Practicing listening to a positive inner voice

This week I saw an email from my boss saying we had to respond to a request to confirm our attendance at a business/mission day. I hate those things with a passion, I’m not a ‘let’s sit in groups and discuss something’ type of person. It never works for me. 

I reacted badly. 

And 

All kinds of thoughts came flooding in to my head through an inner voice that jumped into my thought processes furiously and ready for a battle. Why would I want to go to that? Look at the programme for the day the options are not really of interest to me. I don't want to sit through a discussion on a subject I couldn't be less interested in if I tried. All these things were spoken into my life immediately. 

This sent me into a feeling of dread. 

So much so I  wrote an email in reply saying I wouldn't be there. I had a genuine excuse not to be, but that excuse evaporated when someone cancelled a meeting with me. 

I got my kn----rs in a twist well and truly! 

Fortunately 

Every morning I sit and reflect 

On this day I was in In Morrison’s cafe, armed with a fry up and a coffee ready to seek God. I sat and reflected using a book I called ‘Be happy.’ In this book there is a chapter called practicing a positive inner voice.

After reading it I began to reflect on what my inner voice modus operandi was. 

I was instantly surprised. 

I found that on reflection a negative inner voice tended to get in first when dealing with the stuff of life. 

Then I found that my positive inner voice struggled to overcome the negative one. 

And

I mean really struggled to almost the point of defeat. 

Then I asked myself how did the negative inner voice get into my life?

I have been working on a series of articles on guilt and Shame lately. 

Especially the differences between them. 

And

I discovered my inner negative voice came from shame... 

The difference between guilt and shame is best explained like this. Guilt is a bad feeling when we have overstepped the mark with something and we know we shouldn't have. Shame is where we haven't stepped up to the plate as it were.  Shame is where we get a bad feeling about not doing enough or not being enough. 

And this feeling in me has been cultivated over a long period of time. Feeling like I am not quite good enough. That I don't live up to others expectations of me. That I'm not quite good looking enough, not quite intelligent enough, that other people seem to reach heights I don't seem to reach. That kind of thing. 

This shame comes from some roots of negative experiences going back to my childhood.

 

So what I've ended up with is a voice that speaks into my life a dearth of negativity that masquerades as a kind of protective mechanism.  

This voice has made sure my life has not felt quite successful, that my being is often insignificant and that my purpose in life is essentially futile. 

None of those things are true. 

But my negative inner voice convinces me they are. 

So

I've decided that since I have uncovered this almighty mess inside of me. I ought to do something about it. 

No, Let me give God glory here, he has positively ordered me to do something about it!

How do I turn this around so that the positive voice speaks first and blows the negative voice out of the water in my life? 

Wow

A difficult quest awaits me. 

The first thing in Scripture I read when asking God that very question was this. 

John 10:1-42

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” ..

On reading these words I immediately realised I am subconsciously operating in the opposite of this. 

Now, I know Jesus and am in a relationship with him. 

But

As I am one of these very sheep in the pen, I am tending to follow the strangers voice instead of the Shepherds voice. 

Which means this. 

I am open to being ribbed from or  stolen and even killed. 

But

What if I learned to recognize the Shepherds voice and follow him? 

Well, I will be led out of all kinds of situations unharmed and safe. Even enjoy a happier and more fulfilling life. 

So 

One nougat of lifestyle that I learned in my studies of Monasticism throughout the ages, is that monastics throughout history knew why and how practicing things brought about positive change. 

Practicing the presence of God, practicing prayer, cultivating peace and so on. 

So I thought what I need to do is practice listening to the positive inner voice in my being rather than the negative one. 

God is never negative. 

His example is always positive. 

So 

It feels important to realise that the positive inner voice we hear is the shepherd, and has the spirit of God laced into its mix. 

The negative voice is a strangers voice. 

A robber

A killer. 

The other day a guy I have been ministering to said he was driving through the City and he told me that he saw a sign saying adult books for sale. The sign was over a seedy little string of shops that were mostly tinned up.  He told me  a voice spoke up in his head  and said stop there and have a look. It was a strong voice. On this occasion he managed to keep on driving. Then I remembered a friend of mine telling me how he saw this guy every morning struggling up a hill with his shopping and I remember him saying how he felt so guilty because a voice was telling him to stop and help but he never did. 

