Challenge #3: Study

Last night I had a nightmare.

It's been years since I've had such a horrible, vivid dream - one which would prohibit any return to decent sleep.  I awoke from the dream at 2:30am and after an hour of tossing and turning and trying to eradicate the disturbing images from my head, I chose to get dressed and go climb the "M" on Mount Sentinel.

Upon opening my front door, I was surprised to find the entire neighborhood blanketed by 2 inches of snow!  This did not deter me from driving to the trailhead and beginning my ascent.  I was completely alone - there were no footprints in the snow.  The mountain was mine.

I wish I could say it was an effortless climb, but my 38-year-old body was puffing and wheezing most of the way.  Once I finally made it to the base of the concrete letter, I looked out over the city.

I began to study.

Most of the time, when we think about "study" we conjure up dreaded images of books, notes, diagrams, memory-work, thinking and more thinking…  The Discipline of Study is not an exciting endeavor!

Or is it?  When we speak of a Bible Study, the notion is that someone, or some curriculum, will provide us with several keys to interpretation of the Scripture - interpretation that we could not have achieved on our own.  We open the Bible, often with a prejudice that the Book is way too big, way too cumbersome to tackle by ourselves.  In a way, this thought is true - the Bible is a never-ending conglomeration of God-inspired law, history, poetry, cryptic prophecy, mundane genealogies, quips of wisdom, songs, etc., etc…

But in another, very real way, it is a personal tool of communication between you and God.  It is a means for the Spirit of God to speak to each of us in a way that, individually, we must hear.  Next time, when you study, try to simply read the Word of God without thought of verse numbers and cross-references.  Read a part of Scripture, then re-read it… and then re-read it again.  Let the words of God seep into your heart, your mind.  Listen for the Spirit to speak.

On Mount Sentinel, I stood, overlooking the city of Missoula - no Bible in hand.  And yet I studied.

The Discipline of Study is not confined to Scripture!  We study life!  Open your eyes and begin to search for meaning in the world around you.  Study a piece of Creation - find the Creator in a starry sky, a tree, a mountain.  Study people - the way they talk, the way they interact, the things that make us cheerful, ecstatic, or filled with despair.  Study culture - the technology, the history, the language.  Study life!

Challenge #3:  Find something to study!  Study Scripture!  Read it.  Digest it.  Memorize it.  Your challenge for this week is to memorize three verses of Scripture.  Feel free to share with everyone what verses you have chosen!

I studied Missoula.  I pondered her beauty, her history.  I wondered the ways I could love her.  Like Abraham looking upon Gomorrah, I prayed to God that He would save the city.  I studied the river running through it.  I studied the movement of the few cars, listened to the bellow of a train horn, traced city neighborhoods with my finger...

And I listened.  I will never forget the nightmare that brought me to the mountain that caused me to study the city I love so much.

Challenge #2: Fast/Lent

Fasting reminds us that we are sustained 
"by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."  
Food does not sustain us.  
God sustains us.
-Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline


It's amazing how often the subject of fasting comes up in the Bible.  Throughout the texts of both the Old and New Testaments, fasting refers to the abstaining of food for spiritual purposes.  The various methods of fasting range from the absolute fast (no food or water), to the typical fast (water, but no food) to an intentional abstinence from specific foods or practices.

Fasting has been such a common occurrence throughout human history, that Jesus made reference to it during His sermon on the mount, saying, "when you fast…" as though to imply that people will fast.

But why?  What is the point?

Fasting is an uncomfortable discipline… especially in this time, in this culture.  It is a literal way of humbling ourselves and accepting the fact that we are not in control - God is.  King David crys out, "I humbled my soul with fasting!" (Ps. 69:10)

Fasting is a means of connecting with God on a deeper spiritual level than found through the routine spiritual practices we allow ourselves.  As Chronicles 7:14 states, "If my people humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and forgive their sin."

One of the traditions of the Catholic church is to practice a time of Lent before the celebration of Easter.  a person does not have to be Catholic to appreciate this type of spiritual discipline.  Daniel declared "I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth…"

Challenge #2:  Choose a fast or Lent.  Practice the discipline of fasting.  Allow yourself a time to abstain from one, two, maybe three meals.  Or, if you choose, practice Lent for the next 40 days.  Pick something, a food, a habit, something that tends to control you… and let it go!  During this time, concentrate on your prayer life, your worship, your study.  Offer petitions to God.  Praise Him.  And listen.

There are two primary results of fasting.  Deliverance and Revelation.
We may choose to fast during times of distress or trouble, pleading with God to give comfort, guidance, strength, wisdom… and God may choose to deliver us!  Regardless of the intent, the Lord will often allow us to see things we did not see before.  We receive spiritual clarity and other insights that God chooses to reveal to us, but that we probably did not expect!  These blessings, deliverance and revelation, are extremely important to our spiritual maturity.

