Mary Did Know

“Mary Did You Know?” has always been a favorite Christmas song of mine.  It is beautifully poetic as it expresses any mother’s fears about her newborn baby and her desire for him as a mother (tears always spring to my eyes at the words “This child that you’ve delivered, will soon deliver you”). The bridge never fails to bring tears of joy its hopeful refrain of the Gospel message of Jesus as our Savior and Redeemer resonating in a delightful crescendo.  This Christmas season I have found myself really drawn to Mary’s acceptance of God’s will for her life and my desire to mirror her words found in Luke 1:46 when she says “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”  And then as the Lord’s story for her life unfolds, her peaceful meditation as it says several times throughout the life of Jesus that Mary “pondered these things in her heart”.

In Luke 2 we read about the birth of Christ-beginning with Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem to be registered for the census-the hard journey being near the end of Mary’s pregnancy-on those long, dusty, hot roads: riding on the back of a donkey or walking when she got tired of riding and needed to stretch her legs.  Then vs. 6: “And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.”  Whoa!  Did Mary know she might give birth so soon?  Moms usually have a pretty good instinct of knowing when they’re getting close to deliver.  Did she know about the prophecy of Jesus being born in Bethlehem?  Was she nervous being without the familiarity and security of her family?  Instead her midwife was her betrothed?  They were only engaged yet he delivered her baby.  Talk about unconventional!  Vs. 7:  “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths (she had nothing else?) and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn” .  If Mary knew about the prophecy was she upset because God had not provided a place for them in an inn, for the Son of God no less?!

Did she realize the weight of the words the angels declared to the shepherds keeping watch in their fields by night, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” It doesn’t say how soon those shepherds came to visit them, but imagine!  A mother who delivered her baby in a manger, wrapped him in some rags and laid him down to sleep in an animal’s feeding trough, then visited by a bunch of shepherds with their smelly sheep-strangers.  Yet vs. 19 says “Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart”.  Did she recall the words of Gabriel when he first visited her with earth shattering news of the baby to come with the promise “For nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37).  Although we don’t know for sure, I imagine Mary did know.

After all, her response to God’s plan for her life was “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word. (Luke 1:38).  She knew that she was a servant to God and that if she loved him she had to trust and obey him.  Mary did know that if she was carrying the Savior of the world than surely God would work out all the details-she saw his faithfulness to provide a friend to share her secret with in Elizabeth, spending 3 months with her. Mary did know mercy when God gave her safety on the long, exhausting journey.  And she knew God’s provision when He provided a place for her to deliver her baby and then to lie his head down and sleep.  The shepherds may have been strangers (and smelly) but they were all united in worship and awe as sweet baby Jesus, God in the form of a baby, Savior of the world, lay sweetly sleeping.  Later when the 3 kings visited her, she may not have know how exactly but she knew God was keeping His promise as Jesus grew.  

This Christmas season, amidst the hustle and bustle of traditions and celebrations, let us not forget to be aware of what God wants to do in each of our lives.  Let us take the time to praise God for His faithfulness in our lives-“magnify the Lord, let your spirit rejoice in God your Savior for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant” (Mary’s song of praise in Luke 1:46-55).  He has saved you by His grace!  In what ways can your soul truly magnify Him this season?  How can you make much of our God?  

“He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.”  What great things has God done for you?  Tell him!  Sing praises to Him.  Tell others the things God has done for you.

Thank God for his mercy that he shows “for those who fear him from generation to generation”.  Ask Him how you can show mercy to others.

“He has shown strength with his arm”-He is mighty to save.  

“He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.”  Beg the Lord to take away our pride and give you faith like a child to receive all He wants for you-to increase your faith in Him.

“He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate.  He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty”.  As our world is ripped apart by war, disease, hate, famine…remember that God hears the cry of his children and He will give them justice.  Pray for those around the world who are living in this present reality.  Pray that God would give them hope and peace in their hearts to rest in Him and in His timing.  Beg the Lord to show you how you can help be a part of the solution.

