This is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Oswald Chambers. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Oswald” in the search box to read more entries.
The Purpose Of Prayer
The purpose of prayer is the maintenance of fitness in an ideal relationship with God amid conditions which ought not to be merely ideal but really actual….
So in the better and new way of breathing spiritually in prayer, we shall be conscious of forming the habit, but it will soon pass into normal spiritual health, and it must never be worshipped as a conscious process.
From Christian Disciplines
Chambers is saying that prayer ought to be as natural to us as breathing. In order to get to this place, we must develop the habit of prayer, which mean disciplining ourselves to return to prayer when we might normally revert to another natural response.
But in forming the habit of prayer, we must not become like the Pharisees who worshipped their spiritual activities. They thought they were spiritual because of what they did, so they kept track of all they were doing, and they pointed to how many times each day and each week they had prayed. In essence, they worshipped prayer more than they worshipped the God they were supposed to be addressing in prayer.
The habit of prayer does take discipline (as the title of this Oswald Chambers book suggests), but it leads us to a life fully engaged in God’s presence. It’s a habit that is well worth the disciplined effort!
Do you have any habits? I’ll bet you have more of them that you realize! In fact, most of our day is made up of habitual things: same wakeup time, same morning routine, same route to work of school, same lunch choices, same way of thinking, same way of coping with stress, and so on.
For many families, a new school year begins today. Even if you don’t have school-aged children, the Tuesday following Labor Day is sort of the (un)official start of the fall season. And it’s a good time to take a look at your habits.
“Take your mind out every now and then and dance on it. It is getting all caked up.” —Mark Twain
Good advice! We usually learn things through four stages:
Unconscious incompetence: we’re no good at something, but we don’t even realize it.
Conscious incompetence: we realize something must change, but we’re still no good at it.
Conscious competence: we’ve learned something, and now we’re good at, but we have to think about it a lot.
Unconscious competence: we’ve become proficient at something, and we don’t have to think about it any longer.
The problem is with both of our unconscious zones. Unless we pull out our habits and look at them every once in awhile, we may never know what’s holding us back.
QUESTION:What new habits are you going to try to make/break this fall?
The other day my son Harrison and I were talking about the books he was reading. Like a chip off the old block, he loves to read almost as much as I do (just makes a Dad so proud!). Our discussion about reading was about the variety of genres. I suggested that just like a healthy diet for our bodies includes a variety of healthy foods, so should our mental diet include a healthy variety.
We are all creatures of habit. In fact, some scientists estimate that as much as90% of our daily routines are things we do by unconscious habit. We just do it because we’ve always done it.
You know when your daily routine has been messed up, don’t you? You feel agitated and out-of-sorts. You think, “I just don’t feel like myself today.” Because you are not yourself: your routines, your habits have been shaken up.
So if unplanned things mess up your routine and make you grumpy, can I propose something else? Instead of waiting for something unexpected to shake up your routine, go ahead and sHAkEituP on purpose.
Do something far from the norm, completely different, out of the box. Who knows, you may uncover an unhealthy routine that needs to be changed, or you may find there’s something new that you never realized you would have liked so much.
Instead of reading the same books by the same authors, grab something new.
…or try nonfiction instead of fiction, or classic instead of contemporary.
Instead of watching TV after dinner, go for a walk.
…or play Monopoly with your family.
Instead of going to your usual spot for lunch, brown bag it and eat outside on the grass.
…or fast your lunch and spend the lunch hour in quiet meditation.
Instead of sitting in the same seat at church, sit in a different section.
…or make a rotating plan to sit somewhere new every month.
Instead of allowing the same topics to trigger an argument with your spouse, find a new way to handle the emotion.
…or read a book together to help you resolve the issue.
Instead of returning your empty pop cans to buy more pop, donate the cash to charity.
…or find a cause your whole family can support together.
Instead of scooping ice cream at home, take a family walk to the ice cream shop.
…or buy popsicles for all the neighborhood kids when the ice cream truck rolls by.
