For the past year, I’ve met once a month with a shepherd-elder of a church from another state. He comes alongside as a spiritual companion to help me discern God’s direction for my life. He doesn’t tell me what to do. He simply prays with and for me and asks me questions. In between meetings I keep an almost daily spiritual direction/morning meditations journal in which I jot down ways I believe the Holy Spirit may be directing me through Scripture, prayer, other people, circumstances, silence, etc.
Immediately after beginning our first session with prayer, he asked me, “Bart, for what are you yearning?” I didn’t see that one coming! After several moments of quiet thought, I said, “I want my last years, however many the Lord provides, to really count for Christ.” You see, I don’t want to fritter away my last days just getting by. I don’t want to coast along in a rut biding my time. I want to live a purposeful life. I want to get to know God the Father better and love, obey and share His Son more.
Through a recent course of experiences, God put in my mind a prayer to offer up to Him each day that refines and clarifies for what it is I yearn. At first, I worded it this way, “Father, may the rest of my life glorify you more than it ever has before.” But then I realized that’s a comparison with the past that may be limiting the degree to which God would like for my life to glorify Him in the future. It also seemed a bit too focused on self. Eventually, the prayer evolved to this: “Father, May the rest of my life glorify You abundantly more than I could ever ask or imagine according to Your power at work in me. Help me help others do the same.” (Some of you may realize that it has a more than miniscule hint of Ephesians 3:20-21. But, along with the guiding Holy Spirit, what better source for directing our prayers is there than Scripture?)
I needed to share this prayer for my life with you because God uses His children to help one another glorify Him. I, nor any other disciple of Jesus, glorifies God every minute of every day. Each of us needs the prayers, encouragement, counsel, support and accountability from others to live God-glorifying lives. If you don’t believe that, just consider all of the “one another” verses in the Bible! When we intentionally try to go solo, we are being unreasonable and do ourselves and God’s kingdom a disservice:
Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire;
he breaks out against all sound judgment (Proverbs 18:1 ESV).
The older I get and the more experience I receive in learning to walk with Christ in a worthy manner, the more I realize how much I need other Jesus followers, in addition to Deloris, walking with me and how much they need me walking with them. That’s why I meet with a trained spiritual director one time per month for one hour. It’s why I meet almost every Monday for about 90 minutes with another Christian brother for prayer and mutual accountability. It’s why I’m part of a weekly Bible Fellowship Group that is learning to include care, prayer, and helping one another obey what God reveals through the Scriptures we study together, as opposed to just gaining knowledge from the Bible like so many Bible studies and time listening to sermons tends to be. (If there is no obeying and/or sharing what we’re learning, then the result is hypocrisy and/or selfishness.) It’s why I assemble on the Lord’s Day with the church of the living God around His Son’s Table. It’s why I’m learning to share with others what the Lord reveals to me during my daily quiet time with Him in prayer and Scripture. Lastly, It’s why I encourage you, in addition to your daily devotional time, to spend consistent time each week with another disciple, a small group of disciples, and the Lord’s Day assembly of disciples.
May the peace of Christ be with you all,
Bart Newton
Preaching Minister