“He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”  Hundreds of years later-the Lord had kept his promise in sending a seed to strike the head of Satan.  Jesus Christ, our Savior, who would one day become a man who would take the sins of the world on his shoulders, die in our place, rise again and sit at the right hand of God.  Jesus Christ, who is alive and well today is at work here on earth-“The blind will see, the deaf will hear, the dead will live again.  The lame will leap, the dumb will speak, the praises of the lamb!” Rest assured He is coming again-our King!  May we share this message with boldness this Christmas season to a world who is broken, bleeding, and dying.  Jesus is the answer and as Mary did know the faithfulness of God-treasuring and pondering His power in her heart-so must we.

Meditation…Fix Your Thoughts on Jesus

“True contemplation is not a psychological trick but a theological grace.” -Thomas Merton

“In our culture and in our society, Satan majors in 3 things-noise, hurry and crowds.”  Psychiatrist Carl Jung once said, “Hurry is not of the Devil; it is the Devil.” (Foster)  If he can keep us distracted and engaged in “muchness” and “manyness” then he knows we will be very ineffective in building the kingdom of God.  The Bible uses 2 different Hebrew words to convey the idea of meditation.  It has various meanings-listening to God’s Word, reflecting on God’s works, rehearsing God’s deeds, obeying God’s laws and more.  David says, “Oh, how I love thy law!  It is my meditation all the day..I hold my feet from every evil way, in order to keep thy word.  I do not turn aside from thy ordinances, for thou hast taught me.” (Psalm 119:97, 101, 102) Every time it is mentioned in the Bible there is an emphasis on changed behavior upon our part,as a result of our encounter with the LIVING God.  Repentance and obedience are essential characteristics in a biblical understanding of meditation.  

We read about Isaac going out into a field in the evening to meditate in Genesis 24:63.  David says “On my bed I remember you; I meditate on you through the watches of the night” (Psalm 63:6).  Eli, the old priest (1 Samuel 3:1-18) knew how to listen to God and helped Samuel as a young boy to recognize the voice of the Lord.  Elijah spent much time in the wilderness learning how to discern the “still small voice of the Lord” (1 Kings 19:9-18.)  In each of these incidences it is obvious that each person had an intimate relationship with God-they were close to his very heart.  God spoke to them NOT because they had special abilities, but because they were willing to listen.

We also see the example in Jesus, countless times during his few years of ministry on earth he habitually withdrew to “a lonely place apart” (Matt. 14:13).  He had to distance himself from the crowds so he could be alone with God-to talk to him, to listen to Him.  And as Christ followers we too are called to do the same-to get away from anything that hinders us and to get alone with God.

“Christian meditation, very simply, is the ability to hear God’s voice and obey His word.” That’s it-it’s not a formula, it’s a way of life.  Just as we would talk with a friend, so we can talk to God-pouring our heart out before Him (for He knows all our deepest secrets and fears anyways-“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.  Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” Hebrews 4:13).  But we have the freedom to bare our soul before God without fear of condemnation (Romans 8:1).  We are promised in His Word that “perfect love casts out all fear” (1 John 4:18).  

Foster cautions us, “Let us not become like the Israelites, who were not prepared for such intimacy with God.  Once they learned a little about God, they realized that being in his presence was risky business and told Moses so: “You speak to us, and we will hear; but let not God speak to us, lest we die.” (Exod. 20:19).  Foster goes on to say, “In this way they could maintain religious respectability without the attendant risks.  This was the beginning of the great line of the prophets and the judges, Moses being the first.  But it was a step away from the sense of immediacy, the sense of the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night.”  I don’t know about you but I want to speak directly to God, I want a deep and personal communion with him without any barriers.

“The truth of the matter is that the great God of the universe, the Creator of all things, desires our fellowship.  In the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve talked with God and He talked with them-they were in perfect communion.  Then came the fall and there was a rupture of this perfect communion, for Adam and Eve hid from God in their shame.  But God continued to reach out to His rebellious children and in stories of other Biblical characters (just like you and me today)-Cain and Abel, Noah, and Abraham we see God continually speaking and acting, teaching and guiding.” (Foster)  

Then in the New Testament we see Jesus walking and talking with his disciples-constantly teaching them as he does life together with mere men.  Even after his death we read in Luke that Jesus continues “to do and teach” even if people cannot see him with the naked eye.  In Acts we see the resurrected and reigning Christ, through the Holy Spirit teaching and guiding his followers-leading Phillip to new unreached peoples (Acts 8), revealing the Messiah to Paul (Acts 9), guiding the church out of its cultural captivity (Acts 15).  And there are many more accounts throughout the entire Bible where people (those who are actually listening) communicate with God on a regular basis.  

