Why I Keep a Prayer Notebook

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Prayer is quite possibly the spiritual discipline I have to give the most attention. Prayer really doesn’t come as naturally to me as reading does. Several years ago I really wanted to begin praying better and building a more prayer centric life. I have struggled in the past with keeping myself in prayer and I decided to start keeping a prayer specific notebook. After just over a year with the practice, it has proven to be very beneficial for me.

Let me explain to you my prayer notebook. I wanted something I could keep with me all the time. I am partial to Field Notes Brand notebooks. You can pick them up in tons of different colors. I wanted something I was excited about so I would actually use it. I found out the notebook started to get ragged out quick, so I picked up a leather cover on Etsy. The notebook now resides permanently in my back pocket as part of my daily carry.

I start each day with Wesley’s Covenant prayer. I keep a copy in the notebook marking my place. I write down the date and any requests I know I need to be praying for. I list peoples names. I can flip back through the last few days and make sure I am moving things forward.

I like to do this because I don’t like lying to people.

Preachers tell others “I’ll be praying for you” quite a lot. It is easy to forget. Instead, I tell people that now and immediately (in front of them) write it down. If I have told you I am praying for you in the last year…your name is in one of these books.

I also write down short, one sentence prayers during the day or in the evening.

I like my prayer notebook because it is an extremely tactile practice. It keeps prayer right in front of me. It is a constant reminder of the Holy and also of the holy practice of going to God in prayer throughout the day.

As I have journeyed into the discipline of prayer, I can’t imagine doing it without my little notebook. It keeps me centered. Using a notebook reminds me prayer is a terribly practical activity. It is something we actually should be doing, paying attention to. Prayer takes time and effort.

I hope you are a person of prayer. If it is a hard thing for you I really hope you would consider the idea of keeping a prayer notebook. I like to think it has been a big help to me making prayer part of a normal, every day life.

Beginning Prayer: Wesley’s Covenant Prayer

7828492212_2410c889faWhen anyone intentionally decides to start building a life of prayer the first honest question is “How?.” Through my life, I have had moments where these decisions have to be made. Prayer, like any other part of the Christian life, means constantly pushing forward…going deeper and deeper. What counts is finding moments and different practices which continue to push this journey forward.

A few years back at the meeting of the Louisiana Annual Conference of the UMC, Rev. Adam Hamilton led several sessions and discussions on church vision and vitality. At several moments along the way he either pointed to or lead us through Wesley’s Covenant Prayer. Traditionally this prayer is used at the beginning of the year as congregations recommit towards holy relationships and mission. What Rev. Hamilton illustrated was this prayers place in the everyday life of individuals and congregations.

For anyone looking for a new way point in the life of prayer, either beginning or reinvigorating, the covenant prayer is an excellent addition.

I am no longer my own, but thine.
Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee,
exalted for thee or brought low for thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
thou art mine, and I am thine.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen.

I have found by making multiple copies and placing them in both intended and surprise location, I pray the prayer several times during the day. I have a copy in my bathroom and I pray it almost first thing in the morning. I pray it when I transition tasks during the day or when I start a time of devotion or study. It provides a wonderful embedded space in my life.

Yes, the language might be old fashioned, but I decided to not update it. It marks things as “special” for me.

I encourage you to practice this prayer. Make it part of your day at least once. Find the best place to put it into your devotional life. Trust me, it will be a blessing. So share this prayer. Make it part of your life. Above all, pursue a deep life of prayer.

Sermon Preview: The Practice of the Presence of God

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I have a suitcase stored in a closet at the house. I have actually blogged about it before. It has taught me so much about the power of time and memories. Since I wrote that first post…there has been a pretty major change with the suitcase.

Inside the suitcase are books from my grandparents house. The suitcase is actually from there as well. For years I could open it up and smell their home, which has since been sold. I even kept the suitcase in a garbage back trying to preserve the smell. I would only open it up once or twice a year.

Remembering the past is a pretty big thing for many of us. We want to keep those experiences alive.

Our scripture this week is about experience. It is a song sung during specific moments in time.

Psalm 84
How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
My soul longs, indeed it faints
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh sing for joy
to the living God.
Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
my King and my God.
Happy are those who live in your house,
ever singing your praise.
Selah
Happy are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
As they go through the valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.
They go from strength to strength;
the God of gods will be seen in Zion.
O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob!
Selah
Behold our shield, O God;
look on the face of your anointed.
For a day in your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than live in the tents of wickedness.
For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
he bestows favour and honour.
No good thing does the Lord withhold
from those who walk uprightly.
O Lord of hosts,
happy is everyone who trusts in you.

