Sunday

Prayer:  Giver of all good things,  we thank You.  For health and vigour,  for the air that gives us the breath of life, the sun that warms us, and the good food that makes us strong.  For happy homes and for the friends we love.  For all that makes it good to live.  Make us thankful and eager to repay,  by cheerfulness and kindliness, and by a readiness to help others.  Freely we have received,  let us freely give, in  the name of Him who gave His life for us,  Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen  (FMP, 1964)

Saturday of Thanksgivings

Prayer:   We praise You,  O God,  with gladness and humility for all the joys of life.  For health and strength,  for the love of friends,  for work to do and play to re-create us.  We thank You for the adventure of life.  Above all, we thank You for Your gift of Jesus Christ our Lord,  for the blessings that have come to us through his body the Church.  And help us to show our thankfulness, not only with our lips, but in our lives, always endeavouring to do that which shall please You,  through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.  (FMP  1964).

Friday - Full days

Prayer:   Blessed Saviour,  when we start thinking we are busy,  help us to see that our lives are not full unless we focus upon You.   When we start to think we have so much to do today and only we can do the task,  help us to see that our lives are not full unless we focus upon Your love.  When we start to think we are attempting to do more than anyone else for the kingdom of God,  help us to see that our lives are not full unless we focus upon Your creation.  This we ask in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

What does the word “busy” mean to you?  Reflect upon yesterday’s devotion.  Does the word “busy” mean a disease to you?      There are times in our life when we are busy.   When we move,  when we are planning a big event… like going off to school or getting married.  These times are indeed times where we are busy.    The problem comes when we begin to call each of our days as “busy”.  This then is the disease called “busy”.

Charlotte Duke, a  Presbyterian from the Maritimes and Ontario,  commented that  our days are FULL but not busy.  The word FULL is not a word we associate with time in today’s language.   The word FULL is an awesome word to use so that we can begin to distinguish for ourselves the difference between chronos and kairos…. between time and wisdom.      

Try this out today.  When someone asks you if you are having a busy day,  say, “Well actually my day is full”.     Listen to how they respond.

Read  Colossians 1:  26 – 29  and  2:  1 – 3

What does Paul say about his labour (notice he didn’t use the word “busy”  J  )?  Why did Paul labour?      What was Paul’s purpose?   Is this  purpose  our purpose today too?

How will you take what you have read and prayed about today into your life and worship of  God?

Prayer:  Christ is in us so we can look forward to sharing in God’s glory.  Christ is around us so we are looking forward to sharing in God’s glory.  Christ is with us so we are sharing in God’s glory.  Thanks be to You,  O God of Heavenly Hosts.  Amen.

Many blessings!

Thursday - abiding in Christ

Prayer:  As we abide in Christ,  You supply us with all we need for this day.  As we abide in Christ,  we are free from fear and have quietness and confidence within us.  As we abide in Christ,  we are at one with God and know the peace of God which passes all understand.   This we ask in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Busy.    The second message that is subliminally transmitted by “busy people” is “busy people” are stressed.  When “busy people” are stressed,  they  stop listening.   Have you ever been with a friend (or family)  and suddenly you just know they aren’t listening to you?     Aha.    Through stating the one is “busy”,  we end up causing ourselves undo stress. 

The third message that is subliminally transmitted by “busy people” is they/we begin to pay more attention to themselves/ourselves than to others.   “Busy people’s”  day planners and meetings are more important than your meetings.   “Busy people”  will stand and talk with you and tell you how busy they are with all their meetings and plans, but they will forget to say “and how are you?”.   The focus of “busy people” is upon themselves,  not upon God.   If our focus is solely upon ourselves,  then of course we will not have time to say our prayers every day or to read our Bible every day.   Humm.  Time for a look at your life huh.

Read  Psalm 95  (especially verses 7-8)

How will you take what you have learned today into your life and prepare your heart to worship God?

