Experiencing God Through Prayer

Our Summer of Renewal

Second Baptist Church

The Renovatio Writing Team

Beth Dusin | Student GuideAngie Fuller | Children’s Guide Connie McNeill | Adult Guide, Editor & EquipperEleanor Speaker| Instigator and QuotesTerri Soper, Nicole Swanson | Design TeamSue Wright | Storyteller with special thanks to our prayer story contributors.

2015 Copyright© Second Baptist Church, All Rights Reserved

As the writing team works on this guide, our earth is renewing itself where we live. Actually, that would be true of any season in which we find ourselves. Spring rains, summer heat and growing, fall leaves blanketing the ground, winter snow’s slow moisture approach and killing cold are all part of earth’s renewal. Each is needed for renovatio to occur. Our prayer is that whatever “season” you may be experiencing, this guide will help you find renewal. Renewal doesn’t only come out of desperation. It can also come through deep contentment. Renovatio is Latin for renewal. As the earth models for us, renewal is essential to our existence.

This summer, our senior pastor will seek renewal through a sabbatical leave. He and the personnel committee have worked hard to shape an experience of opportunity for renewal. This will be a very good work—for his family, his own person and for us the congregation he serves. Our pastor’s renewal is only part of how God will be working here though. God will also be working in us, renewing us for all the same reasons.

We’ve created this guide to help us do this as a community in many different physical locations throughout the summer. The focus of our renewal will specifically be through prayer. We offer two different kinds of experiences in prayer. One kind, we will call practical prayer, will be very familiar to many of us. We first learned to pray as a conversation with God with many different kinds of practical issues. We ask for things, we confess our sins, we pray for others, we praise God—just to name a few.

The other prayer experience we offer is contemplative. In its purest form, this is of prayer the experience of realizing we are in God’s presence and that makes our words unnecessary as God knows us better than we know ourselves. Simply being aware that we are in God’s presence is the beginning of the prayer language of our heart. Whether you consciously intended to practice contemplative prayer or not, you have probably prayed in this way. Sometimes words are not adequate for the place in our soul that we need connection to God.

Why Renovatio?

We have created a weekly guide that can be referenced once a week or every day. It’s up to you. Adults, students and children each have their own guide, but the experiences are parallel so families can talk to each other about scripture passages and use the reflection questions for table talk. You may choose to follow the practical prayer guide for the summer.

You may choose to follow the contemplative guide. You may do both. What’s really important is that we pray for renewal for us and our congregation.

As you will soon see, each week has a brief introduction, scripture passage, classic literature on prayer quote, stories of prayer experiences from our congregation and reflection/discussion questions.

We want to acknowledge that there are two books that have provided the framework for this guide. Dick Eastman is International President for Every Home for Christ. His book, The Hour That Changes the World provided the track for the practical prayer portion of the Guide. The contemplative track was provided by Jeanne Guyon’s classic work Experiencing God Through Prayer. You are encouraged to explore both books

How to use the Renovatio Guide

in depth and to read about the lives of both authors. They couldn’t be more different but with one thing in common—the belief in and practice of prayer.

Now go ahead and sneak a peek at the guide.Then begin to pray for yours and our renewal this summer.

Pray for the renewal of our congregation. Pray for our senior pastor and the renewal he seeks this summer. Pray for your family and friends as we pray through this Guide together. Remain open for the Spirit to work within you and through you.

You may be awed but do not be surprised when you begin to experience God at work. Expect your prayers to be heard and answered and for you to become aware of God working around and in you. Let your

experience with prayer grow beyond the guide. Let prayer become a natural part of your whole-life faith. Don’t entertain for a moment the idea of starting your day, your work, your drive, your vacation…without prayer. As we gather for worship, come in prayerful expectation that you will experience the living Christ anew. Be prepared to receive that as part of your Renovatio.

– The Renovatio Writing Team

How to use the Renovatio Guide

TABLE OF CONTENTSCO

NTEM

PLAT

IVE PR

AYER

WEEK TEXT CONTEMPLATIVE page WEEK TEXT PRACTICAL page

May 31 John 7:37 Thirsting for God . . . . . . . . . . . 8 May 31 2 Corinthians 7:14 Power’s Slender Nerve . . . . . . . . 9 June 7 John 14:23 Scriptural Meditation . . . . . . .12 June 7 Psalm 50:23 Praise: Adoration & Magnification . . 13

June 14 Matthew 6:9–13 Beginning the Journey . . . . . .16 June 14 Isaiah 40:31 Waiting: Soul Surrender . . . . . . 17

June 21 Matthew 22:37, 39 Transforming Love . . . . . . . . .20 June 21 Psalm 51:10–15 Confession: Declared Admission . . . . . . . . .21

June 28 Colossians 3:9–10 Put Off the Old . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 June 28 I Thessalonians 2:13 Scripture Praying: Appropriated Faith . . . . . . . .25

July 5 John 15:16 The Central Force . . . . . . . . . . .28 July 5 Matthew 26:41 Watching: Mental Awareness . . . . . . . . .29 July 12 Habakkuk 2:20 Remaining Quiet . . . . . . . . . . . .32 July 12 Romans 1:9 Intercession: Earnest Appeal . .33

July 19 Psalm 139:23–24 Examine Yourself . . . . . . . . . . . 36 July 19 Matthew 7:7–11 Petition: Personal Supplication . . . . . 37

July 26 Psalm 32:8 Distractions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40 July 26 Philippians 4:6 Thanksgiving Expressed . . . . . .41

August 2 Romans 8:14 How to be Spirit-Led . . . . . . . . 44 August 2 Colossians 3:16 Singing: Melodic Worship . . . . .45

August 9 Philippians 3:13–14 Press on to Know God . . . . . . .48 August 9 Psalm 119:12–16 Meditation: Spiritual Evaluation . . . . . . . .49

PRACTICAL PRAYERWEEK TEXT CONTEMPLATIVE page WEEK TEXT PRACTICAL page

May 31 John 7:37 Thirsting for God . . . . . . . . . . . 8 May 31 2 Corinthians 7:14 Power’s Slender Nerve . . . . . . . . 9 June 7 John 14:23 Scriptural Meditation . . . . . . .12 June 7 Psalm 50:23 Praise: Adoration & Magnification . . 13

June 14 Matthew 6:9–13 Beginning the Journey . . . . . .16 June 14 Isaiah 40:31 Waiting: Soul Surrender . . . . . . 17

June 21 Matthew 22:37, 39 Transforming Love . . . . . . . . .20 June 21 Psalm 51:10–15 Confession: Declared Admission . . . . . . . . .21

June 28 Colossians 3:9–10 Put Off the Old . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 June 28 I Thessalonians 2:13 Scripture Praying: Appropriated Faith . . . . . . . .25

July 5 John 15:16 The Central Force . . . . . . . . . . .28 July 5 Matthew 26:41 Watching: Mental Awareness . . . . . . . . .29 July 12 Habakkuk 2:20 Remaining Quiet . . . . . . . . . . . .32 July 12 Romans 1:9 Intercession: Earnest Appeal . .33

July 19 Psalm 139:23–24 Examine Yourself . . . . . . . . . . . 36 July 19 Matthew 7:7–11 Petition: Personal Supplication . . . . . 37

July 26 Psalm 32:8 Distractions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40 July 26 Philippians 4:6 Thanksgiving Expressed . . . . . .41

August 2 Romans 8:14 How to be Spirit-Led . . . . . . . . 44 August 2 Colossians 3:16 Singing: Melodic Worship . . . . .45

August 9 Philippians 3:13–14 Press on to Know God . . . . . . .48 August 9 Psalm 119:12–16 Meditation: Spiritual Evaluation . . . . . . . .49

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We are made in God’s image and

as an intimate part of creation

we long for a relationship with

God that makes us feel whole and

complete. As the passage in John

says, we thirst for God. The more

we begin to understand God’s

love for us, the more we crave a

relationship where we love God

back. The thirst created in us is

natural and normal. The more we

are willing to yield our hearts to

God, the more we can begin to

truly enjoy the love relationship

that God deeply, earnestly desires.

Allow the thirst you have for God,

either great or small or growing, to

become your unspoken prayer. Be

aware and conscious of your desire

to be in God’s presence. Then be

aware that God is present. This is

learning to pray from our hearts

instead of our heads (putting

words together).

Get into a comfortable place

and position, especially if

you are beginning to practice

contemplative prayer. Try to make

your environment distraction

proof. Find a comfortable, favorite

chair or a quiet place outdoors.

There is no one right place but

try to have as few distractions as

possible.

Beginning contemplative prayer

may seem awkward, even make

you feel as though you “aren’t

doing anything.” So it may be

helpful to repeat a simple phrase

or Bible expression to get started.

You could choose a portion of this

week’s verse, “If you thirst, come

to Me.” Or, “I am in God’s presence.”

Repeat this over and over again to

help you focus on nothing else but

an awareness of God.

Remember, if you have never

prayed in this way it will feel as

unusual as eating with your non-

dominant hand. Then listen for the

Spirit to speak to you. Wait for God.

Your heart is known to God. God is

at work.

Thirsting for God

MAY 31

In the quietness, aware of his presence, we open our hearts to receive his love. The prayer is usually wordless and fed by a deep desire for him. This leads us on to a place where instead of seeking God, we are found by him.

– Joyce Huggett

REFLECTIONWhat is the

purpose or reason

to pray in this

way?

How does the

Spirit “speak”

to me?

Why would this

have been a

way to pray for

many of the early

church fathers and

mothers?

Power’s Slender NerveJohn 7:37

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MAY 31

If you want to become and remain physically healthy, you eat sensibly and exercise regularly. If you want to become spiritually healthy and remain replenished, you practice spiritual disciplines regularly. It is that simple.

– Marjorie J. Thompson

Power’s Slender NerveThere are many traditions of prayer. This tradition is a very practical way to pray. The contemplative prayer tradition focuses on silence on our part in order to listen and praying by being aware of God’s presence. When we talk about practical ways to pray we refer to talking with God. We acknowledge God’s presence and we participate in prayer with God by speaking and listening. This is the tradition of prayer that those of us who grew up in mainline and evangelical traditions have learned. Each week will provide a different focus of prayer.

It was Charles Spurgeon who said, “Prayer is the slender nerve that moveth the muscles of omnipotence.” Prayer requires no special education. You don’t really have to have advanced knowledge. It requires only your will to pray, your will to communicate with God.

Prayer is our desire to see beyond ourselves. We do not focus on ourselves but on God’s infinite power. Prayer may be our ultimate expression of trust in God. In prayer we surrender

our ability to “handle” something to God’s ability to intervene in a divine way.

This practice of prayer is not only for times of desperation or crisis. It is not for an occasional practice or prayer-in-passing. This kind of communion with God is an ongoing, daily practice of seeing God’s power at work in our life. Prayer is not just asking God for “things” but rather asking God to be at work in an ongoing way and constantly, always submitting to that work.

