."  (Augustine)

"The decision to grow always involves a choice between risk and comfort. This means that to be a follower of Jesus you must renounce comfort as the ultimate value of your life."  (John Ortberg)

One Thing
What do you think it means to hunger and thirst after righteousness? Without a doubt, you can’t hunger after righteousness without embracing all of the Beatitudes, and so hungering and thirsting after righteousness means putting on all of the Beatitudes. More than that though, it means longing for both personal holiness (desiring to do God’s will) and social justice (seeing God’s kingdom over all the earth). Today, we urge you to hunger and thirst after righteousness by seeking to do God’s will in every decision. Throughout the day, ask yourself what it would it look like to do God’s will in this situation. Throughout the day, meditate on one of the verses from the Beatitudes. Throughout the day, pray that God would give you a heart that is soft to his touch. Throughout the day, look for places where God is revealing himself to you. That’s what it means, in part, to hunger and thirst after him.


Closing Prayer
Abba Father, pour out your love upon us so that we may love you and love our neighbor as ourselves. Our hearts are also small. Enlarge them with your glory so they are fit for you. Open our eyes to your love so that we will always walk in your ways. Fill us with your Spirit that we may be your people. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Thursday is a day where we focus on the salvation we have in Christ Jesus.

My prayer goal for this week is _________________________________________.
My prayer goal for last week was _______________________________________.


Let’s pray:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us, not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Read the following passage from Philippians 3:12-21
     Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
     All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
     Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

Wise for Salvation
Today, as we wrap up this series, we want to focus on our goal to grow in our faith.

The Bible is a lens through which we can see reality, life as God sees it, life as it really is. It opens our eyes to our own sin and need. It frees us to see God at work in our lives and in our world. It allows us to see how big our God is and how loving and gracious and wise. And it enables us to realize that we have been made children of God, sons and daughters of the Most High God. This is the reality the Bible allows us to see and experience.

Today, we want to celebrate God’s love poured out in abundance upon us so that we can be transformed. Choose one of the three assignments below that are designed to help us revel in our salvation.

(1) Paul urges us to live up to what we have already attained. What things have your attained (or know or believe) that you are not quite living up to? Where is your knowledge outrunning your behavior?

(2) Take some time and meditate on the words of the hymn, Soldiers of Christ, Arise (Charles Wesley)

Soldiers of Christ, arise,
And put your armor on,
Strong in the strength
Which God supplies
Through his eternal Son.
Strong in the Lord of Hosts,
And in his mighty pow’r,
Who in the strength of Jesus trusts
Is more than conqueror.

Stand then in his great might,
With all his strength endued;
But take, to arm you for the fight,
The panoply of God.
Leave no unguarded place,
No weakness of the soul;
Take ev’ry virtue, ev’ry grace,
And fortify the whole.

To keep your armor bright,
Attend with constant care;
Still walking in your Captain’s sight,
And watching unto prayer.
From strength to strength go on;
Wrestle and fight and pray;
Tread all the pow’rs of darkness down,
And win the well-fought day.

(3) Paul encourages the Philippians to follow his example, his way of living. How would you want others to follow you (what virtues do you see in yourself that you would want others to emulate?)? In what ways would you not want people to follow your example?

Thoughts To Ponder
"The right manner of growth is to grow less in one’s own eyes."  (Thomas Watson)

"In the spiritual life only one thing produces genuine joy and that is obedience."  (Richard Foster)

"Christianity does not consist in any partial amendment of our lives, any particular moral virtues, but in an entire change of our natural temper, a life wholly devoted to God."  (William Law)

One Thing
We believe that we are called to grow in our faith. So often we reduce this to adding a new truth or discovering a new principle, but Paul makes it clear that to grow means to step out in faith and live out what you believe. Below are three things we believe but sometimes struggle to put into action. Choose one and practice it today.

1) Prayer – pray through the day, reciting the Jesus Prayer (“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner").

2) Controlling the Tongue – Throughout the day, do not say anything negative about anyone or make any excuses for yourself. Speak only what is helpful in building others up.

3) Putting Others First – Throughout the day, passionately pursue serving others. Put the needs of everyone else above your own and seek their best in every situation.


Closing Prayer
Abba Father, pour out your love upon us so that we may love you and love our neighbor as ourselves. Our hearts are also small. Enlarge them with your glory so they are fit for you. Open our eyes to your love so that we will always walk in your ways. Fill us with your Spirit that we may be your people. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Wednesday is a day of worship, a day where we give praise to our God for his amazing love and grace.

My prayer goal for this week is _________________________________________.
Our goal for last week was _____________________________________________.


Let’s pray:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us, not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Read the following passage from Jonah 3:10 - 4:11
     When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened. But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. He prayed to the LORD, “Isn’t this what I said, LORD, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
     But the LORD replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
     Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. Then the LORD God provided a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.”
     But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”
     “It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”
     But the LORD said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”

Reading to Worship
Today, we want to focus on reaching out to those who do not yet know Christ because we believe that lost people matter to God. We also believe that sharing our faith is a crucial part of spiritual formation.

The normal response to encountering God is worship. When that doesn’t happen, our first question must be to ask why. Why isn’t our heart moved when we hear his voice in his Word? Do a heart-check to see if there is anything blocking your way to worship as you read this passage.

Using some words and thoughts from our passage, answer one of the following questions as we prepare our hearts and minds to worship (please make these statements as personal to you as possible).

• What strikes you as you read this passage?
• What do we learn about God from this passage?
• Jonah is the quintessential anti-missionary / evangelist. Explain why.
• What did God do to teach Jonah that he was a missionary God?
• Based on this passage, what should compel us to reach out to those who do not yet know Christ around us?
• Who do you think God was more concerned about, the people of Nineveh or Jonah?
• God sends a storm, a big fish, a worm and a heart of repentance for the people of Nineveh. What is God doing in your life to convince you that he is a missionary God? Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
• What do you think: did Jonah change at the end of the book or did he remain as he was before he boarded the boat bound for Tarshish?
• In what ways would Jonah’s encounter change him?
• How could this passage lead you to worship?

Question:

What characteristics do we as God’s ambassadors need to embody so that we can speak God’s love to a world that not only does not know him, but is hostile to his truth?

A Thought to Ponder
"The Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became Man for no other purpose."  (C. S. Lewis)

"The Great Commission is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed."  (Hudson Taylor)

The One Thing
Today, our focus is on reaching out to the lost with the good news that Jesus is Lord. Our assignment today as we conclude this series is for us to do one bold thing to advance the cause of Christ. It can be asking someone a great question about the deeper issues of life. It can be to briefly share part of your story of faith. It can be pursuing an act of compassion for the cause of Christ. It can be anything that moves you out of your comfort zone just a little bit in order to share Christ with someone in a significant way. You get to choose how you will do that. All we ask is that you step out in faith in some way to advance the cause of Christ.

Closing Prayer
Abba Father, pour out your love upon us so that we may love you and love our neighbor as ourselves. Our hearts are also small. Enlarge them with your glory so they are fit for you. Open our eyes to your love so that we will always walk in your ways. Fill us with your Spirit that we may be your people. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Tuesday is a day of reading for prayer, a day where we take God’s Words to us and pray them back to God and allow his thoughts, priorities and values to shape our prayers.

My prayer goal for this week is __________________________________________.
Our goal for last week was _____________________________________________.


Let’s pray:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us, not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.


Read the following passage from 1 John 4:7-18
     Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.


Pray Around The Text. . . .
Today, we want to pray that we would become more loving. As you read this passage, you may find yourself at odds with some of what the text is saying or with what it is calling you to do. Be honest with your struggles before God and wrestle with them in prayer.

Today, you may take a few moments to pray around, through, and with our text, allowing the text to shape, mold and structure your requests as we have in the past. Allow the Spirit to guide your thoughts as you grapple with the implications of this passage on your life.


To Consider As We Pray
"We can do no great things; only small things with great love."  (Mother Teresa)

"The more excellent something is the more likely it will be imitated. There are many false diamonds and rubies, but who goes about making counterfeit pebbles? However, the more excellent things are, the more difficult it is to imitate them in their essential character and intrinsic virtues. Yet the more variable the imitations be, the more skill and subtlety will be used in making them an exact imitation. So it is with Christian virtues and graces. The devil and men's own deceitful hearts tend to imitate those things that have the highest value. So no graces are more counterfeited than love and humility. For these are the virtues where the beauty of a true Christian is seen most clearly."  (Jonathan Edwards)


One Thing to Do Today
What does it mean to love? Today, your goal is to love the people around you. Reach out to difficult people with grace, forgive those who wrong you, be compassionate to those who are needy and do something special for those with whom you are closest. Today, try to live a life of love. Be the loving person you want to be.


Closing Prayer:
Abba Father, pour out your love upon us so that we may love you and love our neighbor as ourselves. Our hearts are also small. Enlarge them with your glory so they are fit for you. Open our eyes to your love so that we will always walk in your ways. Fill us with your Spirit that we may be your people. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Monday is a day of reading for repentance, a day where we confess our sins and receive God’s grace, pardon and mercy in abundance.

My prayer goal for this week is ________________________________________.
Last week, my prayer goal was ________________________________________.


Let’s pray:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us, not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.


Read the following passage from Hebrews 3:7-14:
So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness, where your ancestors tested and tried me, though for forty years they saw what I did. That is why I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.’ So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’” See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.


Pray Psalm 139:23-24 as you reflect upon this passage.

Lead us. . .
(Review if helpful) Reading for repentance involves the following eight steps (Surprise!).

• See yourself in the Text (which words jump off the page and confront you in this passage?).
• Uncover your idols (In what false hopes are trusting? What things do you believe you need to have to be happy in life? Where do you feel justified in your actions? What empowers your sin?).
• Reverse direction (What would it mean to turn away from your sin and pursue God?).
• Pray and ask, “What would growth look like?”
• Receive God’s grace and pardon.
• Inhale God’s beauty, goodness and love.
• Savor God’s mercy
• and Endeavor to live in newness of life (Live your repentance out loud).

Today, we want to move through this passage by seeing ourselves in the text.

The passage warns about hardening our hearts. How did the people of Israel harden their hearts? How do we harden our hearts?

