The Everyday Prayer

Re:Verse passage – 2 Thessalonians 2:13–17; Hebrews 5:11–13; Romans 16:17–18 day three) 

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. (Hebrews 5:12-13)

I had a coach who had a mantra that he would remind us of every day…we should strive to be 1% better today than we were yesterday. It was a reminder for our growth in baseball and school, but more importantly, he reminded us that we should be growing in our faith and relationship with the Lord every day. We should be closer to the Lord than we were yesterday, last week, last month, last year, and so on. Now, I am reminded of that saying almost daily and am grateful for men like Dan Heefner who have encouraged me and helped me grow. We need people encouraging us to grow and discipling us to not regress “back to milk.”

It is nearly impossible for a Christian to “stand pat” in their faith or to stay still. We either progress or regress, going forward or backward. The writer of Hebrews points this out in his letter, reminding his readers that they should be progressing. Sometimes we progress and sometimes we regress because it takes work and is not always easy. But God has called us to progress and grow, encouraging others to do the same along the way. Are you closer to Him today than you were yesterday or last week? Who do you have that can encourage you to grow and disciple you along the way?

Re:Verse passage – 2 Thessalonians 2:13–17; Hebrews 5:11–13; Romans 16:17–18 (day two)

 …because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. 2 Thess. 2:13b

So many prepositions in this half of a verse show the incredible thread and process of God’s great work (from, for, through, by). It gives me this grand sense of cosmic purpose in everything that God has designed. The idea that God has created a process, called sanctification, whereby we grow in knowledge and wisdom is also an incredible thought. He is aware of our limited understanding; and it is his design that as we journey in faith, we should grow into a more complete understanding of his purpose and plan. And in so doing, we will become more and more like him. As a disciple who invests in others, we can point to this process to help others understand growth. The Spirit of God is investing in your growth as you devote your time to becoming a disciple. It is an investment that will only yield benefits.

Re:Verse passage – John 15:6–10; Hebrews 12:10; Acts 13:2–3; Colossians 4:2–4 (day seven)

Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. Acts 13:3

One of my favorite things that we have implemented into our worship gatherings at FBCSA is the commissioning of mission teams. We embody this passage of scripture as we recognize the calling from God in these individuals, surround them with prayer and the laying of hands, and send them out. It is simple. It is scriptural. It is beautiful!

What if we could do something similar for discipleship as well? Maybe in our Bible study classes we could commission one another to go into our communities to make disciples. These smaller groups are already designed for discipleship to be happening regularly. They are a part of that discipleship process and promote further discipleship to happen outside of the class. These groups are also designed for more intimacy and accountability. What if we told our class who God was calling us to disciple, they laid hands on us, prayed for us, and then held us accountable to go and do this? Imagine if the people we discipled became a part of that group and then they were sent out to disciple someone else. The heart of discipleship is multiplication. If we (individually and corporately) are not multiplying, then we aren’t discipling.

Would you join me in this? As Danny asks often, who are you doing life with? If you are not in a group, join a group! If you are in a group, how are you going to multiply within that group?

Re:Verse passage – John 15:6–10; Hebrews 12:10; Acts 13:2–3; Colossians 4:2–4 (day six)

Abiding is not passive.  According to E. Earle Ellis, abiding in Jesus is how his disciples stand defiantly against spiritual darkness and the enemies of God’s kingdom. In that sense, the disciplines are tools of holy war,  practices through which we resist sin, deception, distraction, and despair.

Every quiet prayer is an act of resistance. Every fast declares the rule and reign of Christ. Every celebration or contemplation sets our minds on the beauty and goodness of Jesus.

The disciplines do not create the life or win the battle. They keep bringing us to Jesus, and the life of Jesus makes us fruitful, faithful, and victorious.