These two examples show the strangers voice at work but also the Shepherds voice. 

Neither person responded to them. 

And this is where we have to learn to respond by saying no to the strangers voice and yes to the Shepherds voice. 

This is where the practice comes in

I’m on to it! 

What about you?

Is this blog resonating with you?

Join me in responding to the beautiful inner voice of the spirit of God and practice a none response to the inner negative voice. 

It may make all the difference. 

Minimize

Hey

I took the bull by the horns the other day and decided to clean up and de-clutter my office at home.

I stripped my desk down to absolutely nothing. No papers waiting to be filed, no wires ready for my devices strewn across the table, no books waiting to be put on a shelf of other books that maybe I might read someday.

And

I experienced something amazing!

I felt calmer and relaxed as I work in my minimized space.

In Josh Becker's book on simplifying your home and your life, he alludes to this concept and suggests that living in a minimized home helps to bring less stress to your life and a calmer existence.

I think he's right.

So

After writing a book on de-cluttering our life I have become really interested in the subject of minimalism as applied to our living.

And

I was reminded in my way less cluttered space at home, as I soaked in the calmness that I still have work to do in my own life, to make space for the important stuff like God, like family, like health, like work, and like play.

I need to spend less time on the computer still and make even more room for prayer. I still need to spend less and spend less time shopping on needless things.

I need less clothes in my wardrobe, I need less distracting things around the house that clutter the space and make it more busy and not a calm place.

I still need to keep working on my diary to create space for more focus on my priorities like God, health, work, play and family.

So in my prayer space this morning I was speaking with God about this subject he led me to seven scriptures on minimalism.

And

I Know for sure that less clutter in our lives brings less stress!

so, hey,

I thought I would share them with you today.
__________________
01. | Hebrews 13:5-6 (MSG)
Don’t be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have. Since God assured us, “I’ll never let you down, never walk off and leave you,” we can boldly quote,
God is there, ready to help;
I’m fearless no matter what.
Who or what can get to me?

02. | 1 John 2:17 (MSG)
Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity.

03. | 1 Timothy 6:6-8 (MSG)
A devout life does bring wealth, but it’s the rich simplicity of being yourself before God. Since we entered the world penniless and will leave it penniless, if we have bread on the table and shoes on our feet, that’s enough.

04. | Matthew 6:19-21 (NASB)
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

05. | Luke 12:15 (ESV)
And he said to them, “Take care, be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.

06. | 1 Corinthians 7:30-31 (MSG)
I do want to point out, friends, that time is of the essence. There is no time to waste, so don’t complicate your lives unnecessarily. Keep it simple—in marriage, grief, joy, whatever. Even in ordinary things—your daily routines of shopping, and so on. Deal as sparingly as possible with the things the world thrusts on you. This world as you see it is on its way out.

07. | 1 Timothy 6:17-19 (MSG)
Tell those rich in this world’s wealth to quit being so full of themselves and so obsessed with money, which is here today and gone tomorrow. Tell them to go after God, who piles on all the riches we could ever manage—to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous. If they do that, they’ll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life.

Hey

I hope these inspire and speak to you guys today.

Blessings

Sovereign

Getting myself together would not have been possible without the king.

Getting my life back just wouldn't have happened. 

What is a king?

A king is the soveriegn ruler of a piece of geographical space and its inhabitants. 

The king is the ruler of the universe and its inhabitants forever.

So

He reigns over every inch of it both physically and spiritually.

He inhabits everything.

Every tree, every blade of grass, every drop of water, every breeze. 

The inhabitants?

Well

He amazingly gives us the gift of choice. 

The choice is a straightforward one. 

Recognize the king and allow him to inhabit and rule over your life. 

How did I get from the pit of despair to the beauty of balance?

I chose to recognize the king and allow him to inhabit my life. 

And 

What a difference it has brought to my once rapidly fading existence. 

Joy, peace, contentment and purpose have replaced the rubbish life I had fell into. 

So

Here is my recommendation to those who have no joy, peace, contentment or purpose.