God bless you and be with you on this journey.  If you choose, please let us know of your choices to fast or Lent, and what you have experienced as a result!

Challenge #1: PRAYER

"Oh, how my soul praises the Lord!
How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!"
-Mary, mother of Jesus  (Luke 1:46)


Prayer catapults us onto the frontier of the spiritual life! Of all the spiritual disciplines, prayer is the most central because it ushers us into perpetual communion with the Father.

- Richard Foster1

In Luke 11, we see the disciples of Jesus ask Him, "Lord, please teach us how to pray!"

Prayer is a learning process!  So often we see prayer as a matter of going through the motions, of something we do to remain pure and holy.  And while holiness does become an aspect of prayer, it is by no means the sole purpose of prayer.

When walking, or perhaps fighting our way through a learning process, it should be understood that there will be questions, difficulties, even failure.  Allow yourself to experiment with prayer!  Give yourself the liberty to pray in different ways, different postures, different places.  Be brutally honest with yourself when you realize that some prayer may not seem to "work" and then explore the what and why of the problem!

It is critical that we continually explore and discover how to have raw, real conversation with God.  Without an effective prayer life, the rest of your spiritual core will have a hollowness to it.

For the next seven days you should devote yourself to a bold new approach to prayer!  Pray in a new place… pray during different times of the day… pray with someone you normally would never pray with.  Pray in comfort… pray in discomfort.  Pray out loud… pray without words.  Pray the prayers in Scripture… pray the words that you write with your own hand.  Pray Haitian style.  Pray the Lord's Prayer.

Just whatever you do… pray.  Pray hard.

Challenge #1:  Each day, rid yourself of the routine, mundane prayer exercises you commonly use.  Stop using cut-n-paste prayer cliches.  Your challenge is to pray one unique, purposeful prayer to God each day for the next seven days.

Share your thoughts and insights as you explore the discipline of prayer!  Share also your ideas, unique methods of prayer, or any helpful advice that others could benefit from.  If you help, here are a few resources to use:

• http://www.spirithome.com/prayer_3.html
• Read Chapter 3 - "The Discipline of Prayer" in Richard Foster's Celebration of Disicpline

Scripture References:

• The Magnificat  (Luke 1:46-55)
• Paul's Prayer for Wisdom  (Eph. 1:15-19)
• Prayer of Rescue  (Psalm 57)
• Experiencing Joy and Peace  (Philippians 4:4-7)
• Prayer of Hope  (Jeremiah 29:12-13
• Prayer of Confession  (I John 1:9)

1. Celebration of Discipline, written by Richard Foster, p.33

What if you knew…?

It's one of those classic movie scenarios: the patient sitting uncomfortably on the paper-covered exam bench, still waiting for the doctor to return. This was just a routine physical, but for some reason he seems to be taking a little longer than usual. Finally the door opens and he slips in, clipboard in hand, professional expression - the cryptic kind that doctors undoubtedly learn in med school to avoid the conveyance of emotion.

He leans back against the sink, lets out a slow sigh, "Mr. Partain, I must prepare you for some difficult news."

Difficult news? Didn't see this one coming. Feeling pretty good. Worked out yesterday. Benched 245. Hadn't done that since college.

"You only have seven, maybe eight weeks to live."

Wow... so much for preparation!

What if the patient sitting on the cold exam table were you?
What would you say? What would you do?

Take a look at your life at this moment. Chances are you have responsibilities, agendas, things you one day hope to do, dreams you will eventually attempt. You probably think you don't have enough time in the day already... but what if you only had one month of time left?


It changes things. 
Suddenly your daily strategy, your annual resolutions, your life-long goals become... different. 


What makes this interesting, is that Jesus knew when He had 54 days left to live. I wonder if He allowed Himself that knowledge, if He dwelt on it or perhaps put it out of His human mind. We know He prepared Himself for the cross; we know He prayed in incomprehensible ways, that He drew His disciples close and spoke with them in His classic ambiguous way, foretelling the things that would happen.

The world still celebrates Christ's death on Good Friday, with an even more exuberant celebration of His Resurrection on Easter Sunday.

In honor of that tradition, we, the Missoula Valley College Ministry, will live for 54 days... as though they were our last. We will look to the Cross, and as each day passes we will examine our own lives in deep, creative, spiritual ways.

The journey begins March 1st, 2011. Each week simply pull up this blog, read the challenge of the week… and complete it.

At the end of 54 days, on Easter Sunday (April 24), we will host a worship service at Missoula Valley Church commemorating the final days of Jesus' life - and the celebration of His Ressurection!

I challenge you to try living your life as though you had only 54 days to live! Re-ignite your purpose, your motivation!  Become closer to God through the practice of spiritual discipline, spiritual challenge… and see what happens!


Grace…
J.D. Partain