If you are like me then whether you
are working or on vacation from school you probably have a really hard time
staying focused on God over the summer.
Who can blame you? The weather is
usually amazing, it's a great time to go places with our families and friends,
and overall a better time of year (for those of us who deal with snow from the
months of November to March). One of the
biggest advantages of summer is that for many of us we find ourselves with a
lot more free time to do what we like and even if you don't have a summer
vacation, it always seems that for some odd reason we can't quiet get our minds
off everything else going on in the summer to fully appreciate God.
So the
challenge for many of us is simple. How
do we stay focused and sharp in the summer time? I believe it comes down to a few main things
that we absolutely must do when we find ourselves focused on everything else in
life. If you can master this in the
summer, you should be good to go and well on your way to having a rock-solid
foundation in Christ. So let's roll up
our sleeves, the first part is God's Word.
2 Tim 3:16-17 says "All scripture
is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the faith and correcting error,
for resetting the direction of a man's life and training him in good
living. The scriptures are the
comprehensive equipment of the man of God, and fit
him fully for all branches of his work." In the NKJV verse 17 says "that the man of
God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work."
Another way to look at it is that Deuteronomy 29 talks about
scripture being the things revealed to man which belong to us forever. In other words these are the things that God
has given to us to help secure our faith and direct our ways. Notice how it says "resetting the direction
of a man's life." Before God can use us
he has to clean us off and give us a new direction and purpose. As mentioned in verse 17 of the NKJV it uses
the word complete. In other terms God's
word gives us all the tools we need to teach, rebuke, correct, and train. If we look earlier in 2 Timothy 2:21 is says
"if a mean cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble
purposes, made holy, useful to the Master, and prepared to do any good
work."
I remember
seeing a sign at an Air Force base I once had training at, it said "if you're
too busy to pray then you're too busy."
I thought to myself that it was such a simple and profound statement to
make. This week I want to have us take a
look at the life of Christ and see what we can find about this idea of quiet
time. This is the second major pillar
that I believe we need to master in order to have a rock solid foundation in
Christ.
Mark 6:31
(NIV)
Then because so many people were coming and going that they
did not even have a chance to eat he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves
to a quiet place and get some rest."
Acts 6:3
Brothers,
choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and
wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give
our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word."
Acts 2:42-47
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to
the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
It's amazing to me that some of the most
powerful and driven men at the time of the New Testament's writings always came
back to a focus on prayer and ministry.
There is nothing overly complex about prayer. It really is just that simple. It's like eating. There is nothing (on the surface) overly complex
about eating, if you eat and eat the right foods your body flourishes, if you
neglect food or eat bad foods your body becomes weak. Prayer is much the same way.
Just as we wouldn't (or shouldn't)
neglect food we shouldn't neglect prayer.
As we neglect our personal prayer time we neglect our growth and ability
to stand against the wind and waves that will come our way.
You
absolutely can not hear from God without prayer. That means both in speech and in
listening. Many times we make the mistake
of thinking that we should always be speaking during prayer. I have learned
that God speaks more when I close my mouth and listen. God wants to engage in conversation with his
creation and we should spend as much (if not more) of our time listening than
we should speaking. I challenge you this
weak simply to pray and praise God for who he is and just sit there in the
quiet and let God download his love and wisdom into your life.
I truly
believe that the toughest part for many of us is to master the basics of
getting in God's word and actually spending quality time in prayer. I have
found that it's a matter of consistently doing these things day in and day out
that helps us grow. Sometimes it might
be tough but like all things, the more we train our minds and hearts in these
matters, the stronger we become. Just
think, if you can do this during the best time of the year, how much easier
will be at other times.
Mikhail Hutton is owner of the Leadership Think
Tank The HIL Group.
He has worked with local governments, churches, and nonprofits to help
them manage the transitions associated with Change. Mikhail is based out
of State College, PA where
he also works with young church leaders.
Visit website at: http://www.thehilgroup.com/
More from his company Blog at: http://thehilgroup.typepad.com/
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