During my morning meditation, I came across the section of John where Jesus is addressing a crowd in the temple. He has explained that he must die, and that where he is going, they cannot follow unless they believe in him.

John 8:28-30:

So Jesus said to them, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him."

The second half of the last sentence is what stuck with me. As I thought about it, it reinforced one of the most comforting truths about God.

I think many Christians have the tendency to divide God into three perfectly individual beings. While in a mysterious way this is true, it is also true that the Trinity is in absolute, perfect unity with itself.

We may have the tendency to think of God the Father as the wrath bearer, almost trigger-happy, to zap sinners; Jesus the Son as the gracious one, calming God the Father’s hot temper; And the Holy Spirit as a kind of courier for each of them. The reality is that the emotions of God in the trinity are in exact alignment.

Jesus does not dish out grace that God is not longing to give. When Jesus propitiates for the sins of mankind, it isn’t something that foils God’s plans for wrath, but something that pleases his desire to give grace.

Luke 21:12-15:

“…they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. This will be your opportunity to bear witness. Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict.”

Settle it in our minds not to meditate on how to answer. I find it compelling that Jesus felt that it was important to include this. After all, he could have easily left it out without necessarily altering the meaning. But he didn’t. Which to me, means that it could really use some reflection.

I think that there’s a number of possibilities in there. Probably something about pride. Something about reliance on God. But the idea that keeps sticking in my mind right now is not convoluting the Spirit of God in us.

You get the impression from the full passage that the Spirit, in some sense, is going to kind of take over. It’s going to replace some natural capacity of ours with a supernatural one. The term knee-jerk reaction comes to mind. Perhaps it is that Jesus doesn’t want us convoluting the Spirit’s knee-jerk reaction in us with something contrived of our own minds.

Really any way you look at it, it seems bizarre to me. And in terms of language, there aren’t many times when we’re told not to think about something. But it sure says it here and that is worth thinking about.

I’m not sure the church is ready for this. But it is an innovative idea, which is so simple that it might just work… or for the same reason might not.

I’m talking about the just-launched Examen.me online devotional project. It’s aim is to help improve people’s relationships with God through prayer and scripture meditation. Noble intentions which prove themselves genuine in the absolute free-ness of this online application.

What it does, really.

There are a lot of study-based websites out there. Lots of the aimed at serious scripture study. Commentaries coming out of your ears. Tons of opportunities to share thoughts with other Christians. Blog, tweet, reference, be referenced. On and on and on. When it comes to scripture study, these kinds of things seem about a dime a dozen.

But Examen.Me is different. It’s clearly less focused on the head, and swings more heavily to an emphasis on the heart. In the current church climate, this is probably a virtue.

On Examen.Me, you won’t find any resources other than the scripture itself (the ESV as the native translation, good choice). Because this is pretty much the primary function, things stay pretty simple. There’s virtually no learning curve at all.  Where I would normally have needed some time to become acquainted with a new system, I was using Examen.Me, as intended, within seconds of signing up.

The System

When you sign up, you start a new “examen”, more popularly known as a devotional. Examens are guided based on prayer, scripture, or journaling (which is by far the least structured).

When you begin a new scripture examen, each starts by prompting you for a prayer as you begin your time in scripture. Obviously, the idea here isn’t to get “the right” answer, but to get you praying before you read.

The following screen offers you the scripture, followed by a series of suggestions along with places to journal your thoughts/answers for each. Scripture examens follows these suggestions:

- Read through the scripture slowly. Feel free to listen to it, read it multiple times, and then write it in your own words as you listen for the voice of God speak to your heart.

- Now that you have read the passage, how is the Lord revealing himself to you? Quietly reflect on the words and phrases the Holy Spirit is emphasizing in your heart.

- Capture all you have meditated on and bring it as a prayer before God. Let your heart cry out with praise, confession, gratitude, sorrow, or comfort.

- Examine how you can align your actions, attitudes, and choices with the truth of today’s scripture.

When you start a prayer examen, or basically just guided prayer devotional, you’ll be given a similar set of suggestions depending on which examen you select. Examen.me offers two kinds of prayer examens, Center Out Prayer and Prayer of Examen.

Why it can work

Examen.me helps to guide people through their time they spend meditating on the Word. Often times people have a tendency to just read and do nothing more, or study really hard but internalize very little of it. I think this is often for lack of know-how.

