This past Sunday we distributed a Daily Workbook to accompany our 8 week series on the fundamentals of the gospel. The workbook is an attempt to build in the DNA, identities, and rhythms of the gospel into our daily lives. We challenged everyone to set aside 20 minutes each day for this workbook.
Our generation (myself included) is easily skeptical of ploys like this. We tend toward things that are easy, quick, and painless. If something is difficult, slow, or painful then we can easily assume it isn’t genuine. This is why I was challenged and encouraged by Paul Miller in A Praying Life as he writes,
“Deep within the American psyche is the 1960′s Romantic idea, originally from Emerson and Rousseau, that if something doesn’t feel natural, it isn’t real. We think spiritual things – if done right – should just flow. But if you have a disability (which we all do because of the Fall!), nothing flows, especially in the beginning.”
Miller is writing about the difficulty of simply praying on a regular basis, but the insight proves fruitful for something like committing 20 minutes per day to a workbook loaded with Scripture reading and prayer and questions and community interaction. What about you? Do you believe it should “just flow?” Do you believe that “if something doesn’t feel natural, it isn’t real?”
I am asking God to strike down this lie in my own mind and heart. You are welcome to join me.
