Desiring God

I want to cultivate my relationship with God. I want all of life to be intimate—sometimes consciously, sometimes unconsciously—with the God who made, directs, and loves me. And I want to waken others to the nature and centrality of prayer.

I want to be a person in this community to whom others can come without hesitation, without wondering if it is appropriate, to get direction in prayer and praying.

I want to do the original work of being in deepening conversation with the God who reveals himself to me and addresses me by name.

I don’t want to dispense mimeographed hand-outs that describe God’s business; I want to witness out of my own experience.

I don’t want to live as a parasite on the first-hand spiritual life of others, but to be personally involved with all my senses, tasting and seeing that the Lord is good.

I know it takes time to develop a life of prayer: set-aside, disciplined, deliberate time. It isn’t accomplished on the run, nor by offering prayers from a pulpit or at a hospital bedside. I know I can’t be busy and pray at the same time. I can be active and pray; I can work and pray; but I cannot be busy and pray. I cannot be inwardly rushed, distracted, or dispersed. In order to pray I have to be paying more attention to God than to what people are saying to me; to God than to my clamoring ego. Usually, for that to happen there must be a deliberate withdrawal from the noise of the day, a disciplined detachment from the insatiable self.
(Eugene Peterson, The Contemplative Pastor, pp. 19-20)


Draw Near to God
In today’s devotional, Eugene Peterson describes what kind of disciple he desires to be. When is the last time you sat down and really thought about who you are and where you want to be as a follower of Jesus? In your prayer today, tell God what kind of disciple you desire to be. Make your desire known to God as you seek to know Him deeply.

By Kevin Greer

When Wild Animals Rush In

Following Jesus is a life long journey. Each day we take steps to live as Jesus desires. Often the difficulty of this journey hits us the moment we wake up each day. C.S. Lewis (the Author of the Chronicles of Narnia) had something to say about that.

“The real problem of the Christian life comes where people do not usually look for it. It comes the very moment you wake up each morning. All your wishes and hopes for the day come rushing at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists simply in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in. And so on, all day. Standing back from all of your natural fussings and frettings; coming in out of the wind.
We can only do it for moments at first. But from those moments the new life will begin spreading, because now we are allowing him to work at the right part of us. It is the difference between paint, which is merely laid on the surface, and a dye or stain which soaks all the way through.”

Today, make time to listen. Push away the wild animals that come rushing at you and instead of focusing on them, you must welcome God to this place. Slow down and acknowledge Him. Meditate on Him and come near to him in worship and thought.


Draw Near to God
Make yourself available to God alone. Close your eyes. Try to ignore those around you as well as any other distractions.

Focus on God’s mercy. Slow your breathing. Be conscious of it. Inwardly pray these words: As you breathe in, “Oh Lord God” and as you breathe out, “Have mercy on me”. Go ahead. Try it 3 or 4 times. Now, whenever your mind begins to wander during your time of prayer, return to those words as you breathe in and out: “Oh Lord God, Have mercy on me.”

Spend some time in silence, welcoming God to your day, to your life.