A New Discipline
I recently finished reading Gordon MacDonald's book, A Resilient Life: You Can Move Ahead No Matter What. I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to be a stoic person of faith and of good, moral character well into their older years of life.
In one of the chapters, Gordon describes how he spends his devotional time with God, and I thought his approach is pretty incredible. It's something I hope to emulate in my own devotional life, too.
Entering into the presence of God, it starts with Worship. Time that is spent entering into the presence of God, ruminating on words like, holy, sovereign, merciful, love. Taking some cues from The Book of Common Prayer, praying the First Prayers:
“O Lord, open our lips. And our mouth shall proclaim your praise.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. Hallelujah!
O God, make speed to save us.
O Lord, make haste to help us.
Glory to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning,is now, and will be forever. Amen. Hallelujah.”
Then, singing a hymn or a recent worship song is a great way to reflect on the nature and character of God. Personally, the older the better!
From there, it's a time of Reading. Reading not only Scripture, but also books from older generation folks. Getting a healthy dose of God's Word, along with the writings of people like A.W. Tozer, Brother Lawrence, C.S. Lewis, Eugene Peterson (these are people I have currently been looking into).
I usually journal what I have been reading and what I felt like the Spirit revealed to me in my time of reading. It helps me shape the next step: Prayer
I use Prayer in this moment to respond to what I just read. Asking questions like, “How is this shaping me?” “Where do I fall short in this?” “Where is God taking me on this particular journey?” This helps me wrestle more with the Scriptures I just read.
After that, I'll go back to The Book of Common Prayer and pray through the liturgies for the morning. So, things like confession of sin, apostles' creed, Jesus prayer, psalm 23 to name a few elements. I'm not the best person on being creative in prayer, so this gives me a little direction and allows me to linger as I sense God's Spirit where He would have me to linger.
From there, it's on to Thanksgiving. What am I thankful for? Who am I thankful for? My former boss once said, “You can tell how spiritually healthy a person is by how grateful they are.” I agree with that. A person of God knows that they brought nothing into this world and they can take nothing out of it; all the in-between is given and provided for by our Heavenly Father. I certainly don't want to take anything provided to me for granted.
Reflection shows up next, and this is a little difficult. Thinking about the events of yesterday, asking questions like “Where did I fall short?” “Who have I wronged?” “Where did I fail to respond to God's calling on a particular matter?” This provides an avenue where we can allow God to conform us more into His image. To be people that admit faults and failures. To admit that not everything in our lives are green and rosy. That's what it's like to be human and to recognize the need to draw closer in repentance to a holy God.
Finally, Focusing helps provide the view for the current day. “What's on the agenda?” “How can I serve those that I'm meeting with and does God have a word for me to give them (if any)?” “Where can I do the most good?” This helps invite the presence of God into my day and not just the morning.
Again, this is a framework that Gordon MacDonald uses that I'm going to try and adapt to my own life and see where it takes me. I'm excited and hopeful that I will learn more about God as well as myself!
