Wanna talk? You need to listen...

Today I was preparing myself for my morning prayers (I use Pray As You Go as then basis of this time as well as some reflective Bible journaling). I was impressed immediately that the Holy Spirit was telling me to listen: listen very carefully.

So I did. While scripture was being read I listened. In the space following the scripture I listened and the two themes of 'mercy' and 'grace' came strongly to me. 

I prayed that I would now and show these qualities in the same measure as I have experienced them - which is massively.

Then I turned to @40acts to see what today task is and what the teaching is and there, in black and white, is the story of prayer working and the challenge to pray for others, to let them know, to seek out specific prayer subjects. 

When I meet with my work colleagues at around 9am we will be praying for each other and for several other people and situations in the absolute knowledge that we are doing the best thing in bringing them to God - anything we can do after that is simply being used by Him. 

Playing Catch-up

What a few days!

Conference, birthday, Mothers Day, worship, flights and so on.

You would think there wasn't time to catch up on a few missed #40acts tasks - but not so!

Managed to get into a conversation with smile staff members at the conference centre we were at, also made one of then laugh by calling her 'Beetlejuice' (it was funny, honest, but you had to be there).

Shared generosity with someone who was generous in return.

Experienced generosity through others for my birthday and tried to be generous to others through the opportunities of Mothers Day. I feel all caught up.

And then today's task is focused on prayer - what better way to 'recover' after such a busy time. This task, however, doesn't feel like much of a challenge though - simply praying for the people and issues that come up through my news feed on Facebook. I try to do that anyway. So today I will do so with more consideration and try to share my concern or let the individuals know I'm praying for them although I may do that discretely.

So as I head into South London today I am already to scour the screen for those things that speak to my heart and soul - and the first will be a prayer for all of those involved in #40acts this year!

Listen... What's that sound?

Like most people I live a busy life.

Today, for instance, I already know that in my diary is a business board and a safeguarding meeting, a scheduled phone conversation, a consultation with a corps (Salvation Army church) officer then a consultation with the whole leadership team. In between times there will numerous phone calls, conversations that need decisions making in them and I will attempt to get lunch with my wife, Catherine, and hopefully have a conversation with my children.

There will not be much time for silence on this typical day - apart from the very moments that I am capturing these words on screen! And even then it is not truly silent: there is a clock ticking, an aircraft flying overhead, the distant sounds of traffic on the motorway and even the soft pad of my fingers on the screen.

Silence is elusive.

For some of us silence is essentially where we commune with God on a deep level. The prophet Elijah experienced the glory of God in the silence at a time when he was depressed and burnt out, terrified and running away. He is told by God to await His presence on the mountain, winds, fire and earthquakes happen but after all there is silence and in the silence Elijah finds God - in the sheer volume of silence.

There are moments moments when silence is the only communication we can truly have with God: we will never have the words to praise Greatness, our requests so often seem selfish and crass, our thanks is weak in comparison to his generosity! our bowed head of penitence speaks louder than our 'I'm sorry' when undoubtedly we sin again.

Listen to the sound of silence - and hear the voice of God.

Join the dots

What would happen if, in every situation, you expressed how you felt?

Your opinion of your friends clothes/haircut may immediately reduce their Christmas card list!

You political views would no longer be a private matter.

The energy companies may well have another phone call to deal with.

And so on.

What if you expressed how you felt about life to those who are the very closest to you? Those you share your life with, whether they are family members or close friends? Most of us do significant self editing before we express our feelings to others, especially about the deepest things going on in our lives. We drop subtle hints via our body language, our occasional comment or moment of silence. Those around us take these dots, join them together, fill in the gaps and come up with a picture of what is going on. Sometimes they are right, frequently they are not quite.

What if, during our self editing, we just let a little more through? We may discover our friends are much more supportive and understanding than we initially thought.

What if we really spoke to God about how we are feeling? Instead of 'blessing' prayers or 'if it's your will' prayers why not speak to God about how you feel rather than what you want him to do? He is the greatest friend after all.

We all might find that God provides for us in a way we never imagined when we speak to him in a way we never anticipated.

Road Closed

Last night on the very local news was a story that a road is going to be closed during the  Commonwealth Games cutting off a local small community for a day.

The comments from locals varied from outrage to mild acceptance.

Today in my devotional reading I was looking at the idea of roads that become closed to me and so therefore I have to find another way.

When I look at my life at the moment there are a number of roads that seem to be closed. Areas that I seem to be powerless to do anything about (using power in it's best rather than corrupting sense).

And then I turned to prayer and God made it very obvious that I have very much influence over every situation in the world and certainly in my life - through prayer. When, as Christians we say 'there's nothing we can do about it' it's not true - we can pray in all circumstances. We may not personally impact a situation or be able to do something physically but we can do something, no road is completely closed to us.

I often wonder whether the prayers I offer to God, that conversation with Him, is a selfish act. For me to have God's time and attention and to bring things that are important to me to Him. Today confirmed not only that it is not a selfish act but an act of love for others as I bring their real and perceived needs down a road that is never closed.

Know your limits

It is no surprise that god has directed me today to one of my favourite characters in scripture - Elijah - and to one of the lowest points in his life.

Having defeated and beaten the prophets of Baal he is threatened by Jezebel basically saying 'I'm coming to get you'. He runs and eventually collapses. He is, in today's words, 'burned out'.