If you are beginning this practice of prayer, first determine the time each day that you will commit to a time of prayer. Many would suggest at least an hour, but most people who do not pray for an hour will find it very difficult to begin with that time commitment and even harder to sustain. Be realistic, even if it’s only for five minutes. Commit to that time, find a place without distractions and focus on asking to see God at work so that your faith may grow and your experience in praying will become richer and more meaningful to you.

DISCUSSIONWhy have a daily, ongoing practice of prayer?

What do you hope to experience as you pray?

How have you been more aware of God at work this week?

_________________________________ Charles H. Spurgeon, Twelve Sermons on Prayer. Grand Rapids, Baker Book House. 1971. Pg. 31.

2 Chronicles 7:14

PRAYER STORIES

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We pray for our pastor and his family to eagerly anticipate this time with God as they drive from Missouri to Colorado. May they immediately experience the healing of rest and renewal as they disconnect from life and ministry in Liberty.

I write down all of my prayers. It helps me process, pace myself, and let my emotions hit the page without judging how I feel. Since I pray a lot, I have a lot of prayers on paper. I wrote the prayer that follows on January 16, 2014, while I was in seminary.

Creator God, Help me to focus and channel my abilities and knowledge today. I have a clouded mind that needs a strong breeze to push me to a clearer place. I glance out the window to see that the sky is also cloudy. But like the sky, I also feel an opening as the sun streams in and breaks apart the clouds slightly.

Continue to use me as a shining ray of light like the sunbeams breaking through. I am so thankful I can turn to you. Amen.

Kristin Wooldridge

For about seven years I have been participating in a Prayer Shawl Ministry. This involves, for me, knitting shawls for those who are experiencing a difficult situation in their lives. While knitting, I pray for the person who will be receiving the shawl. I don’t know who it will be, but God does. Over the years, I have heard beautiful stories about the blessings these people feel.

Carol Weirich

PRAYER STORIES

OUR PASTOR’S PRAYER FOR US

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Jason is praying for us to make a serious commitment to deepen our relationship with God through participation in Renovatio this summer. May we experience holistic renewal this summer through prayer. May it begin now.

Me, write about prayer? I ignored the nice flyers and deleted the emails while thinking, probably not me. Yes, I wish I could have written about rising early, every day no matter, to spend a reflective, robust, and rich hour on the seemingly ubiquitous prayer list or journal that others talk about. But, no, not me.

What the flyers and emails did was focus my thoughts on prayer no matter how hard I tried to ignore them. Why don’t I have what others have? Why do I yearn for what others do? Then, I realized I have a prayer life. It’s mine! It’s me!

My feet hit the floor praying in the morning. I pray the newspaper. I pray my photo gallery. I pray my Facebook feed. I pray my neighborhood. I pray through the day’s frustrations and irritations. I pray to turn complaints into gratitude. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that the three R’s of prayer for me are random, rapid, and regular. That’s me, and God loves me and listens! I’m ok! My prayer life is ok! Thanks be to God who gets me! Amen!

Carroll Makemson

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Our work this week is meditating on scripture as a way to pray contemplatively. There are many ways to do this. We will suggest several ways to do this and then you can choose a way to try.

Begin with this week’s scripture, John 14:23. Read the scripture to yourself as though you were praying it. Read it slowly. Concentrate on what you are reading. When you finish, pause and remain silent. Now read it again as a prayer. Let it begin to work in your heart and mind and form you into a whole-life disciple. Imagine yourself in your work setting as you pray this verse. Or, that you are on the playground with your small children. Or, in the doctor’s office for that upcoming visit for yourself or a loved one. Let it live in those spaces and prepare for your clearer awareness of God awaiting your arrival.

Another practice of meditating on scripture is to slowly read the scripture through and pause. Keep your mind and heart open to a word or phrase to come alive in it. Read it a second time, slowly as though you are enjoying a favorite morsel or sipping a favorite drink. Take it in and be aware of what it is saying to you. Pause and again see what word or phrase stands out to you. Finally, slowly, with great affection, read the verse a third time. This time let it be part of you

and if it chooses, allow it to change a way you feel, or something you think, or what you believe. Be spiritually formed by the text.

A third method is to begin reading and stop when you feel the need to digest what you just read. It might be a word or two or a sentence. Don’t rush. Thoroughly “chew” each bite. It isn’t the quantity of scripture that is important in this prayer exercise. It is the intentionality with which we read it. When you begin praying in this way, by meditating on scripture, more than one or two verses will be too much.

Contemplative prayer may not appear to be an active way to pray, but it is. Meditating on scripture is a way to help us focus on being aware of God’s presence. Ms. Guyon says, “When you have settled into a peaceful spirit and are fully aware of God’s presence; when earthly distractions are not your primary thoughts; when your soul has properly fed on God’s Word and you have chosen by an act of your will to believe it, you are then ready to communicate with your heavenly Father.” _________________________________

*Experiencing God Through Prayer, Jeanne Guyon. Whitaker House, PA. 1984. Pg. 27.

SCRIPTURAL MEDITATION

JUNE 7

Father, I want to know Thee, but my cowardly heart fears to give up its toys. I cannot part with them without inward bleeding, and I do not try to hide from Thee the terror of the parting. I come trembling, but I do come. Please root from my heart all those things which I have cherished so long and which have become a very part of my living self, so that Thou mayest enter and dwell there without a rival. Then shalt Thou make the place of Thy feet glorious. Then shall my heart have no need of the sun to shine in it, for Thyself wilt be the light of it, and there shall be no night there. In Jesus’ name. Amen

– A. W. Tozer

REFLECTION

What are three

other scripture

passages you

would like to

pray?

What do you think

we are trying to

achieve in praying

in a contemplative

way?

John 14:23

practical

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JUNE 7

What will it take to convince us that God also yearns for us to delight in the divine presence? Part of our spiritual maturation is learning to love God for who God is, not only for what God does for us.

– Marjorie J. Thompson

ADORATION & MAGNIFICATIONThe resource for this prayer tradition is Dick Eastman’s, The Hour That Changes the World. Mr. Eastman’s suggestion is that we spend at least one hour in prayer each day, giving a portion of that hour to all of the foci we will look at this summer. We will pray one each week. By the end of the summer you may have extended the time you pray and can incorporate all or many of these prayer foci.

We begin with praise and adoration. Religious scholars have spent volumes and years on praise of God. Much has been written on the importance of our praise of God. We are certainly the better for it and God is certainly worthy of our every effort of praise.

As you think of all the things for which you can praise God, utter them as prayers of praise. You can include statements about things you adore about God. You are encouraged not to stop with words, however. Ask God to make praise and adoration a way

of life for you. Ask God for thoughts and acts of praise and adoration to fill your days.

To praise God, think of all the ways that God is worthy of your praise. Focus on the character and nature of what you know about God. God is loving; God is kind; God is forgiving. What have you experienced in your relationship with God that has changed your life that could only have changed because of who God is? This would be a good place to begin praise and adoration.

Maybe you’ve never thought about praise of God in your prayer life. Begin by asking God to show you what to pray in praise and adoration. Not only will the exercise of praying this way change you, but you will begin a deeper more personal relationship with God because you will learn new things about God. You may find you cannot help but love God more.

DISCUSSIONWhy would praise

and adoration

change you?

What about God

most often comes

to mind to praise

as you pray?

How can praise be

part of your life

beyond prayer?

Psalm 50:23

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We pray for our pastor to have deeper understanding of Jesus as he prayerfully reads the Gospel of Luke. May he and his family experience enrichment in their relationships with Jesus and one another this week.

In the spring of 1990, my husband and I flew to Phoenix, Arizona. In January of that year, we had driven my mother there, and now we were returning to visit for a few days, help her pack, then drive her back to Liberty. We left our 17-year-old son at home alone, but because his grandparents lived a block away, we were comfortable he was in “good hands,” never suspecting at the time whose mighty hands would come to his rescue.

On our second day in Phoenix, my husband left for the golf course while my mother and I made a quick trip to the local artists’ flea market. Driving down the busy boulevard, I couldn’t help but be struck by the beauty of the day: its brilliant blue sky, the palm trees and colorful flowers. Everything seemed so perfect, so peaceful—that is—until I felt my sense of reverie interrupted by an urgent need to pray for our son. I had no idea why, but suddenly I was praying for his well-being, his protection, and for help in whatever might be going on in the moment. I thanked God for watching over him and breathed a silent “Amen.”

Several hours later, we received a phone call from my father-in-law telling us our son, who was driving to the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Kansas City, had been involved in an automobile accident. Though he had three or four other teenagers in the car with him, miraculously none of them were seriously injured, including the young man who was thrown from the car onto the pavement as the upside-down SUV skidded down I-35.

Although I’m not sure of the exact minute God’s Holy Spirit was urging me to pray, I believe it was at the same time our son’s accident occurred, and I can’t begin to put into words how grateful I am to Him for protecting those teenagers that day! Indeed, what a Mighty God we serve!

PRAYER STORIES

OUR PASTOR’S PRAYER FOR US

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When I served as a Hospital Chaplain, I saw the use of prayer on a regular basis. It seems when there is a crisis, prayer becomes a very important part of people’s lives, regardless of their prior faith commitment. What came to startle me instead, was not the use of prayer, but the reaction of people when a prayer request was granted.

As I spent time with families and loved ones of patients, I heard them earnestly pray for specific outcomes during a medical crisis. Then, when the prayer was granted and the crisis had passed with a positive outcome, people acted shocked! I would always raise the question, “Why are you so shocked? Is this not what you prayed for?” and they would answer, “Well, yeah, but . . .!”

If we get what we pray for, why should we be so shocked? Is this an indication of what we really think about prayer—that it is a last second shot that we hope will “score the winning points”? Or should it be entered into so regularly we see God’s Presence in both answered and unanswered prayers with no surprises either way?

Steve Smith, DMin, RBCC

My prayer life has been enriched by looking at and sometimes exercising the prayer practices of different traditions. A good Protestant friend confided in me once that he had begun using a rosary to pray. I have laid face first on the floor and stretched out my arms to form a cross and prayed. Another friend taught me that when she prayed for someone she would open her hands, palms up, and envision holding the person for whom she was praying and lifting him/her to God. Years ago in Jerusalem, I saw what it meant for Jews to pray with their whole being as they rocked back and forth moving their entire bodies as they prayed. I have prayed through a labyrinth. All of these have deepened my own experience of prayer even as I’ve risked embarrassment before God for the sake of drawing nearer to God.

Connie McNeill

Jason is praying for us to experience the Risen Christ this week through our faithful reading of the Scriptures.

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BEGINNING THE JOURNEY

JUNE 14

The Lord’s Prayer, which some call The Disciple’s Prayer, is our focus to guide our contemplative prayer this week. Unlike other weeks, go ahead and read our text now before we go on.