Where are we failing to respond to God’s voice today?

How does one test God? Where are you testing God in your life?

Where are we demonstrating an unbelieving heart?

Why do people turn away from the living God? Why do you?

How can we be kept from sin’s deceitfulness?

Perseverance is a mark of a true disciple. What does it mean to endure and not give up? What can you do now to make sure you do not turn away from God tomorrow?


Prayer of Repentance:
Seeing our sin in this text is not too difficult. Our hearts are often hard. We struggle to believe God and to trust in his promises. We continually go astray. But these sins are rooted deep within our souls. Reread this passage and let the Spirit lead you into repentance.


Receiving God’s Grace and Pardon (From Hosea 14:1-4)
Return, Israel, to the LORD your God. Your sins have been your downfall! Take words with you and return to the LORD. Say to him: “Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips. Assyria cannot save us; we will not mount warhorses. We will never again say ‘Our gods’ to what our own hands have made, for in you the fatherless find compassion.” “I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them.


Thought to Ponder
"I am not what I might be, I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I wish to be, I am not what I hope to be. But I thank God I am not what I once was, and I can say with the great apostle, 'By the grace of God I am what I am.'”  (John Newton)


What One Thing Can You Do Today?
One way we know that we are growing in grace is that our love for and worship of God is increasing. Today, find five to ten minutes and spend that time worshipping God for his goodness and love. If you would like, you may spend this time singing a hymn or use this time giving thanks for how God has poured out his grace on you. You may list his attributes or glory in his works. Delight yourself in God and revel in his love.


Closing Prayer:
Abba Father, pour out your love upon us so that we may love you and love our neighbor as ourselves. Our hearts are also small. Enlarge them with your glory so they are fit for you. Open our eyes to your love so that we will always walk in your ways. Fill us with your Spirit that we may be your people. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

This is our final week of this study. As such, we want to review where we’ve been and spend some time thinking about where we want to go in the upcoming weeks.

Sunday is a day of preparation, a day to focus on what we want God to produce in us as a result of our time this week.

Francois Fenelon wrote: “There is nothing that is more dangerous to your own salvation, more unworthy of God and more harmful to your own happiness, than that you should be content to remain as you are.” Our calling is to grow, to strive to have Christ formed in us. And yet, many of us prefer to stay where we are, floating somewhere between not too holy and not too worldly. Being comfortable is the kiss of death for spiritual growth. But there is one more thing that torpedoes spiritual formation, not having a plan for growth. The old saying, “fail to plan, plan to fail,” applies to our spiritual life as well. Here’s where we as the church have gone wrong: we have not defined spiritual maturity in a tangible way, and we have failed to set out a plan to move in that direction.

This week, we want to challenge you to grow by thinking through how you want to approach the upcoming year with an eye to being spiritually formed.


Paul writes (Galatians 2:19-21):
“For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”


Let’s pray:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us, not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.


When we talk about spiritual formation, we understand that we are called to grow in these 8-9 areas:

• That we will be driven by grace, responding to God in faith, in worship and in gratitude, resting in his great promises.
• That we will invest in loving relationships, growing in graciousness, compassion and forgiveness.
• That we will be involved in reaching out to those who are lost and in ministries of justice and compassion.
• That we will be constantly seeking to grow in our faith, investing ourselves in things that the Spirit can use to produce his fruit in us.
• That we will embrace the values and the perspectives of the Kingdom on the Mount and seek to live out Christ’s teachings moment by moment.
• That we will give ourselves away to others, advancing the kingdom of God through the giving of our time, talent and treasure.
• That we will endeavor to be more authentic and transparent, dealing more and more with our heart issues rather than trying to manage our sin.
• That we will seek to be relevant, skillfully engaging our culture with wisdom and grace
• That we will truly invest ourselves in prayer.

Pray through the above statements and ask God to lead you to choose the one that you feel is most important to you right now for your spiritual formation. Pray that God would produce this in you in the upcoming weeks (“O God, change me. Pour out your grace upon me so that . . . .”). Pray this prayer repeatedly throughout the upcoming week. Keep this request in mind as a goal so that you will be aware of opportunities that God is giving you to develop this in you.

This one thing I ask of God this week (Prayer Goal for this week), that he would transform me with his grace so that _____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________.

My prayer goal for last week was _______________________________________.


(Optional) from St. Augustine’s Confession, Sections 1, 4 and 5 ( Penguin Books, Baltimore, 1964)

Can any praise be worthy of the Lord’s majesty? How magnificent his strength? How inscrutable his wisdom? Man is one of your creatures, Lord, and his instinct is to praise you. He bears about him the mark of death, the sign of his own sin, to remind him that you thwart the proud. But still, since he is a part of your creation, he wishes to praise you. The thought of you stirs him so deeply that he cannot be content unless he praises you, because you made us for yourself and our hearts find no peace until they rest in you.

What, then, is the God I worship? He can be none but the Lord God himself, for who but the Lord is God? What other refuge can there be, except our God? You, my God, are supreme, utmost in goodness, mightiest and all-powerful, most merciful and most just. You are the most hidden from us and yet the most present amongst us, the most beautiful and yet the most strong, ever enduring and yet we cannot comprehend you. You are unchangeable and yet you change all things. You are never new, never old, and yet all things have new life from you. You are the unseen power that brings decline upon the proud. You are ever active, yet always at rest. You gather all things to yourself, though you suffer no need. You support, you fill, and you protect all things. You create them, nourish them, and bring them to perfection. You seek to make them your own, though you lack for nothing. You love your creatures, but with gentle love. You treasure them, but without apprehension. You grieve for wrong, but suffer no pain. You can be angry and yet serene. Your works are varied, but your purpose is one and the same. You welcome all who come to you, though you never lost them. You are never in need yet are glad to gain, never covetous yet you exact a return for your gifts. We give abundantly to you so that we may deserve a reward; yet which of us has anything that does not come from you? You repay us what we deserve, and yet you owe nothing to any. You release us from our debts, but you lose nothing thereby. You are my God, my Life, my holy Delight, but is this enough to say of you? Can any man say enough when he speaks of you? Yet woe betide those who are silent about you! For even those who are most gifted with speech cannot find words to describe you.

My soul is like a house, small for you to enter, but I pray that you will enlarge it. It is in ruins, but I ask you to remake it. It contains much that you will not be pleased to see: this I know and do not hide. But who is to rid it of these things? There is no one but you. . . .

What strikes you about this reading?

Augustine fashions these chapters as a prayer to God. How do they function as an act of worship?

According to Augustine, what is our calling as people made in the image of God? How should this shape our lives?

Augustine argues that without a proper understanding of God, humanity will suffer from a lack of contentment. Do you agree? In what ways would this inner restlessness reveal itself?

Augustine offers a moving description of God, filled with contrasting statements. What one paired statement stands out most to you? Why?

What one paired statement do you think would have the most impact if you were speaking to a seeker? Why?

What do you think Augustine would say is humanity’s greatest sin?

What is Augustine’s prayer at the end?

How can this reading shape our understanding of spiritual formation?

How can this reading shape how you approach this week?


Let’s Pray (adapted from The Valley of Vision: God the Source of All Good)
O Lord God, who inhabits eternity,
      the heavens declare your glory,
      the earth your riches,
      the universe is your temple;
      your presence fills immensity,
Yet, you have of your pleasure created life, and communicated happiness;
You have made me what I am, and given me all that I have;
     In you I live and move and have my being.
     Your providence has set the bounds of my habitation,
     and wisely administers all my affairs.
I thank you for your riches to me in Jesus,
      for the unclouded revelation of him in your Word,
     where I behold his person, character, grace, glory, humiliation,
          sufferings, death and resurrection.
Give me to feel a need of his continual saviorhood,
      and cry with Job, “I am vile,”
      with Peter, “I perish,”
      with the publican, “Be merciful to me a sinner.”
Subdue in me the love of sin,
Let me know the need of renovation as well as forgiveness,
      in order to serve and enjoy you forever.
I come to you in the all prevailing name of Jesus,
      with nothing of my own to plead,
      no works, no worthiness, no promises.
I am often straying
      often knowingly opposing your authority,
      often abusing your goodness;
Much of my guilt arises from my religious privileges,
      my low estimation of them,
      my failure to use them to my advantage.
But I am not careless of your favor or regardless of your glory.
Impress me deeply with a sense of your omnipresence,
      that you are about my path, my ways, my lying down, my end.


Thinking Through Spiritual Formation and Growth
Choose one or two of the following questions and think through your answer.

What does it mean to die to the law? How do we do that?

How have we been crucified with Christ?

What does it mean to live by faith?

What motivation is there in this passage for living a life of faith?

Why couldn’t righteousness be gained through the law?

What does this passage have to say about spiritual formation?


A Thought to Ponder
"We never become truly spiritual by sitting down and wishing to be so."  (Phillips Brooks)

"I want deliberately to encourage this mighty longing after God. The lack of it has brought us to our present low estate. The stiff and wooden quality about our religious lives is a result of our lack of holy desire. Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth. Acute desire must be present or there will be no manifestation of Christ to His people. He waits to be wanted. Too bad that with many of us He waits so long, so very long, in vain."  (A.W. Tozer)


Closing Prayer:
Abba Father, pour out your love upon us so that we may love you and love our neighbor as ourselves. Our hearts are also small. Enlarge them with your glory so they are fit for you. Open our eyes to your love so that we will always walk in your ways. Fill us with your Spirit that we may be your people. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Saturday is a day where we focus on trusting God as we walk more and more in grace.

My prayer goal for this week is ________________________________________.
My prayer goal last week was _________________________________________.


Let’s pray:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us, not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.


Read the following passage from Philippians 1:9-11:
     And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.


Learning to Trust God: A Week in Review
Let’s review some of the goals for this week to help us think through what it means to be a disciple, to be transformed in our hearts.

Our goals for this week were:

• Our prayer life is constantly growing in richness.
• Our prayer life is in proper alignment with the emphases and priorities of the Lord’s Prayer.
• We are spending sufficient time in prayer, solitude and in listening to God speak through his Word.
• We are able to pray with contentment and peace that God’s will would be done in our lives.
• We are growing more and more in gratitude.

