Embracing Advent
WHAT IS ADVENT?
Advent comes from the Latin word adventus, meaning 'arrival' or 'coming', and is observed in the four weeks leading up to Christmas.
Just like Israel anticipated the arrival of a Messiah, throughout history the Church has used Advent as a season of reflecting on the birth of Jesus and anticipating his return.
Advent is a time to celebrate the King who has come and will come again.
It's a way of embracing Christ over consumer visions of Christmas.
It's a means of entering the story that shapes each of our stories.
EMBRACING ADVENT
Sometimes it's hard to know how to embrace different times of the year or seasons of the church calendar in practical ways that point us toward Christ. Three simple ways that the church has done this throughout history is by incorporating practices of anticipating, waiting and remembering. Here are some suggestions for how you can do that this Advent seasons!
Anticipate: Anticipate the coming of Jesus by spending time each day reading the Scriptures in the lead up to Christmas. God's word is a story about those who anticipated the coming of a Messiah—whether for the first or second time! You might like to ask this question each day too: What does this passage say about the importance and relevance of Jesus' incarnation: then, now and in the future? We’ve put a reading plan below that you might like to use.
Wait: Embrace small moments of waiting. Israel waited for generations for the coming of the Messiah, and we too await his return with longing and anticipation. The season of Advent reminds of that this wait is not in vain. In moments when you're waiting—in line for a coffee, as you fall asleep, on the bus or before meeting a friend—direct your prayers and thoughts in hopeful expectancy toward Christ, instead of reaching for your phone or another distraction.
Remember: While Advent is a season anticipating the future coming of Jesus, it's also about remembering the wonder of his first incarnation. One tangible way to draw your attention to remembering this is by lighting a candle each day. It's a physical reminder of the promise that Jesus came to be the light of the world, and continues to be today. You might like to pray at this time too!
If you’d like to read a little more about Advent, you can check out some further posts being made here: instagram.com/resilient_rhythms
Advent Reading Plan
1 - Isaiah 9:1-7
2 - Isaiah 11:1-10
3 - Isaiah 52:13-53:12
4 - Isaiah 61:1-6
5 - John 3:16-21
6 - Psalm 27
7 - Colossians 1:15-20
8 - Micah 5:2-5
9 - Matthew 11:2-10
10 - Zephaniah 3:14-17
11 - Galatians 4:4-6
12 - Romans 14:4-13
13 - Matthew 1:1-17
14 - Matthew 1:18-25
15 - Matthew 2:1-12
16 - John 1:1-9
17 - John 1:10-18
18 - Mark 1:1-3
19 - Psalm 100
20 - Luke 1:5-25
21 - Luke 1:26-38
22 - Luke 1:39-56
23 - Luke 1:57-80
24 - Luke 2:1-21
25 - Luke 2:25-33
A Short Guide to Lent
What is Lent?
Lent is a season of forty days–not counting Sundays–beginning on Ash Wednesday and ending on Holy Saturday, in between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Each Sunday during these weeks is normally set aside as a day of renewal and celebration, a ‘mini-Easter’ of sorts, to remember what the resurrection has won for us. In 2022, Lent runs from Wednesday March 2 until Saturday April 14th.
These forty days have historically been used by Christians as a time to prepare their hearts for the coming of Easter by engaging in practices such as fasting, generosity, and prayer in a more focused and intentional way than at other times of the year.
Where does ‘Lent’ come from?
The forty days is symbolic of the time Jesus spent preparing for his public ministry by fasting in the wilderness and enduring the temptation of Satan. There’s nothing extra spiritual about this specific number, rather it’s a way of marking the time in a meaningful way. In a sense, Lent is a season where we step away from the world, allow ourselves to reflect on what tempts us most, and spend time in prayer and dependence upon God.
Our word ‘Lent’ has its origins in the Latin word ‘quadragesima’, meaning ‘forty’. It also has derived meaning from the Old English word ‘lencten’—which means ‘spring’ or ‘springtime’—because Lent occurs during spring in the northern hemisphere and is symbolic of the new life offered in Christ through his death and resurrection. In the early church the forty days of Lent was often used as a time to prepare new converts for baptism.
What happens during Lent?
For nearly two millenia Christians have committed to a range of practices during Lent. The most common practice is fasting or giving up certain luxuries as preparation for the coming of Easter. This is done as a way of focusing wholly on Jesus, reminding ourselves we have everything we need in him, and to intentionally give ourselves to prayer and generosity toward others instead of being absorbed by the pleasures we have chosen to give up.
Other practices include daily Scritpure reading to reflect on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, times of daily repentance to confess our sin that Jesus laid down his life for, intentional acts of generosity to mirror the generosity of God toward us in Christ, and taking time to contemplate and remember death in a raw and meaningful way. Of course, these practices play a part year round in the Christian life, however Lent can be a season to recalibrate and reorient our hearts toward Christ through intentional engagement in one or more of these rhythms.
Why is Lent worth observing?
There’s no biblical command to observe Lent—so it’s purely by choice. In saying that, the aim of observing Lent is to reflect in a meaningful and embodied way upon Jesus’ journey to the cross so that we might take up our cross and follow him in response.
When done in a context of grace, the purpose of participating in Lent is all about remembering what Jesus has done in his death and the joy of partaking in his resurrection. We can’t grasp the heights of hope without being present in the depths of death—and Lent invites us to remember and engage in both.
How can I observe Lent?
There’s two ways we’re going to engage in the season of Lent at Resilient Rhythms. Feel free to join us in doing so within the context of grace—and knowing that this is all by invitation, not obligation.