This is an ascension or pilgrimage psalm. They were sung during the journey to the Temple by folks coming to worship. You can imagine what those moments must have been like. Huge crowds of people coming into Jerusalem singing songs about the presence of God and how they have experienced and how they are expecting to experience God.

This psalm is all about an on-going relationship. A relationship that doesn’t just live in the past, but has a present and a future. For anyone who is searching for the presence of God their is a truth we find in Psalm 84.

We find the presence in the present.

Many people begin the new year making resolutions and goals. For many people who follow Christ, I imagine they set a few goals around their spiritual life. The thing about goals and resolutions is they take repetition. Big goals take time to put into habit. This article shows how some can take most of a year.

As much as I wish I had magic preacher dust I could sprinkle and give everyone a huge, abiding sense of the presence of God, we have to do the work to form the relationship. To build up memories of presence to draw on when we need them. Verse 7 of Psalm 84 talks about this, going from strength to strength, markers of time of the presence of God.

Years ago, a simple monk, Brother Lawrence, wrote a great book called The Practice of the Presence of God. In it he assisted a younger monk with the Christian life. The majority of his conversations where about finding God in the smallest, most everyday things. That is where a relationship was found. It was an expectation a person could consistently be meeting with God in the present.

About that suitcase…

I opened it up a few months ago. The smell has gone away. It doesn’t change the past relationships I had with my grandparents. But I no longer hold that part of the past. I remember them now by the person who I am, the person they were part of making me to be. The things in the suitcase are now on a shelf, serving as markers for the relationship. The past is the past.

The beautiful thing is the presence of God doesn’t work like that. It doesn’t go away. It doesn’t exist in one moment in time but is available in the present and future. God is truly here with us!

This Sunday we will talk about finding the presence in the present. It will be a great time of worship. See you at church!

Chad Brooks - March 9, 2014

Practicing Prayer

Practicing Prayer

Have you ever felt like you bumble through prayer or are dissatisfied with your prayer life? One of the keys to the Christian life is understanding how prayer builds a big vision of who God is. This week we look at the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6 and find out how it helps us build a great prayer life.

From Series: "Celebration of Discipline"

For Lent we are taking a journey into the disciplines. The disciplines are the garden in which we are planted and grown into mature followers of Christ.

Scripture and Discussion

More From "Celebration of Discipline"

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What is a sermon preview?
Sermon previews are released on Friday’s. They are to give YOU a short glimpse of what the conversation is going to be like on Sunday morning. On Monday, the preview is updated with some discussion questions, scripture guide and an mp3 of the sermon. I do these for 2 reasons. The first is so God can continue working in your life throughout the week. The second is for you to share this with a friend. I invite and encourage you to share the preview on Facebook/Twitter and through email.

 

Top Blog Posts of 2013

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This has been an awesome first year at revchadbrooks.com. I started this blog on May 30th of the year, after my decision to restart blogging from scratch with a new name and purpose. You can read the first post, Beginnings, right here.

Since then, things have been busy. I also started the Productive Pastor Podcast this year and it has gone over really well. Revchadbrooks.com had 13,819 views in 2013. The Productive Pastor has been downloaded 3063 times to date.

Here are the top 5 most popular posts in 2013

1.  3 Reasons the Church Should Understand the Zombie Apocalypse.
This post was from July 15th. It has consistently held the top post every since then. It was also one of my favorites. It does well in Google, so people keep coming back to it.

2. The 5 Records That Saved Christian Music For Me.
This post was written on a whim over a few days and had a tremendous response. The discussion it started both here and at Faith Villiage has been really interesting. I really wanted to open up and make a few confessions through this post many people wouldn’t assume a Pastor would make, namely that I don’t like/listen to Christian music.

3. The Easiest Way to Preach Better Sermons.One of the consicous decisions I made in 2013 was to invest in coaching. I started a relationship with The Rocket Company and their coaching system called Preaching Rocket. It has made a fantastic change in my sermon preparation and delivery habits. Through the engagement around this post, I think many ministry leaders have the same questions and struggles as I do. Also, The Rocket Company’s staff is excellent and adds tons of value for me personally. Brian Dodd is a great blogger and person to follow on twitter.

4. My Favorite Podcasts and Why You Should Listen To Podcasts.
Another big part of 2013 for me was Podcasts, both listening to and producing two different shows. This was my first post sharing my favorite podcasts and I followed it with a second just a few weeks back.

5. Why I Became a Methodist.
This is one of the posts I have republished on revchadbrooks.com from my old site. I felt it was necessary to talk about my transition to Methodism. It has been picked up several times by other outlets. It was another post I wrote not thinking very much about and has become very popular.

Thank you for being part of the community here and with the podcast. I am so thankful for all of my readers and how they honor me with just a few moments of their time each day.