What the majority of this site’s users will probably not realize is that this isn’t much different from the old guided liturgical prayers of our parents and grandparents. In fact, it’s not a whole lot different even from the Roman Catholic tradition of memorized sets of prayers. Many people throughout history have found these habits personally and corporately fruitful and it looks as though this generation may as well. Ironically, had our grandparents suggested it, we probably would have laughed it off.

…And the short of it.

Examen.me is simple. Really, really simple. It’s a smooth, clean system that’s easy to use. But, the simplicity itself begs the question of whether it’s too simple to warrant an online application. When we strip away the casing, we’re left with some really useful prayer and devotional guides. I suppose my question is why not just produce these into a simple PDF that can be printed out and stuck in your bible?

It may only be speaking from my own habits, but I rarely bring my computer into my devotionals. There’s just too many distractions. I strongly prefer to sit down in a quiet place with a bible in hand.

The only real criticism of Examen.me is that it may be too simple to warrant the size of the project. For me, I would benefit far more from a print out that can be used again and again. Of course, there is an even more tech savvy generation coming up after me and maybe this is exactly what they need.

All in all

It’s doubtful that I personally will use the Examen.me system, but that’s not for lack of quality; it just doesn’t fit my personal devotional style. It might be exactly right for you. Either way, I may go ahead and produce for myself a printout based on the Examen.me system, which is where the real bread and butter is. It really is well done and it’s definitely worth checking out.

I think one of the most relevant scriptural passages I’ve ever encountered is when the father of the demon possessed boy falls at Jesus’ feet and cries, "I believe; help my unbelief!" I think there are few words that ring quite so true in a believer’s heart and mind.

Therefore, I chose Mark 9:23-24 for my scripture meditation this week:

"…All things are possible for one who believes." Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, "I believe; help my unbelief!"

The context here is that a man had brought his son, possessed with a demon, to Jesus’ disciples. They were unable to cast the demon out and so the father of boy brought him directly to Jesus. It’s in this conversation that it unfolds that the demon keeps him mute, and at times throws the boy to the ground, or attempts to throw him into the fire.

Jesus inquires for how long the demon has had the boy and we learn that it’s from a very young age.

The boy’s father then makes a miserable mistake. He fails to believe completely. Mark 9:21, "But" says the boys father, "if there is anything can do, have compassion on us and help us."

It reads almost as if Jesus is taken back with the man’s choice of words. "If you can?" Jesus responds. Jesus corrects him with the fundamentally important news that, "all things are possible for him who believes." Probably in shame, the man cries out, "I do believe! Help me to overcome my unbelief!"

What a paradoxical statement. He believes, yet he fails to believe. Who of us couldn’t share this sentiment?

If you continue to read, you’ll find out that Jesus does has compassion on the man and his son. He casts out the demon who doesn’t go quietly and puts up a violent, but pathetic, fight.

As I’ve been meditating on these verses, a few things have stuck out to me. Notably, of course, is the man’s words which resonate so clearly in me. Then of course, Jesus’ correction confirming that "all things are possible." But I think the most striking is the context which brought this man to Jesus’ feet.

He brought his son to Jesus’ disciples in some type of faith that they would be able to heal him. But, for lack of faith, were unable to. Doubt was cast on Jesus’ ability himself and when the man came before Jesus his doubt came through, "if there’s anything you can do…" Of course we know what happened.

When we face our own demons, proverbial or literal, how much doubt is cast on Jesus’ power or willingness to save and heal because we see the lack of faith in those around us? I think it’s quite a bit. It is so rarely that we see transformed lives, we doubt that our own will experience transformation. We see our brothers and sisters struggle with this sin or that sin, and their failure to gain victory over them casts a shadow of uncertainty on Jesus’ overcoming that same sin in us.

But Jesus’ rebuke over all of us is just as it was to that man, "All things are possible for him who believes."

We must stop looking around us at others and fix our eyes on Jesus. Trusting, waiting, dusting, trusting, waiting, dusting, until finally Jesus proves himself faithful, as he really is, and we are made perfect with him. In the face of whatever our demons may be, let’s cry along with the boy’s father, "Jesus, I do believe! Help me overcome my unbelief!

Psalm 103 may be my favorite Psalm to date. Particularly Psalm 103:8-12:

The LORD is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.
For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust.