1. Scripture Reading Plan: You can click here to access a forty day reading plan going through the four recorded eyewitness accounts of Jesus in roughly chronological order in the lead-up to Easter. We’d love to have you join us, or get a group together from your church or small group to read!
2. Engage in a Lent Rhythm: Over the next few days we’ll share about five rhythms to consider engaging in over the following forty days; fasting from something in your life, remembering death in an intentional way, regular repentance, daily Scripture reading, and intentional generosity and service.
May this be a season where you come to love the Lord Jesus more deeply.
Liturgy of the Ordinary: Book Review
Most of the moments that make up our days are, well, quite ordinary. Where is God in the mundane tasks? How do they fit with his purposes for our lives? And what if our faith feels even a little boring at times?
If any of those questions resonated, then Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life by Tish Harrison Warren is a book written just for you. Each chapter unpacks a seemingly ordinary part of the day—from checking your emails to brushing your teeth, and losing your keys to talking with a friend—and shows how all of it is part of what God is doing to form us into people who mirror Jesus more fully.
Here’s a favourite quote of mine from the opening chapter: ‘If I am to spend my whole life being transformed by the good news of Jesus, I must learn how grand, sweeping truths—doctrine, theology, ecclesiology, Christology—rub against the texture of an average day. How I spend this ordinary day in Christ is how I will spend my Christian life.’
I love that Harrison Warren takes the glorious heights of these theological riches and seeks to ground them in the small moments of each day. We can often overlook what God is doing in the present because of our desire for ecstatic experiences or feelings. But reading this book helped me to pay attention to how God is forming me in the ordinary as much as the extraordinary.
No matter your age or stage in life, I think Liturgy of the Ordinary will help you to notice God’s hand in the simple moments of life—and most helpfully, it will give you practices to do it.
If you pick up a copy, I’d love to hear how you find it! You can find it here.
The Deeply Formed Life: Book Review
While I’m taking some time to plan out some content for Resilient Rhythms in 2022, I thought I’d share a few book recommendations that have shaped my own formation and thinking over the last few years.
The Deeply Formed Life by Rich Villodas was my favourite book from 2020. It goes without saying that it was a tumultuous year, yet the vision cast in these pages was one of a hopeful and whole way forward in Christ.
What sets ‘The Deeply Formed Life’ apart from other books on spiritual formation is the breadth of its practices. It covers contemplative rhythms, similar to the ones we’ve explored here, but it also integrates practices for racial reconciliation and sexual wholeness in a world that desperately needs them. In short, it invites our whole being to come under the transforming power of the gospel through considering our inner life, relationships with others, and missional presence in the world.
While there are books that cover each of these topics in greater detail, I found the integrated approach that Villodas takes to be refreshing, confronting and captivating for most areas of my life with Jesus.
I couldn’t recommend it more highly! It’s definitely worth grabbing a copy, and even trying to read it with friend or small group to discuss the practices in the book. You can pick it up here.
I hope it’s a blessing if you read it.
Here’s one of my favourite quotes from the book, too:
‘The Sabbath reminds us of the gospel of grace. In actuality, Sabbath keeping might be the greatest sign of grace because it’s while we are intentionally accomplishing nothing that God loves us. This, indeed, is good news.’
This is the final post in an eight-part series looking at the rhythm of going to ‘a quiet place.’ I hope and pray it’s a blessing for your life in Christ!
-
Why do we go to a quiet place, and spend time seeking God?
For the sake of others.
We withdraw for the world when we withdraw from it.
Or so Robert Mulholland Jr. thinks. Here’s what he says about our spiritual formation;
‘Spiritual formation “for the sake of others” will be seen to move against the grain of a privatized and individualized religion and the deep-seated belief that spiritual life is a matter between the individual and God. There can be no wholeness in the image of Christ which is not incarnate with others, both in the body of Christ and in the world.’
Why read Scripture, sabbath, pray, and meet with other believers?
Sure, to mould and shape us. To comfort and encourage us. So that we might be conformed to the image of Jesus. But the implication of what Mulholland is saying is that isn’t where it stops. It is a means to the end of loving both the body of Christ and the world.
I love this thought because it presses on our motivations. It reminds us that Jesus goes to the quiet place to spend time with his Father, but he always returns and pours himself out in service of others.
I pray and hope this practice has been helpful for your life in Christ—and that as it draws you closer to him, it also propels you into the lives of others with love.
-
As we come to a close in thinking about the rhythm of ‘a quiet place’, my prayer is you’ve been encouraged to pursue Jesus in the quiet as an expression of love and devotion to him, and that in turn that will ultimately lead to a life of love for others. If you’ve got questions, thoughts, or particular things that stood out for you - I’d love to hear from you!
Five Best Practices
This is the seventh post in an eight-part series looking at the rhythm of going to ‘a quiet place.’ I hope and pray it’s a blessing for your life in Christ!
-
We’re nearly at the end of thinking together about a rhythm of going to ‘a quiet place’—so it’s time to get really practical.
Here are five best practices, to implement with wisdom and grace in your own life. I’d love to hear how it goes for you!
-
1. Listen more than you speak.
In Ecclesiastes 5:1, the teacher encourages readers; ‘Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.’ When we come to God, we’re often quick to speak and to offer our prayers—yet here we’re urged to listen. I find this counterintuitive most days, but there's a deep need for us to listen and allow our souls to come to a quiet state before God, so that we might hear what we miss in the noise of our lives. In a quiet place, listen more than you speak.
2. Use a journal.
Having a notepad and a pen feels archaic, but there’s something about taking the time to write down your thoughts and prayers that allows you to process your hopes, fears, prayers, dreams and very life in a more complete way. Sometimes I take it with me and don’t use it, yet often it’s my most helpful aid as I seek to quieten my heart before God. If it’s helpful to have an example, I always ask myself one simple question: what is God doing in my life right now? And I remind myself that I’m not writing it for anyone else, so I can be as honest as I like!