What has this week added to your understanding of what it means to be a disciple?

Having thought through this topic this week, which of these goals do you feel is your strongest? Which one is the most challenging?

Where have you seen God at work in your life this week to produce his character in you?

It is possible that you didn’t see many indicators of God at work this week. If you didn’t, were there any extenuating circumstances or possible reasons?

What one thing struck you from your readings this week that you want to hang on to in the upcoming weeks?


The Joy of Being a Child of God
François Fénelon wrote, “Of all the duties enjoined by Christianity, none is more essential and yet more neglected than prayer.” There is no doubt he is correctly describing the plight of today’s church. We are bereft of spiritual power because we are bereft of people who know how to pray. If we are to be spiritually healthy, if we are to see the church catch fire and make a difference in our world, we must become a people of prayer.

But prayer is such a foreign concept to us. We tend to conceive of it as a duty, as a spiritual task to be done or as some sort of Christian rabbit’s foot. When we talk about prayer, it seldom carries with it a sense of joy, the sense of delight found in a child speaking to his or her loving father. It seldom sounds like a delight or a rich privilege. Our view of prayer is far from that of the New Testament.

And that leads us to this conclusion. The secret to prayer is not found in investing ourselves in more praying, but in developing a heart for God. It is when we truly love God that we are drawn to prayer. It is when we are basking in our adoption as sons that we find ourselves wanting to commune with God. Prayer is not about methods or duty or even the words we say. It is all about our relationship with God.

Today, God invites us to invest in deepening our relationship with him. And while there are several ways to do this, perhaps the most powerful is found in confessing that we don’t love God as we ought and asking him to change our hearts so that we can love him as we should.


Some Thoughts to Ponder
"Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons; but they are helpless against our prayers."  (J. Sidlow Baxter)

"Tell God all that is in your heart, as one unloads one's heart, its pleasures and its pains, to a dear friend. Tell God your troubles, that God may comfort you; tell God your joys, that God may sober them; tell God your longings, that God may purify them; tell God your dislikes, that God may help you conquer them; talk to God of your temptations, that God may shield you from them: show God the wounds of your heart, that God may heal them. If you thus pour out all your weaknesses, needs, troubles, there will be no lack of what to say. Talk out of the abundance of the heart, without consideration say just what you think. Blessed are they who attain to such familiar, unreserved intercourse with God."  (Francois Fénelon)


One Thing
H. MacGregor understood the calling of a pastor. He wrote: "I would rather train twenty men to pray, than a thousand to preach; A minister's highest mission ought to be to teach his people to pray." Today, we pray, over and over again, “Lord, teach me to pray. Change my heart so that I long to pray. O God, send your Spirit upon me so that I can love you. O God, pour out your grace on me so that Christ can be formed in me.”


Closing Prayer
Abba Father, pour out your love upon us so that we may love you and love our neighbor as ourselves. Teach us to pray and forgive us our prayerlessness. May we become so consumed with your glory that our hearts constantly seek your face in prayer. May we become so consumed with your kingdom and will that our hearts constantly seek your face in prayer. May we become so consumed with your grace, our sinfulness, and our need for you that we constantly seek your face in prayer. Today, we give ourselves to you, body, soul and spirit and ask that you would make us a people of prayer. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Friday is a day where we focus on cultivating God’s wisdom.

My prayer goal for this week is _________________________________________.
My prayer goal for last week was _______________________________________.


Let’s pray:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us, not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Read the following passage from Ephesians 3:
     For this reason I kneel before the Father, rom whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Reading for Wisdom
When we read, we are seeking to grow wise, to have the text mentor us so that we will be able to live out God’s Word in our day-to-day lives. The text trains us in righteousness and equips us for good works. And as we seek God’s face and listen to his voice, God fills us with his grace and begins to develop in us the mind of Christ so that we may live his will out loud.

You’ve now read several of Paul’s prayers. How do you feel they differ from the prayers that you regularly hear or even pray yourself?

How can this prayer of Paul’s shape the way you pray? What emphases, themes and ideas do you see here that could be used to strengthen the way you pray?

What role does God’s love play in prayer? What role does it play in our spiritual formation?

What is the role of the Spirit in our prayers and in our spiritual formation?

Paul says in his doxological ending to this prayer, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.” Is this your normal experience to prayer, that God does immeasurably more than what you asked or imagined? Or is this just a statement that God could do more or sometimes does more, but should not be taken as a promise or as expectation. What is Paul’s purpose for this doxology?

Our calling is to glorify God in everything we do (see verse 21). How does prayer glorify God?

What does it mean to be a spiritually-formed disciple based on this passage?

Thoughts to Ponder
"Our ordinary views of prayer are not found in the New Testament. We look upon prayer as a means for getting something for ourselves; the Bible idea of prayer is that we may get to know God Himself."  (Oswald Chambers)

"The Church has not yet touched the fringe of the possibilities of intercessory prayer. Her largest victories will be witnessed when individual Christians everywhere come to recognize their priesthood unto God and day by day give themselves unto prayer."  (John R. Mott)

One Thing
Paul’s doxology here is a profound statement of faith. Paul says, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” Throughout the day today, recite these two verses (once every hour would be great) so that its truth sinks down deep into your soul. Pray them over and over. As a special assignment, consider memorizing this doxology so that you can have it whenever you pray. This way it can be a source of constant encouragement to you and an aid to your prayers.

Closing Prayer
Abba Father, pour out your love upon us so that we may love you and love our neighbor as ourselves. Teach us to pray and forgive us our prayerlessness. May we become so consumed with your glory that our hearts constantly seek your face in prayer. May we become so consumed with your kingdom and will that our hearts constantly seek your face in prayer. May we become so consumed with your grace, our sinfulness, and our need for you that we constantly seek your face in prayer. Today, we give ourselves to you, body, soul and spirit and ask that you would make us a people of prayer. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Thursday is a day where we focus on the salvation we have in Christ Jesus.

My prayer goal for this week is _________________________________________.
My prayer goal for last week was _______________________________________.


Let’s pray:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us, not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.


Read the following passage from 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12
     With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith. We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.


Wise for Salvation
The Bible is a lens through which we can see reality, life as God sees it, life as it really is. It opens our eyes to our own sin and need. It frees us to see God at work in our lives and in our world. It allows us to see how big our God is and how loving and gracious and wise. And it enables us to realize that we have been made children of God, sons and daughters of the Most High God. This is the reality the Bible allows us to see and experience.

Today, we want to celebrate God’s love poured out in abundance upon us. Choose one of the three assignments below that are designed to help us revel in our salvation.

(1) Paul’s prayers all seem to downplay or at least minimize the physical and temporal and instead emphasize the spiritual and the eternal. How does Paul do that in this prayer? What would it look like if your prayers had this characteristic?

(2) Take some time and meditate on the words of the hymn, "Come, My Soul, Thy Suit Prepare" (John Newton, 1779):

Come, my soul, thy suit prepare:
Jesus loves to answer prayer;
He Himself has bid thee pray,
Therefore will not say thee nay;
Therefore will not say thee nay.

Thou art coming to a King,
Large petitions with thee bring;
For His grace and power are such,
None can ever ask too much;
None can ever ask too much.

With my burden I begin:
Lord, remove this load of sin;
Let Thy blood, for sinners spilt,
Set my conscience free from guilt;
Set my conscience free from guilt.

Lord, I come to Thee for rest,
Take possession of my breast;
There Thy blood bought right maintain,
And without a rival reign;
And without a rival reign.

As the image in the glass
Answers the beholder’s face;
Thus unto my heart appear,
Print Thine own resemblance there,
Print Thine own resemblance there.

While I am a pilgrim here,
Let Thy love my spirit cheer;
As my Guide, my Guard, my Friend,
Lead me to my journey’s end;
Lead me to my journey’s end.

Show me what I have to do,
Every hour my strength renew:
Let me live a life of faith,
Let me die Thy people’s death;
Let me die Thy people’s death.

(3) Paul continually prays with the triad of faith, hope and love in his sights. How could these three virtues become the focal point of your prayers? What would it mean for you to pray for others using these three as the structure?


Thoughts To Ponder
"The third petition of The Lord's Prayer is repeated daily by millions who have not the slightest intention of letting anyone's will be done but their own."  (Aldous Huxley)

"If you are sick, fast and pray; if the language is hard to learn, fast and pray; if the people will not hear you, fast and pray; if you have nothing to eat, fast and pray."  (Frederick Franson)


One Thing
Today, pray this prayer as you go through your day: “O God make me worthy of your calling. May your power bring to fruition every good desire of mine and every deed prompted by faith. May Jesus’ name be glorified in me.” Make this the prayer of your heart today and maybe for your life.


Closing Prayer
Abba Father, pour out your love upon us so that we may love you and love our neighbor as ourselves. Teach us to pray and forgive us our prayerlessness. May we become so consumed with your glory that our hearts constantly seek your face in prayer. May we become so consumed with your kingdom and will that our hearts constantly seek your face in prayer. May we become so consumed with your grace, our sinfulness, and our need for you that we constantly seek your face in prayer. Today, we give ourselves to you, body, soul and spirit and ask that you would make us a people of prayer. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Wednesday is a day of worship, a day where we give praise to our God for his amazing love and grace.

My prayer goal for this week is _________________________________________.
Our goal for last week was ____________________________________________.


Let’s pray:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us, not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.


Read the following passage from Ephesians 1:15-23
     For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.


Reading to Worship
The normal response to encountering God is worship. When that doesn’t happen, our first question must be to ask why. Why isn’t our heart moved when we hear his voice in his Word? Do a heart-check to see if there is anything blocking your way to worship as you read this passage.

Using some words and thoughts from our passage, answer one of the following questions as we prepare our hearts and minds to worship (please make these statements as personal to you as possible).

• What strikes you as you read this passage?
• How is worship modeled here?
• Again, what is the role of thanksgiving in worship and prayer (it is amazing how many times this shows us underscoring again and again just how important this is)?
• Paul’s prayer is that we might know God. What do we need to do that?
• Paul also prays for hope and power. How do these two gifts function to shape our spiritual lives?
• How could this passage lead you to worship?