Use the gift of choice 

Declare God as King of your existence right now through Jesus the ultimate Saviour. 

I guarantee now that things WILL change. 

Starlight

My phone is my mate.

When I bought it the advertising bumph stressed that the camera or cameras, 5 of them, were so good in low light that it would reveal the secrets of the night!

Wow

I was hooked!

And

As it happens, this camera is brilliant especially when it comes to astrophotography, photography involved in the imaging of the night sky.

The secrets of the night!

Hey

That started me thinking.

And

Started me reflecting.

I saw in my mind's eye the days where I was walking in darkness, in fact more than that, walking in the black of the night, the kind of thick darkness that depression and melancholy bring. I couldn't see where I was going, I didnt know what was in front of me, I was constantly in danger of falling and longed for some kind of light.

Anyone relate to that?

Yeah

Life

Life can be affected by all kinds of stuff

I didn't see the darkness coming. it crept up on my existence like a ghost from the depths of nowhere.

While in the depths of despair, the darkness helped me to resign from the Salvation Army, the darkness also took my liberty, my self esteem, my confidence and my trust in anything. I was left lifeless and cold.

And

Alone.

I have written and spoke many times since my healing and restoration about the role that hope played in my resuscitation.

And

This morning I feel compelled to write this for someone today.

Really listen to this scripture. Isaiah 9:2

"The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in darkness a light has dawned."

I want to say to that person who is shrouded in that lurid and hopeless darkness this morning, that there is a light.

look for it right now.

look at it right now.

it is found in the face of a Saviour.

Who's birth we will soon be celebrating.

The light has come

Wow

Listen

There is a fresh start in that light, a new beginning.

There is healing and fixing in that light.

No amount of brokeness cannot be reconstructed in that light.

Hey

You are devoid of strength right now, you are broken and shattered, you are locked into a feeling that you feel will never leave you.

But.

For those living in darkness the light has come.

And

That means there is hope, a very real hope.

There are, as my phone camera promises, secrets of the night. I love it when I take a photo of the stars, and the sheer detail and illumination my camera gives.

There is sheer beauty in starlight

But it is no secret that there is a far greater light.

The light of a different way, a new beginning and a fresh vision of life.

God light!

Come on, you can change this.

Letter to hope

Dear hope

I love you.

You only have positive expectations

You accompanied me into my darkest moments even though I didn't hear, see or feel you.

But

You were definitely there.

And

I have to say thank you for offering me your outstretched hand in my time of need.

I noticed some other things about you too.

You hold all the good things that are locked into my future. You carry strength like I have never seen. You have a steadiness and a calmness that exceed anything the world could ever offer up.

I should have believed in you quicker, I wish I had taken a hold of you sooner, but I didn't.

Yet

That's the thing

you still stayed close and promised to never leave no matter what.

and

You never left and never will

You offer another way, another approach, another chance always.

The healing properties you carry are boundless and are medicine to the sickness darkness causes.

you offer me a way out of the darkness.

You show me opportunities not despair.

You are my companion for life and I never realised

But

Now I know

And

I know you are real and present

Forever

You are so real

I love you.

Thank you

X

The best and worst of times

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.

Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

Hey I have been on one heck of a journey the last five years. 

From the day I left Officership back in April 2015, I set about deepening my relationship with God, with the aim of being strengthened and healed.

And

I started back last week in Ministry in the Salvation Army a completely different person, with a new outlook on life, and a perspective that has shifted considerably. 

I guess the quote from Dickens magnificent book, Tale of two Cities, really describes the battle to be healed and restored I have been enmeshed in over the last few years. 

I have experienced the deep power of Jesus that changes everything, I've had help from some experts and some deeply spiritual help from trusted people. Then on the other hand I battled to allow healing to come to the wounds I had recieved. During the last few years I lost my mum and my brother. I've worked in a few jobs that were a blessing and helped with the restructuring of my inner persona. I have experienced highs and lows with massive extremes. 

These are just a couple of things. 

I will go into some of the amazing things that I have been humbled and blessed by as I resume my blogging now. 

So

As you can probably guess. 

It has been the best and the worst of times. The spring of hope and the winter of despair. 

Yet

My goodness, I have learned so much about myself and how important changing my attitude towards life and ministry actually is. 