3. Start small.
Begin humbly, and allow yourself grace. You can’t rush something like this, especially in the noise of our everyday lives. Showing up to meet with God matters more than how you perceive it ‘went’. Focus on the time, not the content. Read a psalm, re-read the part of Scripture that struck you the most this week. Pray lots—or ponder the mystery that God hears your prayers. There’s no formula you have to follow. The point is, don’t worry so much about what you do—but whether you do it. God is with you always.
4. Leave your phone behind.
If you’re like me, your phone is your greatest distraction. When going to a quiet place, leaving your phone behind is the most helpful decision you can make to spend time in prayer, listening to the Lord, and quieting your heart. (We’ll also look in depth at rhythms around technology in the not too distant future!)
5. Avoid an imminent deadline.
It takes time to switch off from the worries and responsibilities of life, especially if our mind is already wandering into the next appointment we have. Wherever it’s feasible, try to avoid an imminent deadline so that you can linger for a little if you need to. Again, there are no rules with this - but it’s a best practice to help you sit peacefully and quietly before the Lord!
Guard a Time and Space.
This is the sixth post in an eight-part series looking at the rhythm of going to ‘a quiet place.’ I hope and pray it’s a blessing for your life in Christ!
-
Over the last few weeks we’ve been thinking about the practice from the life of Jesus of ‘withdrawing to lonely places’—going to the wilderness, or the ‘eremos’. It’s a rhythm we’ve called ‘a quiet place’.
Put simply, it’s a space that’s intentionally away from other people and distractions—not only physically but also emotionally, mentally, and spiritually—for the sake of communing with God.
It’s a time to draw near to God in the quiet, be reminded of our identity in Christ amidst a noisy world, confess our sin and be honest about our need for healing and wholeness, to cast our anxieties upon God, and where we allow the Spirit to minister to us as we direct our hearts toward God.
But the question is—how do we do that in the chaos of life?
Here’s a starting point to get the ball rolling.
Guard a time.
I’d suggest starting with blocking out 30 minutes once a week, and defending it from other plans and priorities that might creep in. There’s no need to prescribe a set time, but at least thirty minutes is be a good place to start.
Choose a time when you might be least likely to have other responsibilities or demands pop up too. Put it in your diary, block it out, and guard it!
Also, it’s important to remember that this is different to having a regular rhythm of reading your Bible and praying each day. There’s nothing to indicate Jesus did this every day, but we know he did it regularly and intentionally. Think of this practice as creating a space to intentionally pursue quiet, still, and uninterrupted time with God.
Guard a space.
There’s so much freedom with where you choose to practice this. It could be an armchair at home with a coffee in hand, a park down the road, a beach that you love, or sitting in your garden.
The point is to have a space where you feel at peace, and where you won’t be interrupted or tempted to do something else with your time. When you have a space—guard it from distractions that might encroach on your time. It might mean you need to finish uncompleted chores if you’re in your house, turning your phone off if you’re outside, or making sure you’re away from people.
You know what works for you and your space, so curate it in a way that is conducive to being with God, seeking him in prayer, and switching off from the world.
May you find a quiet place this week, and in doing so—find God.
Make It Your Ambition…
This is the fifth post in an eight-part series looking at the rhythm of going to ‘a quiet place.’ I hope and pray it’s a blessing for your life in Christ!
‘Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life’ - 1 Thessalonians 4:11
The idea of being ambitious about seeking a quiet life seems paradoxical.
We’re used to creating goals around our careers, savings, education and hopes for the future—so setting a benchmark to lead a quiet life feels like the antithesis of everything we’re encouraged to pursue.
And maybe that’s exactly the point Paul is trying to make. Here’s the broader context;
Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody. - 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12
Paul speaks into a culture of status, busyness, and hustle, by encouraging believers to orient their lives around three actions; loving one another, leading a quiet life, and working diligently—the kind of life we see Jesus living.
It sounds freeing, right?
In many ways, I think it’s the antidote to the stranglehold consumerism and achievement has on our culture.
To follow Jesus faithfully in our age means we need to rethink our ambitions. At the heart of the kingdom of God is not a desire to run ourselves ragged pursuing wealth, status and validation—but a life that is attentive to the ways we can love others and work within our limits.
My ambitions often look different to that. That vision of life scares me a little, if I’m honest. But I’m prayerfully and patiently hopeful that this is exactly where the kingdom of God will grow and do it’s greatest work in my life—away from the noise of my own ambitions.
Maybe that’s a prayer you want to pray too?
May the goals in our heads
match the ambition in our hearts,
and may the work of our hands
be that of love, quietness, and diligence.
p.s - I think it’s good, even godly, to have goals, ambitions, and dreams. I’ve got plenty! The struggle is to hold those ambitions alongside the vision of life we’re given in Christ—allowing his kingdom to shape our own, and not vice versa ✌🏻
Find Strength
This is the fourth post in an eight-part series looking at the rhythm of going to ‘a quiet place.’ I hope and pray it’s a blessing for your life in Christ!
A curious pattern.
I find it fascinating that at some of the most crucial times in Jesus’ life and ministry, he chooses to withdraw to ‘a quiet place’.
Before he chooses the twelve disciples, he’s in the desert hills alone (Luke 6:12).
After hearing of John the Baptist’s death, he doesn’t publicly berate Herod—instead choosing to take a boat to a solitary place (Matt 14:13).
And following a long day and night of ministry, he forgoes a sleep in and rises ‘very early’ to pray (Mark 1:35).