Question:
Paul often ends his prayers with a doxology. How can praise (doxology) shape your prayers and give you a fresh perspective on life?


Two Thoughts to Ponder
"Some people pray just to pray and some people pray to know God."  (Andrew Murray)

"Faith in a prayer-hearing God will make a prayer-loving Christian."  (Andrew Murray)


The One Thing
Today as you go throughout your day, sing the doxology so that your heart is given to praise:

“Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye Heavenly Host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen."

Closing Prayer
Abba Father, pour out your love upon us so that we may love you and love our neighbor as ourselves. Teach us to pray and forgive us our prayerlessness. May we become so consumed with your glory that our hearts constantly seek your face in prayer. May we become so consumed with your kingdom and will that our hearts constantly seek your face in prayer. May we become so consumed with your grace, our sinfulness, and our need for you that we constantly seek your face in prayer. Today, we give ourselves to you, body, soul and spirit and ask that you would make us a people of prayer. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Tuesday is a day of reading for prayer, a day where we take God’s Words to us and pray them back to God and allow his thoughts, priorities and values to shape our prayers.

My prayer goal for this week is _________________________________________.
Our goal for last week was _____________________________________________.


Let’s pray:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us, not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.


Read the following passage from Acts 4:23-31
(Context: Peter and John had been arrested for preaching Jesus. They were threatened and released. They understood that to continue to preach would bring severe persecution for the church. Knowing that their lives were on the line, they returned to the church to discuss what to do.)

     On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: “‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed one.’ Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.


Pray Around The Text. . . .
There are several things to keep in mind as we pray around this text. First, we should note how the early church viewed God’s character. There was no doubt that this was a church that believed in a very big God. Second, we must note that given the choice of personal safety or sharing Christ, they gladly chose to suffer. They asked for power to do miracles even though they knew that was what caused their persecution in the first place. To do more miracles would bring a severe response. Third, they tied their requests to God’s Word, using the Old Testament to shape their requests and their understanding of their current situation. Fourth, they understood the sovereignty of God. And last, they prayed for themselves. They prayed that they would be enabled to speak God’s Word with great boldness.

Today, you may take a few moments to pray around, through, and with our text, allowing the text to shape, mold and structure your requests as we have in the past. Allow the Spirit to guide your thoughts as you grapple with the implications of this passage on your life.


To Consider As We Pray
"Those who do not believe do not pray. This is a good functional definition of faith. Faith prays, unbelief does not."  (John A. Hardon)

"Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers, pray for powers equal to your task."  (Phillips Brooks)


One Thing to Do Today
Today, we want to pray for boldness, asking God to give us his power so that we can live out Christ’s life in us before a watching world and proclaim his name. Today, pray for boldness.

And if you would like an additional challenge today, pray this prayer as you go: “O God, make me a person of prayer. Give me a heart that longs to pray to you.”


Closing Prayer:
Abba Father, pour out your love upon us so that we may love you and love our neighbor as ourselves. Teach us to pray and forgive us our prayerlessness. May we become so consumed with your glory that our hearts constantly seek your face in prayer. May we become so consumed with your kingdom and will that our hearts constantly seek your face in prayer. May we become so consumed with your grace, our sinfulness, and our need for you that we constantly seek your face in prayer. Today, we give ourselves to you, body, soul and spirit and ask that you would make us a people of prayer. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Monday is a day of reading for repentance, a day where we confess our sins and receive God’s grace, pardon and mercy in abundance.

My prayer goal for this week is ________________________________________.
Last week, my prayer goal was ________________________________________.


Let’s pray:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us, not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.


Read the following passage from Colossians 1:9-14
     For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Pray Psalm 139:23-24 as you reflect upon this passage.

Lead us. . . .
(Review if helpful) Reading for repentance involves the following eight steps (Surprise!).

• See yourself in the Text (which words jump off the page and confront you in this passage?).
• Uncover your idols (In what false hopes are trusting? What things do you believe you need to have to be happy in life? Where do you feel justified in your actions? What empowers your sin?).
• Reverse direction (What would it mean to turn away from your sin and pursue God?).
• Pray and ask, “What would growth look like?”
• Receive God’s grace and pardon.
• Inhale God’s beauty, goodness and love.
• Savor God’s mercy
• and Endeavor to live in newness of life (Live your repentance out loud).

Today, we want to move through this passage by praying and asking, “what would growth look like?”

In 1 Corinthians 11:1 Paul says, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” What things in this passage is Paul modeling for us in hopes that we will follow his example?

How do we know God’s will? What is Paul asking God to do when he asks him to fill these Christ followers with the knowledge of his will? How can we grow in our knowledge of God’s will?

What role does wisdom and understanding play in knowing God’s will? What role does it play in prayer? How can we grow in wisdom?

What would it look like to live a life worthy of the Lord? How can we pray for this?

What part does spiritual power play in spiritual formation? How do we get more spiritual power?

How can we grow in thanksgiving without being artificial? What part does thanksgiving play in living a life worthy of the Lord? What part does it play in spiritual formation?

How can we grow in our grasp that our sins have been forgiven?

How can we grow in praying like this?


Prayer of Repentance:
Paul prays for many signs of God’s grace in this passage. But while his intent is to encourage the believers in Colossae, an unintended consequence is to show us just how far short we fall of his ideal. Simply put, we do not always desire God’s will. Nor do we seek the Spirit for spiritual power. And we don’t want to endure hardship when bailing out is easier. Our prayers look nothing like Paul’s. Neither do we pursue his vision of godliness. His goal in life is to live worthy of the Lord in everything he does. Our goal is so often to life a life that is pleasing to us. At every turn we see a vast difference between our lives and the lives Paul wanted us to embody.

The intent of this prayer is to encourage these believers to pursue what is most important in their spiritual lives. But it can also reveal to us our failures and sins. Take a few moments and pray through this passage, asking God to lead you into repentance by showing you where Paul’s vision for prayer and the spiritual life differs from your own. Allow him to impress upon your heart where he wants to do a great new work of grace.


Receiving God’s Grace and Pardon (from Psalm 130)
     If you, LORD, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you. I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.


Thoughts to Ponder
"No learning can make up for the failure to pray. No earnestness, no diligence, no study, no gifts will supply its lack."  (E.M. Bounds)


What One Thing Can You Do Today?
Today, we want to pray this sentence prayer repeatedly through out the day (the more the better): “O God, fill me with your Spirit so that I may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way, bearing fruit in every good work. Amen.”


Closing Prayer:
Abba Father, pour out your love upon us so that we may love you and love our neighbor as ourselves. Teach us to pray and forgive us our prayerlessness. May we become so consumed with your glory that our hearts constantly seek your face in prayer. May we become so consumed with your kingdom and will that our hearts constantly seek your face in prayer. May we become so consumed with our needs--our needs for grace, for forgiveness, for spiritual protection and healt--that we constantly seek your face in prayer. Today, we give ourselves to you, body, soul and spirit and ask that you would make us a people of prayer. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Sunday is a day of preparation, a day to focus on what we want God to produce in us as a result of our time this week.

Samuel Chadwick said it best: “The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, and prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray.” Prayer is at the heart of being spiritually formed. It is how we abide in Christ. It is how we give ourselves away to others powerfully. It is how we reach out to those who are seeking. It is how we do everything. We know this, but. . . .  And this might be the greatest indictment of the church today, we know we need to pray, but. . . .

This week we want to invest ourselves in prayer, knowing that unless we get this right, everything else we have done in these ten weeks will be for naught. Remember, prayer is not preparation for the battle, prayer is the battle.


Paul writes (Colossians 4:2-4):
     “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.”


Let’s pray:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us, not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.


When we talk about growing in our ability to engage our world with the Word of God and to speak relevantly to it, we look for these five signs of God’s work in us:

• Our prayer life is constantly growing in richness.
• Our prayer life is in proper alignment with the emphases and priorities of the Lord’s Prayer.
• We are spending sufficient time in prayer, solitude and in listening to God speak through his Word.
• We are able to pray with contentment and peace that God’s will would be done in our lives.
• We are growing more and more in gratitude.

Pray through the above statements and ask God to lead you to choose one that you feel is most important to you right now for your spiritual formation. Pray that God would produce this in you in the upcoming weeks (“O God, change me. Pour out your grace upon me so that . . . .”). Pray this prayer repeatedly throughout the upcoming week. Keep this request in mind as a goal so that you will be aware of opportunities that God is giving you to develop this in you.


This one thing I ask of God this week (Prayer Goal for this week), that he would transform me with his grace so that ____________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________.

My prayer goal for last week was ______________________________________.


(Optional) Reflecting on The Critical Nature of Prayer (first from Martin Luther’s Exposition of John 16 and then from Luther’s letter to his barber, entitled A Simple Way to Pray)

"[Praying is not optional.] You are to look closely at this command and stress it that you do not consider prayer an optional work and act as if it were no sin for you not to pray and as if it were enough that others pray. You should know that praying is earnestly enjoined, with the threat of God’s supreme displeasure and punishment if it is neglected. It is enjoined just as well as the command that you should have no other gods and should not blaspheme and abuse God’s name but should confess and preach, laud and praise it. He who does not do this should know that he is no Christian and does not belong in the kingdom of God. If, then, you believe that God is justly angry with the idolatrous, the blasphemers, and the despisers of his Word, with murderers and thieves, and that terrible punishments come upon the world because of such sins, why do you not fear God’s wrath when you despise this command and live on in security as if you were not obliged to pray?"

What strikes you about this reading?

Do you agree with Luther that not praying is a sin and a very serious sin at that?

Luther says, “He who does not do this [pray] should know that he is no Christian and does not belong in the kingdom of God.” What arguments could you make to support Luther’s claim here?

Why do you think prayer is so important?

Luther seems to distinguish two types of prayer, one from a cold and inattentive heart that is just going through the motions and the other that is truly seeking God. Why is going through the motions in prayer particularly damaging to the soul?

Why does true prayer require concentration and singleness of heart?

How can you prepare your heart for (true) prayer?

How can this reading shape how you approach this week?


