scripture memory, prayer, and grasshoppers

I am going to say one of those things that most evangelicals agree with, but rarely put into practice: scripture memory aids prayer.

Who will not agree that memorizing scripture is important? And who doesn't offer up prayers? I have noticed that a lot of prayers that are recorded for us in the Bible quote other passages of scripture. So this should tell us something about how we should pray. We should fill our prayers with scripture. This accomplishes several things. First it makes our prayers scriptural! Have you ever been frustrated with not being sure if you are praying the right thing? Pray scripture--you can't go wrong (keeping in mind contextual analysis). Praying scripture also elevates your view of God. What you will find out is that most of scripture speaks things and truths about God and not necessarily about you and me. So when you use scripture in your prayer, more times than not your prayers become God glorifying. When you get a better picture of who God is, by default we also get a clearer picture of ourselves.

For the past several weeks i have been working on Is. 40:12-end of chapter. It has been really good for my soul to see this hyper exalted view of God from this text. And just today i got a clearer picture of God and myself from verse 22. It says this--"It is He who sits above the circle of the earth and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in." My view of God has been shaded with a new brilliant color because of this text. It was effortless for him to spread out the heavens. He did it with ease--just as easy as we toss a sheet in the air to spread it out! So God becomes bigger to me, and i also get a right view of myself--i am a grasshopper!

A world-view lesson from phonics

I work in a school. However, i am not skilled in educational techniques, strategies, or methods. So i have been doing some study and research on my school's philosophy of education and the methods they employ. One method is the regimented use of phonics in order to learn reading. Phonics is a demanding and successful method that uses memorization of letters, sounds, and special sounds. Once the student has mastered the sounds, they can begin to sound out words and read. So basically, it works from the piece to the whole, from the letter to the word. However, phonics is not always the recommended technique, especially in public education. A different approach called whole language is sometimes employed. Whole language seeks to do just the opposite of phonics. It teaches the student memorize the shape of a word and then works down to the sound of the letter. So basically, the student memorizes word shapes, but may not be able to actually read the words.

I am going somewhere with this. What is a worldview? A worldview is what we believe to be wrong with the world, and what we believe the solution is. How we act, talk, vote, educate, spend our money is all based on our worldview. The Christian should have a phonic-like worldview. The very beginning place for the Christian is God Himself and God is the redemptive solution for the marring of the world. Everything revolves around Him and what He says. Everything in our life finds its base and outworkings in His word. It starts with Him, and works itself outward into how we think, act, and live. However, I have noticed (and been guilty of) that most Christians do just the opposite. They pay no attention to what they say is the center of their life. Instead, they just act, spend, talk, and live as it seems most advantagous to their own self. They make decisions, not based on God's word, but rather based on emotion, greed, profit, status, etc. In the end they may discover that God is truly not the center of their life and thereby are spiritually illiterate. May God grace us with the knowledge and ability to anchor our whole lives in Him.

WD-40 please

I just started working out again this week. I have not done anything of this sort in about 5 months so i have to go through the excruciating pain of being sore for about 3 days. If only they made WD-40 for joints.

But as i go about living a healthy lifestyle i am reminded that the upkeep of the body is not near as important as the upkeep and maintanence of the soul. So my question for myself is, "Do you Clif, care for your spiritual health as much as you take time to invest in lifting weights?" Now the obvious solution to this would be to stop lifting, right? If i stop caring for the body, then it wouldn't take much to outdo that measure for the soul. But that will do me no good spiritually or physically. So i must resolve to pray for a ferocious appetite that can only be satisfied with deep communion with God. And i guess my physical soreness can parallel to the pain it sometimes is in getting started in different disciplines. But it is only a preliminary stage until you begin to receive the fruit of your efforts--the fruit being more of a love for God.

It still wouldn't hurt to have a little WD-40 though.