Do not make the mistake of thinking that these are only stories long ago and that God only speaks through the Bible- Jesus is resurrected and at work in our world.  “He is not idle, nor has he developed laryngitis and cannot speak.  He is alive and among us as our Priest to forgive us, our Prophet to teach us, our King to rule us and as our Shepherd to guide us.” (Foster)

Misconceptions about Meditation:

Meditation is misunderstood by a lot of Christians today because of their perception of meditation in regards to Eastern religions.  In reality, the 2 ideas stand in complete contrast with each other.  The idea of the practice of Yoga or the religion of Buddhism and the familiar pose of sitting Indian style, arms up and eyes closed has nothing to do with Christian meditation. 

Whereas eastern meditation is an attempt to EMPTY the mind and to think about nothing, Christian meditation is an attempt to FILL the mind-with Christ and what Christ is teaching us and to how to follow His ways and not our own.  Eastern meditation is all about detachment from the body to find Nirvana (peace) versus Christian meditation is all about the attachment to God and how to hear from him and be in communion with him-to find COMPLETE peace IN him.  This leads to the inner wholeness necessary to give ourselves to God freely.

So as you can see, these 2 concepts of meditation are complete opposites.  One confines us to a totally human experience while the other catapults us to a divine-human encounter.  While one talks about exploring the subconscious, the other speaks of “resting in Him who we have found, who loves us, and who is near to us, who comes to draw us to Himself”.  Both may sound “religious”, but the former fails to find a place for spiritual reality.  Another misconception about meditation is that it is too difficult, too complicated and should be left to the professionals.  But the idea and concept of meditation is for any one, it is Biblical and easy and all it takes is a desire and a willingness to do it.  Once it becomes a habit it is as natural and important as breathing.

Preparing to Meditate:

Just as we can only learn how to pray by doing it, so is true with meditation.  We learn to meditate by mediating.  I want to start out with a few suggestions.

-Set aside a particular time in your day to do it.  The Bible doesn’t tell us to do it at certain times-in the above examples you saw how some did it at night, others early in the morning, others throughout their day.  We can do it at any time and in any circumstances if we are intentional.  You know what works best for you-I am usually best able to meditate early in the morning during my time with the Lord before the girls are awake, my husband often does it during their naps, and we both strive to do it at different points throughout our day.  The church fathers spoke of Otium Sanctum “holy leisure”-a time set aside to not just hurry or run through life, but to pause and reflect on God and His grace and love.

-Find a particular place to meditate.  Find a place that is quiet and free from interruptions-no technology of any kind-phones, internet, etc.  We live in a society where we are constantly plugged in-constant communication almost endlessly at our fingertips, we must unplug with technology to truly be in tune to the Lord.  I have found it easy to meditate while going for a walk or even doing the dishes as I look out the kitchen window.  It is good to have a habitual place where you can spend the most time meditating but it is also helpful to be creative in meditating throughout your day-making it a part of things you do regularly-house work, long car rides while stuck in traffic, during your exercise, etc.  After all, Thomas Merton writes, “Meditation has no point and no reality unless it is firmly rooted in life.”

-Find a posture to meditate.  One that you are most comfortable with and least distracted-it may be with your head bowed and eyes closed, it may mean that you kneel.  Regardless of how it is done-the goal is to center the attention of your body, emotions, the mind and the spirit upon the “glory of God and on the face of Christ” (2 Corin. 4:6)  Foster says “What happens in meditation is that we create the emotional and spiritual space which allows Christ to construct an inner sanctuary in the heart.”