Let’s Pray (adapted from The Valley of Vision: After Prayer)
O God of Grace,
I bewail my cold, listless, heartless prayers;
     their poverty adds sin to sin.
If my hope were in them I should be undone,
     But the worth of Jesus perfumes my feeble breathings,
     and wins their acceptance.
Deepen my contrition of heart,
Confirm my faith in the blood that washes from all sin.
May I walk lovingly with my great redeemer.
Flood my soul with true repentance
      that my heart may be broken for sin and unto sin.
O my great high priest,
      pour down upon me streams of needful grace,
      bless me in all my undertakings,
           in every thought,
           in every word,
           in every step,
           in every deed
          and in all my prayers.
Let me know that the work of prayer is to bring my will to thine,
      and that without this it is folly to pray.
Teach me that it is wisdom for me to pray for all I have,
      that I may come to thee at any time,
      that my great sin lies in my not seeking your face,
      that my greatest joy is dwelling in your presence.
Help me to be all prayer and never to cease praying.
Amen.


Thinking Through Spiritual Formation and Growth
Choose one or two of the following questions and think through your answer.

What does it mean to devote ourselves to prayer? How can we do that?

Paul says we should be watchful as we pray. Why? What is Paul urging us to do here? What benefit is there to our prayer life to be watchful as we pray?

What is the role of thanksgiving in prayer? Is it crucial or is it merely a good thing to do?

How does prayer shape God’s will?

Which is biblically more proper: praying for others or praying for ourselves?

What was Paul requesting in this passage (Colossians 4:2-4)? What are the implications of this request?

What is the relationship between prayer and spiritual formation?


Thoughts to Ponder
"The enemy uses all his power to lead the Christian, and above all the minister, to neglect prayer."  (Andrew Murray)

"Prayer is warfare, Just getting to prayer is half the battle; staying there is the other half."  (Anonymous)



Closing Prayer:
Abba Father, pour out your love upon us so that we may love you and love our neighbor as ourselves. Teach us to pray and forgive us our prayerlessness. May we become so consumed with your glory that our hearts constantly seek your face in prayer. May we become so consumed with your kingdom and will that our hearts constantly seek your face in prayer. May we become so consumed with our needs--our needs for grace, for forgiveness, for spiritual protection and health--that we constantly seek your face in prayer. Today, we give ourselves to you, body, soul and spirit and ask that you would make us a people of prayer. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Saturday is a day where we focus on trusting God as we walk more and more in grace.

My prayer goal for this week is __________________________________________.
My prayer goal last week was ___________________________________________.


Let’s pray:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us, not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.


Read the following passage from John 17:13-19
     “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified."


Learning to Trust God: A Week in Review
Let’s review some of the goals for this week to help us think through what it means to be a disciple, to be transformed in our hearts.

Our goals for this week were:

• We are attempting to engage our culture skillfully at some point.
• We are having more spiritual conversations with people who are lost, conversations that are winsome, gentle, gracious and engaging.
• Unchurched people see us as a loving people; and they speak highly of our character, integrity and compassionate lifestyle.
• We are growing in our awareness of the needs of others (both here and around the world) and how we can make a difference in their lives.
• We feel we are removing (and not creating) barriers to faith in the lives of people so that the only barrier left is the clear offense of the cross.

What has this week added to your understanding of what it means to be a disciple?

Having thought through this topic this week, which of these goals do you feel is your strongest? Which one is the most challenging?

Where have you seen God at work in your life this week to produce his character in you?

It is possible that you didn’t see many indicators of God at work this week.  If you didn’t, were there any extenuating circumstances or possible reasons?

What one thing struck you from your readings this week that you want to hang on to in the upcoming weeks?


The Joy of Being a Child of God
Jesus calls us to follow him into the world and to be salt and light. As his ambassadors, we are to show the beauty, grace, truth and love of Jesus wherever we go. By simply being Christ followers, we are to have a positive influence on those around us. But too often, the church retreats from her calling and finds comfort in withdrawing from the world and forming holy huddles. Instead of engaging our culture, we are much more prone to baptize secular culture and form a Christian copy. Some of this can be good. Some of this is simply bad art, and some of this is an attempt to deceive ourselves into thinking we can avoid the sins of our culture if we avoid the external husk. Jesus, however, calls us to be in the world but not of it. What does that mean to you? How can we do that so that we avoid a fortress-church mentality and the spirit of triumphalism that says we can do whatever we want and not be effected?


A Thought to Ponder
"Smart-alecky speech doesn't even work. It may win applause, but it does not win hearts. It hardens the person who feels targeted, because he feels mocked and misrepresented. It increases bad feeling and anger. No one changed his mind on an issue because he was humiliated into it. In fact, we are misguided even to think of our opponents in the 'culture wars' as enemies in the first place. They are not our enemies, but hostages of the Enemy. We have a common Enemy who seeks to destroy us both, by locking them in confusion and by luring us to self-righteous pomposity."  (Federica Mathewes-Green)


One Thing
Today, we invite you to go on a prayer walk (you determine the length and the time); and as you are walking, pray that God would give you a vision for how he wants you to engage your world better. As you pass by people, pray for them. If you pass by a business, pray for its success. If you pass by something of beauty, give thanks for it. If you pass by something that stirs up a memory, pray about it. Wherever you go, pray about what you see as God leads you and ask him to give you wisdom how best to touch the world around you with his grace and truth, beauty and goodness.


Closing Prayer
Abba Father, pour out your love upon us so that we may love you and love our neighbor as ourselves. Give us wisdom that we may engage our world with your truth. Give us compassion that we may speak with tenderness. Give us courage that we may always be faithful and give us hearts of faith that we may seek your glory in everything we do. Today, we give ourselves to you, body, soul and spirit and ask that you advance your kingdom in us and through us. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Friday is a day where we focus on cultivating God’s wisdom.

My prayer goal for this week is ___________________________________________.
My prayer goal for last week was _________________________________________.


Let’s pray:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us, not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.


Read the following passage from 2 Corinthians 6:3-12
     We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything. We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, and opened wide our hearts to you. We are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us. As a fair exchange—I speak as to my children—open wide your hearts also.


Reading for Wisdom
When we read, we are seeking to grow wise, to have the text mentor us so that we will be able to live out God’s Word in our day-to-day lives. The text trains us in righteousness and equips us for good works. And as we seek God’s face and listen to his voice, God fills us with his grace and begins to develop in us the mind of Christ so that we may live his will out loud.

What does this passage call us to do?

Our hope is that as we grow, we will be removing potential barriers to faith in the people around us (and not creating them). Our desire is that the only barrier left is the clear offense of the Gospel. Do you think Paul did that? How? What is required for us to live such a life?

Paul talks about having “weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left.” What do you think some of these weapons of righteousness are? What is Paul talking about here? How can we be armed with such weapons today?

Paul talks about having nothing, yet possessing everything. What does he mean?

What would you say is the goal of this passage?

What does it mean to be a spiritually-formed disciple based on this passage?


A Thought to Ponder
"To be a witness does not consist in engaging in propaganda, nor even in stirring people up, but in being a living mystery. It means to live in such a way that one's life would not make sense if God did not exist."  (Cardinal Emmanuel Suhard)


One Thing
What are some of the objections the people around you have that act like a barrier keeping them from coming to Christ? List five of them. What could you do to begin to remove these barriers? Having thought of several ideas, choose one and put it into practice. Today is a day to begin working on removing the barriers of one person that God has placed on your heart. Don’t rush it. Don’t force it. Don’t manipulate things. Instead, live out Christ before them in such a way that the barriers would begin to slip away. Remember, barrier removal is more often a marathon than a sprint.


Closing Prayer
Abba Father, pour out your love upon us so that we may love you and love our neighbor as ourselves. Give us wisdom that we may engage our world with your truth. Give us compassion that we may speak with tenderness. Give us courage that we may always be faithful and give us hearts of faith that we may seek your glory in everything we do. Today, we give ourselves to you, body, soul and spirit and ask that you advance your kingdom in us and through us. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Thursday is a day where we focus on the salvation we have in Christ Jesus.

My prayer goal for this week is __________________________________________.
My prayer goal for last week was ________________________________________.


Let’s pray:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us, not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.


Read the following passage from 1 Corinthians 9:19-23
     Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.


Wise for Salvation
The Bible is a lens through which we can see reality, life as God sees it, life as it really is. It opens our eyes to our own sin and need. It frees us to see God at work in our lives and in our world. It allows us to see how big our God is and how loving and gracious and wise. And it enables us to realize that we have been made children of God, sons and daughters of the Most High God. This is the reality the Bible allows us to see and experience.

Today, we want to celebrate God’s love poured out in abundance upon us. Choose one of the three assignments below that are designed to help us revel in our salvation.

(1) Paul says that he became like a Jew to win the Jews, like one under the law to win those under the law, like those not having the law to win those not having the law. What would it look like today to be like an American to win Americans?

(2) Take some time and meditate on the words of the hymn, O Breath of Life, Come Sweeping Through Us (Bessie Head, 1914)

O Breath of life, come sweeping through us,
revive your church with life and power;
O Breath of Life, come, cleanse, renew us,
and fit your church to meet this hour.

O Wind of God, come bend us, break us,
till humbly we confess our need;
then in your tenderness remake us,
revive, restore, for this we plead.

O Breath of love, come breathe within us,
renewing thought and will and heart;
come, Love of Christ, afresh to win us,
revive your church in every part.

O Heart of Christ, once broken for us,
‘tis there we find our strength and rest;
our broken, contrite hearts now solace,
and let your waiting church be blest.

Revive us, Lord! Is zeal abating
while harvest fields are vast and white?
Revive us, Lord, the world is waiting;
equip your church to spread the light.

(3) Francis Schaeffer in his book, Art and the Bible, outlines a Christian perspective on art. He writes: “The first [principle] is the most important: a work of art has value in itself. For some this principle may seem too obvious to mention, but for many Christians it is unthinkable. And yet if we miss this point, we miss the very essence of art. Art is not something we merely analyze or value for its intellectual content. It is something to be enjoyed. . . . As a Christian, we know why a work of art had value. Why? First, because a work of art is a work of creativity, and creativity had value because God is the Creator. . . . Being in the image of the Creator, we are called upon to have creativity.”

