Nurturing Spirituality

SylviaHave you ever noticed a couple who have been married for many years? They have truly become one.

They finish each other's sentences. At a restaurant they look down the menu and can tell you what the other person will order. They start smiling when their spouse begins to a story, because they know the punchline is going to be good. They even start looking more and more like one another. It is hard to know where one of them starts and the other stops.

James Houston once said "Prayer is keeping company with God, and we become like the One with whom we keep company." That is the invitation: to spend time in the presence of the One who beckons us to the life-changing friendship called prayer. Jesus kept company with His Father while here on earth. Seven times Luke records Jesus praying: at His baptism (3:21), often (5:16), all night before choosing the twelve to be with Him (6:12), privately (9:18), before His transfiguration (9:28), in an accustomed place (11:1), in the garden (22:41-44), and from the cross (23:34).

That is my passion for me and for you. I want us to get close to Him in His Word long enough that we see it not as a theological treatise or an object of study, but as opportunity to deepen our relationship as a friend of God. I want us to break out in praise to our holy, holy, holy, yet-oh-so-personal God, search our lives by the light of the Holy Spirit, share our hurts and fears and run for refuge to our Keeper, and draw closer to Jesus in pure devotion.

God desires an intimate relationship with us. God beckons us deeper into His heart, and we must not hold back. We need the personal resolve of Joshua who said, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." We ask for God-given vision birthed in prayer, God-given ministry based on prayer, and God-permeated mission completely depending on Him. Then our lives will bear the imprint of His character in light, peace, joy, power, and truth.

As we continue on this journey with God through the years, people will begin to notice that level of oneness with Him in us. As we soak in His Word and allow it to become a part of us, we can "finish His sentences." We will smile in the middle of the story God is unfolding, because we know the punchline is going to be good. And people will begin to say, "You know, they even look like each other."

Nurturing Audio & Video

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Reflections to Consider

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Nurturing Publications

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Publications

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Nurturing Music

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Music

  • Jesus be the centre

    Center is a song that speaks of the essence of our life in Christ, and echoes the words the Christ Read More
  • I Lift My Hands

    A powerful hymn of adoration and praise Arkansas Gospel Mass Choir. This succinctly captures the joy of knowing our savior. Read More
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Nurturing Reflection

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Audio & Video

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Favorites

  • Transforming this World: The Hope of Glory by NT Wright +

    Wright confronts the perspective that this world doesn’t matter, and that we live only to be in heaven. He shows Read More
  • What is Good in a World that Defies Hope: a talk by NT Wright +

    This is the second part of three talks by NT Wright at Harvard University in November, 2008 on the topic Read More
  • The Stream, the Lake and the River: NT Wright +

      Acts 2.1-21; John 7.37-39; a sermon at the Eucharist on the Feast of Pentecost, 11 May 2008, by the Read More
  • Jesus in the Perfect Storm by NT Wright +

    Zechariah 9.9-17; Luke 19.28-48; A sermon for Palm Sunday, April 17, 2011, In the University Chapel of St Salvator, St Read More
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Hidden Blessings

  • Christ is a Great Savior: a review of the movie Amazing Grace +

    Amazing Grace is a historical drama about William Wilberforce who was elected to British Parliament at the age of 21 Read More
  • Wilberforce, Hollywood's Amazing Grace, Charlotte Allen +

    William Wilberforce's relentless campaign eventually led the British Parliament to ban the slave trade, in 1807, and to pass a Read More
  • Making Beauty out of Ugly Things: Grace by U2 +

    Grace, she takes the blame She covers the shame Removes the stain It could be her name Grace, she carries Read More
  • The True Nature of Grace and Love: a movie review of the Soloist +

    The 2009 movie The Soloist is based on a book by the same name, written by Los Angeles Times columnist Read More
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