Choosing the first passage to memorise (after Ephesians 3:14-21 which I'd prepared earlier) is dead easy.
It has to be Jeremiah 29:11-13:
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
This passage occupied an early morning prayer meeting we began when I was minister at North Camp Methodist Church for a year. We kept trying to move on to a new passage and God kept bringing us back.
Different parts of it strike me most powerfully at different times - at the moment its the last verse that grips me, 'you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.'
I've been a follower of Jesus for over 50 years and I've never quite managed this. There's always something that gets in the way of me giving my whole heart to him. Sinfulness, busyness, good things that aren't God things and many more.
Repeating this verse as part of my memory passage will challenge me over and over again to allow God's Spirit to fill my heart completely. Repeating the Ephesiansd prayer reminds why its in my best interest to do so.
Friday, 28 February 2020
Thursday, 27 February 2020
It’s that time again - Lent!
I’ve always tried to observe lent as a period when I make extra time for God.
The season snuck up on me this year and I’m ill-prepared.
However, one thing occurred to me as I sat down to think about the shape of lent for me this year - memorising the Bible.
A few years ago all three of us in my L3D accountability group decided to learn off by heart Ephesians 3:14-21 - Paul’s amazing prayer that the Church in Ephesus would receive the power to know how much they are loved by God. I was asked to preach on this passage a couple of weeks ago and decided that part of my preparation would be to re-learn it. It gave me great satisfaction to do a dramatic recital of the passage rather than reading it.
I was reminiscing with Chas (an inspiring Christian and member of the L3D group who learnt it and remembered it far better than me) about how significant both of us found the passage and how it sustained us both through difficult times in recent years. Afterwards i realised that without being aware of it, I’d begun to recite the passage in my head (and occasionally out loud - the dog may soon know it off by heart too as the morning walk is a great time to speak it out) several times a day.
So my Lenten discipline this year comes in two parts:
Learning key bible passages off by heart.
Filling the quiet moments in the day by saying the passages to myself.
I think constant repetition of scripture has a much greater impact on our minds, our spirits and our lives than we realise and expect that in speaking out God’s word, I’ll be drawn closer to him.
My next challenge is working out what the passages will be.
By the end of lent I hope to be regularly reciting six passages to myself.
Which passages would you choose?
The season snuck up on me this year and I’m ill-prepared.
However, one thing occurred to me as I sat down to think about the shape of lent for me this year - memorising the Bible.
A few years ago all three of us in my L3D accountability group decided to learn off by heart Ephesians 3:14-21 - Paul’s amazing prayer that the Church in Ephesus would receive the power to know how much they are loved by God. I was asked to preach on this passage a couple of weeks ago and decided that part of my preparation would be to re-learn it. It gave me great satisfaction to do a dramatic recital of the passage rather than reading it.
I was reminiscing with Chas (an inspiring Christian and member of the L3D group who learnt it and remembered it far better than me) about how significant both of us found the passage and how it sustained us both through difficult times in recent years. Afterwards i realised that without being aware of it, I’d begun to recite the passage in my head (and occasionally out loud - the dog may soon know it off by heart too as the morning walk is a great time to speak it out) several times a day.
So my Lenten discipline this year comes in two parts:
Learning key bible passages off by heart.
Filling the quiet moments in the day by saying the passages to myself.
I think constant repetition of scripture has a much greater impact on our minds, our spirits and our lives than we realise and expect that in speaking out God’s word, I’ll be drawn closer to him.
My next challenge is working out what the passages will be.
By the end of lent I hope to be regularly reciting six passages to myself.
Which passages would you choose?
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