Re:Verse passage – John 15:6–10; Hebrews 12:10; Acts 13:2–3; Colossians 4:2–4 (day five)

“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too,”

Our study this summer has been so rich and encouraging. We are studying biblical discipleship, spiritual formation, and Christian maturity. This week we focus on spiritual disciplines- regular and intentional actions, rhythms, and patterns we practice for the purpose of growing deeper in our relationship with Christ. It is easy to think of these only in terms of what I need to do on my own and by my self. The “individualism” of western culture can influence us in this way. The title of our series (Deepening Disciples: Formation through Relationships) reminds us that biblical discipleship also has a facet that requires community and accountability and demands BOTH personal and corporate disciplines. I’ll share some thoughts from Donald Whitney-

“So while some Disciplines are practiced alone, some are to be practiced with others… Both the personal and interpersonal Disciplines are means of blessings for followers of Jesus and a part of growth in godliness, for the Bible teaches both. Moreover, Jesus practiced both, and becoming like Jesus is the purpose of practicing the Disciplines. Christians are individuals, but we are also part of the body of Christ. We experience God and we grow in His grace through both personal and interpersonal Spiritual Disciplines.”

Re:Verse passage – John 15:6–10; Hebrews 12:10; Acts 13:2–3; Colossians 4:2–4 (day four) 

Practicing spiritual disciplines can sound daunting. For one, the word “discipline” implies that there’s some effort on our part we will find challenging. The spiritual disciplines can also start to sound like a to-do list for our spiritual life, or the criteria for making an A+ with God. When we view them this way, we might have moments of motivation where we feel we can surely master them all, and we set out to do so only to find that our motivation is short lived and you’re not entirely sure how to go about some of them.

But this isn’t the biblical vision of the spiritual disciplines. Rather, the disciplines are more like a trellis, a structure that the ivy hangs onto as it grows, forming its path. The spiritual disciplines are the form, structure, and anchor points that we hang on to as we grow, seeking to become more like Christ. Prayer and Scripture reading, fasting and celebrating, service and solitude, among many others, are the things which anchor our souls and give us a structure to hang on to as we grow towards the source of light and life. They are means of grace, not a check list. Disciplines for sure, but not a rubric.

How might that change the way you practice these things in your life? How is God calling you to grow in these disciplines?

Re:Verse passage – John 15:6–10; Hebrews 12:10; Acts 13:2–3; Colossians 4:2–4 (day three)

By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. (John 15:8)

The history of the vanilla bean is a fascinating story. The vanilla orchid flower that produces vanilla beans is native to Mexico and grows there best because a certain type of bee pollinates the flowers. That certain bee (the Meilpona bee or Euglossine bee) lives only in that area of Mexico. Horticulturists tried for over 300 years to grow them in other parts of the world, but it wasn’t until a twelve-year-old boy, living on an island in the Indian Ocean, figured out a technique for pollinating the vanilla orchids without these bees. After that, growers all over the world were able to help their vanilla orchids produce the fruit they so longed for!

Discipleship can be like that. If we don’t know how to produce fruit, we won’t. When we abide in Jesus, He helps us produce the kind of fruit that glorifies the Lord. In abiding in Him, we also can help others grow in their knowledge and understanding of the Lord, thus helping to produce fruit in them also. The actual process of growing in Him and producing fruit is not a mystery though. Jesus told us exactly how we produce fruit. Are you abiding in Him? Are you growing in Him? What fruit is being produced by your relationship with Jesus?

Re:Verse passage – John 15:6–10; Hebrews 12:10; Acts 13:2–3; Colossians 4:2–4 (day two)

Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; Colossians 4:2

Just yesterday I was scrolling on my phone and saw a video of a young man about running. He was from Kenya, and he said they have a sort of discipline for people who wake up and don’t feel like running that day. The idea is to commit to run for five minutes, after which, you can stop. All you have to commit to is five minutes, but something happens in those five minutes. Your body begins to loosen up, your muscles aren’t so tight, your brain begins to unfog, and the endorphins begin to do their work. Soon, you decide that you will keep on running beyond the five minutes. This is a training discipline.

There will undoubtedly be times when you don’t “feel” like reading, or praying, or sharing, or whatever it is you are called to do as a faithful follower of Jesus. Our call is to be obedient. If you will remember to earnestly pray for just a few moments, you will find the Spirit helping you to find the strength and energy to continue.