A Concord Pastor Comments: Praying 10 minutes today: SUNDAY 6/3

Find a quiet time and place to pray...

take a few deep breaths... be still...

and know that God is near...

A word to reflect on:

Let us never be boastful, or challenging, or jealous toward one another. Help carry one another's burdens; in that way you will fulfill the law of Christ. -Galatians 5

That's asking a lot, Lord...
Never to boast... never to challenge...
   never to be jealous of others and what they have?
Are these the rules I'm supposed to play by?
Is this the law of Christ I'm expected to fulfill?
There are so many times, Lord, when your rules seem too hard;
   so many times when what you ask seems impossible,
more than any human being could possibly do...

How's a little boasting gonna hurt anyone?
Seems to me some folks are just begging to be challenged!
And, hey - some folks seem to have everything
   when I seem to have nothing.

Well, I guess that's sort of an exaggeration...
I've got plenty - even if I don't have what others have,
   even if I don't have all the things I'd like to have.
And I do have some really important things
   and some really important, wonderful people are in my life...

And the folks I'd like to challenge?
Well...
I guess I can think of some things in my own life deserving of a challenge,
   a confrontation with the truth, an honest inventory
      of my heart and mind, my choices and decisions...

And that challenge might just leave me with a little less to boast about
   than I thought in the beginning...
Fact is, sometimes I boast not because I'm so great
   but more to hide from others
      what I'd rather not brag about...

I'm beginning to see, Lord, that when you ask me
   never to boast, never to challenge and never to be jealous
      it's to help make me a better human being,
         a better person created by your hand...
Your rules of play, your law, are meant to help me become
   the person you made me to be...

And I think you've given me a clue about how to do this, Lord...
It's right here:
   Help carry one another's burdens...
If I help others carry their burdens
   a little humility will likely cut my boasting at least in half...
If I come to know the weight of others' burdens,
I'll be less inclined to challenge what they do or fail to do...
And if I help others carry their burdens,
   I just might find that what I envy
      may be something I neither want or need to have...

And if I help others carry their burdens,
   then, Lord, I'll be fulfilling you whole law,
      I'll be playing by your rules...

It's been good to sit and talk with you, Lord:
   thanks for helping me understand myself
      by coming to a better understanding of your Word
         and of what you ask of me...

For a few more minutes, in the quiet here,
   let me lay down my burdens, Lord, and rest with you...

Calm my heart, Lord, and give me peace...
Let me be still... and know that you are God...
that you are near...

Here are some tips for praying 10 minutes a day. If you find these daily prayer reminders helpful, please let me know - and share them with others. You'll find an archive of these daily posts here.