Luke 17:21 says, “The kingdom of God is within you.” This is brought home to us as we pray for the kingdom, or reign, of God to come to earth as it is in Heaven. In order for God to accomplish what needs to be done on earth, God needs and calls us to be agents for the reign of God. As we pray this together this week we are praying for a powerfully transforming act to occur.

REFLECTION

When we pray

“our Father,” with

whom do we

share God?

Is the desired

outcome of

this prayer ever

attainable?

If yes, how? If no,

why did Jesus

teach it to us?

Praying this prayer can easily be done as rote. Many of us have memorized the prayer. As we pray it this week, let us pray by each individual phrase. Praying, pausing, listening, waiting. We move to the next phrase and repeat: praying, pausing, listening, waiting. As you pray, be aware of what you are asking God to do in and through you.

As you repeat this prayer, abandon yourself in it. Abandon yourself to God.

Athletes, musicians, writers, scientists, and others progress in their fields because they are well-disciplined people. Unfortunately, there is tendency to think that in matters of faith we should pray, meditate, and engage in other spiritual disciplines only when we feel like it. – William Paulsell

Matthew 6:9–13

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JUNE 14

WAITING: SOUL SURRENDERThis week’s focus is on spiritual silence. We speak to and with God, but sometimes we wait on God in silence. In the discipline of remaining silent, we consciously surrender ourselves to God knowing that only God is capable of meeting our inner needs. “Waiting is a time of silent love.”

Prayer is not merely asking for things. It is growing a loving relationship. We love God more as we increasingly realize how great God’s love is for us. Times of waiting nurture a love relationship including the one we enjoy with God.

As we wait, we focus our full attention on God. It is in this waiting that we will more fully understand God. The Psalmist declared, “Be still, and know that I am God.” (46:10) This week’s

prayer focus is to slow down, get better focused, stop rushing ahead…to wait. We wait.

Throughout the week, in addition to your daily prayer experience, focus your prayer as an experience in waiting. Ask God to help you wait. To realize when God is at work. To slow down and leave space for God to be at work. Listen. Be silent. Wait.

If this kind of structure to your prayer is new, try combining prayers of praise with a period of waiting in silence. It could provide a wonderful experience of prayer that is a deeply meaningful blessing to you.

DISCUSSION

Why is waiting important to prayer?

How does it help build a meaningful relationship with God?

What part will waiting be in your future prayer experience?

A man prayed, and at first he thought that prayer was talking. But he became more and more quiet until in the end he realized that prayer is listening. – Soren Kierkegaard

Isaiah 40:31

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We pray for our pastor and his family as they travel to Dallas this week for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly. May Jason and Christy’s work on their committees be fruitful and may the time with old friends and colleagues be energizing.

I have faced mental abuse, racism, and homelessness. I have disabilities and

witnessed violence growing up that is part of my life.

I pray that nobody has to go through what I went through. If I have a chance to help any through these things, I pray I can.

Perhaps the hardest time of prayer I have ever faced was when I was at the end of my cancer treatment. My prognosis was not good, and treatment options were diminishing. I had prayed and prayed and prayed for months, but what I had not done was surrender the situation com-pletely and totally to God. My prayers had been more like attempts to orchestrate the outcome, the timing, and the scenario I thought was best. After a series of conversations and messages I received from several sources (no doubt Divinely appointed and far too complex to describe briefly), I finally found the courage to pray with Greg that I would relinquish my attempt to control the situation, and I would accept whatever God had in store for me.

I am confident part of that courage came from knowing that dozens of people at our church and literally around the world had prayed for me during a prayer vigil. Ironically, as I let go of my tight grip, I felt as though a burden had been lifted. I was still afraid, but I knew I was not alone. Within a few days of that prayer we learned that my tumor appeared to be gone, and with surgery a few weeks later we confirmed that miracle. The prayer of release was terrifying but I know that my faith grew and that my spiritual healing was perhaps the greatest miracle of all.

PRAYER STORIES

OUR PASTOR’S PRAYER FOR US

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Jason is praying for us as we continue in our own journey of renewal this summer. May we continue to make space in our busy schedules to nurture life-giving relationships with Jesus and our sisters and brothers in Christ.

My Pastor of some years back loved to tell this story about his friend, Dr. Amstutz, who served a Presbyterian Church in Ludington, Michigan for almost a lifetime. One day Dr. Amstutz drove into the country to visit a poor, elderly man who lived down a treed and narrow lane in the most primitive of cabins. Joe welcomed Dr. Amstutz when he arrived and immediately asked him if he would like a bite of lunch. Dr. Amstutz declined the invitation but offered to sit with him while he ate. Agreeable to that, Joe began to arrange his sparse meal on the rickety table in his little kitchen, after which he asked Dr. Amstutz to join him in a prayer of thanks.

Sitting at the table, Dr. Amstutz watched as the old, old man got down on his knees beside his chair, like it was obvious he had done so many times before. Then he bowed his head, and began to pray. “It’s me, Lord, Old Joe—the man you know so well . . .”

Dick Wright

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TRANSFORMING LOVE

JUNE 21

Though a controversial figure to many protestants, Saint Augustine is quoted as saying, “Love God, and then do what you please.” As we pray this week, we seek an experience with God that reminds and renews our acceptance of God’s transforming love. Indeed, if we love God our attitude and action should be appropriate at all times toward everyone. For most of us however, the work of transforming love is still being done within each of us.

And so this week, try to be aware of God’s presence as a transforming love. Our scripture provides two basic instructions to help accomplish this. Most other instructions pale in comparison. We begin, maintain, and end our prayers remembering to love God and to love others. You may try using this as your prayer mantra—”Love God and love others.”

Let this consciousness of love begin to produce a transforming outcome within us. Our prayer is that we become more willing and active agents of love. The more we allow the Spirit to fill us with who God is, the more like God we will become. The Spirit brings all that God is to live within us—all of God’s virtues, all of God’s character, all of God’s nature. The more we allow God to possess us, the more we are transformed to reflect who God is.

As we pray this week, let the overarching focus be to experience more of who God is and less of who we have become without choosing God first. Especially, let us choose to be transformed by God into God’s transforming love.

REFLECTION

Why do we

hesitate to let

go of ourselves

and allow God to

change us?

Do we fear God’s

transformation?

Do we see it as

loss?

If God’s love

began to

transform us in

new ways, where

would you want it

to begin its work?

(T)he most basic affirmation of our faith: God loves us. This is not a general rule to which you, personally, may be an exception. It is not a conditional rule that applies only when you are good, pure, and lovable. God’s passion-ate and personal love for each and every human being expresses who God is. Unfailing love is the divine nature and the divine choice in relation to us. God loves us with an overwhelming love that none of our sins can erase. – Marjorie J. Thompson

Matthew 22:37, 39

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JUNE 21

CONFESSION: DECLARED ADMISSIONAndrew Murray was a missionary, pastor and prolific writer in the late 19th and early 20th century. One of the many things he wrote was, “God cannot hear the prayers on our lips often because the desires of our heart after the world cry out to Him much more strongly and loudly than our desires for Him.” We are told in scripture that if we will confess our sins, God will forgive them. What does it mean to “confess?” In New Testament Greek, the word for confess means to agree with God concerning God’s opinion on a matter. Again, it is another way in the mind of Christ that Paul encourages us toward.

Confess also means to admit our guilt in a matter. So when we confess sins in our lives, we are agreeing with God that something is wrong, and we admit we have not shared God’s opinion in this matter. Confession puts us in agreement again. In order

to confess, we have to be able to take a heartfelt look at what we are or have done. It means we take seriously where we fail to be the creation God had hoped for and Christ has redeemed us to be.

It is not so much about what we do as who we are. It’s more about being than doing. Confession can be painful. It’s difficult for most of us to admit we are being or doing wrongly against God’s deep desires for us.

If you are sensing that confession should be a part of your daily practice of prayer, you are right. Confession is ongoing and should be as natural as breathing. Confession is not about humiliation. It is about healing—letting God make our relationship well.

_______________________________________________________________

Andrew Murray, The Prayer Life (Chicago: Moody Press, n.d.) pg. 117.

DISCUSSION

What was the last

experience you

had confessing

something to

God?

Why would

confession be so

important to our

prayer lives?

How does

confession make

us different?

Jesus told us to ask for forgiveness of our sins. For the Christian, this is not asking for a legal cancellation of sin, of course, for the cross cancels the legal debt of our sin. But constant agreement with God about the nature of sin is the only way we can maintain fellowship with Him in His holiness. – T. W. Hunt

Psalm 51:10–15

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This week Jason is traveling to Rome, Italy and his family will be in Waco, Texas. We pray for their safety as they travel. We pray that as they travel, they would experience the presence of the God of all creation with them as they go and waiting for them when they arrive. May the whole Edwards family know the love of God in a special way this week.

For eight years during the 90’s, Harland and I were on the Task Force Leadership Team for Senior Adults at Windermere Assembly each Family Week of May and September. I led crafts groups and Harland was in charge of the Miniature Golf Course. Monday evenings of these Family Weeks, there was usually a concert. In May of 1997, Russell Newport, a nationally known tenor from Springfield was the soloist, and among other offerings, performed a beautiful song that paraphrased Psalm 139. It had been commissioned and then composed in honor of a young man who had lost his life in a farm accident. Loving music as I do, the melody and words of that song grabbed my heart. The theme was this: “It’s too glorious, too wonderful to know that I’m always in Your Heart wherever I go. In the morning mist or on the raging sea, You are always watching, guiding, loving me.”

As I left the sanctuary that night, I saw Russell’s wife selling some of his tapes and told her how much I loved the Psalm 139 song. In response, she handed me one of his tapes as a gift. Once I found that the Psalm 139 song was included on the tape, I played it over and over until I had the song memorized.

Shortly after our return home, Harland began to experience discomfort in his chest. He had been experiencing those same feelings at Windermere, he said,

but hadn’t told me. After consulting our family doctor, Harland was sent immediately to a cardiologist, and on to St. Luke’s Hospital where a heart cath revealed numerous blockages in his heart. Dr. Pieler, a highly-recommended surgeon, advised Harland he would have to have surgery right away. He added he couldn’t guarantee Harland would ever be free of pain because there were so many blockages.

That was on Friday, and by Sunday all of our family had arrived from across the country. On Monday at noon, we huddled in Harland’s room where our son Jim led us in prayer. Then Harland was off to surgery. During the long hours we waited, I kept going over the words of the song from Windermere—“In the morning mist or on the raging sea, You are always watching, guiding, loving me.” This was not a “morning mist” type of thing. This was a “raging sea.” Still, I had an unbelievable sense of peace.

Finally, after seven long hours, Dr. Pieler reported everything had gone well. He had done seven bypasses on Harland’s heart. Needless to say, we all felt a sense of celebration and prayed a prayer of gratitude for God’s amazing grace. Harland came home five days later with never a pain since.

Frances Ginn

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Jason is praying for us to love one another as God loves us. May we experience God’s love through our prayers and show God’s love to others in intentional ways this week.

