Praying the Psalms

 

Praying the Psalms

A Wellspring Mini-Retreat

Join Wellspring Ministry on 3 different occasions through the summer to commune with God in nearby mountain settings.  These retreats will be times of learning the prayer language God has given us to draw near to Him.  In our times together, we will share teaching on praying the Psalms, moving to an extended time of solitude to pray the Psalms, and lifting the Psalms in prayer as a community.

Dates:

June 7, 2008 – Hike to Bierstadt Lake (RMNP)  (Introduction to the Psalms as Prayers) 8:30 at the parking lot in RMNP with hike concluding early afternoon

July 12, 2008 – Heil Valley Ranch (Praying the Psalms I) 8:30-11:30 AM

August 9, 2008 – Lily Lake, So. of Estes Park (Praying the Psalms II) 8:30-11:30 AM

(Meet in the main parking lots for each, for Bierstadt meet in the Bear Lake shuttle parking lot in RMNP)

 

 

 

O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.  Ps 63:1-4

 

For information contact Dave  or Scott, at Wellspring Ministry  Http://wellspring1.wordpress.com

 

 

 

What is Worship

“God thirsts to be thirsted after.”

St. Augustine

 

“The more I study religions the more I am convinced that man never worshipped anything but himself” -

Richard Francis Burton

 

What is worship?  And based on Richard Francis Burton’s quote, we might ask, who is our worship of?

 

Is worship the practice of gathering with other believers to sing a few hymns (or contemporary worship songs), say a prayer or two, listen to a sermon, and take communion and the offering, all in the name of Jesus?  There are those that think this is the extent of worship, that it is solely the hour or two on Sunday morning.  While the Sunday morning gatherings can be considered worship to the Lord, is that it?  Must we go a week before we can worship again the following Sunday? 

 

Worship does not have to be tied to the structured weekly event of doing “church”.  It is a state of heart…morning, noon and night…each and every day.  As it says in John 4:23-24, “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”

 

Random House Dictionary offers these synonyms to help describe worship:  honor, homage, adoration, venerate, revere, adore, glorify, idolize, adulate. Worship perhaps in its simplest form is adoration. Richard Foster in his book, Prayer Finding the Heart’s True Home writes of the prayer of adoration being comprised of two distinct parts – Praise and Thanksgiving.   He notes, “in thanksgiving we give glory to God for what He has done for us.  In praise we give glory to God for who He is in Himself.”

 

Thanksgiving – “grateful acknowledgment of benefits or favors, esp. to God.” (Random House Unabridged Dictionary

 

The Bible is full of prayers of thanksgiving.  “O give thanks to the LORD; for He is good; for His

steadfast love endures forever.” Ps. 106:1. 

 

In Psalms 92 it says:  “It is good to give thanks to the Lord…”  Why?  Because of His steadfast love

in the morning, His faithfulness by night, His great works.

 

Praise – the act of expressing approval or admiration; commendation; laudation. the offering of grateful homage in words or song, as an act of worship: a hymn of praise to God.  Random House Unabridged Dictionary

 

The Bible is also full of praise.  “I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall continually be in my mouth. Ps. 34:1

 

In Psalms 100:4-5 it says to “Enter His gates with Thanksgiving, and His courts with praise.  Give

thanks to Him, bless His name, for the Lord is good…

 

We may desire that our worship of God flow as easily as these and other Psalms…that we could be free to worship each day without hindrance.  But there are hindrances.  C.S Lewis noted several that Richard Foster related to out inability to truly pray in adoration. First, Inattention – It is easy in our culture to be caught up in the whirl of life and miss the overtures of Divine Love. Second, The Wrong Kind of Attention – We see a sunset and are drawn into analysis rather than doxology.  Or, caught up in frustrations rather than what might be the message. Third, Greed – Instead of simply enjoying pleasures, we demand more pleasures.  We ask God for encores instead of reflect on and enjoy what He has given. And Fourth, Conceit – It can be easy for those who discover God in the ordinary to get very smug about it all. When conceit takes over, the focus is once again on how wonderful we are – this severs the cords of adoration.

 

Richard Foster continues to offer up some very practical steps to becoming true worshippers, who can pray

the prayer of adoration.  I summarize some of these below into hopefully an easy to follow pattern:

 

Stepping Stones (How we get there)

·    We must begin where we are:  We don’t learn the goodness of God by contemplating the goodness of God, but by noticing – Watch a butterfly, notice the little creatures that crawl on the ground, watch the birds, squirrels, ducks, etc. 