Make breakfast for dinner
Listen to the music your kids like or your parents like
Ride your bike to work
Visit a museum
Watch a black-and-white movie
sHAkEituP!!
As Mark Twain said, “Take your mind out every now and then and dance on it. It is getting all caked up.”
I’d love to hear about your adventures in shaking up your routines. What are you going do to sHAkEituP this week?
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple or Spotify.
“The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold on me.” —Martin Luther
I love to read. So I read a whole lot of books every year. It’s not unusual for me to be working my way through four or five books at a time. I read the classics, poetry, history, biographies, autobiographies, devotionals, leadership training, personal development, marriage and parenting skills, and many other genres. I don’t have enough shelf space for all of the books I have!
But when people ask me my all-time favorite book, I don’t even have to hesitate. The book that is in a category all by itself is my Bible.
I say my Bible because I have made it my own. I highlight, I underline, I star, I jot notes in the margin, I circle keywords. Sometimes I even mark all the question marks in a passage!
My study Bible is one I’ve had for over 20 years. Each time I read through my Bible I use a different color or style of highlighter. So as I look at different highlighted passages I can remember back to where I was in my life, what I was going through, the struggles I was having. Sometimes I smile when I remember what the Holy Spirit revealed to me in my Bible at that time, and how I’ve grown. Sometimes I remember the deep emotion as I see where a teardrop caused the highlighter to run, and recall the comfort my Bible brought to me.
Psalm 119 (the longest chapter in the Bible) is a poem of love to God for His Word. In 176 verses the psalmist refers to God’s Word in 172 verses. Here are just a few—
I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You (v. 11)
I rejoice in following Your statutes as one rejoices in great riches (v. 14)
Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in Your law (v. 18)
Your statutes are my delight; they are my counselors (v. 24)
I run in the path of Your commands, for You have set my heart free (v. 32)
If you haven’t made Bible reading a part of your daily schedule, Psalm 119 is a good place to start. Scientists tell us that you only have to do something for 21 days in a row for it to become a habit. Psalm 119 is divided into 22 sections. And each section is just eight verses long.
You can find the time to read just eight verses a day, can’t you? If you do, you will have established one of the greatest habits in your life: daily Bible reading.
I spent a whole week writing more about my favorite Book, so check out these posts too:
Green. Black. White. Red. Bagged. Loose. Hot. Iced. Home-brewed. Starbucks. I really enjoy all sorts of tea. Every day my morning routine includes sitting down with a nice cup of fresh tea. Not only am I sipping a cup right now (in my Life Is Good mug), but I will probably have a few more cups throughout today.
In large part because of the British Empire’s presence for so long in so many places around the world, their love for tea is still prominent in most of the world. Outside of the USA the favorite household social drink is tea.
Big deal, right? For me, it is. I use tea as an important reminder.
It all started with some great friends who are missionaries to Africa. Jayne, a lovely British woman, sent me some tea from the country in which they were serving. So naturally every time I brewed a cup of tea from Mozambique I thought of my friends. And prayed for them.
Now tea and prayer are inseparably intertwined—
Malawi tea = prayer for missionary friends in Malawi
Tea in a Western Michigan University mug = prayer for a Chi Alpha pastor
Indian tea = prayer for a dear friend who pastors in India
Loose tea = prayer for my cousin who serves as a missionary in an Arabic country
Apricot tea = prayer for my Mom & Dad who gave me this tea
Tangawizi tea = prayer for some other special family members
Chinese green tea = prayer for a family in China who tell people there about Jesus
You get the idea.
Paul wrote to his dear friends at the church in Philippi, “I thank God for you every time I think of you.” The key is to use something we do as part of our regular routine as a reminder to pray. It’s not hard. It’s not even taking time to bow your head and close your eyes.
Whenever you think of someone, pray for them. Use pictures, a piece of jewelry, a cup of tea, a bookmarker, special coffee cups, or anything else you handle every day as a reminder to pray.
Mother Teresa said, “Prayer enlarges the heart.” If you want to love others the way God loves, pray for them. If you want to love someone more deeply, pray for them more often. Prayer is one of the best habits we can develop.