Forms of Meditation:

-Scripture:  Keeping our focus on God’s WORD is the most important part of meditation-our lens in which to keep everything in proper perspective.  When we meditate on the Bible, the words come alive and become real to you (“For the word of God is living and active.  Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”  Hebrews 4:12).  “It is a time to set aside all our tendencies to be arrogant and instead to have a humble heart to receive whatever it is that God wants to tell you.  Just as you do not analyze the words of someone you love but accept them as they are said to you, you must ACCEPT the word of Scripture and ponder them in your heart, as Mary did.  That is all.  That is meditation.  It is important to resist the temptation to pass over many passages superficially-our rushing reflects our internal state and this is what needs to be TRANSFORMED.” (Foster)  We cannot truly meditate on God’s living word and walk away unchanged! Camp out on Scripture-spend a week or two on a chapter in Psalms, read one of the Gospels over and over again, learn a parable or a few verses and truly let them sink in and take root in your heart-this is where we see heart change that is lasting because God promises us that His word never returns void.  

-Palms down, palms up:  “Wait a minute,” you may be thinking, “I thought this wasn’t yoga.” It’s not.  But the reality is that we are visual beings and physical cues can help us connect things from our head to our heart.   This is why you may find this practice helpful.  In the middle ages the Quakers called it “Recollection” or sometimes “palms down, palms up”.  Begin by placing your palms down as a symbolic indication of your desire to turn over any concerns you have to God. Inwardly you pray for the Lord to take away your worries, desire for control over your life…then you turn your palms up as a symbol of your desire to receive from God.  You could pray silently and allow the Lord to commune with you-to love you.  Spend time in complete silence so you can listen and not ask anything but let God to speak to you about situations and circumstances.

-Contemplative Prayer:  This is prayer where you specifically meditate on God’s creation-where the great Creator of the universe shows us something of His glory through his creation.  Psalms 19:1 says “The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of His hands.”  Spend time specifically thanking God for different parts of His creation and meditate on the AWESOME work of His hands, how He has authority over all.

Don’t be discouraged if in the beginning your meditation has little meaning to you. “This spiritual discipline is another piece of our journey in our walk with God- a progression.  It is wise to have some experience with lesser peaks before trying to tackle the Mt. Everest of the soul. “ (Foster) So be patient with yourself.   Just remember that meditation is not a single act, nor can it be completed in a short period of time, or checked off as a completed task.  It is a way of life. You will be constantly learning and growing as you discover and dive deeper in your walk with the King.  “Therefore, holy brothers (and sisters), who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess.” (Hebrews 3:1)  The familiar words of the timeless hymn “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus” drift up to my memory-Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.”  Let this song be our prayer, that as we focus our attention fully on Jesus, all others things will fade away from view and we will grow deeper in our trust and love for our Savior.

By Laurel Jeremiadoss

***If you are interested in studying the spiritual disciplines further, most of our teaching comes from Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline, Spiritual Disciplines by Donald Whitney and E.M. Bounds’ Weapons of Prayer.

Prayer: Enough with the Excuses….Just Do It!

“Not to pray is to deny God-to deny His existence, His Nature, and His purposes toward mankind.”  E.M. Bounds

The Lord is really working in mine and my husband’s lives right now- through us learning spiritual disciplines.  Selvin is teaching spiritual disciplines to the trainees going through bush camp and as a couple we are focusing on them with practical application each week.  It is a 12 week study so I wanted to share what we are learning with you so you can also be challenged to grow along with us!  The first spiritual discipline we’re focusing on is prayer. Prayer is what pushes us to the frontier of the spiritual life.  Of all the spiritual disciplines prayer is the most central because it takes us into a deep personal communion with our Father.

Oftentimes I feel like we overcomplicate prayer.  I know I do-I see it almost as an insurmountable task that I just can’t seem to get past a few minutes in.  I read stories about people who are prayer warriors, who have camel knees from hours spent on their knees before the Lord and down in the depths of my heart I yearn to pray like them.  I realize that to become a prayer warrior such as them it will require discipline and much change on my part.  William Carey, a renown missionary said “Real prayer is life creating and life changing.  Prayer-secret, fervent believing prayer lies at the root of all personal godliness.” 