·   Don’t try to make yourself be thankful, or try to find God in it all, simply listen, smell, taste, see, feel.

·   Soon, if we do this often enough, we will begin to experience pleasures rather than scrutinize or analyze them.

·   Find a “grateful center”. Sue Monk Kid writes about finding a time and place where we were free, at peace,grateful…go to this place often in your thoughts and imagination.

·   From this grateful center allow whispered prayers of thanksgiving to flow forth and to grow into thanks for little things each day.

·   Try to move into living one entire day in thanksgiving (or an afternoon, or an hour…).

·   From here our hearts can readily move towards magnifying and worshipping God

·   Use the psalms to praise God…”O Magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt His name together.”  Let these Psalms become your own. Then let these begin to flow into your own words.

·   Use music, play an instrument or sing in worship and adoration, even make up your own simple God songs.

·   Finally we begin to find ourselves in joyous celebration, laughing, shouting, singing, dancing along with the host of heaven…and even holy silence.

 

What can be added to this other than just start the journey? Don’t wait for Sunday morning to become a worshipper of God.  Start small and take it one step at a time.  Many blessings as you begin.

 

Scott for Wellspring © Copyright 2008 all rights reserved. 

 

 

 

Being a guiding light

“Have you ever thought about being a counselor?” 

I can remember those words spoken to me by my mother, like it was yesterday.  That was in 1992 when I was in a season of searching and seeking God’s guidance about what my life’s work should be.  Almost as soon as she spoke the words, the idea resonated with me.  Immediately it seemed to be a good fit.  Helping people find their way through the maze of life with all its trials and tribulations, I thought “I would love to be able to do that”.  I have always had a heart for people, and God has blessed me with the temperament and wiring to come alongside others in their pain and confusion. 

Today, 16 years later, I estimate that I have spent easily 3000-4000 hours in formal or informal counseling with couples or individuals, no two situations exactly alike.  Guiding others into a closer connection with Jesus in the midst of their pain and heartache, is an absolute privilege that God has given me.  As a result I have learned a few things firsthand about what it takes to be a good spiritual guide for others.

First off, being a good guide for others requires becoming a good follower.  I am reminded of the apostle Paul’s words to the Corinthian church “Follow me as I follow Christ”.  Following Jesus ourselves is paramount to having anything of worth to guide others into.  As a spiritual guide we are conduits between God and others.  God chooses to pour his life into others through us, but that can’t happen unless we first have a vibrant relationship with Jesus ourselves. 

Secondly, guiding others spiritually requires that we pursue and refine the art of knowing when and how to impart wisdom.  Giving helpful wisdom to others is so much more than just knowing a bunch of stuff.  It also has to do with knowing the right stuff to say to a particular individual and knowing when to say it.  This is much more an art than a science.  Much of doing this well, has to do with being an able listener.  As I have experienced firsthand, not many people are very good at this.  How can I guide others well if I haven’t listened to the state of their heart?  How can I guide others well if I am not tuned into what God is doing in the middle of a conversation?  The answer of course, is that I can’t.  Any counsel I impart without adequate listening will be shortsighted and probably even a bit self-serving.  Wisdom has more to do with applying what we know in such a way that our interactions with others speak directly to the heart of the person.  Imparting knowledge and/or skills indiscriminantly is not wise at all.  This demonstrates a lack of respect for the relationship and an unwillingness to follow God in the process.  Wisdom by definition never takes a “one size fits all” approach, which naturally brings us back to the importance of being a skilled listener.  There is a place for imparting knowledge to others, but being a good listener enables our guidance to be given at precisely the time they are ready to receive it.  In giving wisdom to others, as with many things, timing is everything. 

Are you seeking guidance?  We all need guidance.  We all need others who will walk the journey of life with us.  We need others who are following after Jesus that we can look to for encouragement, inspiration, and yes, guidance.  As Christians we all have the opportunity to be spiritual guides and/or mentors for others, but we must be diligent in our personal pursuit of Jesus, and learn what it means to be conduits of God’s grace, love, and wisdom into the lives of others. 

Are you listening?

 

Dave for Wellspring   ©  2008