Thursday, October 06, 2005

Soul food, Spiritual feedings...too busy not to pray...

The most common cause of unasnwered prayer is prayerlessness. - Hybels
My life has been crazy lately. I have chronicled some of the goings on here on my blog, but there is a lot more beyond that. Banana and I have been working on buying two houses in White Bear Lake, MN. I spent part of today with the Board of Trustees for Bethel Seminary, and you get the idea. We all live busy lives it seems, or at least in our culture. Certainly though, there are peaks and valleys. It is in the peak times we need to be reminded to feed ourselves spiritually.

Have you ever been so busy, or so engrossed in a project that you simply failed/forgot to eat? I have. Eventually our bodies will remind us that we've missed a meal or two though, and we take care of that need. God did not wire many of us with a similar system that alerts when we miss our spiritual feeding. Certainly when we become attuned to God's voice in our lives, we will miss this, but for many people it's more a matter of habit, and they are missing the motion more than the devotion. As we miss spiritual feedings, or at least in my experience, we begin a decline. I get more up tight, more easily angered. I do not feel as rested, and I struggle in my relationships. I am also prone to filling that void with something else.

So in this busy time of my life, I am trying to find places to relax for a few minutes, catch my breath, and get some spiritual nurishment. Bill Hybels' book "Too Busy Not To Pray" comes to my mind as the mindset I want for these busy times. I am simply too busy, with too many important things, to not take time out and pray, and read scripture. I have found that prayer journaling is a good discipline, even though I don't particularly like doing it.

The heart and soul of the Christian life is learning to hear God's voice and developing the courage to do what he tells us to do. - Hybels
We can only do this through reading of scripture and prayer. Keep that in mind.

Care to share your thought and experiences in times like this?

The archenemy of spiritual authenticity is busyness. -Hybels

4 comments:

Brenton Balvin said...

you want willow creek A2 tickets? i have some extras. post a comment on my blog with your phone number.

Brenton

Chris Meirose said...

Thanks a ton for the offer, I soooo wish I could take you up on it. Life is conspiring against me at the moment. I'll send you an email with details, and I do know someone who likely could go and would fit in well with you guys (our new youth pastor) if the ticket(s) are going to be wasted.

Big Chris

DLW said...

I'm still looking forward to reading your review of Roger Olson's recent article on Post-Conservative Evangelical Theology.

I hope mercy on Greek was sufficient...
dlw

Chris Meirose said...

I haven't forgotten about it David. Mercy wasn't enough on Greek, so I get to take the exam again this coming Spring. I emailed my final paper to Dr. Stone today (the movie one) but I'm still working on my chapters. He's been giving us a good bit of work in World Religions too. After this weekend I think there may be some light at the end of my tunnel.

Like I said before, keep reminding me, as it's good from time to time so it doesn't slip past me.

Chris