• What do you think about this?
• How are you being an artist in your life?
• How are worship and art linked together?

A Thought To Ponder
"The gospel is not a set of techniques for making people Christians. Nor is it a set of systematic theological reflections, however important. The gospel is the announcement that Jesus is Lord--Lord of the world, Lord of the cosmos, Lord of the earth, of the ozone layer, of whales and waterfalls, and of trees and tortoises. And as soon as we get this right, we destroy in a stroke the disastrous dichotomy that has existed in people's minds [between the sacred and the secular]."  (N.T. Wright)


One Thing
Wright’s quote above sets out a very important truth. There is no secular/sacred dichotomy. All of life is sacred for the Christ follower. Everything we do is worship. Our work is an offering to God. Our recreational pursuits are holy. Our enjoyment of the arts is a form of praise. All of life is to be lived to the Lord as a means of worship. Everything is holy to those who consider it so. Today as you go through your day, remember this truth. And to make it more “real,” as you go throughout your day, pray this short prayer as a means of surrendering whatever you are doing to God: “I give this to you Lord as token of my worship and praise.”


Closing Prayer
Abba Father, pour out your love upon us so that we may love you and love our neighbor as ourselves. Give us wisdom that we may engage our world with your truth. Give us compassion that we may speak with tenderness. Give us courage that we may always be faithful and give us hearts of faith that we may seek your glory in everything we do. Today, we give ourselves to you, body, soul and spirit and ask that you advance your kingdom in us and through us. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Wednesday is a day of worship, a day where we give praise to our God for his amazing love and grace.

My prayer goal for this week is __________________________________________.
Our goal for last week was _____________________________________________.


Let’s pray:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us, not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.


Read the following passage from Acts 17 where Paul speaks to a group of philosophical intellectuals in Athens (note: this is one of the key texts that models cultural engagement and the need for relevancy)
     Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.
     “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”


Reading to Worship
The normal response to encountering God is worship. When that doesn’t happen, our first question must be to ask why. Why isn’t our heart moved when we hear his voice in his Word? Do a heart-check to see if there is anything blocking your way to worship as you read this passage.

Using some words and thoughts from our passage, answer one of the following questions as we prepare our hearts and minds to worship (please make these statements as personal to you as possible).

• What strikes you as you read this passage?
• How would you describe Paul’s method here?
• How do you feel about his method?
• How does Paul demonstrate that he understood Greek culture in this passage?
• What “secular” tools did Paul use to communicate Christ to these people?
• Where did Paul find common ground with these Athenians?
• What pastoral characteristics does Paul display here?
• How could this passage lead you to worship?

Question:
In order to engage our culture like Paul engaged his, what do we need to do?


A Thought to Ponder
"Because we are commanded by God to form and reform culture, Christians have to be actively engaged with culture: studying it, discerning positive and negative aspects, and working to redeem it. We are to be in the world but not of it, working to restrain evil and advance redemptive potentials. We are called to be salt in the world, working to enrich culture and preserve life-affirming aspects. We are also called to be a light to show the way for cultural development, uncovering and disentangling forces for good and evil, and redirecting unhealthy or destructive patterns toward principles in line with loving God and serving our neighbor. And the culture we are called to form and reform, to move toward redemption, includes even popular culture."  (William D. Romanowski)


The One Thing
Cultural engagement requires that we are involved in our culture. It requires that we invest ourselves to some degree in the “common ground” that we share with the people around us. And being Christ followers, it requires that we think Christianly about all of this. As such, we must remember that "all truth is God’s truth" and "all beauty is God’s beauty" and that everything we do as Christ followers, from digging ditches to partaking communion, is holy and is to be received with thanksgiving.

Today’s assignment is to choose one element of our culture that you enjoy (from anything in either high, popular, or even low culture) and to write down seven things about it for which you are thankful as a Christ follower. Think Christianly about this cultural form and then use those thoughts to formulate why you value this activity. Enjoy!


Closing Prayer
Abba Father, pour out your love upon us so that we may love you and love our neighbor as ourselves. Give us wisdom that we may engage our world with your truth. Give us compassion that we may speak with tenderness. Give us courage that we may always be faithful and give us hearts of faith that we may seek your glory in everything we do. Today, we give ourselves to you, body, soul and spirit and ask that you advance your kingdom in us and through us. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Tuesday is a day of reading for prayer, a day where we take God’s Words to us and pray them back to God and allow his thoughts, priorities and values to shape our prayers.

My prayer goal for this week is __________________________________________.
Our goal for last week was _____________________________________________.


Let’s pray:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us, not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.


Read the following passage from 2 Corinthians 9:6-12
     Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written:
      “They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor;
           their righteousness endures forever.”
     Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
     This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.


Pray Around The Text . . .
As you read this passage, you may find yourself at odds with some of what the text is saying or with what it is calling you to do. Be honest with your struggles before God and wrestle with then in prayer.

Today, you may take a few moments to pray around, through, and with our text, allowing the text to shape, mold and structure your requests as we have in the past. Allow the Spirit to guide your thoughts as you grapple with the implications of this passage on your life.


To Consider As We Pray
“As base a thing as money often is, yet it can be transmuted into everlasting treasure. It can be converted into food for the hungry and clothing for the poor. It can keep a missionary actively winning lost men to the light of the gospel and thus transmute itself into heavenly values. Any temporal possession can be turned into everlasting wealth. Whatever is given to Christ is immediately touched with immortality.”  (A.W. Tozer)

"Christian giving is to be marked by self-sacrifice and self-forgetfulness, not by self-congratulation."  (John Stott)


One Thing to Do Today
Paul calls us to live a life of sacrificial, compassionate and generous giving. Our goal today is to put that ideal into practice. Your mission is to find a need and to give generously to it (however you want to define it). It can be as simple as giving food to a homeless person, giving some time to a soup kitchen or serving in some ministry. Or it can be far more complex. Give a one-time gift to an international relief ministry or get involved in some cause. Whatever you choose to do be compassionate, be generous and be grateful that God has enabled you to bless others through the gift of giving.


Closing Prayer:
Abba Father, pour out your love upon us so that we may love you and love our neighbor as ourselves. Give us wisdom that we may engage our world with your truth. Give us compassion that we may speak with tenderness. Give us courage that we may always be faithful and give us hearts of faith that we may seek your glory in everything we do. Today, we give ourselves to you, body, soul and spirit and ask that you advance your kingdom in us and through us. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Monday is a day of reading for repentance, a day where we confess our sins and receive God’s grace, pardon and mercy in abundance.

Let’s pray:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us, not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.


Read the following passage from James 3:13-18
     Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
     But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.


Pray Psalm 139:23-24 as you reflect upon this passage.

Today, we want to move through this passage by seeing ourselves in the text.

The passage describes two ways of living, the wise and understanding way and the foolish way. Which one best describes your life?

How can James describe earthly “wisdom” as demonic? Is this hyperbole or does James really feel it is demonic in nature?

We are talking about engaging our culture and having great conversations with the people God puts in our path. What guidance does James give us in this?

James describes godly wisdom, saying that it is pure, peace loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Earthly wisdom must then be the opposite. What words would you use to describe it?

What is the role of wisdom in speaking to our culture?

What is the role of wisdom in spiritual formation?


Prayer of Repentance:
Seeing our sin in this text is not too difficult. We are easily consumed with envy and selfish ambition. We are proud and blind to the depth of our sin. But dealing with sin when it is so deeply entwined with who we are is extremely difficult. Reread the passage and ask God to help you see your sin and lead you into repentance.


Receiving God’s Grace and Pardon (From Ezekiel 36:25-27)
     I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.


A Thought to Ponder
"If you plan to build a tall house of virtues, you must first lay deep foundations of humility."  (Augustine)


What One Thing Can You Do Today?
There is a list of virtues in verse 17 (“But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.”). Write these down on a piece of paper so that they can become your focus as you move throughout your day. Today, strive to be peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere in everything you do. Be sure to think through every response you make so that you can act in alignment with this goal.


Closing Prayer:
Abba Father, pour out your love upon us so that we may love you and love our neighbor as ourselves. Give us wisdom that we may engage our world with your truth. Give us compassion that we may speak with tenderness. Give us courage that we may always be faithful and give us hearts of faith that we may seek your glory in everything we do. Today, we give ourselves to you, body, soul and spirit and ask that you advance your kingdom in us and through us. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Sunday is a day of preparation, a day to focus on what we want God to produce in us as a result of our time this week.

We believe that far too much attention in Christian spirituality is concerned with retreat and reflection. While we acknowledge and appreciate a rich inner life, we believe that true spiritual formation requires that we engage our culture and speak relevantly to our world. Our spirituality is intimately connected to our missional calling. Here’s the bottom line: true spirituality doesn’t withdraw and retreat. It isn’t found in a fortress locked away from the surrounding culture. Instead, it engages the world and speaks its language so that it may present Christ.

Israel’s purpose and calling was to speak to the nations. The disciples were not only taught by Jesus, but were sent out into the world to proclaim the good news. The book of Acts is the story of the early church proclaiming Christ throughout the Roman Empire. And our calling is to continue their work by taking Christ into our world in ways that they can hear and understand. Spiritual formation involves living to change our world.


Paul writes (2 Corinthians 10:3-5):
     For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.


Let’s pray:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us, not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.


When we talk about growing in our ability to engage our world with the Word of God and to speak relevantly to it, we look for these five signs of God’s work in us:

1. We are attempting to engage our culture skillfully at some point.
2. We are having more spiritual conversations with people who are lost, conversations that are winsome, gentle, gracious and engaging.
3. Unchurched people see us as a loving people and they speak highly of our character, integrity and compassionate lifestyle.
4. We are growing in our awareness of the needs of others (both here and around the world) and how we can make a difference in their lives.
5. We feel we are removing (and not creating) barriers to faith in the lives of people so that the only barrier left is the clear offense of the cross.

Pray through the above statements and ask God to lead you to choose one that you feel is most important to you right now for your spiritual formation. Pray that God would produce this in you in the upcoming weeks (“O God, change me. Pour out your grace upon me so that . . . .”). Pray this prayer repeatedly throughout the upcoming week. Keep this request in mind as a goal so that you will be aware of opportunities that God is giving you to develop this in you.


