Brother Lawrence, a 17th century friar, said of prayer: Think often on God, by day, by night, in your business and even in your diversions. [God] is always near you and with you; leave [God] not alone.

Praying can be as simple as breathing or thinking. It doesn’t have to be elaborate or wise or wordy. You don’t need a special room in your house or a specific building to pray. It can be as peaceful as the in and out, in and out, in and out of your breath.

Individual Practice - try a simple breath prayer. Choose a name for God that means something to you, breathe that in. Name a desire that is on your heart, breathe that out. Repeat a few times as you breathe in and out.

If you need an example, take one from Psalm 23:

BREATHE IN: The Lord is my Shepherd

BREATHE OUT: I have what I need

Richard Foster says in his book Celebration of Disciplines that celebration is like the sun, and all of the other disciplines rotate around it. It’s that important to our relationship with Jesus, it’s that important to our relationship with other people, it’s that important to our relationship with ourselves. Without celebration, life and discipline become stale. We can be doing all of the right things, we can be diligent in actually practicing these rhythms, but without celebration sprinkled in there, it probably won’t be as meaningful or last as long.

Individual - Do something this week that feels like a real and true celebration. If you aren’t sure what that would look like, then I want you to take a little time this week to figure out how it is you truly celebrate.

Corporate - Celebrate with someone else this week.

When we encourage someone, or are encouraged by someone, we see the goodness of God in new and different ways. Encouragement isn’t just important because it makes someone feel good, encouragement is important because it draws everyone involved closer to God.

Dr. Larry Crabb says that: Encouragement [is the] careful selection of words that are intended to influence another person meaningfully toward increased godliness.

Individual - Make a list of 3-5 people you want to encourage this week. Write it on a note in your phone, or in your journal, or with a dry erase marker on your bathroom mirror. Reach out to each of those people sometime this week - either through text, in person, or writing a simple note or slipping it in the mail.

Corporate - In your Table Group, with your roommates, or with another group, spend time giving one another words of encouragement. This might feel awkward at first, but give it a try!

If there was ever a biblical model for contentment, it would be in the person of Paul. This is a man who was at the absolute top - he had power and authority and most likely wealth. This was also a man who was at the absolute bottom - he was thrown in jail and shipwrecked multiple times and had to rely on the support and care of other people for the majority of his ministry.

The secret to contentment, according to Paul, is your classic Sunday school answer - Jesus:

For I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through the one who gives me strength. (Philippians 4: 11-13)

Discontentment has us looking ahead, hoping for greener grass. Contentment is looking around at where you are right now, and asking: Lord, what do you have for me here.

Individual practice: Name your discontent, figure out what might be fueling it, then choose something Christ-centered to replace it with.

We need a rhythm of play built into our lives in order to better connect to the play and imagination and whimsy and magic that is wrapped into following Jesus. You can’t believe in a man coming back to life without some semblance of healthy play and imagination in your life.

Play is a break from the seriousness of the world around us. It’s kind of an act of rebellion - we live in a world that tells us that the only way to be productive is to work, to grind, to spend all of our time with our nose to the grindstone, but God designed us for more than work - that’s what sabbath is for. Yes, we were made to work - we see that in God’s original design for us - but we were also made to rest and play.

Individual practice: Ask yourself what you enjoy, and spend time with people who are more playful than you are.

Corporate practice: Say “Yes” when someone invites you into something playful. Also, Recognize God in your laughter and the laughter of others.

Jesus was no stranger to slowing down. To resting. To recognizing his desperate need to take things at a different pace - he was fully human, after all. In Mark 6, right after John the Baptist was killed, Jesus and the disciples were surrounded by a growing crowd, and Jesus insisted that he and the disciples leave and go somewhere that was quiet:

Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. (Mark 6: 31-32)

We do not serve a God who pushed through all the time. We do not serve a God who ignored the importance of slowing down when it was needed. We serve a God who greatly values rest. Who greatly values slowing down and being present.

Individual practices: Buffer time in between meetings, say “no” more often, stay at the dinner table longer.

It takes a lot of time and unlearning to move past the hold technology and being constantly available has on us. That is not the life God intended for us, regardless of our profession.

God created us for connection, to be known and seen and loved. And to be able to step away to connect more fully to others and to God.

Individual practices: Set time limits on the apps you use the most, use an analog alarm clock instead of your phone, or leave your phone in a bag or pocket when meeting with a friend.

Jesus surrounded himself with a community. At the beginning of his ministry, he went around and collected people like little treasures - he called his disciples, and these were then the people that saw him through to the end. These men and women walked alongside him, went to parties with him, witnessed miracles and sermons and healings. They ate meals with him and prayed with him and spent all their time for three years following him. Jesus was very intentional about the people he surrounded himself with.

Not a single one of us can go through life completely alone and be unscathed by it. We are not advocating for filling your social calendar up every night or trying to amass as many friends as possible - that’s not what we mean by community. Adele Calhoun says that: 

Christian community exists when believers connect with each other in authentic and loving ways that encourage growth in Christ. They engage in transparent relationships that cultivate, celebrate, and make evident Christ’s love for all the world.

Henri Nouwen describes Christian community, not as a closed circle of people embracing each other, but a forward-moving group of companions bound together by the same voice asking for their attention.

Individual practice: Have a meal with someone else.

Corporate practice: Join us at church on Sundays!