Pace: Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry

                       Pace

Pace is necessary

to reach long distance

stretch—roads wind,

curve, buckle

throughout the route.

Breathe with rhythm

Spirit strength

infusing fresh energy

inhale—exhale beat.

Match soft shoe

choreography

practice until a reflex

                        dancing towards destination.

Reflection Run: Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry

Reflection Questions

1.     What dreams are you continuing to pursue despite hardship? What dreams did you set aside? What made the difference?

2.     Do you seek the Lord’s guidance every day or only when major changes arise?

3.     What do you think your first reaction would be if God asked you to completely give up the life you are living now and follow a different route?

4.     What would be your final answer?

Share: How do you reassess a commitment that doesn’t seem to make any progress? What question do you ask in prayer?

Run: Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry

Hebrews 12:1, “and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us,”

Run: requires training, energy, discipline, commitment, practice, endurance, and pace.

Or else: we stumble, cramp, tire, fall down, and give up.

Witness the recent events of the World Cup Soccer as the best players across the globe met in the hopes that their training would bring victory. Yet even among the very best some still had an edge.

Viewers admired not only their talents but also their perseverance and preparation to reach their goals. The players knew exactly what they wanted and put in the long hard hours to achieve their dreams.

Are we running the race the Lord has set before us with the same level of determination, or do we fizzle at the first major obstacle? Do we begin to think we need to do it on our own or do we remember His strength is ever present?

It’s so easy that when failures cause us to trip we begin to question if we got the route wrong. Maybe the directions were really for someone else. Or we rearranged the expectations to our own liking.

Lord, please give us each concrete insight as to the race you are calling us to this day, this year, this road without an end in sight. Only when we commit with our whole hearts under Your strength and Your guidance can we reach the finish line.

Psalm of Worship: Psalm 37:5-6

“Commit your way to the Lord,

Trust also in Him and He will do it.

And He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,

And your judgment as the noon day.”

Purify: Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry

Purify

The shadows we

wear determines

journey.

Fly or trudge?

When weighted by

sin’s  appeal each

step a cycle

fall—rise—try again

bonded to earth’s grave.

Release the outer

chains, rise higher

above the ground

float free into

possibilities.

Weighted: Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry

Hebrews 12:1,“let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely,”

Just as last week’s witnesses before and present, visible and invisible, encourage us toward a path of promise, so we need to examine what exactly we carry with us as we walk.

Have you ever stood in a line at an airport and wondered how anyone could be traveling with so much baggage? Have you ever been the person that every one stares at as you try to maneuver an overflowing cart of luggage?

Yet perhaps the person with the lightest visible carry-on is actually the one weighted down the most within. Heart and mind and soul heavy.

Even when we want to or try to unload the sin we carry, we often keep it. We hold on for many reasons: it is familiar, we think we can handle it, we consider it a constant reminder of our weaknesses to avoid, or hide, or pay penance for.

Yet they are in reality invisible chains that strangle fresh hope. They weary our bodies and our souls and our minds with a fatigue and sluggishness that we often don’t even recognize.

They slow down the journey, cause resentment from those around us, and steal our joy. But somehow we can’t quite let go. The grip is too strong. Unless we are willing to receive help, or to share the burden with another, or help someone else with theirs. Then we can lift our vision to see our journey with expectancy and new energy.

Jesus says, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” We are on this journey by His invitation and by His provision. We can travel light within and without because He walks alongside. Only He can remove  our sin weight. His promise to us.

Lord, please help us to each see the sin we continue to hold onto and relinquish it into Your hands, so that we may travel our days fully released in life.

Psalm of Worship: Psalm 63:8

“My soul clings to Thee;

Thy right hand upholds me.”

Promise: Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry

Promise

Stumbling with exhaustion

decisions loom alongside

shadows—no end in sight,

no sign of respite.

Fear nibbles into soul

challenging, mocking.

Suddenly a light

breeze kisses a cheek,

 a caress at neck’s

stiffness, a hint of

song lifts body onward

as surrounding witnesses

pray.

Reflection Surrounded: Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry

Reflection Questions

1.     Have you ever had the experience of a friend or foe consistently on your heart and mind and wonder why? How did you react?

2.     Have you ever been surprised to realize a friend had been praying for you throughout a difficult day or week and you had never told them about your situation? How did that become a witness to you of God’s personal grace?

3.     Do you find the idea of being surrounded by witnesses a comfort or a little overwhelming? Why?

Share: When have you experienced an unexplained peace in the middle of a difficult situation? How did that change your perspective?

Surrounded: Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry

Hebrews 12:1, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses…”.

We tend to look askance at anyone who claims to have invisible friends, but here we are given a promise of support by friends visible and invisible, personal friends and perfect strangers.

In times of exhaustion, fear, weakness, and indecision we often can feel lonely and isolated. We may have no sense of even how to take another step. The weight might be so heavy that physically and emotionally we are unable to move forward—or think—or feel.

And yet, even with no strength to even pray, we find ourselves lifted up and our hearts lightened.  And find that friends and family have been praying because they suddenly thought of us, or received a nudge from the Spirit, or a weight of concern.

We are grateful for the community God has blessed up with to pray for each other’s concerns and to celebrate each other’s joys. We become a witness to each other of the living presence of the Lord in our lives and are reminded to listen for those nudges to extend His grace to those around us—both known and unknown.

And when in doubt this promise helps to restore us when we see that those who have gone before us have completed their journey faithfully. We can depend on the promise of respite and relief no matter how long the process. We can believe that no matter the obstacles we will never be left behind or alone.

Witnesses before and present point the path towards joy and not fear, towards springs of living water instead of dry sand. Visible and invisible their encouragement can sustain us.

Thank you, Lord, for Your sustaining power of witness by Your Spirit’s ongoing words.

Psalm of Worship: Psalm 121:7-8

“The Lord will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul.

The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in

From this time forth and forever.”