My greatest answer to prayer came as a seven year old girl when I asked God to forgive me of my sins and claim me as His born again child.

The burden was lifted from my tender heart the following Sunday as I joyfully and tearfully walked the aisle of the Michigan Avenue Baptist Church in Kansas City, took the hand of my pastor Father, and shared with all the congregation that I had accepted Jesus as my Savior—and that I was forever and ever a child of the King.

Judy Landers

When my husband died, I thought, “I’m not a preacher’s wife any more. Who am I?” That was too hard a question to deal with, so I just said, “Lord, put things in front of me and I will do them.”

What has He offered me? Mission trips to China, Russia, South Dakota, Arkansas, and representing William Jewell College at various events in Missouri. In between, there have been interesting opportunities for service and the support of members in small groups at Second Baptist Church.

God promises to answer our prayers and His answers are far more perfect and amazing than we can ever imagine.

Eleanor Speaker

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PUT OFF THE OLD

JUNE 28

MOUNTAIN MOVING FAITHDon’t be discouraged at waiting for God to work changes in you. Our scripture passage this week reminds us of the transformation that is going on in us. Changes that God is making to reshape us into God’s image as we were first created to be. As we pray this week, we focus on what we believe God is doing within us.

All our lives we struggle with not being in line with what God would choose for us. As we become more aware of God’s presence with us, we are reminded of God’s desires for us. This week as we pray, let us seek to experience how God is at work in us. Maybe the beginning point for some is to recognize that yes, God is at work.

Begin by realizing that God loves you too much to not be at work and

is always willing to do much more. This is part of what it means to live a whole-life faith. For us, there is no distinction between sacred and secular as far as separating ourselves into the two. For whole-life faith, we realize that all we say, do, choose to be, etc. are sacred. We are created beings of a holy God, made in God’s own image.

Whether we are healing agents of humans or autos, are professionals or laborers, people who work with our heads or our hands, whatever we do, we are new creations once Christ lives within us. The only way real change occurs is from within. In whatever situations we find ourselves, we must choose between selfish choices and unselfish choices. We constantly put off our old selves and reassert our new selves.

REFLECTION

As I pray, what does

God speak to me

about changing?

What has been

given me that

God would truly

celebrate me

changing?

Should my focus on

change be on head,

heart, or hands?

While I look inward

with prayer this

week, how might I

encourage my real

focus to remain on

God?

What a great laudable exchange: to leave the things of time for those of eternity, to choose the things of heaven for the goods of earth, to receive the hundred-fold in place of one, and to possess a blessed and eternal life. –Clare of Assisi

Colossians 3:9–10

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JUNE 28

MOUNTAIN MOVING FAITHThank goodness this is an allegory and not something that someone can actually do! It is a striking image though. Probably, many of us have stared at the beauty and size of a mountain somewhere on the face of this earth and pondered this Biblical image of moving a mountain. Secretly, we may have even prayed a “test” prayer to see if we had that kind of faith. It seems to me though, that if we believed in this as something that could literally happen we wouldn’t dare pray for a mountain to move because we would believe it would do so!

What do we believe gives us this kind of faith? The answer: Prayer and reading scripture. Scripture spiritually nourishes us in a way that nothing else can.

Most of us feel the freedom to pray in a very conversational, free-style way. The early disciples, however,

were accustomed to religious leaders reciting prayers, they overheard as a way of participating.

They also learned to pray the prayers given them in their prayer books. Prayers for morning, afternoon, and evening. They also had prayers for holy days. This may explain why Jesus teaches his disciples a prayer, we commonly refer to as The Lord’s Prayer though it’s really the disciples’ prayer. We also see prayers based on scripture.

This is what we are encouraged to explore this week. Set aside our conversational, free-style praying and search scripture, including The Lord’s Prayer, as our prayer focus. These prayers will nourish us in a deeply meaningful way. We pray God’s word, the scripture.

DISCUSSION

Why would this

way to pray

provide us spiritual

nourishment that

other prayer foci

might not?

What scripture

passage have you

chosen as your

prayer focus this

week?

How can you make

this prayer focus

a part of your

ongoing prayer

experience?To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God. – William Temple

1 Thessalonians 2:13

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This week Christy will join Jason in Italy. As they visit holy sites and reflect on contemplative spiritual practices, we pray that they will experience a new lightness in life as Jesus lifts their burdens. May they experience enrichment in their marriage through this time traveling together.

TOUGH PRAYERSI find that it is easy to pray for my wife, my children, my grandchildren—my loved ones. But I feel the challenge is praying for God’s loved ones. Praying for Jihadi John, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Kim Jong-un, the guy who cut me off on I-35, my boss, my neighbor . . . now those are tough prayers. But as I think about it, it seems that whenever Jesus cast a demon out of some evil person, he saw someone with a soul worth saving. What love is this? God reminds us in Ephesians 6:12 that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Our prayers have the power of Christ surrounding them. Let’s pray the tough prayers! Jim Noel

Scripture tells us, “We have not because we asked not,” and “to pray in earnest.”

We had recently established a partnership between the Baptist churches in Moscow and Washington, D.C. As a result, a woman named Hannah with four others from her church traveled for a week of work on the construction of the Golgotha Church, the first church to be built as a Baptist church in Moscow. Her job: carrying bricks during one of the hottest weeks ever in Moscow. Hannah returned home determined to raise money for the Moscow church. She told anyone who would listen about its need for money. To raise funds, she began baking key lime pies for donations.

Two months later, Hannah asked me to take the money she had made to Moscow for her, embar-rassed she had raised only ten thousand dollars. I agreed to do it though I wasn’t really comfortable carrying that much money in cash into a foreign country.

I emailed my host in Moscow that I needed to see her pastor immediately after my arrival because I

had “a large sum of money for his church.” Meet-ing Pastor Alexey, I said somewhat proudly, “I have a large sum of money for you.” His reply, “Yes, I know.” Thinking he did not understand what I was saying, I went on, “I have ten thousand dollars for you.” Again, he simply nodded and replied, “Yes, I know.”

I was confused because no one knew the amount of money I was bringing so I asked, “But how do you know?” Pastor Alexey explained they could only work on their new building as they had money. No money, no construction. “Last week,” he said, “We ran out of money and needed ten thousand dollars for permits and supplies. So last week our entire church began praying around the clock for God to supply the needed ten thousand dollars. We knew you were coming this week!”

Sanford Beckett

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Jason is praying for us to see and set aside any habits in our lives that are impeding our spiritual and emotional growth. In their place, may we discover and commit to new habits that will enable us to take next steps in our journey with others and the living God.

For several years I have written in my daily devotion journal in response to what I read. The subject one day was, “The Lord Will Provide.” Many supporting scriptures followed but what I remember most was, “So we may boldly say, ‘The Lord is my helper. I will not fear.’” My note that day: “We need help at In As Much. I’m depending.” It was the height of the recession on that 2011 date. We needed several more volunteers to serve people desperate for food and I was responsible for getting them and had exhausted my sources.

Last week, March of 2015, I was looking through my journal and just happened to see this entry I had later jotted down beneath my plea of March 11, 2011— “All went well. We served over 130 families.”

About this time last year, I was having a problem with upper chest pain in the vicinity of where both collar bones meet. At my annual check-up I mentioned it to my cardiologist, and she suggested I have another heart catheter “just to make sure” there was no problem. The test was scheduled for several weeks away and I stewed the entire time before the procedure, concerned what could be causing the pain. I prayed every night for good results and for the courage to accept any abnormalities that may be revealed. On the day before the test, however, my worry disappeared and I felt an overwhelming peace and freedom from worry. I know the peace that enveloped me was His answer to my prayers. I was the very first procedure that day (at 6:00 a.m.!) and when the cardiologist gave me the results of the very normal heart cath, even he remarked about how calm I was. I shared with him my explanation of why I was so at peace. Another following test, an upper GI, revealed that my pain was the result of esophageal spasms. A prescription of high dose antacid eradicated the pain. God does answer prayers!Roxann Brenton

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THE CENTRAL FORCE

JULY 5

Once we begin to know who God is there is a desire that will grow in us, if nurtured, to keep getting closer to God. Placing God at the center of our lives will become increasingly natural. In fact, God can and will become the central force in our lives.

The focus of our prayer this week is to experience God by accepting an increasing awareness of God’s grace in our lives. After all, it is only by grace that we can know God at all. By focusing on God’s grace, we abandon ourselves as the central force and realize all the more that it is God who is our central force. It is God who works inside us bringing real transformation. Our efforts are at best outward signs of good things happening.

As we grow closer to God, we become more like God. The very act of growing closer is also a refining and a refocusing work. God refines intended creation in us and refocuses our center and the central force in our lives. It is not that we have chosen God but that God first chose us. Always, we are the invitee not the initiate.

As we pray, focus on God as center. A strong growing center that helps us keep all of the rest of our lives, the wonderful, the mysterious and the difficult, in proper perspective. Open your mind and heart to God’s need to make adjustments and to bring the refiners touch to create the proper central force. A centering wording might simply be, “God be my central force.”

REFLECTION

What is the

importance of God

being the central

force in our lives?

Name three ways

you experience

God’s grace in your

everyday life.

Prayer is the shaping force of history. God used Moses’ prayers to preserve Israel through the wandering years; He used Nehemiah’s prayer to make possible the rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem; Jesus’ prayers shaped His disciples and helped to develop them into the kind of people that would populate a new kind of kingdom; Paul’s prayers were God’s instrument for shaping the personality and destiny of the new church as it spread across the Mediterranean world. In the Bible, prayer is the amazing cooperation of mankind in bringing God’s plans for this world to fruition. – T. W. Hunt

John 15:16

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JULY 5

WATCHING: MENTAL AWARENESSThere is a practical dimension to this tradition of praying, that is, remaining mentally aware—being watchful as we pray. Nowhere in scripture is this more dramatically depicted than the night Jesus and disciples go into the garden to pray, the night Jesus would be arrested and ultimately crucified. While he pours out his life, literally to God, Jesus hopes and needs the disciples to also be praying. They are not mentally aware, not watchful—they fall asleep.

The scriptural meaning of remaining aware and watching speaks specifically to spiritual alertness. We may not fall asleep but are we spiritually alert? We joke about to-do lists made during worship. We laugh nervously but we know it’s not what we are in that room to do. There are a number of cell phones that are out during worship to check email, return a text, maybe to read the scripture for

the morning from a biblical app. Are we being spiritually alert?

Fortunately, we have a resource to help us remain spiritually alert and watchful—the Holy Spirit. As we begin to pray, we can ask the Spirit to help us stay alert to what we are doing and to help us remain watchful. The Spirit can help us to see God at work in ways we might not have otherwise seen.