Yet, prayer is not complicated.  Effective prayer happens when you TALK to God and LISTEN to what He is saying to you.  You cannot have one of these without the other-you must have both of these parts.  Often we talk to God but we don’t take time to be still before Him and to wait on Him to speak.  (We’ll talk more about this in our next spiritual discipline meditation.) Richard Foster in his book Celebration of Discipline, says “To pray is to change.  Prayer is the central avenue God uses to transform us.  If we are unwilling to change, we will abandon prayer as a noticeable characteristic of our life.  The closer we come to the heartbeat of God the more we see the need and the more we desire to conform to Christ.”

I have been saying for a long time that I want to go deeper in my prayer life-yet I haven’t made a diligent effort to. Because the truth is, if I really want to do something I’ll make the necessary changes in my life to form a new healthy habit.  The Lord has deeply convicted me to just get down to the basics of prayer, enough with my excuses and to just do it.  And as I just do it-little by little I hope that John MacArthur’s words come true in my life-“Prayer is like breathing for Christians.  When you don’t pray, you’re holding your breath spiritually-fighting against the very existence and presence of God in your life.”  

There are 3 basic characteristics of prayer.

1) Prayer is expected.  Prayer was the lifestyle of Jesus.  There are so many times in Scripture where it says Jesus went to a quiet place to pray (Mark 1:35, Luke 5:16). In Matthew 6:5-9, Jesus is explicit about us praying-it doesn’t say IF you pray, it says WHEN you pray! It’s an expectation-to pray is the most profound and personal communication with Him.  Prayer is a duty and to neglect prayer is therefore a sin.  Because we are commanded to pray, it is an act of disobedience if we do not pray.

2) Prayer is learned. (Luke 11:1)  The disciples asked Jesus how to pray.  They took notice of the many times Jesus would go by himself and pray and they saw his prayers answered and they wanted to learn!  If you are discouraged about your prayer life and how effective your prayers are, this should give you hope to know that prayer is something you learn to do.  No matter how weak or strong your prayer life currently may be, it can only grow stronger as you learn how to pray more effectively.  To understand that the work of prayer involves a learning process saves us from arrogantly dismissing it as false or unreal.  Praying is like learning a foreign language.  If you’ve ever learned a foreign language you know that you learned it when you actually spoke it.  The same is true with prayer. You can gain great knowledge of prayer but you will never truly learn to pray unless you actually practice it.  The great thing about this journey is that the Holy Spirit living inside of us helps us to pray better.

3) Prayer is persistent. (Luke 18: 1-8)  Jesus tells a parable of the persistent widow who comes before an unrighteous judge continually until he is worn down and grants her justice to get her to stop bothering him.  He uses this story to teach his disciples how they must persist in prayer.  He ends it by saying “And will God not give justice to his children, who cry out to him day and night?  Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them quickly.”

Sometimes a failure to persist in prayer proves that we are not serious about our request in the first place.  At other times God wants us to persist in prayer in order to strengthen our faith in Him.  Faith would never grow if all our prayers were answered immediately.  Persistent prayer tends to develop deeper gratitude as well.  As the joy of a baby’s birth is great because of months of anticipation, so is the joy of an answer in prayer after persistent praying.  Don’t allow Satan to discourage you when you don’t get an immediate prayer request answered-instead let your love for God cause you to prevail in prayer to Him who loves you-cry out to him day and night.  He will answer in His time.

How to Pray: 

These are some components of prayer.  I’ve listed with each one practical ways to implement them.  Please use this to help guide you in your prayer life, but of course don’t be confined to it. It is not a formula as there are many ways to pray.  As you continue to use these components in your daily prayer life, it will become more natural and the Holy Spirit will give you the freedom in this.