In fact, if we trace the most difficult times in Jesus’ ministry throughout the gospels—more often than not we find they’re accompanied by a retreat to the wilderness.
Weakness is the way.
In our greatest times of need, we’re often encouraged to work harder, be strong, or hold out for the next thing we’re looking forward to on the horizon. What we read in the gospels goes against the grain of everything we’re told to do culturally.
But the way of Jesus is to admit your need for God and drop everything to be with Him.
Why?
It’s because the wilderness isn’t a place of weakness, but one of strength. It’s where we meet with God and access a perspective beyond our circumstances. It’s how we fix our eyes on the author and perfecter of our faith, when it feels like our world is falling apart. And it’s where we find the sustenance for the difficult times we all face.
Some self-reflection.
If Jesus needed to go to a quiet place in the hardest moments, we do too. We need strength from God to navigate life this side of eternity. The next few posts will look at some practical ways to find time, guard a space, and humbly enter a quiet place—but let me ask you this question first: what is stopping you from taking say, thirty minutes a week, to sit alone in the quiet with God and pray, read, reflect, and receive?
Is it practical, like a lack of time or too much going on in life?
Is it desire, where your heart just resists the thought of it?
Is it uncertainty, about what to do with that time, or what might bubble to the surface?
Take some time to pause and reflect, and we’ll work through some practical ways to implement it later this week and next. No matter what it is, hear these words of Jesus: ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ (2 Cor 12:9)
Guarding our Attention
This is the third post in an eight-part series looking at the rhythm of going to ‘a quiet place.’ I hope and pray it’s a blessing for your life in Christ!
The power of our attention.
The Spanish philosopher José Ortega y Gasset once said, “Tell me what you pay attention to and I will tell you who you are.”
What we give our attention to reveals what we value. As theologian G.K Beale put it, ‘What people revere, they resemble, either for ruin or for restoration.’
In biblical language, it’s what the Psalmist refers to when speaking about worshipping idols, suggesting that ‘those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.’ (Psalm 135:18)
For good or for bad, what we prioritise and gaze upon regularly—the things we give our attention to—form us in more ways than we know.
The danger of distraction.
The reality is, often we fall into distraction and our attention is consumed by unimportant things. In an important article New York Times article from 2016 titled ‘I Used to be a Human Being’, journalist Andrew Sullivan wrote;
‘Modernity slowly weakened spirituality, by design and accident, in favor of commerce; it downplayed silence and mere being in favor of noise and constant action. The reason we live in a culture increasingly without faith is not because science has somehow disproved the unprovable, but because the white noise of secularism has removed the very stillness in which it might endure or be reborn…
If churches came to understand that the greatest threat to faith is not hedonism but distraction, perhaps they might begin to appeal anew to a frazzled digital generation.’
The call of Christ.
The air we breathe is distraction. Our attention is fought for daily. And if you’re like me—sometimes it’s overwhelming.
At the heart of following Christ is the call to lose our lives and find it in him. And that’s impossible to do if our attention isn’t focused on Jesus, but instead on our notifications, marketing that fills our screens, and the worries of life.
Life is full and often busy. It’s sometimes reality. But too often the sacrifice we make is devoting our attention to Christ. It’s why the account we get Mark 6:31-47 is so striking; Jesus is up all night praying because it’s legit the only time he can find. Sometimes life is chaotic—Jesus experienced it. But he never sacrificed going to the quiet place to pray and focus his attention on his relationship with God.
Preserving our attention.
How do we preserve our attention for the sake of Jesus? We look at the example of Jesus repeatedly returning to the eremos—the quiet place in the wilderness—and create time to do the same.
We all have jobs, study, or family responsibilities we need to be faithful with. But we also all have surplus time we waste and could devote some of it to focusing our attention on Jesus.
Here’s a simple exercise you could do to take stock of where your attention goes: spend a week intentionally recording where you spend your free time. Your phone will tell you your screen time for you, but tally up time watching T.V, reading, or other activities you do on your own. Then, consider how you can redirect some of that time towards finding a quiet place and meeting with Jesus the following week!
Drawing Near
This is the second post in an eight-part series looking at the rhythm of going to ‘a quiet place.’ I hope and pray it’s a blessing for your life in Christ!
A recurring theme.
There’s this recurring theme throughout the Scriptures of ‘drawing near’ to God. It’s a call to come close, followed by a promise that God will be near in return. Here’s a few examples;
‘Draw near to God and he will draw near to you’ - James 4:8
‘The LORD is near to all who call on him’ - Psalm 145:18
‘Return to me, and I will return to you’ - Malachi 3:7
It’s not about earning God’s nearness, but these verses show it requires some effort and initiative on our part too. It’s a two-way relationship.
The truth is...
Sometimes we wonder why God feels distant, or why we feel flat in our faith.
The truth is, God isn’t distant from us—we’re often distant from him.
Yeah, there’s times when it might feel like there’s distance even when we’re trying to draw close to God. That’s hard, and I feel you at times.
But often it’s more about our absence than his. And that shouldn’t surprise us when everything around us conditions us to ignore God instead of noticing his grace at work.
Consider Jesus.
This is where the details of the life of Jesus are so illuminating when we pay attention to them. In the gospel of Luke there’s nine recorded times that Jesus goes to the ‘eremos’—a quiet, isolated place.
Think about that for a moment—even Jesus needed time alone and away from the regular pressures of daily life to draw close to his father. He didn’t assume nearness or take it for granted.
What makes us think we could manage without doing the same?
Make time, remember grace.
Let’s get practical. How do we take this practice from the life of Jesus and apply it in our own lives?