Maybe one of the reasons our prayers can seem so lifeless is that we lack a spiritual intimacy with the Spirit who can literally bring life to our prayer. Don’t be frightened by this! The Spirit is not present to embarrass us but to comfort us, to come alongside us. The Spirit is our helper in all spiritual matters. This week our prayer is not just “Spirit, teach me to pray,” but “. . .teach me to be spiritually alert. Help me see God at work in my life and in the lives of those I love.”

DISCUSSION

How would my

prayers change

if I were more

spiritually alert?

What does it

mean for me to

be watchful?

Why would God

be willing to be

at work in my

individual life?

Do I believe that

God is? There is a feeling that unless we do recover that spiritual dimension we are going to lose our grip on life altogether. In meeting that feeling we must be perfectly clear that a commitment to spiritual values is by no means a rejection of the ordinary things of life. Indeed the exact opposite is true. Commitment to the spiritual reality is simply commitment to reality and it is the way to really appreciate the wonder of all life. – John Main

Matthew 26:41

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As Jason and Christy continue to spend focused time together, we pray for them to know the power of God through prayer in a new way. May they see the tangible impact of their prayers in their lives and in the world.

As a young, immature, and often selfish girl, I believed that if you prayed hard enough to God, He would provide anything you desired. It didn’t have to be world peace, the health of your loved ones, or any selfless mercy for a friend. It could literally be anything. I remember very distinctly praying for pets and material things that I thought would make me happy. I rationalized my desire, prepared my case, and began my prayer to God. Of course, that isn’t what prayer is, and I never received what I thought I needed or wanted. I grew disappointed and disillusioned, and soon decided that praying was only for people who couldn’t make something happen on their own.

So, here I sit, a woman who has lived a blessed life with a family I love and friends I am very lucky to have in my life. I’ve lost loved ones, and I’ve been on my knees begging for more time with my dad, or the healing of someone dear to

me. My prayers of a woman have had nothing in common with the prayers of that girl. And so, I have come a long way in my journey, as I pray all of us have. I realize that our prayers are heard, they are answered—sometimes in ways we don’t expect or even want. When we stop praying for selfish desires, we open our lives up to allow God to give us the answers we need, and exactly, when we need them. I truly believe His answer to that immature girl of so long ago was, “Wait, be patient, be faithful, and believe.” His gift to me was the time to understand what praying is all about—and that it gives me, everything I desire.

Lee Ann Zech

If you watch the TV show MASH, and really know your episodes, you know that Major Frank Burns prayed for chocolate pudding. What a thing to pray

for! But I think that in the setting of conflict and despair, wounded and death, chocolate pudding to Frank would have been a treasure. In his storyline, Frank got to go home from the Korean conflict safe, where many others did not. His prayer was answered in a way that may be hard to understand or explain. Remember that the next time you pray for something.Jerry Springs

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Jason is praying for us be surprised by the power of God in our prayer lives.

God Answered My Prayer

It was the middle of the night. There was a noise in the back of the parsonage, our home, and I got up to go check on it. Halfway across the kitchen, I fell, unconscious. When I came to I was spitting up blood.

After a fifty mile ride in the ambulance, I was admitted to Sparks Hospital with a hemorrhaging stomach ulcer. When the doctor came by my room, on day three, he brought a surgeon with him. He told me that if the bleeding had not stopped by the next morning they would have to take me to surgery and remove two thirds of my stomach.

I couldn’t believe that at age twenty-three I might actually lose most of my stomach; I turned my face toward the wall and began to pray, saying, “God, if you will let me keep my stomach I will do anything you want me to.” When the doctor returned the next morning he was alone! “The hemorrhaging has stopped,” he said. Surgery would not be necessary.

I have always believed that God healed me that night and that it was because of His divine intervention that I got to keep my stomach. I still have it today. I had lots of trouble with it after that, and still have to take medication for leftovers from the experience-- today and for the rest of my life. That’s okay. I still believe God answered my prayer that day.

Ray Kesner

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REMAINING QUIET

JULY 12

EARNEST APPEALFor several weeks, we have been open to and longing for spiritual renewal through our focus on contemplative prayer. For some, this way to pray is a wholly new experience. For others, of course, this is your preferred prayer. For all, renewal this summer comes through experiencing God in fresh and new ways. This week we experience God as we are silent.

The brief scripture from Habakkuk is what we want to experience—a holy silence to listen for because we know that God is present. This week we will exercise the discipline of inviting silence in and excluding all distractions that would compete for our attention.

Not just now, but throughout the week practice God’s presence continuously as you close your eyes for rest, turn your electronic devices off (or at least silence them) for a period of time, travel without the radio on, sit at home without the TV

playing. Let no noise invade this sacred space and time with God. Free your mind of things to do, errands to run, work to finish.

Simply allow yourself to enjoy God’s presence. Accept whatever gift God offers. It might be peace of heart. It might be joy. You may receive strength. Whatever gift you are given, it is certainly what God sees as your need. Taking scripture into your mind and heart is also part of preparing to receive an awareness of God’s presence. We are listening for God’s voice like sheep listening for a shepherd. Sheep follow their shepherd, distinguishing their shepherd from all the others. It’s amazing to watch.

Silence. Keep working the distractions out of your mind. Silence. Silence. Discard the distractions. Silence. Silence. Silence. Listen.

REFLECTION

What is the most

effective way for

you to achieve

silence and listen?

Ms. Guyon said,

“Being internally

occupied with

God is wholly

incompatible

with being

externally busied

by a thousand

trivialities.”

How would you

describe your

experience?

_______________________________________________

Experiencing. Pg. 77

Interestingly, we come to value words more in times of silence. This is because we are no longer cheapening words by overuse. We are still, and in the stillness we are creating an open, empty space where God can draw near. And in this stillness we just may hear God’s voice in his wondrous, terrible, loving, all-embracing silence. – Richard Foster

Habakkuk 2:20

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JULY 12

EARNEST APPEALYou may feel like we have arrived at a prayer focus with which you are very familiar—praying for others. It would be interesting to know how much of our prayer time we use to pray for others. It would be significant. We pray for those who are not well, for those who are grieving, for those facing uncertainty, for those who are waiting.

When we pray for others, we enter into God’s work of bringing Heaven to Earth. When we intercede for others, we lay our selfish focus aside and spend our energy and concentrate on others. We become more fully human, created in God’s image, when we pray for others.

Never is this more true than when we pray for those who do not enjoy an intimate relationship to Christ. When is the last time you prayed for

someone who doesn’t see the value of God in his or her life? To intercede is to mediate in a very real spiritual sense. We stand in the gap with Christ between a Creator God and one of God’s beloved creations—even if that person doesn’t realize it.

Do you pray for your neighbors who find more meaning in their soccer league than worship in a church somewhere? Do you pray for the member of your family who doesn’t see the importance of the spiritual disciplines that you practice? Do you pray for the person who butted in line in front of you or cut you off in traffic or believes you have committed an injustice against them and sends a gesture your way or calls you a name of “endearment?” Prayer is the best, most transformative, most Christ-like response we can have.

DISCUSSION

How can I better

pray for others?

What could I pray

for others that

would help the

Reign of God

happen sooner?

Why would God

give us such an

important and

significant part

in this work?

Intercessory prayer, or prayer on behalf of others, reaches its highest power and its highest goal when it is intended to bring the kingdom and accomplish the will of God. This, in fact, is the purpose of all prayer--to accomplish the will of God. –T. W. Hunt

Romans 1:9

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This week Jason and Christy will return to Texas and reunite with their children. They will spend intentional time with both of their families in the next week and a half. We pray for them to find rest and refreshment in God’s presence on their journey home. May they continue to know the living presence of Christ as they go, may their reunion with Jackson, Luke and Norah be sweet, and may their time with extended family be blessed.

Jesus would often go away to a quiet

It was Sunday, July 28, 2013, and our family was celebrating my wife Doris’s 86th birthday at the home of our eldest son. It was a wonderful party and Doris had the best time she had had in a long time. We prayed that would continue. On Monday, her happy mood prevailed but by Saturday she had to be checked into North Kansas City Hospital where they performed a series of tests and reported to us that her heart was damaged. The doctors believed that they could control the damage with medicine so our prayers were for her healing. On Sunday, the leading cardiologist had further tests performed and met with us to say that her heart was more damaged than expected and that her heart problems were terminal.

Our prayer changed from prayer for healing, since that seemed impossible, to prayers for Doris’s comfort during these last days of her life. I had her moved to the hospice care section of the hospital. On Tuesday, we met with the staff and I asked Dr. Anderson how long we might have Doris with us and he said, “Two days or two weeks.” The two day prediction was most accurate. She died early in the morning of the second day.

Our prayers had to change as circumstances changed, but we never doubted that our Father was with us all of the time as we dealt with our own changing moods.

John C. Howell

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place for prayer. Jason is praying for us to find time in quiet places this week and for us to find God’s presence ready to meet us there.

I belong to a prayer group that meets one evening most weeks at the Buhlig’s house on Jewell Street. We are a collection of Jewell students, diverse in many ways, including theologically. However, we are all Christians and we are all passionate about living Christ-centered, prayer-filled lives.

In my transition out of youth group at Second, I went through a period when I did not have a group of Christian peers that I could meet with regularly and call friends. During my freshman year, I prayed repeatedly for a Christian community at college that I would finally feel at home in. God answered this prayer very tangibly in the form of this group my sophomore year, and continues to answer my prayers through this group of friends.

I am not always comfortable at this prayer group. I am often challenged by our disagreements. However, these friends are like family and we love and respect each other. We believe that these differences should never get in the way of our coming together in prayer and worship.

Some of our core members are graduating this coming May, so I do not know what this group will look like next year. I do know that I have grown in many ways through learning to love past our theological and personality differences and I am ever thankful to God for bringing them into my life.

Abby Bland

“I don’t know about you, but I know I’m going to heaven!” And with those words, my friend Helen took a young soldier at Fort Leavenworth by the arm and began a conversation.

Helen wasn’t trespassing. She and her husband lived on the military post where she had started a Bible study class and I was a regular attendant. Although I had made a profession of faith and been baptized at age nine, this outgoing, middle-aged Christian gave me a new perspective. My husband Jim was over-seas and our children, ages two, four, and six, and I waited for orders to join him. That waiting time of a year gave me time to renew my faith, and be ready like Helen, to “pass it on.”

Irene Couch

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EXAMINE YOURSELF

JULY 19

I John 1:8–10 says “If we claim that we’re free of sin, we’re only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—make a clean breast of them—he won’t let us down; he’ll be true to himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we’ve never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God.” (MSG)

Confessing our sins is part of experiencing the presence of God. As we pray this week, let us confess and receive forgiveness for those sins. For some who seek renovatio this summer, receiving forgiveness of sins will be the most renewing thing they do.

