Just wrote a devotional for CCC, and thought I would share here...

Shut The Doors of Distraction

So, you have been handed a Morning Watch, or morning devotional.  For many of you, this is a new concept.  In a hyperactive and technologically connected culture, the ideas of silence, stillness and prayer are a strange, new, and quite difficult concept to embrace.  Yes, it will be difficult to stay focused.  Even now, you are thinking of something else entirely.

The great Christian writer Henri Nouwen said that, “We do not take the spiritual life seriously if we do not set aside some time to be with God and listen to Him.”

This statement then leads to this question: do you take your faith seriously?  If so, then press on.  If not, then continue to think of television shows, what you’ll have for lunch, how much you miss your worthless cell phone, whom you’re attracted to or other such stereotypical teenage thoughts.  I for one, think you can do better than that.  Once you feel prepared, I lovingly encourage you to keep reading.

If you do indeed take the “spiritual life seriously”, then you simply must “set aside time with God”.  Not just here, but every day; for the rest of your life.  Why?

Would you take a trip to a foreign land without a map or translator? No, you would get lost.  Would you attempt to shave, do your makeup, or do your hair without a mirror?  Do so at your own peril (and acute lack of hotness).

The Bible, prayer, & solitude are like a map, guiding our lives and giving us wisdom.  The Bible, prayer, and solitude are also like a mirror, helping us see ourselves as we really are, and not just as we think we are.  In both of these areas, we are given God’s truth.

Once we have committed ourselves to spending time in solitude, we develop attentiveness to God’s voice in us.  In the beginning, during the first days, weeks, or months we may have the feeling that we are simply wasting our time.   Time in solitude may at first seem little more than a time in which we are bombarded by thousands of thoughts and feelings that emerge from hidden areas of our minds.

I have heard the first stage of solitary prayer as the experience of a person who, after years of living with open doors, suddenly decides to shut them.  The visitors who used to come and enter their home start pounding on their doors, wondering why they are not allowed to enter.  Only when they realize they are not welcome do they gradually stop coming.

This is the experience of anyone who decides to enter into solitude after a life without much spiritual discipline.  At first, many distractions keep presenting themselves.  Later, as they receive less and less attention, they slowly withdraw.  Given time, you will find the joy of prayer and solitude.

And it also must be said that although you may not experience much “satisfaction” at every time of solitude prayer and Bible reading, you will soon realize that a day without solitude is less “spiritual” than a day with it.

Where do we get this idea of solitude with God being important?  From Jesus, that’s who.  Jesus withdrew to be with God constantly, and Jesus spoke with God at all times.  This is a very reachable goal for today’s Christian.

Henri Nouwen also said that “Jesus was ‘all-ear to God.  That’s what prayer is: being ‘all-ear’ to God”.  When we speak, we are only repeating what we already know.  But when we listen (and record our thoughts), we are learning something new.  That, my friends, is always worth your time.

Clark Chilton

Student pastor – Clemmons UMC