And

It has been undoubtedly the most important time of my life.

So during the coming weeks, I will share some of my experiences and victories I have received and achieved in the hope it will help someone else out there to understand totally that hope is real.  

Looking forward to it

Gaz

Follow the cloud

One thing that has been so clear this week is that God has spoken into my life.

Everywhere I have turned God has spoke through something or someone.

I had a word from an old gentleman who attends the Salvation Army Church that my wife leads on Sunday morning. This gentleman has been struggling with illness and has been in hospital until recently. One of the effects of the illness he has is that he can sometimes get confused. He is a former Pentecostal Minister who is full of fire and brimstone and is not slow at pouring that fire on whoever happens to be there at the time.

On Sunday morning, just as the morning service was about to begin, his wife approached me as I settled into a back row corner seat and informed me that Mike had a word to share with me. I said thank you and I promised her I would come and see him after the service.

I wasn't expecting much as he has sadly been really confused recently.

But

As soon as Dawn said the last Amen that morning, I headed up to see Mike. He invited me to sit on his seated walker as there was no other seat available. I shook his trembling hand and noted how pale and unwell he looked.

Yet

He had a steely look in his grey eyes.

A look I've seen before in the eyes of people with a serious prophetic gift.

I was expecting a long word.

But

in a moment of intense clarity, he spoke just three.

"Follow the cloud."

And

I almost dismissed the word from immediately, thinking it didn't really make any sense.

But

I could not for the life of me shake it off.

It would not let me go all of Sunday. Even as I watched the football on Sunday afternoon I kept seeing those steely grey eyes and hearing the words, "Follow the cloud."

It was still with me Monday as I sat at my desk scoffing a croissant and drinking my first black coffee of the day.

So I just googled "follow the cloud."

I was immediately alerted to a scripture.

Exodus 13: 20-22

This scripture is part of the account of the Israelite's journey out of Egypt, just before they would eventually cross the Red Sea, the big parting of the waves and all that.

"After leaving Sukkoth they camped at Etham on the edge of the desert. By the day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or by night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people."

Wow!

It struck me straight away that these guys recently released from captivity were on the edge of a journey into the wilderness. Up until this point they knew the roads, but soon they would enter uncharted territory. Their only hope? to be guided by God who manifested as a pillar of cloud for them to follow.

Me?

Recently I have been released from a kind of captivity.

The captivity of hurt, self pity, self doubt and a little ego thrown in for good measure.

I've been through four years of intense refinement.

And now free, I find myself camped on the edge of an exciting wilderness.

A wilderness that holds much opportunity as I walk towards the things God has promised me. The promised land if you like.

And

I have to follow the cloud.

I require intense guidance.

And I have fix my eyes on Jesus, the ultimate pillar of cloud, who will lead me to what God wants for me, not what I want.

Because what is the alternative?

An alternative I know way too well.

And that is to follow your own way.

I've tried that and I got a bit a lost.

Which leads me to two other things that have happened that God has spoken to me through.

One was a piece of writing from Oswald Chambers, a passage that my boss shared with me at work. This text says that the call of God is implicit and can never be stated explicitly. In other words the call of God on your life is not to an organisation or a person but the call is into comradeship with God.

And

I have been really focusing lately on what the call of God is on my life.

Is it to minister, to go back into officership, to do what?

I am desperate to pick up my ministry again,and believe that is where the Lord is leading me.

But

I have to remember that All I have to do is focus on following the cloud, keep in total relationship with God and follow him wherever he goes.

The second thing hit me like a rocket.

I binge watched the new Netflix documentary on the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

I have followed this case since the day it happened and have set it as one of my prayer projects to pray for her and her family and the situation.

I was floored by the police chief who is the former head of the Child exploitation and online protection service.

He shared how he was head of the anti terrorism unit and knew it was an immensely important role. He was asked to head up the then new Child exploitation and online protection centre. He shared how he felt he was stepping down the ladder as it were and it was almost a demotion from his prominent post. He then was asked to speak at a conference in Cambodia. While there he was taken to a tip and watched as the child trafficking rings operated openly exploiting children who had gone to this dump to search for food. This impacted him deeply. As he was on the flight home to the UK he was so touched by what he saw that a passion rose within him to do something about it.