This process is not an inventory that we take but an invitation to God to bring us awareness of our sins that impede our relationship with others or with God. In this too, we abandon ourselves to a God who will be just and faithful. Not only making us aware of our sins, but forgiving them. As we draw closer to God, this process of confession and forgiveness becomes a natural part of our relationship to God. One last word on forgiveness of sins. You too must forget them as does God. Accept God’s forgiveness, forgive yourself and now forget them and move on into a new, deeper, richer relationship with God. Forgiven and forgotten, that’s what God does with our confessed sins.

REFLECTION

What will you

make your

practice for

confessing your

sins to God?

Why is forgiveness

of sins so

important?

How can you make

your practice of

forgiving others

more like your

experience of

being forgiven by

God?

Each of us needs to grow out of second-hand faith to a knowledge of the way the Spirit works in our own lives. We need to learn to recognize the daily tracings of divine grace and to respond to them. – Marjorie J. Thompson

Psalm 139:23–24

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JULY 19

PERSONAL SUPPLICATIONThis may seem like the easier focus of our prayers, that is, asking for ourselves. But asking for the best, right “thing,” might be one of the hardest prayers we pray. A few years ago the prayer of Jabez took bookstores by storm. It is found in 1 Chronicles 4:9-10. This is the only place Jabez is mentioned. He asked for God’s blessing and the writer tells us that he received it. Believe it or not, this was not a common prayer in scripture.

Is it acceptable to ask things for ourselves? Yes, we are actually in good company when we do so. Elijah asked. Samuel asked. Daniel asked. Ruth asked. David asked. Peter asked. Paul asked. Mary asked. Jesus asked. And, they all received. We are to ask; it is an expression of our dependence upon God.

When we pray for ourselves, we should be specific. Our asking should be complete. Take the request apart into its various pieces. Our prayer requests should be sincere. It is the language of our hearts. We should avoid preaching to God and instead keep the request simple.

Sometimes we may need to ask the Spirit to help us know what to ask for ourselves. We may be aware of a need but not be clear about what the need is or how to ask God for help. Many of us pride ourselves on never asking for help. Is there an air of arrogance in that? How can we be a created being and not need help? That’s not how God created us but it may be something we have fashioned ourselves into.

DISCUSSION

Why does God

want us to

petition for

ourselves?

Is there anything

that is improper

for which to ask?

How does God

bless us when we

don’t get exactly

for what we

asked?

With our whole beings consciously yielded to the inspiration of the Word and Spirit, our desires will no longer be ours. They will be His, and their main purpose will be the glory of God. With increasing liberty we will be able in prayer to say, “Father! You know we ask it only for Your glory.” Answers to prayer, instead of being mountains we cannot climb, will give us a greater confidence that we are heard. – Marjorie J. Thompson

Matthew 7:7–11

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Jason will spend time in prayer and continuing education at a seminary this week. We pray for God to continue transforming Jason through work, reflection and prayer, making known specific areas of life that need God’s transformation.

A very real prayer experience I had was in our adoption of Sara. While we waited in the hospital for the two required days before her release, we soon found out we might be facing some serious problems getting her due to miscommunications between the hospital staff and the adoption agency. It seems the hospital doubted the steps we had taken for several months prior to Sara’s birth.

On the morning she was supposed to go home with us, Gary and I sat in a waiting room with my parents, at which point, the agency social worker told us things were still uncertain about us leaving the hospital with Sara. Having bonded with her from the moment we met her—eight hours after her birth—we felt ourselves becoming very emotional. We were already drained from the uncertainties we had faced with her birth mom, and now, the agency. We had done all we could to clear up the questions. All we could do was wait.

As the hospital administrator continued talking with the agency director by phone, the four of us remained quiet until my Dad suggested we circle our chairs and pray together. He shared a plea to God for His intervention in the situation and His watch care over us. I felt more at peace after that, and less than 30 minutes later, the social worker returned to let us know everything had been worked out. I was in wonder as we dressed our newborn, placed her in the car seat, made the trip through the door of the hospital and into the car, then down the highway and onto our lives as new parents of a sweet baby girl. Answered prayer. Praise God for His amazing gift!

Laura Rodgers

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Jason is praying for us to seriously consider our daily actions and attitudes and to be open to how God might want to transform us by transforming our daily practices.

When I was a little younger than now, more than thirty years ago and after I had been married about two years, I started to panic about not having a baby. Of course, I was attending church regularly, but I thought, maybe my praying to God was not enough to be blessed with having a baby. I asked several “Faith friends” at church to join me in prayer and so we gathered together once a week to pray. About eight to nine weeks passed, when during prayer meeting, I felt a warm feeling in my heart. I was surprised and let the others know of the feeling. It was a precious moment for me.

Eun Dobbins

A STORY OF THE POWER OF PRAYERIn 1982 my husband of more than 30 years died very suddenly. I was left to live alone and was more than 1,000 miles from my nearest relative. I had to go back to full time teaching, as the insurance and retirement funds were minimal. It was necessary for me to sell our house and to move to a small duplex. After eleven years, I moved to Liberty to be nearer my family.For 28 years, I lived alone. I often prayed during that time that if it was His Will, that God would send me Someone, Some Day, and Somewhere.

Then one Monday morning, the phone rang and a familiar voice asked me if I would like to go to lunch at Olive Garden that day. It was “Mr. Right.” So began a wonderful new relationship and we were engaged in about six months. He had been happily married for over 50 years to a wonderful wife but had been alone for about five years. We found that it was still possible to fall in love again at ages 84 and 82.

So we were married in January 2010 with our five children and twelve grandchildren present. My prayer that I find Someone, Some Day, and Somewhere was answered after many years . . .

Vonda Gourley

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DISTRACTIONS

JULY 26

THANKGSGIVING EXPRESSEDContemplative prayer is a disciplined way to singularly focus on God. By its very design, however, distractions are inevitable. Rather than fighting distractions and giving them too much attention, let them run on through your mind. Letting them pass through is a better way of dealing with them than staying focused on eliminating the distraction. That itself becomes a distraction!

Sometimes the distractions come from within us. We begin to think about our unworthiness. Our inadequacy. Our failures. We are bombarded by internal voices that work to create a divide between God and us. This only serves to discourage us from experiencing God’s presence. It only serves to make our relationship to God less robust.

All the while, be aware that God places thoughts and feelings in us as ways of speaking to us. Keeping focused on God as the experience you desire will give you insight into the difference between distractions and God speaking to you. Distractions can be very subtle—a beautiful sunny day that seems to invite you to a walk and prayer experience. It can be a wonderful experience of prayer. It can also be a wonderful distraction! Just be honest with yourself and you will discern the difference.

As we pray for our own spiritual renewal this week, let us pray about those distractions that come our way. Let us pray for a singular focus on God as we practice God’s presence.

REFLECTION

What can you do

about consistent

and habitual

distractions?

How can those

distractions be

used to refocus

your efforts to

experience God’s

presence through

prayer?

I can be praying and find my mind on another matter, . . . on someone who has hurt me, on a problem coming up. This kind of distraction indicates what is . . . not integrated into my personal relationship with Jesus Christ . . . I can put the matter into his hands, turning the distraction into a prayer. – Robert L. Faricy

Psalm 32:8

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JULY 26

THANKGSGIVING EXPRESSEDWe pray this week with specific gratitude to God for blessings he has given us. When we praise God in prayer we are focusing on who God is. When we pray thanksgiving we focus on what God has done for us.

Being thankful, expressing gratitude is not only appropriate but transformative. Grateful people are generous people. Once we realize that the source of all God’s blessings in our lives is limitless, we release the need to hold onto everything we have. Sometimes we really get it and realize we don’t own anything we have anyway. We are only stewards (caretakers) of whatever God has given us for which to care. If someone else needs it, we should understand that it is our honor to have God use us to supply their need.

Saying thank you to God draws us closer to God. As our hearts and minds expand with an acknowledgement of

all for which we should be thankful, we glimpse again at how broad and deep God’s love and care for us extends.

As you pray, you can group, or not, your blessings. For example, you could begin with thanksgiving for your spiritual blessings, your material blessings, your physical blessings, etc. Be careful to stay focused on your own thanksgiving. As you become conscious of your blessings and pray your thanks, you will begin to think of others and their needs. It might be helpful to jot down names and after you finish thanksgiving, petition on people’s behalf.

The ability to pray thanksgiving is a gift especially when life’s challenges are overwhelming. The ability to always find blessings for which we are grateful is part of spiritual maturing.

DISCUSSION

What first

comes to mind

as prayers of

thanksgiving

for you?

How might

thanksgiving

prayers changing

your prayer

experience?

Why would God

need to hear our

thanks?

What can I give him, Poor as I am? If I were a shepherd I would bring a lamb, If I were a wise man I would do my part— Yet what I can I give him, Give him my heart. – Christina Rossetti

Philippians 4:6

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We pray that Jason and Christy will be mindful of God’s work through all of life, even the distractions. May they each find God this week in unexpected and unintentional ways.

Many years ago somewhere I read a snippet that said God quiets all the angels in Heaven when even one person is praying. That always makes me smile just picturing it.

There are many forms of prayer in my life. When I’m walking my dogs and can feel the warmth of the sun, hear birds chirping and catch the sweet scent of lilacs, I thank God for allowing me to share in the beauty of His Creation.

However, there are times when life isn’t going as I “plan.” Unforeseen circumstances arise, things break around the house, cars don’t run like they’re supposed to, people disappoint and frustration mounts as fear and anxiety overtake my thoughts. In those moments, the only prayer I can utter is “Please help me, Jesus.”

But the most precious prayer time for me comes in the very, very early morning hours, before noise and busyness invade my day. That’s when I am humbled before my Father, as I reflect on the count-less blessings he has given me throughout my life and I can find peace and joy in knowing He is always with me.

Lisa Kopala

Do you ever go to bed at night and can’t fall asleep? When that happens to me which is fairly often, rather than count sheep like I used to, I pray the alphabet. I begin with something like this. “Please, God, may these dear ones feel your presence: Abby, Barack, Carroll, Dick . . .” My list is a mix of friends and family, little knowns and the famous. It’s amazing the folks who will come to mind especially on those occasions I need to pray the alphabet again before sleep arrives. Sometimes, I vary things and pray for places in the world instead. Until my eyelids have grown heavy and I am blessed once more to slumber, I ask God, “May the people of Afghanistan, Brazil, Canada . . . feel you with them. Amen.”

Sue Wright

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Jason is praying that we will experience a new freedom in our prayer lives. May we be mindful of God’s presence through moments of peace and moments of chaos, through sacred clarity and sacred distractions.

THE BUTTERFLY

Our daughter Lynette graduated from William Jewell College in 1989 with an elementary teaching degree. Prior to graduation she had applied to the foreign mission board to become part of the Journeyman Program, was accepted, and assigned to Liberia, West Africa, for two years. Three of our missionary friends from Nigeria, West Africa, assured us Liberia was one of the safest countries in Africa. Before she left our church, the congregation at South Liberty Baptist gave her a shower of things she would need. She arrived in Liberia that August, the same year.

