"In Prayer" - Why I'm walking through The Valley of Vision

     Some time ago I began to recognize that my prayers were left wanting.  They were shallow, self-focused, distracted, often "on-the-fly" and "off-the-cuff", and they simply didn't reflect what I believe about the One to whom I pray.  My experience paled in comparison to that described below from The Valley of Vision.  I encourage you to read below and reflect on whether or not this is an accurate description of your experience in prayer.  

                        In Prayer

    O Lord,

    In prayer I launch far out into the eternal world, 

         and on that broad ocean my soul triumphs 

         over all the evils on the shores of mortality.

         Time, with its gay amusements and cruel disappointments 

         never appears so inconsiderate as then.

    In prayer I see myself as nothing; 

         I find my heart going after thee with intensity, 

         and long with vehement thirst to live to thee.

         Blessed be the strong gales of the Spirit 

         that speed me on my way to the New Jerusalem.

    In prayer all things here below vanish, 

         and nothing seems important but holiness of heart 

         and the salvation of others.

    In prayer all my worldly cares, fears, 

         anxieties disappear, and are of as little significance 

         as a puff of wind.

    In prayer my soul inwardly exults with lively thoughts 

         at what thou art doing for thy church, 

         and I long that thou shouldest get thyself a great name 

         from sinners returning to Zion.

    In prayer I am lifted above the frown and 

         flatteries of life, and taste heavenly joys; 

         entering into the eternal world I can give myself 

         to thee with all my heart, to be thine for ever.

    In prayer I can place all my concerns in thy hands, 

         to be entirely at thy disposal, 

         having no will or interest of my own.

    In prayer I can intercede for my friends, ministers, 

         sinners, the church, thy kingdom to come, 

         with greatest freedom, ardent hopes, 

         as a son to his father, as a lover to the beloved.

    Help me to be all prayer and never to cease praying.

     Needless to say, this wasn't my experience but that last line was my heart's cry.  I felt like I needed a reboot, something to help me refocus my thoughts and attention as I come before the throne of Almighty God!  Thankfully my friend Joe Thorn, lead pastor at Redeemer Fellowship in Saint Charles, IL, had just the thing.  He's created a Prayer Guide entitled Walking Through the Valley of Vision.  You can check it out over at his blog.  Basically it's a schedule with three daily appointments in The Valley of Vision.  I modified the schedule a bit to fit my day but have truly found this exercise to be of great benefit in refocusing my heart and mind as I come to prayer and helping my to think more deeply on what it is I'm praying and to Whom!  

"Everyday Church: mission by being good neighbours" by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis

In their book, “Everyday Church: mission by being good neighbours,” Tim Chester and Steve Timmis explore what it means to be the people of God living in community and on mission in a marginalized society.  In the introduction they write, “above all, we have tried to write a practical book that shows what everyday church and everyday mission might look like on the ground.”  They have accomplished just that!  

Chester and Timmis engage in a dialogue with 1 Peter as they explore what church, community, pastoral care, mission, and evangelism look like in a post-Christian/post-Christendom context.  Then they wrap it up with some great, practical advice on next steps to take in applying what they’ve shown us.  

I highly recommend this book!  It is a must read for anyone even thinking about ministry or church planting in Europe!  I’m serious, if you don’t read this book you are missing a very important perspective on mission!

Below are a few of my highlights from each chapter of the book.  Truth be told, I started out by writing down what I had highlighted in my journal but by the second chapter realized that I was basically just re-writing the book in a format only legible by me.  (BTW, I read the IVP version of the book in case there are subtle differences.)  

Life at the Margins

“We need to do church and mission in the context of everyday life.  We must think of church as a community of people who share life, ordinary life.  And the bedrock of mission will be ordinary life.” 

Everyday Community

“(Christians) are repeatedly called upon to respond to hostility with good works.” 

“We will only attract people through gospel distinctiveness.  We become relevant to our world only by being gospel-centered.”

“Mission must involve not only contact between unbelievers and individual Christians, but between unbelievers and the Christian community.”

“Our approach to mission should involve three elements: (1) building relationships; (2) sharing the gospel message; and (3) including people in community.”

Everyday Pastoral Care

“Think about how Jesus did discipleship and community: around a meal, walking along the road, when reflecting on events... So the context for pastoral care and discipleship is everyday life. “

“If you do not pastor people out of a strong sense of God’s grace, both to you and to them, then you will leave them feeling condemned... If you leave people feeling this way then something has gone horribly wrong in your pastoral care.”

“Sin makes promises.  The gospel exposes those promises as false and points to a God who is bigger and better than anything sin offers.  That is good news.”

Everyday Mission

“Respond to hostility with good deeds.  Live such good lives that people glorify God.”

“It is not simply that ‘ordinary’ Christians live good lives that enable them to invite friends to ‘evangelistic events’.  Our lives are the evangelistic events.  Our life together is the apologetic.  Let us affirm and celebrate ordinary Christians living ordinary life in Christ’s name.”

“You will never attract people to Jesus if you are not excited about Jesus yourself.”

“Our life together as the people of God is a life of poetry and light created by the gospel.  We are called to live a compelling shared life that makes others say, ‘Man! Look at those Christians. I want what they got!’”

Everyday Evangelism

“If we could place people on a range of one to ten depending on their interest in the gospel (with one being no interest and ten being a decision to follow Christ) we would find that lots of evangelism assumes that people are at around eight...but 70% of the population are at one or two.”  “As often as not, our role is to move someone one or two steps along the way rather than get them all the way to number ten in one go.”

Hope at the Margins

“The perspective of Christian hope changes everything.  It changes our attitudes to living on the margins.  It changes our attitudes to our time, money and careers, freeing up resources for mission.”

“The challenge is this: When were you last asked to account for your hope?  Are we living a life that makes no sense without the gospel?”

“Everyday church fills every day.  But it does not necessarily fill it with extra activities.  It is about living ordinary life with gospel intentionality, doing what we already do with other people and with a commitment to speak of Jesus, whether to encourage believers or evangelize unbelievers.”

"The Dangerous Duty of Delight" John Piper

I read John Piper's book, "The Dangerous Duty of Delight" while waiting in line at the Immigration office here in Italy a couple of years back and found a couple of great quotes. The booklet is basically an extremely condensed version of his larger work, "Desiring God" which I have also read.  Here is the quote that stuck out to me most:

"The message that needs to be shouted from the housetops is: Listen, world! You are not nearly hedonistic enough! You are far too easily pleased. You are like children making mud pies in the slum because you cannot imagine what a holiday at the sea is like. Stop laying up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal. Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven! (Matthew 6:19-20)

"Quit being satisfied with little 2-percent yields of pleasure that get eaten up by moths of inflation and the rust of death. Invest in the blue-chip, high-yield, divinely insured securities of heaven. Giving your life to material comforts and thrills is like throwing money down a rat hole. But a life invested in the labor of love yields dividends of joy unsurpassed and unending - even if it costs you your property and your life on this earth.

"Come to Christ in whose presence are fullness of joy and pleasures forever more... For the Lord of heaven and earth, Jesus Christ has spoken: It is more blessed to love than to live in luxury!"