This one thing I ask of God this week (Prayer Goal for this week), that he would transform me with his grace so that ______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________.

My prayer goal for last week was _________________________________________.


(Optional) Reflecting on the Christ follower’s relationship to culture (from All God’s Children and Blue Suede Shoes, by Kenneth A. Myers, Crossway Books, Wheaton, Il, 1989, p. 51)

     “But saying that human culture is not holy is not to say that it is worthless. It is still part of the image of God in us for men and women to pursue cultural activities. The experience of human culture in all its diversity is the way we enjoy being human. And enjoy it we must. Being human is the most profound aspect of the creation for which we ought to give thanks. If we can enjoy the beauty of all else in creation, how foolish to resent or ignore the image of the Creator, the pinnacle of creation. It is being human, not being saved – it is the image of God in us, not regeneration – that establishes the capacity to recognize the distinctions between the beautiful and the ugly, between order and chaos, between the creative and the stultifying.
     We were created beings before we were redeemed beings. God’s benediction on creation has not been entirely erased by the Fall. Jesus Himself is not only divine, He is human. Does he enjoy it, or simply endure it? Until our bodies are made new, like the body Jesus now enjoys, our calling is not to escape fleshly existence, nor to sanctify culture (since it is “common,” shared by believer and unbeliever, and cannot be made holy), but to so influence our culture as to make it more consistent with the created nature of man and to sanctify our own lives, because we are also living in the Spirit, with our minds set on the things that are above.”

What does this reading call you to do? Is this a novel concept for you or is it business as usual?

How do Christians try to escape their humanity?

Myers says our calling is not to escape our culture, not to sanctify it, but to influence it as to make it more consistent with the created nature of man. What does he mean?

How do these paragraphs relate to our passage above (2 Cor. 10)?

How can this reading shape how you approach this week?


Let’s Pray (adapted from The Valley of Vision):
O God,
I know that I often do your work without your power,
     and sin by my Pharisaical obedience, my lack of love, my lack of prayer.
I see sin in my heart in seeking the applause of others.
This is my vileness, to make men’s opinion my rule,
     whereas I should see what good I have done and give you glory,
     and consider what sin I have committed and mourn for that.
It is my deceit to serve and to pray and to stir up others’ spiritual affections
     in order to beget commendations,
     whereas my rule should be daily to consider myself more vile than any man in my own eyes.
But you show your power in my frailty,
      so that the more feeble I am, the more fit I am to be used,
           for you do pitch a tent of grace in my weakness.
Help me to rejoice in my infirmities and give you praise;
      to acknowledge my deficiencies before others,
           and not be discouraged by them
      that they may see your glory more clearly.
Teach me that I must act by a power supernatural
      whereby I can attempt things above my strength,
           acting for Christ in all
           and having his power to help me.
Let me learn of Paul,
      whose presence was lacking,
      his weakness great,
      his speech unprofessional,
      yet you did account him faithful and blessed.
Lord, let me lean on you as he did,
      and find my service yours.


Thinking Through Spiritual Formation and Growth
Choose one or two of the following questions and think through your answer.

How do you think the world wages war in order to win in the marketplace of ideas and in the pursuit of popular?

How are we to demolish strongholds?

What does it mean to be “in the world” but not “of” it?

How is the local church to put this passage into practice?

What does it mean to take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ?

What does it mean to be a culturally-engaged spiritually-formed Christ follower?


A Thought to Ponder
"The friends of God should love him to the point of merging their love with his with regard to all things here below."  (Simone Weil)


Closing Prayer:
Abba Father, pour out your love upon us so that we may love you and love our neighbor as ourselves. Give us wisdom that we may engage our world with your truth. Give us compassion that we may speak with tenderness. Give us courage that we may always be faithful and give us hearts of faith that we may seek your glory in everything we do. Today, we give ourselves to you, body, soul and spirit and ask that you advance your kingdom in us and through us. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Saturday is a day where we focus on trusting God as we walk more and more in grace.

My prayer goal for this week is __________________________________________.
My prayer goal last week was ___________________________________________.


Let’s pray:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us, not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.


Read the following passage from 1 Peter 2:1-3
     Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.


Learning to Trust God: A Week in Review
Being authentic is not for the faint of heart. It requires courage, discipline, trust and a willingness to be vulnerable. It requires us to die to self and follow Christ. Throughout the gospels, we see that Jesus always took time for the outcast and the sinner. That was not the case for the hypocrites and the Pharisees, however. Those who emphasized image over reality and mechanical obedience over a true faith response earned Jesus’ worst criticism. Into which camp do you fall?

Today, we rejoice in grace as we push forward in our discipleship. Let’s review some of the goals for this week to help us think through what it means to be a disciple, to be authentic.

Our goals for this week were:

• We are more transparent and honest to the people around us.
• We have fewer secrets and struggles in our lives about which no one knows.
• We have someone who knows us well and helps us stay accountable and challenges us to grow.
• We know that we struggle to live up to our beliefs, but we feel like we are less hypocritical, less self-deceived and more authentic.
• We are actually dealing with the heart issues behind our sin rather than just trying to manage it or hide it behind our good behavior.

What has this week added to your understanding of what it means to be spiritually formed and authentic?

Having thought through this topic this week, which of these goals do you feel is your strongest? Which one is the most challenging?

Where have you seen God at work in your life this week to produce his character in you?

It is possible that you didn’t see many indicators of God at work this week. If you didn’t, were there any extenuating circumstances or possible reasons?

What one thing struck you from your readings this week that you want to hang on to in the upcoming weeks?


The Joy of Being a Child of God
Jesus calls us to be authentic. It’s the beginning point and the end point of true discipleship. Each day, we are to grow in our transparency for once we know that God has seen us at our worst and still loves us to the uttermost, then there is no longer any need to hide. Today, we bask in such a great salvation.

How are malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander related?

What biblical truth do we need to hold on to in order that we may rid ourselves of these things?

What does it mean to crave spiritual milk? How can you do that do today?


A Thought to Ponder
"God is none other than the Savior of our wretchedness. So we can only know God well by knowing our iniquities. . . . Those who have known God without knowing their wretchedness have not glorified him, but have glorified themselves."  (Blaise Pascal)


One Thing
Today, we want to put 1 Peter 2:1 into practice and rid ourselves of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander. Wherever these traits start to reveal themselves, make sure that you stop them before they go too far. Invest yourself in being aware of your feelings and motives. Pray that God would lead you. Seek to obey God’s voice and live a life of quiet humility and radical authenticity.


Closing Prayer
Abba Father, pour out your love upon us so that we may love you and love our neighbor as ourselves. Help us to be true to you and true to others. Teach us to rest in your unconditional love and not in our own attempts at righteousness. Forgive us our hypocrisy and lead us into true community. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Friday is a day where we focus on cultivating God’s wisdom.

My prayer goal for this week is __________________________________________.
My prayer goal for last week was ________________________________________.


Let’s pray:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us, not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.


Read the following passage: Jeremiah 2:2-8
     “This is what the LORD says: “‘I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the wilderness, through a land not sown. Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of his harvest; all who devoured her were held guilty, and disaster overtook them,’” declares the LORD. Hear the word of the LORD, you descendants of Jacob, all you clans of Israel. This is what the LORD says: “What fault did your ancestors find in me, that they strayed so far from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves. They did not ask, ‘Where is the LORD, who brought us up out of Egypt and led us through the barren wilderness, through a land of deserts and ravines, a land of drought and utter darkness, a land where no one travels and no one lives?’ I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and rich produce. But you came and defiled my land and made my inheritance detestable. The priests did not ask, ‘Where is the LORD?’ Those who deal with the law did not know me; the leaders rebelled against me. The prophets prophesied by Baal, following worthless idols.


Reading for Wisdom
When we read, we are seeking to grow wise, to have the text mentor us so that we will be able to live out God’s Word in our day-to-day lives. The text trains us in righteousness and equips us for good works. And as we seek God’s face and listen to his voice, God fills us with his grace and begins to develop in us the mind of Christ so that we may live his will out loud.

To be authentic, we need to deal fully with the heart issues behind our sin and not just try to manage it. How does our text help us to see more of our sin and deal with it appropriately?

How does this passage make you feel?

What does this passage call us to do?

In verse 2, God speaks about the devotion of Israel’s youth, a devotion that has long since faded. How as your devotion faded?

What fault do you think Israel found in God? What fault do you find in God?

What role does gratitude play in our text?

What does it mean to be authentic based on this passage?


A Thought to Ponder
"Evangelical repentance is repentance of sin as sin: not of this sin nor of that, but of the whole mass. We repent of the sin of our nature as well as the sin of our practice. We bemoan sin within us and without us. We repent of sin itself as being an insult to God. Anything short of this is a mere surface repentance, and not a repentance which reaches to the bottom of the mischief. Repentance of the evil act, and not of the evil heart, is like men pumping water out of a leaky vessel, but forgetting to stop the leak. Some would dam up the stream, but leave the fountain still flowing; they would remove the eruption from the skin, but leave the disease in the flesh."  (Charles Haddon Spurgeon)


One Thing
Actually recognizing our sin and dealing with it properly (and not just settling to be a sin manager) requires frequent times of quiet, intense introspection and confession. Today, find some time and think through your sin. Seek to uncover not just the practice, but also the sin of your nature. Spend some time praying that God would show you your true heart and then confess your sin to God. Authenticity demands that we are truly growing more and more aware of our innermost motives and cravings. Begin today by spending some concentrated time in confession.


Closing Prayer
Abba Father, pour out your love upon us so that we may love you and love our neighbor as ourselves. Help us to be true to you and true to others. Teach us to rest in your unconditional love and not in our own attempts at righteousness. Forgive us our hypocrisy and lead us into true community. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Thursday is a day where we focus on the salvation we have in Christ Jesus.

My prayer goal for this week is __________________________________________.
My prayer goal for last week was ________________________________________.


Let’s pray:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us, not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.


Read the following passage from Luke 6:37-42
     [Jesus said,] “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” He also told them this parable: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit? The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye."