Well, Jesus made time to draw close to his Father and be in a quiet place away from all distractions. You might like to start by making time in your schedule—say twenty minutes one day a week—and defending that time from interruptions.
Don’t feel the need to have an agenda, just space to stop and be still. A place away from the noise—only you and God—to slow down, listen to your longings, and direct your life toward God.
And in all that, remember grace. It’s unnatural for us to be silent and still. It might even be jarring or uncomfortable—so allow yourself time to sit and be with God in prayer, just like Jesus.
Finding ‘A Quiet Place’
This is the first post in an eight-part series looking at the rhythm of going to ‘a quiet place.’ I hope and pray it’s a blessing for your life in Christ!
The struggle to find quiet.
Life is busy, sometimes even chaotic. We all feel it, and we often say it; ‘I’ve been good, just busy with…’
People are addicted to screens, bombarded with information from every angle all day long.
And let’s face it, even if we’re diligent with our time—the simple everyday responsibilities of life often mean we don’t have much margin in our schedules.
Sometimes it feels like reading the Scriptures and praying blends into the noise of life, and becomes just another part of every day.
How do we listen to God and spend time with him in a world like that?
Jesus and the eremos.
There’s a rhythm from the life of Jesus that is crucial for us to recapture in the busyness and clamour of modern life.
Throughout the four gospels we’re told that ‘Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed’ (Luke 5:16). It’s a pattern throughout his life and ministry. The word used for ‘lonely places’ is the greek word ‘eremos’—which can be translated as the wilderness, a solitary place, a desert place, or a quiet place.
In short; it’s a place intentionally away from other people and distractions—not only physically but also emotionally, mentally and spiritually. Jesus practiced removing himself from the noise, pressures and clamour of his everyday life. And he did that by regularly going to the eremos—a quiet place.
Why we need a quiet place.
Here’s the pointy end: even Jesus needed to spend time in the quiet with his Father. We need it too.
It doesn’t need to be out in the physical wilderness—it could be an armchair by the window, a park or beach nearby, or the kitchen table once the kids have gone to bed.
A quiet place is less about the place, and more about the quiet. It’s a way to remove the distance we feel from God, be reminded of our identity in Christ, confess our sin and be honest with our need for Jesus, cast our anxieties upon God, and allow the Spirit to minister to us with our Bibles open and hearts directed toward God.
Finding a quiet place.
What many of us need is not simply to read our Bibles or pray more—but to find a quiet place to be with Jesus.
Phone away. Distractions removed. An unhurried pace. Just you and your Maker.
When was the last time it felt like that for you?
And more importantly; when can you find time to sit alone in a quiet place, and just be with God?
Receive Mercy, Find Grace
This is the third of 3 short posts about how to practically develop a rhythm of prayer!
thrones can be intimidating
When visiting an old palace in Europe recently, I stumbled upon the throne room. Entering inside, I got a sense of the importance that the royalty possessed, and how lofty their status was compared to my own. It was impressive in every sense, and I almost felt like I wasn’t worthy to be in such a place.
I imagine that back in the day, approaching the throne of a king or queen would be an intimidating moment. You probably felt like you had to justify being in their presence, or that you had something worth offering them.
but God is on a throne of grace
Sometimes we might feel intimidated to approach God’s throne. But listen to how it’s described here;
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:14-16
confidence through jesus
In Jesus—our great high priest who paid for our sins—we have someone who knows what it’s like to be weak, tempted, and human and yet never sinned. On the one hand he’s the King of kings, the ultimate royalty. But on the other hand, he’s experienced everything our daily lives entail. And that is profoundly good news. Why?
Because when we approach God’s throne, we know Jesus is next to him—ascended from earth to the right hand of the Father in heaven. And he understands and empathises with us, so our approach is not filled with intimidation but with the knowledge that we receive grace upon our arrival.
receive mercy and find grace
When we pray, we’re coming before God’s throne for a purpose; to ‘receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.’
Maybe you think that when you pray you’re only offering something to God—because entering into the presence of royalty can make us feel unworthy or like we need to justify our place before them. And it’s true that we offer our prayers to God to be heard.
But in Christ, we also receive mercy and find grace in our moments of need—because God’s throne is one of grace, not intimidation and unworthiness.
the confidence to approach
To get practical—the key phrase in Hebrews 4 is ‘with confidence’. That’s the posture that we approach God’s throne with. Let me urge you to confidently, boldly, and unashamedly come to God and ask that you might receive mercy and find grace—whatever your need is.
You’re asked to come to God confidently in prayer, and he will provide you with what you need. Don’t worry about the outcome, the words you utter, or if you’re worthy of speaking to him or not. Because in God’s grace, he gives to you even when you’re the one approaching him.
May you receive mercy and find grace today.
Pattern Your Prayers
This is the second of 3 short posts about how to practically develop a rhythm of prayer!
Paul - the OG prayer warrior
Sometimes I read Paul’s encouragements to pray and wonder how he put it his own statements into practice. Think about it;
Be constant in prayer - Romans 12:12
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances - 1 Thess 5:16-18
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God - Philippians 4:6
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests - Ephesians 6:18
Devote yourselves to prayer - Colossians 4:2
That’s prayer goals. But if you’re like me, it’s certainly not where you’re at.
posture yourself to pray
The reality is we have jobs, families, and responsibilities that are good and God-given. Paul’s assumption isn’t that we’d give up all of those things to pray 24/7—rather that we’d have prayer on the tip of our tongue and the top of our mind in every situation, circumstance and occasion.
He wants our default posture in life to be prayer, without exception.
pattern your prayers
How do we do that though? Great question.