Although I am a long way from being burned out I am in the midst of a very busy season of ministry with little time just to 'be me', the next day that I can really call a day off is some time away and there are numerous public events within this season which, although something that I love, are always more tiring than simply getting through lots of admin at my desk. When You am in the middle of a season like this if is very possible to lose site of two important truths:

You can do anything

You can't do everything

Seems contradictory but it isn't. It is biblical that we 'can do all things through Christ who strengthens me' (Phillipians 4:13) so we know and experience the power and provision of God to do the miraculous and mundane within his empowering and will.

John 15:4-6 explains that whole we are connected with Christ as the vine we are fed and supported and strengthened but without Him we can do nothing.

So my dilemma - and the dilemma of every Christ follower - is this: how do I stay connected to Christ in order to be all the things He wants me to be and do what He wants me to do?

I have developed a couple of simple rules for times like this - learned from people wiser than me as well as my own mistakes:

1: make the most of the moments. In a traffic queue that is going nowhere and you need to be everywhere turn the radio off, take some deep breaths and thank God for a sabbath moment. Or find a quiet place in your workplace or home turn off all the technology and just 'be' for a few minutes. The difference is amazing.

2: who is going to suffer? If some piece of work or ministry looks like it is not going to get done who will really suffer? If it's just your reputation that will be sullied maybe you're too busy because you want people to think highly of you. Probably if it does not get done no one will really notice! 

3: pray more. I find it very tempting to get up very early to do more work ( this is normally my time with God). There is a real temptation to leave prayer in order to catch up with prep (preparing to preach is about feeding others not the sole way of being fed yourself), or 'vital' admin. No! Spend more time in prayer and make the prayer thankful and joyful recognising God's provision and your place in His plan. Truly the joy of The Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10)

4: walk somewhere. It just slows everything down and gives you thinking space and time.

So knowing my limits and ministering to them is important - it recognises God's investment of spiritual gifts in us. Ministering hard and well is crucial but so is resting.

Don't Worry...

The story of Martha and Mary is an important one because so many people associate with one of the two sisters: Martha, busying and fretting; Mary, sitting and listening.

I am asked this morning to consider those things that I am fretting about. What is stopping me sitting and listening to Jesus.

This is always a pertinent question for me as I am a recovering worrier. There was a point when I would lose sleep worrying about many things. Worrying even to the point of worrying about what I had forgotten to worry about! It sounds comic but it was debilitating - and very frustrating for those around me.

These days I tend not to worry to a great degree as I experienced a real healing from this a few years ago. To worry is to waste time often on things over which you have no control. By fretting over them they live rent free in your mind. The things that you do have control over deserve action - however menial they my seem. Even simply putting them on a 'to do' list will lift some of the worry burden. If you can do something immediately then do it. The obvious thing is to pray!

I often, when knowing I have to have a conversation with someone that may be delicate, commit myself to that by saying to them before the time comes 'we must have a chat about...' The worry over starting the conversation is gone, I'm committed to a point of no return, it lifts the burden.

So even though today I am challenged to consider what I am worrying about and the answer is 'very little', it does not diminish my commitment to responding to issues neither does it make me unconcerned. I simply am responding to worry in the way God taught me when he said 'look at the lilies of the field...' (Matthew 6:28)

Somebody prayed for me

Our Father...

O God!!!

Lord have mercy...

Every morning I start my day with prayer - well that's the intention. Most days I manage it. Some days the Lotd speaks directly to me and I spend the time just listening to what he has to share with me, about the world, about the day, about my life. Some days I can't stop talking to Him. The words tumble out of my mouth and the emotions flow from my heart.

The days that I oversleep and miss the most important conversation of the day - man do I know it by the middle of the morning! It seems as if the balance of the day is all wrong. What I'm saying is that prayer is essential to me because my relationship with God is the most important relationship I have.

Sometimes I pray for people I know and sometimes for people I don't know - sometimes I get to know the outcome of my prayers and sometimes..., well there are some things I have spoken to God about that I am still looking for His response.

Today will be the same in terms of my prayer pattern - those specific times I will come to God in prayer:  early morning, 9.00am, last thing at night. No doubt there will be other times I have a quick chat with God just to check things out with Him.

The difference today is that if I'm praying for someone I'm going to let them know. No anonymous prayers today. 

If I can pray for you today please let me know: you can direct message me on Facebook,  Twitter or email Russell.wyles@salvationarmy.org.uk . I'd live to share this journey with you.

Listen, just listen

As I write a programme is on TV in the hotel in which I am staying. It's called "The Real Housewives of New Jersey". Repeatedly this programme features heated confrontation - often over very minor issues - with lots of raised voices and animated gesticulation.

On this day of listening it seems a bit weird to have this programme on - but also a reminder of the proportionality of listening and speaking: when God created us he gave us two ears and one mouth. Use them in proportion to their distribution.

Because I have been travelling for most of today the opportunity for listening has been limited... Or has it? Spending brief moments this morning with my team I tried very deliberately to 'hear' everything they were saying. Travelling with Catherine, my wife, enabled me to listen carefully to what she was saying. Most precious of all were moments of prayer this morning that were listening moments. The confidence of God's presence was tangible from these earliest moments of the day - I've tried to keep listening to Him throughout today - and it's not finished yet...

I'm listening...