This week in scripture meditation, I focused on Psalm 103:12, “As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”

Sometimes I forget that David didn’t have the benefit of looking back and relying on the finished work of Jesus. He had to have faith in the to-be-fulfilled promise of a coming Christ whom he could cast his transgressions upon. Yet, even without the fulfilling of the promise, David asserted in faith that God had removed his transgressions from him, as far as the east is from the west.

This Psalm boasts encouragement of pure Gospel caliber. Grace, unadulterated and totally saturated. As Christians, with all confidence in the death and resurrection of Jesus, we can shout this verse into the face of any temptation and any sin, knocking to the floor the enemy disarmed.

But for me, these verses haven’t only encouraged me against the enemy’s accusations. It also drips with the Lord’s good favor and patient correction, his love, that at the behest of grace, the Church enjoys in Jesus.

In Christ, God is merciful, gracious, slow to anger and overflowing with unmovable love (v8). That little word “chide” simply means to “rebuke sternly”, and we’re assured that his stern rebuke will not persist and his anger will subside (v9)–a beautiful promise fully fulfilled in Christ (1 John 2:2). Because of Christ, he does not give us what we truly deserve for our sins, but look’s on Jesus’ righteousness which now clothes us (v10). For his children, the infinite height of the heavens is the only right comparison to his great love (v11).

And finally, two of the most comforting promises are these, stated here in Psalm 103. By Jesus, all the condemning violence of our sin is removed from us–infinitely far away. We cannot be reunited with them (v12). But also, God is compassionately mindful of our sin-weakened state. He will faithfully prevents us from undertaking so much temptation that we can no longer bear it (1 Corinthians 10:13, Palm 103:14).

In the armor of God, I believe this is the stuff the Sword is made of.

This week, my scripture meditation verse was Psalm 51:8. I wrote my reactions to this verse a couple months back also, so I won’t go into too much detail. But I have some fresh thoughts after attempting to keep it on my mind over the last seven days.

“Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken rejoice.”

This is a powerful prayer. Unfortunately, it fails to be the prayer of my heart a lot of the time. However, as I sat and thought about David’s prayer here, it started to resonate in some really powerful ways.

David wrote this Psalm after he’d been called out by Nathan the prophet for committing adultery with Bathsheeba. His own sin was fresh on his mind. In the verses immediately preceding this one, he prayed to God that he would be cleansed of his guilt. Then, comes in this sentiment: “Let me hear joy and gladness“. It would appear that David is praying that the emotional wrenching he’s going through would come to an end. But, the next line comes in and turns that on it’s head.

“Let the bones that you have broken rejoice”! Where we would expect a reiteration of his last prayer for emotional healing, he prays that his broken spirit would rejoice just as it is.

I see a number of implications here. The first being that God has inflicted David with this injury in his spirit. But another would be that rejoicing in the injury inflicted by God would seem to the essence of hearing “joy and gladness”. At least in this thought here.

But this idea is made more sensible when we understand the manner of God’s showing love to his own.  Proverbs 3:11-12 (also Hebrews 12):

“My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline
or be weary of his reproof,
for the LORD reproves him whom he loves,
as a father the son in whom he delights.”

David has sinned. God has inflicted him with an injury of conscience. But, instead of seeking deliverance from the injury, David seeks to rejoice in the injury. He seeks the joy and gladness that comes along with the Father delighting in him, which he can be confident of because of this injury.

The discipline of the Lord, while emotionally–and sometimes physically–unpleasant is a profound source of encouragement to the sinner. It confirms that he is a child of God and an fellow heir of the Kingdom with Christ.

But, I also think this verse speaks, not just to God’s discipline of sin, but to our broader emotional and physical injuries from the Lord as well. Whether it is God’s passive hand or deliberate hand that has afflicted us, the point remains: no matter what has happened to us, God could have stopped it if he saw fit. Therefore, if we experience some terrible hardship, it is God’s decree. And if it is indeed God’s decree, then it is for our ultimate good; the good of those found righteous in Jesus Christ. Just as he has promised us in Romans 8:28.

For that reason, whatever our affliction happens to be, may our prayers be with David’s: Father, let us hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice.

If you’re like me, and I’m sure that at least some of you are, prayer is not something that comes easily. I don’t mean the act of opening your mouth and speaking to God, I mean the discipline to pray for things until you see them answered.

