So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. – Romans 8:1-3

Sunday was very much a “blast from the past” as both Rebekah and I were both fully engaged over at the church.

Rebekah had been invited to preach, as well as to preside over the installation and ordination of the new class of elders. All in all it was a busy service with a lot of details. It felt good to see her in the pulpit again.

Additionally, it was my day to teach the confirmation class. They are on “Session Eleven” (of twelve instructional units) before they are examined by the elders and officially join the church in a couple of weeks.

The subject was prayer and – by and large – the young people did a great job of participating. I co-taught the lesson with my friend Lillie Anderson.

Prayer:

A lot of our conversation was rooted in prayer-related rituals – which I personally value, and not only experience as very helpful but also necessary.

I find that fact a tad amusing, because when I was younger I was firmly in the “Just say no to ritual” camp. Somewhere in my uber-Protestant and reject if it sounds even vaguely Catholic upbringing, I had been taught that prayer is spoiled inasmuch as it “depends on” anything “artificial” such as a rosary or a labyrinth or chants or kneeling or a prayerbook or a priest or holding a cross etc. etc.

However (and the more experienced I have become as someone with a lifetime invested in my relationship with Jesus and the path to knowing God) I understand that I need all the help I can get!

• The small stone in my pocket that reminds me to talk to God,
• the labyrinths I have walked that keep me focused,
• the Bible I place in view sometimes to help channel my thoughts,
• the beauty and the rhythm of the Lord’s Prayer or the 23rd Psalm or something else memorized that anchors me in the Spirit,
• the peace that floods my soul when I walk into the sanctuary and see the light gently filtered through the stained glass,
• the bread and the wine at communion,
• the sonorous tones of the pipe organ…. and so much more.

Putting the presence of the Holy front of mind:

“Why is it important to ask a blessing before we eat?” I ask the kids.

• “Because we should be grateful?”
• “Because God is in charge of all the food?”
• “To remind us we depend on God?”

“These are all good answers,” I respond. “But how about as a way to get ourselves into the habit of prayer? So let me ask you, what is it that we do at least three times a day?”

• “Eat?”

“That’s right. Sometimes more often. If we develop the habit of asking a blessing every single time we eat then eventually even grabbing a cookie or a glass of milk will routinely bring us into the presence of God.

“Disciplines,” I continue, “spiritual disciplines, are simply habits we have intentionally cultivated. Attaching our prayer life to things we do all the time (like putting my hand in my pocket and discovering a stone or some prayer beads) things that reminds me to think about God. This is a way to eventually make prayer something that is almost constant.”

And, the thought occurs to me in this writing, the more the presence of The Holy is front of mind the less inclined I am to do things that distance myself from God.

Prayer is more of a posture, or an attitude, than it is a formula. So the more disciplined I am in terms of associating specific things with my connection with God, the more constant my prayer life becomes.

“Prayer,” I told the confirmands, “is very much the language of our relationship with God… but it is also a discipline. It has to be. Because we do not currently live in Heaven, and our natural inclination is rooted in what the Apostle Paul calls “the flesh.”

God is not against our natural life, God is instead concerned with elevating our experience of living, and inviting us to take a different path, the one that is only possible when we follow Jesus.

God wants to elevate our experience of living. That’s a good truth to close on – DEREK