Freedom

Link: Core Values
Focus: Prayer (7/7)
Day: 15/95
Pathway summary: Being faith-filled, fervent, continual, and heartfelt in my expressions, petitions, and supplications to God.
Justification: (2 Timothy 1:3; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; Matthew 6:5-13; Mark 9:23)
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Setup:

What is "just enough" prayer? What is the impact of praying as frequently as is feasible?

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Prep:

I recognized, of the studies in this journey so far, that compared to studying the bible, prayer (for me) is a much more difficult to thing to do regularly. Every post for this focus section has been late - so definitely something to work on.

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Execution:

I started with prayer and asked for guidance - recognizing I need Him to pray properly ... and also to complete this arc addressing the same.
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Day 15 Conclusions / Thoughts

The whole "just enough" is always a trap - much like any earnest relationship anyone is ever in, choosing to be guided by a "tit-for-tat" (or zero-sum) perspective will always falter in the end - this is because life is messy and we're talking about relationships between real people.

In other words, if you DO have a zero-sum perspective in a non-business relationship that is based on presumption of intimacy, you're probably not trying hard enough.

Flipping it, however, bears massive amounts of fruit. If you, instead, function from the perspective that you haven't prayed enough (and choose/fight to not be motivated by fear of this fact), you will err nicely on the side of sufficiency - which is to say, actually live out the "pray without ceasing."

And that's my take-away for prayer.  It is a perpetual font of opportunity to connect with God, it provides a tool to work through literally any dilemma, a means of productively investing in those people and enterprises you care about, and provides an earnest way to connect with the body of Christ in a discrete and intimate way.

My caution to you is to not take it for granted.

And prayer is so very, very easy to take for granted.  In fact, of the twelve core foci of the core values, it is the most easy to take for granted - because it requires no travel, no material commitment, and no tools. It believe it was designed with the intent that ANYONE can talk to God.

And God, so accessible and loving, is, as a result, easy to take for granted.

But not YOU. You are reading these words. You see the value of intimacy. And YOU realize that prayer should NEVER be taken for granted - especially because God has designed it to be accessed and used with a terribly low bar.

Maybe put God into perspective. Isaiah speaks about visiting God and having unclean lips (which are then quickly cleaned by an angel). The unview-able, unknowable, unthinkable creator of the universe is so worthy of our praise, our worship, our respect - and this is the same fellow who is offering us the opportunity to pray.

So ...

Pray in earnest - share on what you think and share your fears.

Pray in truth - do your best not to like about causes but speak from need and love

Pray in intimacy - do not hold things back from Him

But

Pray with reverence - He literally made you. He is worthy of worship

Pray with faith - He laid the groundwork for faith with his life.  Do not deny it.


Pray, in all things, about all events, for all people, giving everything to Him.

Perhaps on your knees.

But pray.

P.S. This post is entitled Freedom because there is freedom in praying without ceasing - you can trust God is actively involved in your life. You don't have to worry about praying for this but not that - and you can earnestly sink-your-teeth into the presumption that He is in control.

Rest

Today was a struggle to maintain focus on Love.

It is a reminder that ...

• in spite of the revelations that God has provided
• in spite of the fact that God has changed me and IS changing me
• in spite of the fact that I have a clearer understanding of this topic than e'er before

This is actually a hard topic!

Some people spend their entire lives looking for God has blessed me with.

So today's focus is on cleaning up my walk, renewing and rededicating my voice.

I refuse to let an apparent low-success day be the justification for "pausing" this journey.

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Thus, today's Bible study is unstructured.

May your own interests be edifying, your distractions be God honoring, and repentance be your default response to problems.

Baseline

Context:

It is the hardest thing in the world to change, really change.

Sometimes I think it is because we so often define our expectations based upon labels.

So if you're in one camp, you're "okay"; and anyone not in that camp is "wrong".

... as if labels meant anything except an opportunity to feel safe.

Sometimes I think it is because we are confused or afraid of the full-identity commitment.

We get used to being old, angry, frail, hated, whatever ... and that skin feels comfortable.

Even if we actually hate it.

To become something or someone else requires an understanding that your nature is ... misaligned.

And so this comes with its own fear - what if a head-down approach to changes misses something?

The best way to change is to have an objective guide outside of yourself providing feedback.

Best case scenario, this guide would need to be perpetually available, be as committed to your change (or more so) than you, have a clear understanding about the direction you OUGHT to be growing/changing, and be aware when the rate at which your changing is not healthy.

Because change that comes too fast or too slow can be its own death knell.

I want to be better ... and that requires change.

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Legend:
I intend to set a SMART goal that captures the kind of better I'd like to be.

That is, establish a measurable, specific goal that can be accomplished within a known time window.

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Declaration:

By 08 October 2016 (95 days) I want to be a better Christian, by evidencing improvement along all 12 of the City Life Pathways.

Anticipation:

I anticipate I will observe improvements as a spouse, a parent, an offspring, and as an individual

Measurement:
I will establish a baseline along each of the 12 pathways (to be able to recognize improvements).

Feedback:

After establishing a baseline I will focus on one pathway each week; and, presuming I'm faithful, I'll document my state here on these pages.  If nothing else, I hope that whoever reads this is able to grow closer to Christ.

Ballast:

Additionally, I'll do my best to document habits, mental tendencies, and hobbies that detract from my ability to succeed in each domain. I commit to either completely replacing or pausing any that earnestly detract from successfully bearing fruit.  And throughout I will be asking God to guide me. Cause change is hard.  But God is greater