A Year of Spiritual Growth

My favorite time of the day is the morning, before the sun rises.  I love to write, pray, or just sit by a fire and meditate.  When I was a distance runner, the morning was when I would “get my miles in” for my next race, and I loved talking to God while I ran.

Perhaps you are an evening person like Christiane.  She can read for hours with just a single light over her book, or the self sufficient glow of her iPad.  When the world outside is still, our inner world can slow down and focus.

The practice of slowing down, praying, and being still is an ancient one modeled by our Lord Jesus himself. Multiple times in Scriptures we hear about Jesus’ practice of prayer both early and late.

Mark 1:35 – Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

and

Luke 6:12 – One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.

Of course, we know he asked his disciples to stay up and pray just before his arrest the night before he was crucified.  Then they fell asleep.  He then asked them in Mark 14:37-38:

Couldn’t you keep watch for one hour?  Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.  The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

It was Jesus’ practice of praying that compelled the disciples to say to Jesus “teach us to pray” and The Lord’s Prayer was given:

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.  He said to them, When you pray say: Father, hallowed be your name…”  (Luke 11:1-2)

In this, our last letter to you in 2024, we want to look ahead to 2025 as a year in which we all ask God to ‘teach us to pray”.  Although we all probably have some form or routine of prayer, I’ve never met anyone, wanting to grow in their faith, who is content with their prayer life.  How does God want you to grow this year in your intimacy and communication with Him through prayer? Maybe it is by opening your heart to Him without reservation, or perhaps carving out a specific time to practice listening to His voice. Whether you have the habit of staying up late at night or waking up before everyone else, we all can benefit from a quiet time. A time when we can pull away from the demands of the day, and focus on listening to the life-giving words of our Triune God.

The more you do this, the more you grow in your longing for His Presence. Before you realize, you will be turning down the music, podcasts or any other distraction while driving, just so you can welcome the Spirit and listen to Him. Sometimes, just meditating in His love and feeling embraced by Him can change your disposition and how you interact with others.

The reason we talk so much about spiritual growth, and being aware of God’s Presence, it is because there is a fundamental difference between knowing about God and knowing HIM. As a “house of prayer for all people”, this coming year we will be providing special opportunities to be in God’s presence together in groups and alone.

Details will be coming via “Words from the Rector” and announcements in the church bulletin. For now, I want to give you a couple of practical tools you may or may not know about. These are some FREE apps you can download to your phone, and have access to it wherever you are. It can be very helpful for reading Scriptures, praying, and meditating each day.

The YouVersion Bible app is the most popular way to read the Scriptures outside a paper Bible in the world.  With over 3,100 Bible versions in 2,000 languages it has allowed people from every nation to connect with God. To download YouVersion Bible you can go to this website:  https://www.bible.com/

For daily prayer and meditation, another app that has been very helpful to us is called Lectio 365.  Some of you have heard us talk about the practice of praying the Scriptures slowly and repetitively, listening to what God points out to you each time (Lectio Divina).  This app gives a way to practice that daily. You can even listen to it being read to you from people around the world.  To download Lectio 365 you can go to this website: https://www.24-7prayer.com/resource/lectio-365/

We also find it helpful to have the Book of Common Prayer with you at all times. This app, called The Daily Office, loads each prayer time with the Scriptures for the day, so you can pray from the BCP no matter where you are.  They even have a Compline prayer to pray just before falling asleep, as well as a “Family Prayer” version, which “follows the same basic pattern, but is much shorter”. To use The Daily Office you can go to this website: https://www.dailyoffice2019.com/ or type “The Daily office” into your app store search. For the 1928 BCP version (but with limited features) you can go to this site: http://www.episcopalnet.org/1928bcp/index.html

We pray that 2025 is a year we all will grow in our prayer life and intimacy with God.  Whether you use these apps, your paper Bible and BCP, or just go for a walk in the woods and talk to God, we are praying each of us find a way to connect with HIM in a special way this year, no matter your preference.

Happy New Year, full of His Blessings and Peace!

Rev. Todd and Dr. Christiane