President Doe was in power in Liberia but “want-to-be-president” Johnson formed a coup to run over Doe and become President himself. On December 24th, civil war broke out. Massacres began to take place and all the roads were closed. Lynette was in Yikepa at the time with a family of career missionaries. Besides teaching their young son, she taught Bible in the public schools and served as

youth minister at the church. Quickly surrounded by rebels, Lynette and the other missionaries were in great danger. Still, the mission board was able to maintain contact with them by short-wave radio, assuring us, her concerned parents, all was well. They promised to get the missionary family and Lynette out of the country, and in time, were able to fly them from Liberia on a small plane to Monrovia.

Worried for her daughter’s safety, Peggy took prayer walks during this anxious time, asking God to send her a sign to let us know Lynette was alright. The sign—the flight of a butterfly dancing around her. One day Peggy asked for the sign but no butterfly came. Back home, washing the dishes, tears began streaming down her cheeks as she looked up and out the window only to see the most beautiful butterfly fluttering in front of her. This, we have no doubt, was God’s sign to Peggy that Lynette was okay. Butterflies are meaningful to Peggy to this day.

Tom Sneed

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HOW TO BE SPIRIT-LED

AUG. 2

In case you haven’t already realized it, we have been spending our summer seeking spiritual renewal by becoming more aware of God’s constant presence. In doing this, we are becoming whole-faith disciples who are led by God’s Spirit. “One of the primary goals in prayer—to be led by the Spirit of God.”

Learning to be silent in prayer is simply an invitation to God to move in us through the Holy Spirit. So, whether we are terribly burdened and heart-sick about something or confessing sin, it is God who, in our silence, can now speak clearly and in a way that allows us to discern how we are being led.

We see dramatic examples of the Spirit leading people in both the Old and New Testaments. The prophets of old as well as the early church leaders required the Spirit’s leading. They had no human capacity to do what was

needed of them without the help of the Holy Spirit.

Friends in the African-American church talk about having their peace disturbed. This is their acknowledgement that the Spirit is at work speaking to them. When we live under the Spirit of grace, we will be at peace. Ms. Guyon says it this way, “Beloved, when you are at rest in God, your activity, while being magnificently uplifting, will also be altogether peaceful. And the more peaceful it is, the more will be accomplished, because it is God who is moving and directing your actions.”

In whole-life faith, the total of our lives is abandoned to God to be led by the Spirit. So whether we are at home, at work, at church, at play, in leisure or in recreation, we are who we are, and whose we are. For it is the same Spirit who leads us in these thousands of places.

REFLECTION

Why would we not

want the Spirit to

lead the total of

our lives?

What is the most

common reason

you struggle with

living a Spirit-led

life?

How could a

Spirit-led life be

renewing for you?

_________________________________ Experiencing. Pg 101. | Ibid. Pg. 102.

The third step in holy obedience . . . is this: if you slip and stumble and forget God for an hour, and assert your old proud self, and rely upon your own clever wisdom, don’t spend too much time in anguished regrets and self-accusations but begin again, just where you are. – Thomas R. Kelly

Romans 8:14

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AUG. 2

SINGING: MELODIC WORSHIPAs we pray this week, let’s make it worship. How do you worship? What are the most meaningful elements for you? Do you love to read scripture? Do you ever read it out loud? Is music most meaningful to you? Do songs lift your heart and spirit to places of real worship? Regardless of your musical ability, have you ever sung the scripture or sung your prayer?

What about the language you use? Is another language your first language? Do you ever worship in that language? Can you worship without words? Have you ever danced for God? Could a canvas come alive as you praised God and prayed through painting? One need only to worship around the globe in varied Christian churches to realize there are many forms and elements of worship—most if not all within a cultural context.

Our worship prayer can focus on praise for example. Praising God’s grace and mercy, forgiveness and love. Praising God for being just and ultimately making all things right. There is much to pray about God’s power and reign. You can search the scripture or use an online source and pray the various names of God.

A worship prayer can be experienced as you walk through the park or your neighborhood and you become alive to the many ways you see God at work. Blooming trees, budding flowers, children at play, neighbors visiting with each other serve as reminders of the ways and whys we pray worshipful prayers.

DISCUSSION

Have you

ever thought

of prayer as

worship?

What would be

something you

could try, you’ve

never done

before, that

might be a new

and meaningful

element of

worship for you?

How is your

worship

influenced by

your cultural

context?

My singing is a prayer, O Lord A prayer of thanks and praise In music, Lord, I worship Thee; Thy beauty fills my days. – Novella D. Preston Jordan

Colossians 3:16

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We pray for Jason to have a clear sense of God’s vision for his future and ours. May he be granted the clarity and the courage to see it through.

While visiting a Sunday School class my sister was teaching at a church in Blue Springs, the early worship service was being conducted in the sanctuary, on the floor just above the Sunday School classroom. At one point, near the end of the Sunday School lesson, the faint sound of organ music began overhead; the hymn of response for the worship service was beginning. Without hesitation, my sister paused her teaching to lead the class in prayer that congregants in the early service would have open and responsive hearts to God’s leading. I learned that was the regular routine in this class. It was an act of prayerful attentiveness that I respected and consider worth repeating.

Karen Rogers

For me, prayer is like the words to the Carole King song: You’ve Got a Friend. Written in 1971 it became a number one hit but it expresses my understanding of prayer:

When you’re down and troubledAnd you need a Helping handAnd nothing is going rightClose your eyes and think of meAnd soon I will be thereTo brighten up even your darkest night

If the sky above youGrows dark and full of clouds, and that old north wind begins to blowKeep your head togetherAnd call out my name out loudSoon you’ll hear me knocking at your door

Ain’t it good to know that you’ve got a friendWhen people can be so coldThey’ll hurt you, and desert youAnd take your soul if you let them

You just call out my nameAndy you know wherever I am I’ll come running to see you againWinter, spring, summer, or fallAll you have to do is callAnd I’ll be thereYou’ve got a friendYou’ve got a friend

Ain’t it good to know you’ve got a friendAin’t it good to know you’ve got a friend

As offered by Steve Smith DMin, RBCC

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Jason is praying for God to prepare all of our hearts for the next season of our journey together. May this summer of renewal mark the beginning of a new and exciting chapter in the story of our life together.

I’m a very visual person so I learn better when I can SEE what is being talked about. Even though I’m not a “born and raised” Missourian, I definitely get the whole “show me” idea!

I’ve discussed this with the Lord before, saying, “God, if you will just put a big sign across the sky telling me what I need to do, I’ll do it!” Being quiet enough to hear what God is saying back—observant enough—can be difficult for me though.

From experience, I’ve found I often do my best praying while taking a walk. I love to sing and talk to God on these walks, TRYING to be a good listener as I go. One late afternoon, I had been walking south asking God a lot of questions about

something and not feeling I was hearing many answers. Then I turned the corner and began to head west down Arthur Street, the beauty of the sun beginning to set, absolutely breathtaking. The colors were brilliant and the sun low enough you could look right at it—a big, round ball surrounded in oranges, pinks, and purples. Its beauty brought me to my knees so I just had to sprawl out on the lawn next to the sidewalk for a minute. I hadn’t really thought God was listening to me and I had even wondered if God was there that afternoon. But boy, did I suddenly get it! The visual display across the afternoon sky said it all. “Yes, Gwen, I’m here and I hear you. Now be still and know that I am God.”

Gwen Phillips

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PRESS ON TO KNOW GOD

AUG. 9

We come to the end of the Renovatio Guide but if we’ve done real work we will not have come to the end of our spiritual renewal. We will have developed a hunger and thirst for God that cannot be satisfied in a few short weeks. We may have experienced God through prayer in a way that was a little uncomfortable but we now find a blessing. We may not have learned anything new but perhaps been reminded of things know previously.

Press on to know God more fully, more completely, more personally. The incarnated God is a personal God. You need not remain at arm’s length. There would have been no Jesus if God wished to remain distant. Instead, determined to enjoy the creator-creation relationship God so deeply desired, God came to us in a medium we could better understand.

We could see how God could love. How God could forgive. Why God made us in the first place and what God would have us be and do. All of

this was revealed in Jesus. Those of us living centuries later can still read the stories as these things were witnessed and passed on for those of us who followed. In Jesus we see the why, what, how and who of God.

Press on now for all that you could know of God. You are encouraged to not do your spiritual health in a cyclical fashion but instead one of daily nurture and renewal. This avoids being spiritually bankrupt when life brings you something most untimely, unwanted, and depleting.

We do this not through activity to engage God but in our simply drawing near to God and receiving the gifts God has in store for us. It is this union with us that God is always seeking. We do nothing to attain it but rather an expressed willingness to receive it. We are called to enjoy being with God. More than all the gifts God gives us, we are given God’s presence. We are given God. Press on for more of God.

REFLECTION

Why did you

participate in

Renovatio this

summer?

What has new

meaning for you

and the way you

pray?

How far are

you from the

beginning of

your journey to

have a renewing

relationship with

God?True prayer—It is not a matter of us trying to get our hands on God, our Father! Just the opposite, it is a man or woman abandoning himself or herself completely to His care, allowing Him to get His hands on us. – W. Phillip Keller

Philippians 3:13–14

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AUG. 9

MEDITATION: SPIRITUAL EVALUATIONWe are concluding our Renovatio Guide and our search for spiritual renewal through it. We have sought that renewal by experiencing God through a variety of prayer foci. Have we been renewed? Each of us would have a personal response to that question. It is our intention to see Renovatio as the next place in our corporate experience of prayer. It is not, however, the beginning or the end. Certainly not the end! You may be one that God will use to lead us into our next experience with prayer or spiritual renewal.

It is fitting that we close our prayer focus with the prayer of spiritual evaluation. In this prayer we discover how to apply all the truths God has been revealing to us. In this practice, it may seem more like an inventory than an evaluation. The evaluation is important though. In this sense, evaluation is a process of discernment; you might think of it as a critical

thinking process that is informed by the Spirit. Inventory is too passive for this prayer. It isn’t simply making a list of God’s truths but why, how and what actions they mean to our lives.

As we pray for spiritual evaluation, we can begin by focusing on God and our experiences with our Creator. We also focus on scripture and listen for voices in it to inform our spiritual lives. We focus on God’s being at work, especially in and through our own lives. We can celebrate past experiences and victories. Times of deliverance and clarity. Finally, we focus on the future.

“God, what am I learning that should change me in some way? How can I please You in the way I live? What I say? How can I receive the desires in my heart that You would have me desire so that my life would make you smile?”

DISCUSSION

How can spiritual

evaluation be

helpful?

What is one thing

God has been

teaching me

that I need to

respond to in a

positive way?

What can I do

next beyond

Renovatio to

continue to

be spiritually

renewed?We meditate to give God’s words the opportunity to penetrate, not just our minds, but our emotions—the places where we hurt—and our will—the place where we make choices and decisions. – Joyce Huggett

Psalm 119:12–16

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As Jason’s sabbatical draws to an end, we pray that he remembers all that God has taught him, and knows a new vibrancy in his faith. May his journey forward be filled with the overwhelming sense that God is with him and us, and the reunion of pastor, family and congregation be sweet and sacred.

