“Be still and know that I am God ….” Psalm 46:10

It’s been said that the spiritual discipline of silence and solitude is the most important because all the others hinge on our communion with God. If we have this time with Him, then we are grounded and ready to move into and learn about the other disciplines. That’s why I’ve chosen to start with this discipline.

That being said, the spiritual discipline of silence and solitude is also one of the most intimidating for many of us. We can be … afraid of the silence, afraid of being by ourselves. Or, maybe, if you live in the midst of a crowded, busy household, silence and solitude may seem like the impossible dream.

Think about what a premium our culture places on instant access and communication. Cell phones allow us to be reached at times when just a few years ago, we would have be inaccessible, like on a walk or driving in our cars. They intrude in conversations with friends, at luncheons, even in church!

While on vacation this week. I’ve had a good chance to observe our obsession with cell phones–and realized my own obsession. On a number of occasions, I’ve observed teens who were hanging out with their friends on the beach, and the whole time they were with their friends they were ignoring them, texting other people. One girl even had her phone in the pool. She texted while she was in the pool by standing in the shallow end and texting instead of swimming or talking to her friends. I have been guilty of frequently checking my e-mail on my phone and dashing to answer every ring.

The discipline of silence and solitude helps us to disconnect from distractions and connect with the true lover of our souls, God. If Jesus needed times of silence and solitude with God–and He did regularly–then how much more do we? When we don’t have those times, our souls can become sick. We become discouraged, depressed, hopeless, without realizing why we feel that way.

You’ll need to plan to add times of silence and solitude into your life. Rarely will these times just open themselves up for you. Perhaps you can work in a few minutes each day, a longer time on the weekend, schedule a monthly few-hours-long time to get away, or maybe even go on a longer retreat.

Over the next few blogs, we’ll look at how to make this work in your life and what silence with God can look like.

Pray on!

Depending upon which denomination you grew up in, Lent may or may not have been an important time in your spiritual life. The season of Lent originated in the 4th century A.D., and it spans 40 weekdays beginning on Ash Wednesday. The final week of Lent is called Holy Week and includes Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and concludes on Holy Saturday, the day before Easter. Colors in the church are coordinated with the church calendar. During Lent, the colors you typically see in a sanctuary are purple, red violet or dark violet. These particular colors are chosen because they symbolize both the pain and suffering leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion, as well as the suffering of sinful humanity. But, purple is also a royal color, and that very much represents our king Jesus. Black is often used on Good Friday and Holy Saturday to symbolize the darkness that sin brought to the world. Those of the Catholic faith are familiar with Lent because it’s still very much a part of the church today. Not so much for those in the Protestant faith.

Before Martin Luther nailed the Ninety-Five Theses on the church door at the University of Wittenburg (Germany) in 1517, there was only one Christian church and everyone observed holy days, church feasts and the daily office in the same way. With the start of the Reformation, much of these observances were thrown out–because they were associated with “high church.” High church uses liturgical, ceremonial, traditional and Catholic elements in worship.

Today, however, some Protestant churches are finding that maybe they have thrown out “the baby with the bath water,” and are recovering some of these aspects of historical Christian tradition as a way to enrich their spiritual lives–especially in a culture that is becoming increasingly secular.

With that in mind, some Protestant Christians are putting a greater emphasis on Lent by praying and preparing themselves for Easter. Today, we can use this time for introspection, self-examination and repentance. At Only By Prayer, we are going to begin a series on the spiritual disciplines to help equip you to prepare for Easter. If you feel led to do so, you can incorporate some of these practices into your days throughout this season of Lent. We are looking forward to this journey and pray God will bless your through it.

We’ll start tomorrow with the first spiritual discipline. Join us, won’t you?

Pray on!

Some of this information is taken from “The Season of Lent” by Dennis Bratcher.

Everyone,

Just a quick post to ask for your prayers for the tragedy of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. We also need to pray for all the countries where tsunami warnings are posted, including the US. I am sure most of us have friends and loved ones who have been affected in some way. Please leave a comment below if you have someone in particular we could be praying for.

My cousin Nick, his wife Corrie and baby Noelle live in Hawaii on the island of Kuaii. Nick works in a hotel and they have been relocating their guests to higher floors.

Pray on!

I was reading a Grace Livingston Hill book recently (old-fashioned fiction stories). In her book one of her characters is wondering about how prayer works. The character had recently come through a dangerous situation safely, and after a friend told her he had been praying for her, she was wondering if that friend’s prayers could have specifically worked to help keep her safe. This is what the character was thinking.

“Was prayer perhaps like the radio, just as sounds were stored up in the air, so perhaps prayers were hovering about on their way to and from God?”

What an interesting way this is of looking at prayer! I love the visual this put into my mind of millions of prayers floating around in the air on their way to the throne of God. Romans 8:26-28 tells us that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us, so we know that prayers are also directed to us from heaven. It’s a two-way street of prayers on a heavenly highway!

This quote on prayer from a fictional character really started me thinking about how God may use our prayers. I wonder if the prayers that are prayed on our behalf are at some point hovering around us in a hedge of protection. When we pray for our children or spouse, do those prayers envelop them as they go about their days? As we pray for other countries, do those prayers gather forces with the prayers others have prayed to “cushion” that country?

What must the heavenly airwaves look like with all the prayers of the saints?

I wish we could see it. What do you think?

Pray on!

Perhaps one of your New Year’s goals is to pray more. Well, January is a good time to take stock and ask God what major issues or topics He wants you zero in on for the year. Join Mary and I as we discuss what topics God has laid on our hearts this year. You’ll be encouraged to pray your way through 2011 with us!

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Perhaps one of your New Year’s goals is to pray more. Well, January is a good time to pray and ask God what major issues or topics He wants you to zero in on for the year. Of course, as the year goes along, you’ll find plenty of things, people and situations to pray for. But right now we can all take some time to seek God on what ongoing requests He wants you to focus on for 2011. Mary and I were just talking about this the other day and decided to share our Top 6 Prayer List of what we’re focusing on this year.

Top 6 Prayer List for 2011

1.     Pray that we can love God with all our hearts. (Deuteronomy 6:5)

2.     Pray that we can believe God to do big things in our lives. (Ephesians 3:20,21)

3.     Pray for perseverance. (2 Peter 1:5-7)

4.     Pray for persecuted Christians. (2Thessalonians 3:1-2)

5.     Pray for justice for the oppressed. (Psalm 103:6)

6.     Pray that we would be developing and using our God-given gifts. (1 Corinthians 12:4-11).

You may be led to similar prayer goals, or God may reveal to you totally different goals. One of the challenges with goals is actually doing them or keeping them. What I decided to do to help keep these fresh before me for the whole year is to write each goal on its own index card and keep it in my prayer card file. I’ll use a larger 4 x 6 size card. (See Ready, Set, Pray if you need suggestions to help you establish a prayer time.) As I go through the year, I’m going to record any specific requests or how I see God working in these areas on the appropriate cards.

Set aside some time tonight or over the weekend to ask God what your prayer priorities should be this year. If you want to share any of your prayer goals for the year, just leave a comment. We’d love to hear them.

Click to listen to the Pray Your Way Through 2011 podcast.

Pray on!