Distractions and Peace (Thirty Days To Greater Fruitfulness, Day 1)
This blog has been temporarily overtaken by my Thirty Days To Greater Fruitfulness Challenge. You can find out more by checking out the Introduction.
So I’m checking in to report on the Day 1 of Thirty Days to Greater Fruitfulness. The time that I was able to sit in front of the Lord and actually wait on Him has been difficult. Any of you who have tried to pray for longer than you normally would can probably indentify with this situation. You want to take time aside and listen to Jesus but as soon as you set down, your mind starts thinking about the latest show you watched or something left unfinished at work. That was my day.
If you’re taking the challenge and went through what I went through today, do not loose heart. This is extremely normal. And while we recognize that trying to wait on the Lord and listening to Him can be difficult at first, the harder thing to do is to really believe that what we’re doing at this stage counts. The dry, mundane, distracted times of prayer actually are building something inside of us. God sees what we’re doing and counts it whether we feel super connected or not.
On the fruitfulness side, I haven’t seen a whole lot of what I call obvious fruit. No one came to know Jesus today, no one repented of their sin, I didn’t heal any sick people. But just like the distractions, I kind of expected this to be how this thirty days started.
However, I did notice today that my heart was full of more peace than it normally would be. I had a crazy day at work. It was the sort of day that makes postal workers go…well…you get the idea. But through it all, I had this peace that kept my heart at rest. I was more attentive to the Lord’s presence and that was extremely helpful.
The other thing that I noticed today that was different than other days is that the motives of my heart are becoming more clear. This is a good thing, because it’s giving me a chance to repent and clean out some junk that should have never been there. I’m also beginning to see a few situations the way I believe the Lord sees them and I think that will bear fruit later, even if it’s not bearing fruit right now.
Part of this journey is learning that fruitfulness doesn’t come over night. So if you’re in the same place I am, don’t give up and don’t be discouraged. The Lord is working internally, and some times that takes time.
If you’re taking the challenge, leave a comment in the post below and let us know how it’s going. Or, if you’re blogging on your own site, drop us a link so we can check it out. Thanks for going with me on the journey.
Join us on the “Thirty Days to Greater Fruitfulness” experiment. For the rest of September we are spending 30 minutes in silent prayer listening to Jesus and then acting on what He asks us to do. Then we blog about the changes that are occurring in our lives through the marriage of listening and obedience. It’s not too late. If you’re just checking out that experiment feel free to jump in. And if you want more information, you can check it out here.
Photo Credit: Calendar by Adreanna Moyer Photography
Thirty Days To Greater Fruitfulness: Introduction
I’m increasingly becoming convinced that great fruitfulness only comes from being intimately connected to Jesus.
This really shouldn’t surprise me, because Jesus told me it would be this way (John 15:4).
But if you think about the world you live in, so many times we act like this is not the case. We believe that our good ideas and biblical thoughts will cause us to be fruitful. We believe that if we just get the biblical model right, God will make us fruitful. And so we spend all of our time getting our model of church or ministry right….or we try to become more holy…or more likable so we can be fruitful. When all Jesus is asking is that we stay connected.
What does being connected mean? It means that we have a relationship with Jesus. This relationship begins with communication and communication usually starts with listening. But it doesn’t end there. We listen so we can understand and interact. And when we interact, we behave differently. We have new information. We have a different perspective. Maybe we even have a new agenda.
All of this is to say that Jesus desires for us to hear Him. He wants a people that are listening. He also wants a people who obey after they have finished listening.
I’ve been thinking tonight about Acts 13 and the ministry meeting that happened in Antioch before Paul and Barnabas became apostolic missionaries. Notice how ministry does not mean they were helping people. They were ministering by worshiping and prayer. They were abiding. The result was that Paul and Barnabas were released into an apostolic church planting ministry the likes of which is nearly unheard of in the Western world right now.
When was the last time your evangelism and church planting happened because Jesus gave you the idea in prayer? When was the last time you waited for God to give you something to do, rather than just doing something that needed to be done? When was the last time you obeyed those subtle promptings in prayer and saw what could happen? Make no mistake, fruitfulness comes from abiding and obeying.
Thus, the “Thirty Days To Greater Fruitfulness.” I’m going to begin spending 30 minutes every day for the next thirty days waiting on Jesus and listening. My goal is to actually hear what He wants me to do and then do it. Nothing more, nothing less. And then, to make the exercise real and accountable, I’m going to post a quick update about it here on the blog. I will begin here tomorrow, September 1st, and write up until September 30th. At the end of the month, I will sum up my findings.
But I want you to join me. You can do that one of two ways. You can practice abiding on your own and write about it on your blog or you can take the abiding challenge and write about it on the comment section below. But remember, it’s not just about listening prayer, but about listening prayer that turns into tangible action and fruitfulness. I believe the results will be well worth the effort.
Photo Credit: Calendar by Adreanna Moyer Photography
Cluster Map
Pursuing Glory 