You probably hear of that person who faithfully prayed for so-and-so for 10 years until finally the Lord answered the prayer and saved them, or healed their cancer, or reunited their marriage, or whatever. If you’re like me, you’ve probably looked on those people with a sense of wonder, curious about how exactly they’ve been so faithful, but at the same time thinking in the back of your mind that it’s just isn’t going to be you.

Personally, that is my experience. Or, at least it was as a younger believer. Early on, it became clear from reading the Word and Church history that prayer was profoundly important. I respected people that prayed and who were, in part at least, identified as “a person of prayer”. I knew that it was virtuous, it was important, and that God answered prayers. But, never could I grasp the action in the ways that some seemed to be able to.

I went through many different seasons of prayer practice, all of which would be beneficial, but eventually fade.

There were times when I would pray, almost exclusively in groups. There were times when I attempted to focus on constant prayer–praying during every day activities. There were times when I would attempt to spend very extended periods of time in prayer (This one was profoundly affecting, but it wasn’t too long before burning out). There were also times when I would try and put my prayer life in my car, or other moving exercises–like taking walks.

All of these faded out. Sometimes I would try and combine them, mix them, or do them exclusively. I would try and keep prayer journals, or lists. Still, it always faded out.

But, in all of these experiences, I think that I’ve begun to pin point the (practical) corner stones of a fruitful prayer life. (Please remember, I’m speaking in a practical sense. There are spiritual foundations that must be in place before a believer can hope to see real, faithful and fruitful progress in their prayer life.)

1. Consistence

In all areas of our lives we plan ahead. When we want to get in shape, we plan time to be at the gym. When we want to excel in school, we plan time to study. I don’t think a person’s prayer life is much different in that respect. So, consistence is a major key. You’ll never get in shape if you only go to the gym when you feel like it and when you happen to have the time. So it is with our prayer lives. So consistency is absolutely foundational.

Time daily should be designated for prayer. The decision to pray should not be made based on the moment’s desire to pray (although, I believe that desire will come) or not to pray, but based on the decision and commitment made to the Lord. Therefore, there will be times of prayer that feel hollow, or mechanical, but this is necessary, I believe, as it softens the heart and paves the way for more natural prayer in the future. But likewise, there will also be wonderful, heart gushing times of prayer as well.

2. Persistence

Say you got a job 30 minutes away. The first day of your job, you got in your car and started driving, not knowing exactly where you’re office is or how to get there. You might have a general idea, but nothing concrete. You end up driving around for a few hours until you eventually stumble on it. The next day, you do the same thing. Uncertain of where you’re going, you spend a long time driving around until eventually you show up. Every morning, you go through the same thing, over and over again. At this rate, you’re going to burn out. Constantly forgetting where you’re going and forgetting how to get there will take a toll on you.

Prayer, I think, is a lot like that. We should approach prayer with a plan. Know what you’re going to pray for, know who you’re going to pray for. Plan for it. Don’t get burned out trying to navigate through all the different things in the world you could possibly pray for. Know what you’re going to be praying for, plan to pray and be persistent in those prayers. Don’t be chained to only those prayers, but be chained to them, none the less.

My Strategy

Although these are some of the keys saints have approached prayer with for hundreds of years, there are lots of ways these things can flesh out in a persons life, I think. Thanks to a good friend’s suggestion, this is what I’ve been doing:

I bought a white board. I divided the white board up into 7 days. Each day I have written the things I pray for daily. Then, spread out over all seven days are the different concerns of my life and the lives of friends, family and the church. Then, when a new concern arises, I can quickly add it to the plan for a day, a week or longer. In this way, I have a plan for approaching prayer. I do not forget different people’s concerns, nor do I become overwhelmed with more prayer than I can handle at one time.

This method also offers some personal accountability. Each day of the week, I can mark whether or not I prayed that day, in order to help build consistency. So far, it’s proving effective.

Here is a snapshot of my board:

Some things on the board are erased each week, some are never erased. This method forces me to devote specific time to prayer, but keeps me focus and on track, without preventing me from going beyond what’s there.

If you’re seeking a prayer method, you might consider cloning mine or using and modifying it to best suite you. White board supplies will run you about $20 – $30 if you can find them new, but significantly less if you can find them at a garage sale.

So, don’t let yourself make excuses for not praying. Let’s make it a truly regular part of our lives!