The key to any new rhythm is setting a pattern that can be repeated. That removes the need to remember or find motivation, so that you just need to show up.
I’d ask yourself this question: are there times throughout your day that you can bring in a pattern of prayer?
Here’s some examples: brushing your teeth, every time you eat, before you start work, after each meeting you have, every hour on the hour, when you finish work. The list could go on forever.
mark your moments
There are moments that mark all of our days, and they’re opportunities to pray; with thanksgiving, presenting requests to God, or lamenting.
Start small, and then start marking more moments in your day with a pattern of prayer. In many ways, that’s exactly the spirit of Paul’s encouragements.
Everything we do, every single day, is an opportunity to marvel at the goodness of God or express our dependance upon him. God is present, inhabiting each of those moments already—so why not build a pattern of prayer into them?
Close Your Door
This is the first of 3 short posts about how to practically develop a rhythm of prayer!
sharing = caring?
Our world is saturated with social media. It’s punctuated by public figures. It’s increasingly interconnected.
And it can be tempting to think that our faith is only valid if it’s shared and made known to others.
I feel this at times, often concerning prayer. If I don’t share a post with prayer points for the most recent crisis, am I neglecting that situation? Will people know I care, and that I’m praying? Should my prayers be voiced publicly as a witness to non-believers, and an encouragement to believers?
Maybe, or maybe not.
there’s a place for secrecy
Right before Jesus gives the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew’s gospel, he tells them;
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” Matthew 6:5-8
sometimes: secrecy > sharing
There’s a place for public prayer, but sometimes it’s okay to close your door behind you, pray to your Father, and not share that with anyone. In fact—it’s more than okay. God rewards it. The secret place is not lesser than the public place. It’s often greater.
Mixed motives which often rise in our hearts in the presence of others, but they’re diminished when it’s just us and God. Faithfulness in prayer is about what is unseen by the world, and only seen by an audience of one.
In the kingdom of God, secrecy is often greater than sharing.
practice closing your door
Don’t be discouraged if your prayer life feels mundane. Don’t be worried if others pray out loud more eloquently than you. Don’t be deflated if you’re not sure how to share opinions about faith online.
The secret to a rich prayer life is this: Find a place to pray regularly. Close the door behind you (or look for space alone if you’re outside). And pray to your Father who sees, hears, loves and rewards you.
Learning to Lament
A PRACTICE FOR PRAYING IN HARD TIMES
life is hard.
Life is hard. Especially right now. Many of us are faced with the death of dreams and the loss of jobs. The removal of seeing people we loved, and plans being ripped away. There is war and violence in spades, and natural disasters aplenty. Some are faced with the grief of losing a loved one, or the sight of a sick friend.
It can be hard to know what to do at times. But the practice of lamenting provides us with an opportunity to respond. The Scriptures show us that:
It’s godly to tell God how you feel.
what is lament?
In moments when we feel the weight of life’s difficulties, it’s right to lament. It’s appropriate to cry out to God. And it’s a welcome sound to his ears. Put simply, lament is verbalising our complaints to God. The direction of our complaint is important; it’s not just grumbling or whinging—it’s expressing our frustration, anger and problems TO God. It’s an insistence that God is still good and worthy of our prayers despite any thoughts that are contrary.
Lament is what Jesus does when he weeps for his friend Lazarus and cries out on the cross—questioning God. It’s the language of one-third of Psalms, which verbalise much of our own feelings. It’s acknowledging what the teacher of Ecclesiastes says; there is a time to mourn and a time to grieve. Lament is far from unbelief or ungodliness—it’s a righteous response to the wrongfulness of life’s circumstances.
who to lament for?
In the Psalms, we see examples of lamenting for a variety of reasons, including;
Lament for circumstances: this is often done when the Psalmist addresses national tragedies, famine, wars, sin, and suffering
Lament for others: many psalms are written in such a way that they can be prayed for someone else. Prayerful lament is a beautiful and rich way to offer your voice on behalf of the voiceless, and a way of participating in the pain of others.
Lament for yourself: naturally many psalms address personal circumstances or inner struggles, and they provide a model of bringing those difficulties to God.
how to lament?
Sometimes it can be hard to know how to lament well, but we see countless examples in the Scriptures. Here’s a simple framework to guide you in expressing your hurts, heartaches and hardships to God:
1. Turn to God - address God trusting that he hears you.
2. Cry Out your Complaint - name the problem you see and bring it to God.
3. Express your Feelings - tell God how you feel knowing that he cares.
4. Appeal for God to Hear & Respond - ask for God to respond to your lament.
a prayer of lament
Using those four steps, pray a prayer of lament for the circumstances, people, or areas of your life that are heavy on your heart.
Three things that might help are; reading a passage of Scripture on the next slide, writing your prayer down, and having a quiet space to pray.
examples of lament to learn from
Here’s a few passage from the Scriptures to read that give some examples of godly lament, and a book recommendation:
The Psalms: 10, 13, 22, 42, 77, 88, 130
The book of Lamentations
Matthew 27:45-50
A book I’ve found particularly helpful in this space is Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament, by Mark Vroegop.
I’m praying this practice is helpful for you as you lament the suffering, injustice, and hardships of this life.
Embracing Silence
A PRACTICE FOR PRAYING IN HARD TIMES
We don’t like silence
Blaise Pascal once said, ‘All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.’ That was in the 1600s, well before smartphones and the internet hijacked our attention and begun numbing us through distraction. Pascal might be exaggerating, but it’s true that in hard times it can be easy to neglect how we truly feel. We can be afraid of what comes out in the silence of our lives, and instead choose avoidance, entertainment and distraction.