Prayer:  Holy God,  Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal One.  We commit ourselves to You this day.  By Your help and Your grace,  we will endeavour to keep Your commandments and to follow You faithfully in the way of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Wednesday - restoring our souls

Prayer:   God of Love,  You restore our souls.  You lead us in the path of righteousness for Your love’s sake.  When we think we are busy,  You are with us to show us Your way.  You are always with us,  You are our Guide and our Protector and You comfort us.  This we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Stephen Cherry states that busyness also affects our physical life.    When we keep telling ourselves that we are busy,  our bodies change.  We develop quick movements,  we start speaking in short sentences,    our eyes will not hold on one object (or person) but will dart all over the room,  and we begin to think ourselves as self-important.  

“Busyness is not a solution to the problem of time pressure or time poverty.  Busyness is another problem.  It might be helpful to think of busyness as a disease….   But let’s be clear,  when you begin to hear yourself say, “I am busy”,  this does not mean ‘good’, ‘important’,  ‘ hard pressed’,  or ‘to be pitied’,  it means SICK.”  (Stephen Cherry.  Beyond Busyness.  Session 4).

If you are “busy” each day every day,  then you have a disease.  Stephen Cherry writes that busy people subliminally transmit messages to people they meet.   The first message is that busy people are important people…. and are far more important than anyone else.    Screech to a halt here a moment.    Are we more important than anyone else?

The disciples had this same problem.     And here is what Jesus told them.

Read  Mark 9: 33 – 37

After reading this Gospel lesson,  who does Jesus say is the most important?  How will you prepare your hearts to worship God this very day?

Prayer:    Almighty God,  surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives.  Help us to live this day in the love of You and in obedience to Your Holy Will.   And we will dwell in Your house for ever. Amen.

Tuesday - time difference

Prayer:    Great God,  You have made us Yours and we rejoice in the knowledge of Your love through Jesus Christ our Lord.  We will live this day in the love of You and in obedience to Your Holy Will.  Give us Your enabling grace to do the work You ask us to do.  This we ask in Jesus’ name.  Amen (Adapted from “Prayers for all Occasions”  Forward Movement Press, 1964).

Time.  We all have been given the same 24 hours.  God has been gracious and provided each of us with the same 24 hours.    Yet have you ever noticed that some people seem to run on 36 hour days while others sigh and get discouraged with having 12 hours in a day?

There are two types of time.  Both are Greek words that mean time but differing types of time.  Chronos is the chronological or sequential time.  Kairos is the moment when something special happens.   

God’s time is kairos (the moment of opportunity),   while we frequently focus on chronos (ongoing time).      We say we are too busy to read our Bibles or to pray.   Too busy.  This statement is a “chronos” statement.  It is concerned with only ongoing time.     Statements such as “I am too busy to read the Bible or to say prayers” means we are focussing only upon ourselves.   Aha.     Time Wisdom means we focus upon God.  We  start our days with prayer and reading the Bible.   

Here is a chart that Stephen Cherry uses in his book as an example of the differences between Time Management (Chronos)  and Time Wisdom (Kairos)

Time Management	Time Wisdom
Focus is  on projects and deadlines	Focus applies to the whole of life
Focus on self – what can I get done	Focus on the wider community or team – how can we make the biggest difference
Focus on doing more in less time	Focus on doing the most important things as well as possible
Sees time as a limited and scarce resource	Sees time as both plentiful and relative
Does not take time for the reading of God’s word nor prayer	As God has provided  plentiful time,  then we are provided the wisdom to seek God daily.

Stephen Cherry,  “Beyond Busyness:  Time Wisdom for Ministry”   Sacristy Press, 2012.

Read  Ecclesiastes  3:  1 – 8

Read this passage very slowly.   After each sentence,  pause and listen for the voice of God.    Ask yourself what is the difference between chronos and kairos in this portion of scripture.

How will you take what you have learned today and prepare to  worship God?

