Mark brings up a great point about going through the motions in your spiritual disciplines.
Are you able to sing "morning by morning new mercies I see."?
Also fascinating that after singing a song 30 times, we stop paying attention to the word.
Kim?
I notice that on some songs, I do put less energy into thinking about the words, but often when I "put a song down" then pick it up later it becomes fresh again.
How can you stay fresh? How can you keep from just checking of a box? Critical to staying in tune with God is the pivot point of attitude and anticipation.
I'm talking about an attitude that anticipates God's presence. How can devos or worship ever be boring when God shows up? Well, the short answer is, it can't. And that means that you must come into both private and public worship with a sense of anticipation.
I get to meet God this morning! - in a prayer, in a song, in a piece of scripture that pops off the page when you read it. in a thought that just blows you out of the water . . .
I've been blessed with being able to help people on Sunday morning move from routine worship to remarkable worship - when the sense of God's presence is more than occasional encounter but a weekly expectation. God is in the house! I'm thankful for this gift - it's all God working on and using a country boy preacher. It's amazing to me, when folk come and God always seems to touch someone.
Can you expect the same in your quiet time? YES! Try listening to music and really concentrating on the words. Grab a hymnal and read the text as poetry. Put yourself in a new testament story. Use posture - like the Quaker emptying and filling we practiced two Sundays ago. Try fasting. Go outside and focus on something in creation - something small you walk by every day. Marvel at how God created it. Listen to the birds greeting the day and picture them singing their chorus to God.
If you are in routine mode, I and others can help.
Share some of what you do to get out of the rut.
(Anybody out there?)
No comments:
Post a Comment