But Jesus embraced it
Jesus’ ministry begins in Mark 1 with being baptised—before immediately spending forty days in the wilderness, removed from everything other than wild animals, angels, and the temptation of Satan. He comes back to Capernaum for a few days to preach the gospel, call people to follow him and heal a bunch of people. Then he heads straight back to ‘a solitary place’ to pray. The only reason he returned was because they sent a search party to find him. Think about that rhythm of life. The son of God carved out time to sit in isolation and be with his father. Even Jesus needed to be alone, embracing silence, and away from the distractions of life. It was essential for his life and mission.
The Spirit intercedes in silence
Paul knows we need this kind of prayer life too. When talking about patiently enduring suffering in Romans 8, he writes that ‘the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.’ Offering our words in prayer is right and necessary. But offering our silence is equally valuable—and sometimes more so—because the Spirit intercedes for us in our silence. The same Spirit who empowered the ministry and resurrection of Jesus. There is unimaginable power in remaining silent.
The possibility of silence
What if our greatest need in prayer is to say less, and listen more?
What if we took the time and space to listen to the inner longings, fears, and hopes that never have space to rise to the surface—and allowed the Spirit to intercede for us?
What if embracing silence—alone in a room, on a quiet beach, or walking in a forest—holds the possibility for us to pray the prayers we most desperately need to pray?
What happens in the silence
I’m not sure what’s happening in your life right now, and whether it’s a time of joy, sorrow, or indifference. But I know that taking time to be silent with God will be a balm for your soul as the Spirit ministers to you and speaks on your behalf. Whatever season you’re in, the greatest threat to your spiritual health is distraction. The practice of silence is the antidote that the people of God need. We will find deep rest for our souls by being still and unhurried before the Lord.
Embracing silence in prayer
Try carving out some time in your day, week, or weekend to be silent before God. No agenda. Just time to be together, with no distractions, offering those moments as a prayer to him.
This practice is as simple—and difficult—as that.
May you find time to offer your silence as a prayer to God,
and may God’s Spirit help you in your speechlessness.
Praying the Scriptures
A PRACTICE FOR PRAYING IN HARD TIMES
Growing up in church I often heard that the Bible should inform how we pray, and I’d nod my head in agreement. ‘Of course! We pray the Scriptures.’ The problem was that in reality I didn’t really know what that looked like. Did I just say the verses back to God? Were my prayers restricted to only things mentioned in the Scriptures?
After some reading through church history and conversations with a Christian mentor, I slowly began to work out what that meant, and why it was helpful. Here’s what it boiled down to:
In the Scriptures, God gives us his priorities—so by praying what the Scriptures say we allow God’s priorities to shape our own.
Praying the Scriptures really means praying God’s will to be done, and not just our own. God gives voice to many of our thoughts, feelings and longings in the Scriptures, and he also directs our desires back toward him when they go astray.
It doesn’t limit or restrict the content of our prayers, but rather gives shape to what we bring before the throne of God’s grace. The Scriptures show us how to lament in times of grief and sorrow. They model thankfulness in times of joy. And they speak to the mundane moments of our everyday lives.
Not long after that, I decided to start keeping notes of verses in Scripture that could fuel my prayer life—and before long I had hundreds written down. I came to realise that my prayer life was deeper, richer, and wider because I wasn’t trying to remember what was worth praying for each time I came before God, but rather I had a deep well of God’s own words—his very heart—from which to draw upon. Now, I’m regularly writing whole prayers where every line is based on a verse of Scripture, like the ones you can find here.
Maybe for you the idea of using God’s word to inform your prayers sound weird, rigid or old-fashioned. After all, why do we need any kind of formula to pray? I hear that. And in a lot of ways, I agree. For me, I’ve seen it as a way of supplementing and not stifling my prayers. I still pray for the things on my heart, the struggles in life, and for the people I love. Those prayers have been deepened by allowing Scripture to give language to the longings I have but often can’t articulate, and have brought me back to God’s purposes when my own have been warped.
Why not start keeping note of some verses that could inform how you pray, and see where it takes you?
Today, when you sit down to read the Scriptures, you might even take a moment and consider how they should shape your prayers. Take a few moments throughout your day, and return to praying on those verses.
May the Scriptures be a deep well of wisdom as you pray.
Compassionate Detachment
A PRACTICE FOR PRAYING IN HARD TIMES
An Overload
Right now, in the palm of your hands, you hold the ability to access information about a seemingly endless amount of human hardship. Some of it you need to go looking for, but often it’s placed on your newsfeed by someone else. Notifications, stories, ads and opinions. It’s instant, constant, and at times overwhelming. There’s never been an era of communication like it in history. There’s undoubtedly positives to the technology we have. I could list tonnes. But there’s a glaring problem: we can’t hold all of this hardship in our hearts and minds. It’s simply too much to bear.
We Have Limits
We’re finite beings. We have limits. Our capacity isn’t big enough to cope with the sum of the suffering placed before our eyes. It’s natural, even right, for us to feel out of our depth swimming in the ocean of turmoil we find around us. And, importantly; that doesn’t mean we lack empathy or compassion—it just means we’re human, and not God. When we choose to recognise our limits, we’re being faithful to the way we were made. What we really need is a practice to help us acknowledge the hardships we see, while allowing ourselves to remember our finiteness.
Casting Your Fears
We find this practice when the apostle Peter invites believers to ‘cast all your anxieties on him because he cares for you.’ He’s writing in a context where ‘the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings’, so it’s safe to assume both the audience and Christians widely are suffering (1 Peter 5:7-9). And what’s his encouragement? To cast—or more literally ‘throw’—their pressures and burdens onto Jesus. It means ceasing to hold the difficulties you carry. That’s not because they’re told not to care, but because the one who catches their worries has an endless capacity for caring.