Wise for Salvation
The Bible is a lens through which we can see reality, life as God sees it, life as it really is. It opens our eyes to our own sin and need. It frees us to see God at work in our lives and in our world. It allows us to see how big our God is and how loving and gracious and wise. And it enables us to realize that we have been made children of God, sons and daughters of the Most High God. This is the reality the Bible allows us to see and experience.

Today, we want to celebrate God’s love poured out in abundance upon us. Choose one of the three assignments below that are designed to help us revel in our salvation.

(1) Luke 6 warns us not be self-deceived about our own sin. How can we make sure we have an accurate picture of our own sin? How can we overcome a sin we don’t know we have?

(2) Take some time and meditate on the words of the song, "Speak, O Lord," by Keith and Kristen Getty (2005, worshiptogether.com)

Speak, O Lord, as we come to You
To receive the food of Your holy word
Take Your truth, plant it deep in us
Shape and fashion us in Your likeness
That the light of Christ
might be seen today
In our acts of love
and our deeds of faith
Speak, O Lord, and
fulfill in us all your purposes
For Your glory

Teach us, Lord, full obedience
Holy reverence, true humility
Test our thoughts and our attitudes
In the radiance of Your purity
Cause our faith to rise
Cause our eyes to see
Your majestic love and authority
Words of power that can never fail
Let their truth prevail over unbelief

Speak, O Lord, and renew our minds
Help us grasp the heights
of Your plans for us
Truths unchanged from the dawn of time
That will echo down through eternity
And by grace we’ll stand
on Your promises
And by faith we’ll walk
as You walk with us
Speak, O Lord, till Your church is built
And the earth is filled
with Your glory

(3) What is the difference between being judgmental (something Jesus condemns here) and being discerning (something Jesus urges us to be)?


A Thought To Ponder
"You can operate your business without Christ. You can make it run well. You can raise your family without Christ. You can even pastor a church without Christ. But if you do, you will find that there will be no fruit, no Christ-likeness, no manifestation of that beautiful character which arrests the attention of others. Instead there will be a sham, a phony imitation of the real thing, which will drive people away from Christ and will produce nothing but a dull, mechanical religiosity."  (Ray Stedman)


One Thing
Authenticity means truly expressing every emotion, from deep lament to incredible joy. Often times, we decide only to express the safer emotions, choosing to be neither too excited nor too sad, feeling that the people around us could not handle us if we expressed our real selves. Today is a day to express your true self, especially as it related to giving thanks. Be sure to tell the people around you how thankful you are for them (if that is true) and to share with them how grateful you are for all that they do to make your life better. Today, be authentic and give thanks to God for all of his blessings, especially for the people he has put in your life.


Closing Prayer
Abba Father, pour out your love upon us so that we may love you and love our neighbor as ourselves. Help us to be true to you and true to others. Teach us to rest in your unconditional love and not in our own attempts at righteousness. Forgive us our hypocrisy and lead us into true community. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Wednesday is a day of worship, a day where we give praise to our God for his amazing love and grace.

My prayer goal for this week is __________________________________________.
Our goal for last week was _____________________________________________.


Let’s pray:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us, not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.


Read the following passage from Colossians 3:5-14
     Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
     Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.


Reading to Worship
The normal response to encountering God is worship. When that doesn’t happen, our first question must be to ask why. Why isn’t our heart moved when we hear his voice in his Word? Do a heart-check to see if there is anything blocking your way to worship as you read this passage.

Using some words and thoughts from our passage, answer one of the following questions as we prepare our hearts and minds to worship (please make these statements as personal to you as possible).

• What moves you as you read this passage?
• What things do you need to put to death in your life?
• There are many surprising things in this passage (e.g., greed and sexual immorality are on the same level, filthy language is as bad as rage, not lying is a sign of the new left). What is the most surprising thing to you?
• Why is not lying to people that important? What does that imply about how we are to treat one another?
• What is the relationship between verses 9-10 and verse 11 which talks about there being no difference between Jews and Greeks and other potentially divisive groups? What was Paul’s train of thought here?
• What one thing do you need to put on from verses 12-14?
• How would you define spiritual formation based on this passage?

Spend a few moments in worship, praising God and thanking him for what he wants to do in your life.


Question:
What is involved in being “authentic” according to this passage?” How are you doing that?


Thoughts to Ponder
"There's one way to find out if a man is honest - ask him. If he says, 'Yes,' you know he is a crook."  (Groucho Marx)

"In confession the break-through to community takes place. Sin demands to have a man by himself. It withdraws him from the community. The more isolated a person is, the more destructive will be the power of sin over him, and the more deeply he becomes involved in it, the more disastrous is his isolation."  (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)


The One Thing
Paul urges us not to lie to one another. Today as you go through your day, do not lie. Don’t even come close to lying. Make sure there are no half-truths, little white lies, little bits of deception or attempts at manipulation. All day, invest yourself in telling the truth; and never come close to anything that can be labeled dishonest or deceitful.


Closing Prayer
Abba Father, pour out your love upon us so that we may love you and love our neighbor as ourselves. Help us to be true to you and true to others. Teach us to rest in your unconditional love and not in our own attempts at righteousness. Forgive us our hypocrisy and lead us into true community. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Tuesday is a day of reading for prayer, a day where we take God’s Words to us and pray them back to God and allow his thoughts, priorities and values to shape our prayers.

My prayer goal for this week is ___________________________________________.
Our goal for last week was _______________________________________________.


Let’s pray:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us, not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.


Read the following passage from James 5:13-20
     Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
     Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.
     My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.


Pray Around The Text. . . .
As you read this passage, you may find yourself at odds with some of what the text is saying or with what it is calling you to do. Be honest with your struggles before God and wrestle with then in prayer.

Then, take a few moments to pray around, through, and with our text, allowing the text to shape, mold and structure your request. Allow the Spirit to guide your thoughts as you grapple with the implications of this passage on your life.


To Consider As We Pray
"In the presence of a psychiatrist, I can only be a sick man; in the presence of a Christian brother, I can dare to be a sinner. The psychiatrist must first search my heart, and yet he never plumbs its ultimate depth. The Christian brother knows when I come to him: here is a sinner like myself, a godless man who wants to confess and yearns for God's forgiveness. The psychiatrist views me as if there were no God. The brother views me as I am before the judging and merciful God in the Cross of Jesus Christ. It is not the lack of psychological knowledge but lack of love for the crucified Jesus Christ that makes us so poor and inefficient in brotherly confession."  (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)


One Thing to Do Today
James calls us to confess our sins to one another, but rarely do we do such a thing. Part of being authentic is being willing to be vulnerable and open with others. Today’s challenge for spiritual formation comes directly from James, chapter 5. Today, find a few moments and find a good friend and confess some of your sins to them. It will feel strange, perhaps, to do so, but it is both freeing and good to do so. Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other that you might be healed.


Closing Prayer:
Abba Father, pour out your love upon us so that we may love you and love our neighbor as ourselves. Help us to be true to you and true to others. Teach us to rest in your unconditional love and not in our own attempts at righteousness. Forgive us our hypocrisy and lead us into true community. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Monday is a day of reading for repentance, a day where we confess our sins and receive God’s grace, pardon and mercy in abundance.

My prayer goal for this week is ___________________________________________.
Last week, my prayer goal was ___________________________________________.


Let’s pray:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us, not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.


Read the following passage from Matthew 23:23-28
     “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
      “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
      “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness."


Pray Psalm 139:23-24 as you reflect upon this passage.
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.


Lead us. . . .

(Review if helpful) Reading for repentance involves the following eight steps (Surprise!).

• See yourself in the Text (which words jump off the page and confront you in this passage?).
• Uncover your idols (In what false hopes are trusting? What things do you believe you need to have to be happy in life? Where do you feel justified in your actions? What empowers your sin?).
• Reverse direction (What would it mean to turn away from your sin and pursue God?).
• Pray and ask, “What would growth look like?”
• Receive God’s grace and pardon.
• Inhale God’s beauty, goodness and love.
• Savor God’s mercy
• and Endeavor to live in newness of life (Live your repentance out loud).

Today, we want to move through this passage by seeing ourselves in the text.

• Would you consider yourself a hypocrite? Do you think the Pharisees would have thought of themselves as hypocrites?
• Where are you straining out gnats but swallowing camels?
• Which is easier: cleaning the inside or the outside of the cup? Which one is more important to you? In which are you investing the most energy?
• In Jesus’ day very few would have viewed the Pharisees as anything but holy. Jesus viewed them in a totally different light. Why? What is Jesus’ major complaint against the Pharisees?
• Jesus pulls no punches here; and for those who think of Jesus as only being meek and mild, this chapter is rather a shock. How do you feel about what Jesus does here? Is he being fair?
• Jesus reaches out to sinners and outcasts. He enjoys conversations with people of questionable character. But Jesus, as evidenced by this chapter, seems to have little time for Pharisees. Why? What is it that drives Jesus' anger here?
• What does this chapter say about how Jesus views holiness?
• What does this passage say about spiritual formation?

Prayer of Repentance:
Jesus calls us to authenticity. He wants us to be transparent before God and others. Image, our outward conformity, and counterfeit spirituality have no place in his kingdom. But we are far more comfortable projecting the right image and doing the “right things” than we are being who God wants us to be. We are all guilty of hypocrisy, and we are all guilty of wanting to project something better than we are. Spend a few moments and ask God to lead you to see yourself in this passage and to reveal to you your heart of hypocrisy so that you may confess your sin and find his unconditional love.


Receiving God’s Grace and Pardon (from Psalm 19:12-13)
But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me.


A Thought to Ponder
"A bad man is worse when he pretends to be a saint."  (Francis Bacon)


What One Thing Can You Do Today?
Today, be aware of every time you try to project yourself as more holy or righteous than you are. Try to correct yourself midcourse and offer a “true” view of who you are. If that is not possible, if the moment passes, simply confess your hypocrisy to God and seek to avoid projecting a false image next time.


Closing Prayer:
Abba Father, pour out your love upon us so that we may love you and love our neighbor as ourselves. Help us to be true to you and true to others. Teach us to rest in your unconditional love and not in our own attempts at righteousness. Forgive us our hypocrisy. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.