9-10-17: Reboot - prayer

I. Me and We

Last week I challenged you to keep a time inventory. Even if you didn’t, I do hope that you at least noticed how you were spending your time. Perhaps you were watching something on TV and then realized…you really weren’t watching it…and what you were watching didn’t bring value to you or to anyone really.

I hope you at least noticed how you were using your time and begain to think about other ways you could have been spending that time.

It isn’t easy. Change is hard. It seems like bad habits have a way of slipping into our lives. I find that I don’t have to try very hard to pick up a bad habit. Maybe it’s becuase bad habits, sometimes, are really shortcuts we take…so…we take a shortcut and pretty soon a bad habit has invaded our lives.

Good habits are much, much harder. Perhaps you’ve heard that it takes 21 days to create a new habit. Apparently, that’s not entirely true. Maybe some, easy, habits take 21 days..but for other habits it may take 66 days or longer! That’s over two months of intentional, consistant, practice for the habit to take a hold.

Apparently by being intentional consistancy changes our brain wiring. When we first start doing something it seems strange and foriegn. Whether we are learning an instrument, a new language, a new subject at school, a new sport, at first everything just doesn’t feel right. We struggle.

We struggle because the nuropathyways in our brains are just starting to be connected. Over time, with consistant, intentional practice, those pathways become deeper and stronger…and our new activity becomes easier.

At first..it’s hard.

II. God

I like what James Clear says about habits. He says there are four stages to the creation of any habit: Noticing, Wanting, Doing, and Liking.

Last week I told you how I started flossing becuase I wanted to get my dental hygentist off my back. I realized, that I went threw the four stages of habit creation.

Noticing:

I noticed flossing because my hygentist was doing her job. She made sure I noticed that flossing would be good.

Wanting:

I didn’t really want to floss…I WANTED to get her to stop telling me about flossing. Sometimes after we notice something, we want our lives to be changed. Maybe we notice we are doing something harmful to our goals…so we want to stop. Wanting is important.

If I didn’t care about her lectures, I would not have “wanted” to do anything about my flossing....but my want…drove my doing.

Luke 11:1 NRSV

He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”

John 11:

There is only one place in scripture where Jesus was asked to teach something…anyone here know what it is?

Apparently the disciples noticed something about Jesus’ prayer life. Noticing, however, isn’t enough. We notice things all the time, but noticing doesn’t turn into wanting. It’s our want that gets the ball rolling.

Perhaps they noticed his prayer life before…but they really didn’t want anything different in their own. This time, however, they wanted that kind of prayer in their lives. They wanted that kind of depth in their prayers. They wanted the kind of relationshp they saw Jesus had for themselves…so they asked...”Lord…teach us to pray...”

Jesus did. He gave the Lord’s prayer, which is probably more of a prayer form. Of course it worsk on it’s own, but when you look closely you see that it is almost outline-like. Each section can be used as kind of a topic for prayer…beginning with worship and adoration, desire for God’s kingdom, needed items, protection from temptation, and forgiveness.

However, just noticing…and wanting…is not enough.

My hygentist made sure I noticed that I was not flossing…and I wanted her to stop. In fact, if you listened real close last week you would have heard that after the first lecture I wanted her to stop and so started flossing…but it only lasted three days.

Doing:

The important part of the change habit is doing. We can notice something…we can want something…but unless we actaully do something…we reamin the same.

There are many times when I notice something around the house that needs to be done…and I really want to fix it or take care of it…but if I don’t follow up my noticing and wanting with action…well....what’s happened? Nothing.

You may notice how others pray and even want a deep prayer life…but…if you don’t take intentional and consistant tine out to pray…you never will have the rpayer life you desire…the prayer life God desires for you…the deep relationship with God…knowing his love…peace…and presence.

So…I started flossing. Doing is another very important stage…perhaps the most important.

You see…there are many things we notice. We might also want to change something about our lives…or some habit…stopping one or starting another…but if we never DO…nothing will change. Doing is the start of transformation. It may take 66 days…but once a habit is engrained…or our neuropathways are formed…our lives are different.

Liking:

Clear says the last stage is liking…to be honest…I don’t think I like to floss…I like that I do floss, I like the benefits that flossing will bring to my life…but I’m not sure I like the activity of flossing.

Clear says the last stage is liking…to be honest…I don’t think I like to floss…I like that I do floss, I like the benefits that flossing will bring to my life…but I’m not sure I like the activity of flossing.

Sometimes we get t othe pace where we like our new habit…what I think happens is something deeper than “liking” it. We discover ourselves. The habit becomes a disposition…something within us…we become our habits.

The disciples noticed something about Jesus. I’m sure they noticed a lot of things…but there was only one time that I can think of when they asked him to teach them something.

“Teach us to pray...”

Not only did they notice Jesus’ prayer life…they wanted that kind of prayer life.

From time to time I will have someone mention that they apprecaite my prayers. I never know how to answer that…what I want to say is this:

You can have a prayer life you appreciate as well.

I’m no different from anyone else. As we pray, our prayer life deepens.

III. YOu and Us

You and Us Prayer as a way to know God (See , (?)). Prayer isn't about getting what we want Prayer is about cultivating God's presence into our lives. So we might "See" So we might "Be" (like Jesus).

The path of change…notice (our prayer life), Wanting (to grow in prayer), Doing (making the time), Liking (discovering transformation).

James Clear Noticing (Inventory) Wanting () Doing (66 days) Liking