Then

He said something that impacted me.

He said He decided that he had to "Pack way his ego," He had to put away any feelings of being demoted or sent to a task he had initially thought was a lesser offer, and take the job he was being offered.

This was for me that night.

I have to put any feelings of what in my eyes would be best for my future and follow the cloud.

Pack away my ego.

Follow Jesus into what he has called me to, and make a massive difference to the lives of those who are in desperate need of the love, grace and mercy of a saviour.

So hey

Are you on the edge of the wilderness?

Are you feeling lost or wayward?

Then

As you walk into the uncharted territory of the future?

Pack away the ego, answer the call.

And

Follow the cloud

Walls

I'm going to Church in about an hour.

My morning has started in the less than salubrious surroundings of a McDonalds.

I love their coffee, although that doesn't justify the double sausage and egg Mcmuffin that I shouldnt be eating!

But

I love the breakfast, and I love the time I have just to think.

Hence the fact I've got my tablet out and have started tapping the keyboard and putting my thinking down on electronic paper.

It has taken four years.

But

I find myself in the unusual position of being totally healed and free.

It's a weird feeling but a fantastic one all the same.

It's taken much prayer, a little counselling, a few happy pills and a mega helping of pain, struggle and battles to finally reach the point I am at right now.

I've taken a significant rest from speaking, from ministering, from the dangers of Church going. I've battled hard to recover my life from wounds so deep they almost obliterated me.

But

Freedom has arrived like a liberator I thought would never come.

I have taught about freedom for many years on many stages and platforms across europe, yet looking back I was not taking any notice of the stuff God was asking me to impart others. I was so busy helping others I forgot about my own life.

And

I let the bad side of religion almost steal my very life.

As many of you know, I resigned from Salvation Army Officership four years ago now.

I had to.

I needed the space to really deepen my relationship with God and take it to a whole new level, and, really accept and recieve the healing he can and does lavish upon those who are desperate for it.

And

I hate to admit it, but I was desperately in need of saving.

It is easy for me to blame others for my wounds and I would be right because that was true.

But

It wasn't until I accepted that there was also an element of myself placing obstacles in my own way, that I gave God the chance to begin a restorative work in me.

I built myself a nice wall that became so formidable that I couldn't get past it.

I built it brick by brick with bricks such as, self pity, insecurity, bitterness, unforgiveness, anger, regret, shame, doubt, self loathing, you know stuff like that.

The wall got so high in front of me I became trapped behind it.

And I was glad because that wall seemed to protect me from ever getting hurt again, and I wouldn't have cared if I hid behind it for the rest of my days.

But

Deep down, as I held on desperately to the hand of Jesus, I knew that I had to find the pathway God had laid out before me.

And

I remembered the time, about fifteen years ago, that I had just finished speaking at a conference in Wales, when an old guy who had been saved during the Welsh revival in the twentieth century approached me at the end of the service. He had a word from God for me. He said this.

"You are going to hit a brick wall. It will come but God wants you to know he will get you past this wall and y.ou will find a glorious path once again."

Now, at the time I was in the midst of a really fantastic time in my ministry, we had planted Liverpool Boiler Room and I was fulfilled and happy seeing God touch lives and bring about transformation of an epic kind before my very eyes.

So I kind of filed the word away and forgot about it.

Until now.

I always thought that the wall would be built by others who hurt me and got in the way.

But

Hey

I never thought for one minute it would be me who built the wall myself.

But it was.

Once I understood that, through clinging to God, hitting the prayers like never before, and, keeping right on praying and reading scripture, even when I thought it was getting me nowhere, I began to see the obstacles that I had placed in my own way.

And

On new years day this year, I heard the voice of God.

He spoke a sentence so loud and clear I grasped it straightaway.

He said this.

"Get out of your own way."

I understood immediately.

And

I began to deconstruct the wall.

Brick by brick.

I took away the self pity and saw hope, I decided to stay so close to God that insecurity dissolved away, I forgave, I turned from a doubter to a believer, and many other things.

Eventually I have caught sight of the pathway that stretches out before me.

