On Ash Wednesday, my church hosted a self-guided prayer experience with seven stations positioned throughout the sanctuary. Station 1, titled Noise, was designed to help participants identify all the voices, information, and distractions that compete for our attention and then, one by one, set them aside. Some people remained at the first station for more than ten minutes, inviting God to still the chaos of their soul and silence the noise so they could move forward to receive all He had for them.
What physical, mental, or psychological clutter is interfering with your ability to grow in your faith and receive what God has for you?
We spend so much of our lives hustling that we often miss God’s road signs. We are surrounded by so much noise that we frequently miss His voice. As a result, we make poor decisions based on feelings rather than truth. We say “yes” to opportunities that we were never intended to say yes to, and we become overwhelmed.
In today’s post, I’ll show you 3 transforming steps to balancing the demands of daily life while developing a thriving faith. These 3 steps, modeled by Jesus Himself, will help you move toward spiritual maturity and leave a legacy of love that reflects Jesus to the world (1 Corinthians 16:14).
To begin, let’s read Luke 6:12-19 NLT together:
One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. At daybreak he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles. Here are their names: Simon (whom he named Peter), Andrew (Peter’s brother), James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James (son of Alphaeus), Simon (who was called the zealot), Judas (son of James), Judas Iscariot (who later betrayed him).
When they came down from the mountain, the disciples stood with Jesus on a large, level area, surrounded by many of his followers and by the crowds. There were people from all over Judea and from Jerusalem and from as far north as the seacoasts of Tyre and Sidon. They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those troubled by evil spirits were healed. Everyone tried to touch him, because healing power went out from him, and he healed everyone.
Notice the order in which Jesus patterned his life: solitude with God, to community, and then to ministry. We can emulate Jesus’ way of living to walk in power (2 Timothy 1:7), love one another (Matthew 22:39), and make love our legacy (1 Corinthians 16:14), without burning out or brushing God to the sidelines, by following His example.
The first transforming step to grow our faith is to Prioritize Prayer.
“One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night.” Luke 6:12 NLT
Jesus prays FIRST. He is grounded and guided in solitude with God before going out into the world. Similarly, tending to our souls before entering into community is necessary for us not to burn out.
Jesus spends time in solitude before making big decisions. Prior to selecting which of His disciples would become the 12 apostles—those chosen to spread the Gospel after Jesus’ death and resurrection—He prays. Daily time with God is imperative for us to make wise decisions.
Most people define prayer as talking to God, but it’s more than that. We must leave room for silence and listening. Carving out space to spend in stillness and solitude with God is necessary for us to grow, personally and in our faith, and to align our lives with His will.
Let me share an example…
The famous preacher, founder and President of In Touch Ministries, and author, Dr. Charles Stanley, described a Saturday morning, right before he planned to go on a mission trip for the summer, when he woke up restless. He told his wife he needed to spend some time praying to receive clarity and direction from God. He got on his knees at 9 am and waited for a clear word from from the Lord.
“Go to the mountains for three months, rest, and trust me,” was what God asked him to do.
“No way,” he thought! How can I go away and rest when I could be serving God and ministering? But, he obeyed.
About a month into the trip, while out fishing, a man walked up to him and asked, “Are you Charles Stanley?”
“Yes.”
“Are you a seminary student?”
“Yes.”
“Would you be willing to preach for us next Sunday while our pastor is on vacation?”
“Yes!”
Dr. Stanley preached at the man’s church that Sunday, the following Sunday, and the next thing He knew they asked him to be their pastor, even as he was finishing seminary! If he had ignored his restless spirit and done what he thought was right—go on the mission trip—he could have done a mediocre job in his own strength, outside of the will of God. But, he would have missed the opportunity to pastor his first church, which set the foundation for a successful ministry that has since reached millions of people for Christ worldwide.
We don’t have to spend all day or night in prayer, but we can cultivate a lifestyle of prayer by “praying our way through the day,” consistently talking to Him, and carving out space to listen.
Like Samuel (1 Samuel 3:1-4), we are most likely to hear from God in rest. When we’re going a hundred miles an hour, we miss His voice. It is in the quiet moments when you’re positioned to listen that God will meet you and reveal what He wants you to do.
Would you carve out ten minutes a day for time w/ God if you knew it could be transformative?
If I told you the practice of contemplative prayer could make you more sensitive to hearing God’s whisper, would you try it?
If God started to speak to you personally through prayer and scripture in such a way that you knew you were walking in His will and had peace, would you stick with it?
To help you with this, I’ve typed up three prayer practices from Henri Nouwen’s book, Spiritual Direction. The first exercise is to carve out space for silence and solitude, the second for meditative prayer, and the third to interpret and apply scripture. Feeding on God’s Word is as essential for our spiritual well-being as eating nutritiously is for our physical well-being. If you want to grow your faith, fuel your soul with the Word of God.
After Jesus spends time in solitude, He Embraces Community. This is the second step to grow our faith.
