introduction to reformed theology – Page 4 – Jesus @ 2 am blogs and podcast

Loving God 301, Part 1: Verbal Prayer and the Psalms

January 31, 2016January 29, 2016Kirk WinslowLeave a comment

Prayer is not a duty. It is not the means of gaining favor with God or demonstrating devotion. Rather, prayer is the means of making genuine contact with the Father who loves us. And the ultimate fruit of prayer is…happiness. (Note that the opening word of the Psalms is “Happy!”)

In this continuing look at the classical tradition of Christian spiritual formation we turn to the practice of prayer, particularly verbal prayer (i.e., prayer that uses words). This is where prayer starts – with words (spoken or in the silence of our mind). And the first step is learning a vocabulary of prayer, how we put to words our experience of life and our need for God (and something of the words by which God responds).

In this episode we open where the anthology of the Psalms does – with Psalm 1. In it we discover the joy of a life in connection with God and the hope it brings even amidst the inevitable hardships of life.

If you want to learn to pray, there is no better school that the Psalms.

Loving God 201, Part 6: An Easy Way to Pray -The Daily Office

January 29, 2016January 29, 2016Kirk WinslowLeave a comment

What if I told you, you could build a life of meaningful connection to God in a matter of minutes a day? Really! I know it sounds like a cheap hook for a diet pill, but it happens in this case to be true. You can build a habit of prayer in minutes a day by using one of the most classic tools in the history of the church: the daily office.

In this episode we continue our introduction to prayer by looking at one of the most basic – and most helpful – practices of the church: the daily office (as in the “official” prayer for the day).

The daily office dates to prayer practices of pre-Christian Judaism and is a set of biblical readings, psalms and short prayers that allow the community of faith to pray together, no matter where we are.

If you already know the daily office(s), this will be a look at the theory behind why it works. If you are you’ve never experienced praying the office (or praying the hours), here is a link to a quick start guide to the daily office a wrote a few months ago.

Praying the office changed my spiritual life forever, and I strongly encourage you to give it a go!

Loving God 201, Part 5: Fifth Rule of the Spiritual Life

December 18, 2015December 18, 2015Kirk WinslowLeave a comment

Jesus said the way to be first is to be last; the way to life abundantly is to die to self; and the way to maturity is to become like a little child.

In this episode we examine the Fifth Rule of the Spiritual Life: Let God be Your Father.

One of the greatest challenges in the spiritual life is to surrender our sense of self-sufficiency and to recognize – indeed, embrace – our need for God’s provision in all things.

This is not to diminish our accomplishments or belittle our achievements. God values our creativity and calls us to make our contribution to creation. But we are not loved for what we produce. And no matter how wise or strong we become, we never arrive to the place where we need no grace or mercy.

Rather than resist this – striving (fruitlessly and unnecessarily!) – to prove ourselves to God, we do vastly better to receive the embrace of the Father and rest in his care with thanksgiving.