And

I have taken my first steps on to it.

And

Freedom had come.

So

I encourage this day anyone who is finding a resonance in this post.

I encourage you firstly to not run away from prayer but hit it harder. Secondly to take your focus of what others have done or are doing to you right now,  and look at what obstacles you may be setting down before yourself.

While you are building that wall, I guarantee you that it will not protect you, it will maybe give you a false sense of security, but it will also prevent you from finding the clear pathway God has planned for you, and all the joy that is waiting to be discovered there.

You may not feel free now.

But

I can testify to the fact that there is freedom for you.

Though the grace and mercy of a God who loves you no matter what through his son Jesus Christ.

Simple things

Paul breezed in exactly at 10am.

He starts his two hour shift straight away.

Today, he has to continue dismantling an old recliner chair that will be going to the recycling centre in due course.

Paul has some mental health issues and severe learning deficits.

But

Every Tuesday for the last twenty odd years he has attended St Paul's Centre to do his little job.

It was my privilege on Tuesday to take care of him for the morning.

I got out his mat that he kneels on and laid out some tools that he needs, a set of metal Allen keys and a few screwdrivers, then showed him which screws he needed to work on that morning. Once he was started he put his head down and worked for two hours solid.

As I watched him from time to time from my office that lies adjacent to where he works, I had this amazing flood of memories from the files stored deep in my memory of the hundreds of similar images from my ministry.

And

I had this real clarity about  how the simple things that we as the Church do to just help people along in their life journeys make such a massive difference in this world. I was suddenly overwhelmed with the desire to spend the rest of my days just lavishing the love of Jesus on to the whosoever.

Simple things.

The pure and simple love of Jesus does not need Theology, doctrine and other intellectual fads to back it up or indeed make it work.

It's just.

Simple.

Paul has been given this opportunity that he may never have had if it wasn't for the simple love of Jesus. This love helps him to feel loved, useful and whole.

And

I watch him leave dead on 12 midday.

He leaves  laughing and muttering to himself, he seems content and satisfied.

It so reminded me on Tuesday of how much I was recapturing my sense of mission and purpose while I'm on this earth.

It may well be that I go back into my ministry soon.

It may well be,.

But

I don't think I've ever stopped really.

I was also reminded that we as a Church, are the whole body of Christ. His eyes, ears, his mouth.

And

It doesn't have to be intricate, brilliant Mission planning that will help us to touch lives in a profound way.

No

It's the simple things

Overcomer

Here I am

Sitting at a desk located in the upper rooms of an old Victorian Church in Crewe, England.

Behind my blue and uncomfortable old office chair is the most amazingly colourful stained glass window ever. It's a depiction of the scripture "Suffer the little children to come unto me", captured in superb dark greens, reds, yellows, golds and frosted clear glass. I am so blessed to be right here right now. The window was crafted back in 1910 and dedicated to some former vicar of this church at the turn of the twentieth century and projects the most vivid and colourful light shows daily onto my computer screens.

Today I am feeling optimistic.

I have no idea why.

I just do.

I haven't had that feeling you can sometimes get, that feeling that gives you a hunch something amazing is about to happen.

But

today?

I feel like light is shining on me, stoking the fire of my creative and visionary side.

My scripture this morning was simple.

"Build up, Build up! Prepare the road, remove the obstacles out of the way of my people!" (Isaiah 57:14)

Hey

I've been ready for sometime to hoist the sails on my ministry and let the breezes of the Spirit catch a hold of them and take me to where God would have me be for a time such as this, the here, the now.

But

There are obstacles.

I need finance for the vision God has laid on me and I have none! I am ready to write and know I need the time and space to allow the Spirit of God to take a hold of my heart, head, and my right hand to scribe the words that I know are bursting to flow outwards to those who need to hear them. I also am starting to fill up on speaking engagements which I have taken a back step from for the last year or so.

yet

There are things in the way.

Finance

Time

Space

Hey

But this scripture hit me like a thunderclap.

Build up, build up, prepare the road, remove the obstacles out of the way of my people!"

Yeah

Words direct from the heart of God.

I am challenged to day that I need to start building my ministry back up again.

And?

That God can remove the obstacles that get in the way of our forward path in life.