Now, I must get back to my tea and my remembrances. Oh, by the way, if you have any tea recommendations, I would love to hear them!
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
Health experts say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Your body has been without food (or fasting) during the hours you are asleep, so in the morning you are breaking your fast = break-fast.
Do you want to lose weight? Eat breakfast. Studies show that those who do best on their diets eat breakfast every morning.
Do you want to fire up your metabolism to burn more calories during the day? Eat breakfast. The way you stoke your body’s engine in the morning determines how it will run all day.
Do you want to maintain a stable blood sugar level so you don’t get sleepy mid-morning? Eat breakfast. A good breakfast regulates your insulin and blood sugar levels.
Do you want to learn more? Eat breakfast. Studies show those who eat breakfast regularly have longer attention spans and greater learning capacities.
What you put in your body in the morning determines the course of the rest of your day.
What you put in your mind in the morning determines the course of the rest of your day, too.
Even if you’re not a “morning person” your mind is highly receptive in the hours right after you wake up. So a healthy mental breakfast goes a long way toward how you will deal with the situations that face you throughout your day.
Just a few things to consider—
What’s on your wake-up playlist in the morning? Not-so-cheery headline news? Coarse radio hosts with crude humor? Music with lyrics that are not very uplifting? A harsh buzzer? Perhaps you could rethink your morning mental breakfast with something more positive and affirming.
How do you speak to yourself when you wake up? “Ugh, I just gotta get through today”? “I need a vacation”? “Grrr, I hate my job”? Try thinking instead of all of the blessings you have: a roof over your head, a bed of your own, clothes to wear, a family to love, and a family that loves you.
How do you speak to others when you wake up? “Leave me alone”? “<Grrrr!>”? Maybe you could serve others the good mental breakfast they need with some kind, encouraging words.
What fuel do you put in your mind? Talking heads on the morning TV shows? Your horoscope? Perhaps switching to something more substantial would help fuel your mind for the challenges you are going to face today.
The psalmist David had a God-diet each morning, “Let me hear of Your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting You. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to You” (Psalm 143:8, The Living Bible).
Jesus had a healthy mental breakfast, too: “Veryearly in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed” (Mark 1:35).
So let me ask you: What’s your morning mental breakfast like? do you need to make a diet change? I think a few tweaks and you will begin to see some remarkable changes for the better! Try it out and let me know.
If I just eat the right foods but don’t exercise, my physical metabolism will not be stoked to the proper levels. To put it another way, a good diet may lower my LDL (bad) cholesterol, but it takes exercise to raise my HDL (good) cholesterol. I need both to be healthy.
So, too, for my heart and mind. If I hear good preaching and think good thoughts (diet), but never put those words or thoughts into action (exercise), I’m not going to grow in a well-balanced, healthy way.
Here’s a couple of things I have learned for body, spirit, and mind exercise.
Set challenging but realistic goals
I don’t run without a goal. (1 Corinthians 9:26 CEV)
“You must have long-range goals to keep from being frustrated by short-term failures.” —Charles N. Noble
Exercise a little bit when you can
There’s no need to jump into lengthy workouts.
Exercisedaily in God—no spiritual flabbiness, please! Workouts in the gymnasium are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you fit both today and forever. (1 Timothy 4:7, The Message)
“Let him then think of God the most he can; let him accustom himself, by degrees, to this small but holy exercise; nobody perceives it, and nothing is easier than to repeat often in the day these little internal adorations.” —Brother Lawrence, in The Practice Of The Presence Of God
Make exercise a fun habit
Remember that you may not feel like exercising, but you will feel better after you exercise.
“Life goals are reached by setting annual goals. And annual goals are reached by reaching daily goals. And daily goals are reached by doing things which may be uncomfortable at first but eventually become habits. And habits are powerful things. Habits turn actions into attitudes, and attitudes into lifestyles.” —Charlene Armitage
For a healthy body, a healthy heart, and a healthy thought life, watch the diet you consume and then exercise for maximum benefit. Feel free to share any exercise tips you have learned.
Craig T. Owens 