“At daybreak he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles. Here are their names: Simon (whom he named Peter), Andrew (Peter’s brother), James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James (son of Alphaeus), Simon (who was called the zealot), Judas (son of James), Judas Iscariot (who later betrayed him). When they came down from the mountain, the disciples stood with Jesus on a large, level area, surrounded by many of his followers and by the crowds. There were people from all over Judea and from Jerusalem and from as far north as the seacoasts of Tyre and Sidon.” Luke 6:13-17
Time in solitude propels Jesus into community with his closest friends. Community provides a place of belonging. One type of community, the Church, is our spiritual home.
Community cultivates growth by putting us in situations that are often uncomfortable so that we will learn how to love like Jesus. We cannot grow to spiritual maturity by ourselves. We are wired to grow in community.
In community we learn vulnerability, humility, and sacrifice. We cultivate compassion and empathy for others going through hard things, and we learn to listen for understanding.
In community we learn that human beings are fallible. We experience both acceptance and betrayal. Jesus sees this with Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor (Luke 6:16), and we see this too. Community requires forgiveness, whether or not we feel like it, and it teaches us to turn to God for that which only He can fulfill.
Other people will hurt your feelings, forget your birthday or anniversary, and break promises. Yet, they’re a reflection of God and His unconditional love, made in His image on purpose, for a purpose. Like Jesus, who forgave Peter after he denied Him three times (Luke 22:54-62), we can choose forgiveness. Not only does forgiveness set us free from bitterness and resentment, but it allows others to know the love and forgiveness of Christ through us.
Think for a moment about one person in your life who is difficult to get along with. Now put his/her name in the blank:
The greater the differences between you and ______, the greater your potential for spiritual growth and sanctification.
Kind of shifts your perspective, doesn’t it?
By intentionally engaging in community (even when it’s hard), God ushers us into spiritual maturity and teaches us how to love like Jesus, which is perhaps the most important lesson we will learn in our lifetime. Which brings us to the 3rd and final transforming step…
The third transforming step to grow our faith is to Get Involved in Ministry.
“and those troubled by evil spirits were healed. Everyone tried to touch him, because healing power went out from him, and he healed everyone.” Luke 6:18-19
Jesus’ ministry included teaching, preaching and healing, but regardless of whether we work in the church, we are all called to be servants of God.
God gives every one of us spiritual gifts that are not for our benefit, but for building up the Kingdom. We don’t receive these spiritual gifts until we commit our lives to Christ, ground ourselves in Truth, and admit we are sinners in need of a Savior. Once we do, God blesses us with these gifts and, the more time we spend with Him, the more our love for the Lord and His children grows.
Ministry, then, is an overflow of our love for God and others. It is not an attempt to earn our salvation, nor to fill a need to please man (Galatians 1:10). It is an opportunity to serve where your passions (often born out of your pain/trials), your gifts, and the world’s deepest needs intersect.
Ministry involves a downward mobility that is counterculture to our society and yet necessary to follow Christ. It is what makes us stand out in the world while simultaneously piquing the curiosity of others who witness us living differently.
When we try to embrace community or ministry without first practicing solitude, the best-case scenario is we burn out. The worst-case scenario is we miss His will completely. We can operate in our own strength, but we’ll never walk in His power (2 Timothy 1:7).
Without solitude with God and continual filling of the Spirit, we are leaning solely on our own capabilities. We can never reach our potential in Christ, nor can we adequately fulfill God’s calling.
God’s purpose for your life is beyond your capacity—it can only be achieved by the work of His Spirit in and through you.
Let that sink in.
Does this change the way you view prayer? Spending time with God? Yielding to the power of the Holy Spirit?
Order matters! If you try to jump from solitude to ministry without embracing community, you’ll be unprepared to work with different types of people. And, if you prioritize prayer and embrace community, but don’t become involved in ministry, James says your faith is dead.
“What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” James 2:14-17
This passage doesn’t contradict salvation by faith alone, but proves that true faith is LIVED. Justification leads to justice—a heart to serve others and a desire to leave a legacy of LOVE. We do this by emulating the order Jesus patterned His life: Solitude → Community → Ministry
The movement from prayer to community grounds, humbles, and equips us for ministry. Through solitude with God, we strengthen our faith and discover which things we should focus on, and which we can let go, so we’re not overwhelmed. Through community, we learn Christ-like forgiveness and love. As we begin to see others as a reflection of God, we become able to live differently and leave a legacy for His glory.
Call to Action: Where are you in the stages of faith and what’s your next step to move forward? Download my Free Stages of Faith Freebie to find out! If you’re not already prioritizing prayer, click here for 3 Prayer Practices to help you carve out time for solitude, meditate on God’s truth, and apply scripture to your daily life. For information on other spiritual disciplines, including fasting and simplicity, visit my article, Practicing the Spiritual Disciplines.
Reference: Nouwen, Henri J. M, Michael J. Christensen, and Rebecca Laird. Spiritual Direction: Wisdom for the Long Walk of Faith. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 2006.
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