He sees the bigger picture

He can see right through the obstacle strewn pathways that so often make our lives not as effective as they could be.

So

Hey

let God take control.

Trust him with the bigger picture.

Whatever is stopping us from moving forwards? Start building for the future anyway and He will carve out your pathway, Shine light on it even.

Be encouraged today.

Be an over comer

Minimalistic Prayer

Minimalism

What does that word evoke within you?

I will tell you what it brings to my minds eye.

I see simplicity.

I see uncomplicated.

Christianity seems to be loaded with a complicated mess of theology, doctrines and opinions. There are complicated people out there with complicated minds, churning out complicated theories on every aspect of Christianity.

Prayer is one of those aspects.

The super spiritual among the Christian community love to do one of two things.

Relegate prayer to a bit of a necessary chore, thinking “A nice bit of ancient liturgy will cover it.”

Or overcomplicate it to the extent of mushing it up into a complicated theological crumpled mess, loading needless theories and jumped up theological opinions on to it.

So

Prayer then becomes a dry and insipid act.

Yeah

Come on now.

Admit it.

We have all been there!

I remember talking to a guy who had just sat through a church service for the very first time in his life.

We sat in a coffee bar afterwards slugging double expresso discussing what he thought of it.

The very first thing he said to me was this.

“I thought when you prayed you spoke to God?”

I asked him to expand on that statement.

He went on

“I never knew you just read it parrot fashion off a sheet, the same sheet they use every week I take it?”

I struggled not to laugh at this. as I knew it was true.

This guy was struggling to see how you could just pray the same thing week in week out when obviously we carry unique and individual situations into church with us.

He then said this.

“It’s way too complicated for me.”

Hey

Jesus knew about this back in the ancient day.

He said in a famous sermon he gave on a middle eastern hill one day, “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others, truly I tell you they have received their reward in full. But when you pray go into your room, close the door and pray to you father who is unseen and then your father, who sees what is done in secret will reward you. And when you pray do not keep on babbling like the pagans for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your father knows what you need before you ask him. This, then, is how you should pray;
Our Father in Heaven hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, as we have also forgiven our debtors and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.” (Matthew 6: 5-13)

The Lords prayer is a simple prayer.

It’s an example of how to pray simply.

Jesus doesn’t mean just say this prayer and you will be okay.

He is giving us an example how to be minimalistic in prayer but to the point.

There are all kinds of prayer, it says that in scripture, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” (Ephesians 6:18)

Prayer undoubtedly has many aspects especially in spiritual warfare and in life’s battles.

But essentially it is the lifeblood of a personal living relationship with God.

And as Jesus so eloquently says, it needs to be uncomplicated.

Minimalistic.

Free from babbling and show.

Prayer doesn’t need to be loaded with theology and classy rhetoric.

No

It needs to be loaded with innocence and authenticity and it should flow from one’s unique heart and from one’s personality.

I listened to someone in a service I was speaking at recently stand up and pray.

It was so lengthy and so complicated that firstly I lost the will to live so I turned to my phone to check the previous days football results, and secondly as this person said Amen, I felt in my spirit a certain smugness emanating from the person, so much so I heard the words in my mind “Pick the bones out of that one!” The person was almost triumphant in having delivered such a richly complicated prayer.

Bless them.

Hey

Prayer is our relationship with God.

So
it is better to be a simple conversation.

Us speaking to God and him Speaking to us.

Yes

We must pray into some serious stuff sometimes

But yeah

That doesn’t mean we have to complicate the prayer.

Even in the difficult aspects of prayer such as spiritual warfare doesn’t mean it requires complicated prayers.

Let's Unload our prayers.

Be simplistic about it.

Minimalize your personal prayer life. Not in terms of the amount you pray but be to the point in what you say.
Speak what you need, what you require, talk to God about everything.

Pray with all kinds of prayers and requests. Don’t wait until Sunday for the service either, God is always there.

Bring him into every aspect of our lives, the good and the bad bits and let him speak, listen to him, he won’t give you a complicated answer.

Prayer is so exciting.

Along with the word of God, it is the only thing that can bring life to your relationship with him.

Hey

Maybe it is the spark you have been missing?