Compassionate Detachment
We’ve got to release the world; with all of its crises, trauma, people, suffering and pain. We have to detach from some of it, or we’ll be overwhelmed. And it’s possible to do that with compassion, because we know the one to whom we commit them. The practice of compassionate detachment is one of saying ‘Lord, I care about this situation or person, but I don’t have the capacity to hold it. I place it in your hands, knowing you can carry it without my help. I have limits, and you are limitless. Please act in a way that is merciful, just and compassionate.’ It’s desiring the alleviation of all suffering and hardship without needing to read every update, know every detail, and always hold an opinion. Distance is not always equivalent with callousness—it can be compassionate—especially if it honours our ability to continue to care for those whom we have responsibility for.
It Doesn’t Mean
To be abundantly clear: this doesn’t equate to not caring, and burying our heads in the sand. We’ll talk about lament in a few days, and actively praying for a grieving with others in their distress. If we love Jesus, we must lament with, suffer on behalf of, and intercede for the world and our neighbours. However that can’t ever extend to every hardship, crisis, and person equally if we honour the limitations we’ve been made with.
It Does Mean
You have permission to hand things over to God, to release the flood of bad news that washes over you to him, and to have some distance between you and every struggle being faced around the world. Part of faithfully following Jesus means acknowledging you have limits on your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual capacity. It also means trusting the limitless character of God, and knowing He is big enough to carry every ounce of brokenness in this world, and we aren’t.
Practicing Compassionate Detachment
Try praying a simple prayer today that compassionately places a situation or person into the hands of God, and trust that you can continue with life knowing God holds your prayer in his hands because he cares.
Hitting ‘Refresh’ on my Bible Reading with Lectio Divina
I wonder if you’ve ever hit a point in your life where you needed something fresh in your relationship with God. Not a fresh set of beliefs, rather something that helps you to see the same truths afresh in a new season of life.
That’s exactly how I was feeling to begin 2020 (pre-Covid and the whole world being turned upside down).
In the midst of a tough season personally, I was given a gift of grace in the form of ‘lectio divina’. A way of seeing the same old truths in the Scriptures from a different angle.
It helped me go from a Bible College student who had, for good purposes, engaged with the Scriptures on a primarily intellectual level, to someone who longed to hear God speak directly to ME when I opened my Bible—just like in my pre-college days.
Lectio divina is a historic and time-honoured way that the people of God have approached the text, and yet I’d never heard of it before!
Rich Villodas, pastor at New Life Fellowship Church in Queens, New York, is particularly helpful here. In his book ‘The Deeply Formed Life’, he explains Lectio Divina like this:
Lectio Divina is latin, and simply means sacred or spiritual reading. It’s a practice of slowing down and chewing on Scripture through four movements: lectio, meditatio, oratio, and contemplatio; that is, reading, meditation, prayer, and contemplation.
What I realised was in different stages of life, our rhythms often look distinct too. They need reinvigorating. The core is the same—we read God’s word—but the approach shifts. For me, this ancient, four-movement process was what I needed to ‘hit refresh’ spiritually.
In brief, here is how I’ve understand and practiced the four movements:
1. Lectio (Reading) - The first step is reading the text. The heart behind ‘reading’ here is not to simply read over the passage, but to slowly and attentively read, remembering that the words you’re reading are ‘alive and active’ - able to ‘penetrate even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow’ (Hebrews 4:12). It involves reading with a listening spirit, and being conscious that this is a time where you’re hearing from God.
Often it means reading the passage two or even three times, allowing the words to soak in, and asking God to help us locate what stands out or is being emphasised to us.
2. Meditatio (Meditation) - The second part is meditating, or reflecting. The practice of returning to the portion of the text that was most significant, and then meditating on it, enables it to sink in deeply and not be forgotten. By creating space to ponder the implications of this for our life, relationships and the situations we’re in, we enable God’s word to dwell in us richly.
It’s like chewing slowly, savouring the taste and texture with gratitude and thoughtfulness, taking as much time as you need.
3. Oratio (Prayer) - The third movement is prayer. After we’ve heard God speak, we offer words in response from our hearts, freely and honestly, from what has been revealed in the Scriptures. This particular text of Scripture determines our prayer to God in this moment, whether it be gratitude, lament, confession, praise or anything else.
The emphasis is on speaking to God after hearing him speak first, and actively engaging in our relationship with him.
4. Contemplatio (Contemplation) - The final portion of lectio divina is contemplation. Rather than finishing with ‘application’, or considering how to change, it’s a moment to rest in the goodness of the relationship you enjoy with God.
God has spoken in the word, and we’ve responded in prayer. There are no more questions required, but instead there is time to contemplate God’s love for us in Christ and slowly re-enter the rest of our day.
What I love about 'lectio divina' is that it's an invitation to slow down in a sped up world. It focuses on what God is saying through the text in the noise of our lives. And it allows us to be immersed in a relationship with God, and not only seeking to learn.
Maybe for you this is an invitation to reassess how you go about reading the text.
An opportunity to consider how you might ‘get something out of it’ when you read the Bible - namely deeper communion with Jesus - if you struggle too.
A chance to take stock and ponder if how you’ve always done it is helping you to love God more - or just a routine.
We can never reinvent or alter an ancient faith, and nor should we. But we can refresh our rhythms by revisiting the ways of old, and reclaiming lost traditions for a new age.
My hope is that you and I continue to fall more in love with the God who authored the Scriptures as we meet Him through them.
May you seek, and find, deeper communion with Jesus today as you read the Scriptures.