Prayer:   Slow us down Lord so that we make the time to see You today.  Slow us down Lord so that we can seek Your wisdom this day.  Slow us down Lord so that You can show us the important things for this day.  This we ask in Your Son’s name.  Amen.

Many blessings!

Monday - Time Wisdom

Last month,  we reflected and read all about Worship.  We reflected on why we worship,  how we worship,  and the Liturgy  - our work of worship.    Yet worship all stems from our love of God and our thirst for wanting to  get to know God.  Part of this month we will learn about ways to prepare ourselves for worship so that we can come before God with hearts full of gladness.  These devotionals have been influenced by Stephen Cherry, “Beyond Busyness: Time Wisdom”  Sacristy Press, 2012.   This is a worthwhile book and would be an awesome Christmas present for your Minister. 

Prayers this month are adapted  and copied from a small booklet entitled “Prayers for All Occasions”  by Forward Movement Press, 1964. This booklet has been used and loved so much that it is in tatters.  Yet,  the prayers remain so simple and beautiful that they must continued to be shared.   Other prayers this month are from Father Simeon “Ted” Weare of the Orthodox Church in America.   Sometimes we meet a minister and say, “Wow,  does the light of Christ ever shine from you.”   Ted was such a minister.   He died 25 October 2011 but his written prayers remain for all the world’s faithful to pray. 

 The rest of this month,  we will get to know God by diving into the Gospel According to St. Luke and learning the stories of Jesus Christ.   Reading the scriptures not only brings knowledge about the Bible but also centres God in our hearts. And what could be better than living each day recognizing that we live each day in the presence of God!

Monday  October 1

Prayer:   Lord have mercy.  We give thanks to the risen Lord for He is gracious.  His mercy endures for every.  The Lord is high above all people and His glory above the heavens.  Ever since the world began God has established His Throne.  Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.   Now and always and unto ages of ages.

Amen  (Father Simeon Weare   Orthodox Church in America)

Preparing our Hearts for Worship.    While we try to get out to worship each Sunday,  worship is more than just showing up Sunday morning and sliding into a pew.  Worship is our response to God.   While our head (and mind) understands that worship is our response to God,  we must remind our heart that worship is our response to God.

When you have company coming,  do you tidy up your place?   Do you lay out towels for your guests to use?  Do you purchase a few more groceries so they have something more to eat than peanut butter and crackers?   

So if we tidy up our homes and prepare for our guests,  how much more should we tidy up our lives for God.     We prepare our hearts for worship on Sunday through our meditations and reading of scriptures each day.

Frequently we have good intentions to prepare our hearts and minds for worship… but we run out of day.    We seem to live on the fly.   But as Christians,  we can not live on the fly if we are to say thank you to God each and every day.     Meditation and prayers and reading scripture takes time.    Frequently we say that we don’t have time.  We are too busy. 

Stephen Cherry wrote an amazing book entitled, “Beyond Busyness:  Time Wisdom for Ministry”.   Stephen Cherry is a Church of England priest, currently a Canon of Durham Cathedral and with a diocesan job which involves leading a team of people who support the mission and ministry of local churches.  He is also responsible for the Continuing Ministerial Development of the clergy and readers of the Durham diocese.   And,  most importantly,  he knows his stuff on time wisdom!

Stephen Cherry’s  book is not about Time Management but Time Wisdom!   While the book is aimed at Clergy,  it is a book very well worth the read in order to centre God in your hearts.

Read  St. John 14: 1 – 3

2 Timothy  4: 1 – 5

After reading these two Scripture passages,  how does God ask us to prepare our hearts for worship and for living?

Prayer:  Great God,  continue to prepare our hearts so that we can fully worship You each and every day of our lives.  In peace,  let us pray to the Lord.  Lord have mercy.  All Holy Trinity have mercy upon us.  O Lord be merciful to our sins.  Father,  forgive us.  O Holy One visit and heal our infirmities.   This we ask in Jesus’ name.  Amen.  (Father Ted Weare.  Orthodox Church in America).