1. Confession: confess your sins to God, ask him to search your heart and convict you by His Holy Spirit of how you sinned, confess your helplessness before God-even to get down to your very motives of why you sinned against him that day, be quiet before him so you have a chance to listen. 
2. Praise: praise God for all of his wonderful attributes and characteristics, you could choose 1 or 2 specific ones (ex. faithfulness, healer) and praise Him for specific ways He has been this to you in your life as of late, sing songs to God (listen to praise and worship music, play an instrument, read Scriptures like Psalms and pause and meditate on the words).  Go through the ABC’s and see how many names you can praise God with!
3. Thanksgiving: thank God for the specific ways He has done great things for you-think of even the seemingly small ways we often take for granted-food to eat, healing from sicknesses, safety.  These are all gifts-we don’t deserve them but He chooses to give them to us in His timing.  Thank God also for the hard eucharisto-the ugly-beautiful things in your life that he is using to refine you into gold for Him, to make you more like Jesus.  The injustices you see in your world and he has given you a passion to fight for-close family values, the orphans, the widows, the lost….Or the things that happen to you that are so difficult and hard-losing a loved one, troubles in your marriage, prodigal children, persecution at work….all of these hard things are opportunities for us to run to our loving Father who is THE answer to all of our difficulties, who allows trials and tribulations to come our way as a part of his perfect story.  He already knows the end of HIs Story-HISTORY, we can only see a few pages or at most  a couple of chapters of how our lives are intertwined in His great timeline.  Even when we don’t understand this side of heaven-give thanks!  Open your hands to receive the good, the bad, the ugly and trust in His love.  Keep a journal-counting thankfulness, set an alarm on your watch so every hour or at certain points in the day you take a minute and express your praise, write it on post-its and put it around your house as a visual reminder.  Thank Him with a heart full of gratitude.  The more you intentionally thank Him, He truly will increase your joy in Him.
4. Petition:  Bring your requests before our loving Father.  Pour out your heart like water to him-tell him about all of your worries, your concerns, your burdens.  Ask for His help in each one.  Pray for your needs, the needs of those closest to you-your spouse, brothers or sisters, parents, grandparents, friends.  Use resources to help guide you in petitioning for these people-prayer calendars, praying scriptures.…(http://www.operationworld.org/free-prayer-enhancing-resources)  The beautiful thing about prayer that I’m learning is that the way I pray seems to change according to the different seasons of life I’m in-there is not just one way to do it.  There is no formula.  It is a beautiful, unique communication we share with our Lord that is deep and personal….the way you do it during one season of your life may look different the next.  I know I just want to be growing in the Lord, embracing the changing seasons and praying that I go deeper each time.
5. Intercession:  Jesus stands before the throne of God constantly interceding for us.  We too have the responsibility as His followers to stand in the gap and intercede for others.  Pray fervently for believers who need encouragement or conviction in certain areas of their lives.  Pray feverishly for the lost, that God might turn their hearts to avoid eternal damnation. Write people’s names you are interceding for on your mirror, on notecards to stick in your book bag or purse, put notes in your calendar-surround yourself with reminders so it is a constant prompt to pray.  Be creative in your intercession-pray while you go for a walk or for a run, pray aloud with your children while they’re playing outside, stick notes in their lunch boxes, text your husband or friends with verses you’ve prayed over them.  The more you do it the better you’ll get at it!  What a privilege to stand for others and find the power we have in learning the heart of God-of how to specifically pray for others and thus turn the heart of God in favor.  “In dealing with mankind nothing is more important to God than prayer.  Prayer is likewise of great importance to God.  Failure to pray is failure in all of life.  It is a failure of duty, service, and spiritual process.  It is only by prayer that God can help people.  He who does not pray, therefore robs himself of God’s help and places God where he cannot help people.” E.M. Bounds

Lord Jesus, please give me the power in Your name to learn this discipline of deep, fervent prayer.  May I start small and as you grow me make me stronger in it-make me creative in it and give me joy in this journey! I do not want to sin and disobey you by not praying.  I do not want to be prayerless and therefore stand in the way of your work.  Forbid me from tying your divine hands and being a hindrance to your work because of my sin of not prayingI want to pray continually like you command us as your followers to do.  Please help me not to rob myself of your great help by not first coming to you.  Help prayer in my life to become as natural as breathing-where it is such a deeply ingrained habit that whenever a problem arises-I pray…whenever thankfulness bursts from within, I pray-praising you…..whatever happens-I pray until it is such a part of my life it is my very default setting. .  Ignite such a passion in my heart to pray that it cannot be contained!  

By Laurel Jeremiadoss

***If you are interested in studying the spiritual disciplines further, most of our teaching comes from Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline, Spiritual Disciplines by Donald Whitney and E.M. Bounds’ Weapons of Prayer.