In college I heard Jerry Cain preach a sermon that helped me establish a lifetime habit of personal prayers of thanksgiving. Jerry encouraged us to recognize God’s “tender mercies” in the provision all around us, in things both big and small. With a stroke of humor, he challenged us to contemplate whether or not we would thank God for good parking spots.

I began a habit of thanking God for everything and of being mindful of God’s hand in blessings all around me. Yes, I do thank God for parking spaces as well as good hair days, safe driving, beautiful weather, and close calls. I have also prayed thanksgiving for gravity, thumbs, contact lenses, blankets, tea bags, memory, and internet. Once this habit became part of my life, it became a very natural response to things which delight, surprise, provide, and bless me in some way. I’m not perfect at this by any means, but I have found great pleasure in simply saying a quick, silent “thank you” at those random, everyday moments of “tender mercies.” Amy Duncan

For me, prayer often brings peace and a deeper relationship with God; sometimes it brings answers to questions or problems. But recently I had an interesting OTHER thing happen.

My friend Katie lost her father about the same time this winter that my parents passed. She came to mind randomly the other day. Later that evening I was reading some materials on grief, and found a passage that was meaningful to me. For reasons I couldn’t really explain, I felt led to take a picture of the passage and send it in a text to her, with the note, “thinking of you.” Soon, I received a text back from her saying, “Wow. How did you know I am struggling today? Just so hard some days . . .”

Sometimes prayer isn’t in the form of a request/question/answer format. I think that sometimes it’s just responding to a feeling and being open to God’s effort to use us.

Becky Gossett

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Jason is praying for us to clearly see how our relationship with God has grown this summer and envision how it might continue to grow in the season ahead. May we know Christ and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, and may we press on as a people to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus has taken hold of us.

After my husband Charley was gunned down by an unknown assailant in front of our house in Colombia, I was devastated. There were days when it was hard to even get out of

bed. One morning when I was alone back here in the United States, I began to thank God for all my blessings, one by one. I discovered that that was an endless task. I prayed on and on for a very long time because I found that my blessings were endless! There are many forms of prayer, but praise and thanksgiving are truly cleansing and refreshing.Becky Whited

The kids were little. We had a new puppy. Life was good. And then, within a space of a few weeks, a friend’s husband died, and my mother-in-law, father-in-law and best friend were all diagnosed with cancer.

In a rash moment of fear and rage, I shouted—“If you’re there God, show me a sign—a cardinal—right now.” No cardinal. I went inside and sat glumly at the computer. My new online banking set up gave me a random picture to associate with the account every time I logged on. It was a big fat cardinal. I laughed out loud.

Years later, a dear friend relapsed from breast cancer. On my walk, I was telling God why I was too busy to visit her, when a flock (yes a flock) of cardinals landed in front of me. I still hardly believe I saw it. Within 48 hours I, along with many friends flew to be with her. We had an unforgettable, God-filled last day with our friend.

For Lent this year I read my Bible and pray-walked every day. The more I walked, the more I saw cardinals. Soon I recognized their songs, and realized there were many more than I could see. The more time I spend in His word and in prayer, the more I see evidence of God working in my life, the more grateful I feel and more interested I am in doing His will.

Every time I see or hear a cardinal I am thrilled with this reassurance: God is near. God is all around. He cares about me and those I love. So I read, and then I pray. And as I pray, I walk, search and listen.

“You will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and soul . . .” Deuteronomy 4:29

Teresa Posey Miller

Contemplative PrayerMay 31 John 7:37 | Thirsting for GodOn the final and climactic day of the Feast, Jesus took his stand. He cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Rivers of living water will brim and spill out of the depths of anyone who believes in me this way, just as the Scripture says.”

June 7 John 14:23 | Scriptural Meditation“Because a loveless world,” said Jesus, “is a sightless world. If anyone loves me, he will carefully keep my word and my Father will love him—we’ll move right into the neighborhood! Not loving me means not keeping my words. The message you are hearing isn’t mine. It’s the message of the Father who sent me.

June 14 Matthew 6:9–13 | Beginning the Journey“The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They’re full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don’t fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this:

Our Father in heaven, Reveal who you are.Set the world right;Do what’s best—as above, so below.Keep us alive with three square meals.Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.You’re in charge!You can do anything you want!You’re ablaze in beauty! Yes. Yes. Yes.

June 21 Matthew 22:37, 39 | Transforming LoveJesus said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them.” June 28 Colossians 3:9–10 | Put Off the OldDon’t lie to one another. You’re done with that old life. It’s like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you’ve stripped off and put in the fire. Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ.

July 5 John 15:16 | The Central Force“You didn’t choose me, remember; I chose you, and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won’t spoil. As fruit bearers, whatever you ask the Father in relation to me, he gives you. July 12 Habakkuk 2:20 | Remaining Quiet“But oh! GOD is in his holy Temple! Quiet everyone—a holy silence. Listen!”

July 19 Psalm 139:23–24 | Examine YourselfInvestigate my life, O God, find out everything about me;Cross-examine and test me, get a clear picture of what I’m about;See for yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong— then guide me on the road to eternal life.

Renovatio Scripture Texts

July 26 Psalm 32:8 | DistractionsLet me give you some good advice; I’m looking you in the eye and giving it to you straight.

Aug 2 Romans 8:14 | How to be Spirit-LedSo don’t you see that we don’t owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent. There’s nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life. God’s Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go!

Aug 9 Philippians 3:13–14 | Press on to Know GodI’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.

Praying in Practical WaysMay 31 2 Chronicles 7:14 | Power’s Slender NerveGOD appeared to Solomon that very night and said, “I accept your prayer; yes, I have chosen this place as a temple for sacrifice, a house of worship. If I ever shut off the supply of rain from the skies or order the locusts to eat the crops or send a plague on my people, and my people, my God-defined people, respond by humbling themselves, praying, seeking my presence, and turning their backs on their wicked lives, I’ll be there ready for you: I’ll listen from heaven, forgive their sins,

and restore their land to health. From now on I’m alert day and night to the prayers offered at this place. Believe me, I’ve chosen and sanctified this Temple that you have built: My Name is stamped on it forever; my eyes are on it and my heart in it always. As for you, if you live in my presence as your father David lived, pure in heart and action, living the life I’ve set out for you, attentively obedient to my guidance and judgments, then I’ll back your kingly rule over Israel—make it a sure thing on a sure foundation. The same covenant guarantee I gave to David your father I’m giving to you, namely, ‘You can count on always having a descendant on Israel’s throne.’

June 7 Psalm 50:23 | Praise: Adoration & Magnification”It’s the praising life that honors me. As soon as you set your foot on the Way,I’ll show you my salvation.”

June 14 Isaiah 40:31 | Waiting: Soul Surrender31Don’t you know anything? Haven’t you been listening?GOD doesn’t come and go. God lasts. He’s Creator of all you can see or imagine.He doesn’t get tired out, doesn’t pause to catch his breath. And he knows everything, inside and out.He energizes those who get tired, gives fresh strength to dropouts.For even young people tire and drop out, young folk in their prime stumble and fall.But those who wait upon GOD get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles,They run and don’t get tired, they walk and don’t lag behind.

June 21 Psalm 51:10–15 | Confession: Declared AdmissionSoak me in your laundry and I’ll come out clean, scrub me and I’ll have a snow-white life.Tune me in to foot-tapping songs, set these once-broken bones to dancing.Don’t look too close for blemishes, give me a clean bill of health.God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.Don’t throw me out with the trash, or fail to breathe holiness in me.Bring me back from gray exile, put a fresh wind in my sails!Give me a job teaching rebels your ways so the lost can find their way home.Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God, and I’ll sing anthems to your life-giving ways.Unbutton my lips, dear God; I’ll let loose with your praise.

June 28 I Thessalonians 2:13 | Scripture Praying: Appropriated FaithAnd now we look back on all this and thank God, an artesian well of thanks! When you got the Message of God we preached, you didn’t pass it off as just one more human opinion, but you took it to heart as God’s true word to you, which it is, God himself at work in you believers!

July 5 Matthew 26:41 | Watching: Mental Awareness1Stay alert; be in prayer so you don’t wander into temptation without even knowing you’re in danger. There is a part of you that is eager, ready for anything in God. But there’s another part that’s as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire.”

July 12 Romans 1:9 | Intercession: Earnest AppealAnd God, whom I so love to worship and serve by spreading the good news of his Son—the Message!—knows that every time I think of you in my prayers, which is practically all the time…

July 19 Matthew 7:7–11 | Petition: Personal Supplication“Don’t bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This isn’t a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we’re in. If your child asks for bread, do you trick him with sawdust? If he asks for fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? As bad as you are, you wouldn’t think of such a thing. You’re at least decent to your own children. So don’t you think the God who conceived you in love will be even better?

July 26 Philippians 4:6 | Thanksgiving ExpressedDon’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

August 2 Colossians 3:16 | Singing: Melodic WorshipAnd sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.

Renovatio Scripture Texts

Richard J. Foster and Emilie Griffin (Eds.), (2000). Spiritual Classics: Selected Readings for Individuals and Groups on the Twelve Spiritual Disciplines, New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers Joyce Hugget, pp. 11, 13 A. W. Tozer, p. 115 Clare of Assisi, p. 135 Richard Foster, p. 158 Andrew Murray, p. 274 John Main, p. 155 Christina Rossetti, p. 310 Thomas R. Kelly, p. 179

Marjorie J. Thompson (1995). Soul Feast: An Invitation to the Christian Spiritual Life, Louisville, London: Westminster John Knox Press Marjorie J. Thompson, pp. 33, 46, 84, 104, 144 William Paulsell, p 138 Soren Kierkegaard, p. 33 William Temple, p. 54 Robert L. Faricy, p 50

T. W. Hunt (1986). The Doctrine of Prayer. Nashville, TN: Convention Press, p. 55

Novella D. Preston Jordan, My Singing Is a Prayer, from The Baptist Hymnal (1991), Nashville, TN: Convention Press, p. 603

W. Phillip Keller (1991). God Is My Delight, Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, p. 71

August 9 Psalm 119:12–16 | Meditation: Spiritual EvaluationHow can a young person live a clean life? By carefully reading the map of your Word.I’m single-minded in pursuit of you; don’t let me miss the road signs you’ve posted.I’ve banked your promises in the vault of my heart so I won’t sin myself bankrupt.Be blessed, GOD; train me in your ways of wise living.I’ll transfer to my lips all the counsel that comes from your mouth;I delight far more in what you tell me about living than in gathering a pile of riches.I ponder every morsel of wisdom from you, I attentively watch how you’ve done it.I relish everything you’ve told me of life, I won’t forget a word of it.

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References

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