The cat is out of the bag!

Graham doesn't do devotions!

Graham is a guy in our church who spoke at our men's breakfast. He was a former pastor of a Baptist Church in Britain. He is on our church elders board. He heads up a bunch of ministries in our church. He is a guy that people naturally revere as a true man of God. And he is. He knows the scriptures in and out and speaks God's truth confidently to our church family and community. It's obvious he is a Spirit led person . . . and he doesn't do devotions! . . . And I think it's awesome . . .

Somehow I got this idea that to please God you need to read your Bible and pray everyday, no questions asked. The big question we all dreaded in Sunday School and later in College (I had a dean who would always ask) "How are you doing with devotions". Talk about a guilt trip.

And this is a prevailing attitude in churches, isn't it? The real spiritual people get up early in the morning to have their quiet time, read 5 chapters of the Bible, and pray for a half hour. And if we actually know someone who does this, we feel less spiritual and feel like we never measure up to God's standard. So whether people know how our devotions are going or not, we always feel bad.

So when Graham says he doesn't do devotions, this is not a new concept for me personally. That is not what I am saying, What I am saying is that I meet and commune with God regularly. I am more of the Henri Nouwen's school of thought that one ought to practice the presence of God. That life should be lived always acknowledging God's presence, listening to Him, talking to Him, allowing His Spirit to guide and direct, etc. I just have always felt alone in this and yes, I still feel guilty for not having regular devotions. I don't believe we should absolutely have a personal devotional time. When we do, we separate our relationship with God with the rest of life. It's like: "ok God, you have my attention for the next 20 minutes. Then I gotta go to work." Then, you pray, which is just usually lifting up a list of desires or complaints, and then God is forgotten. I think that is the kind of Christians we have bread in the last 30 years. I could go on and on about it, and maybe I should, but I am just happy Graham shared this little detail of my life cause if I would have shared the fact that I don't do regular devotions to the men of our church, they would gasp and wonder how I can call myself a pastor, let alone a Christian. I'm thankful for people in our churches that can speak truth more forcefully than our pastors can at times.

Now, I am not looking for an excuse to not read the Bible. Graham went on to say that like Moses, he desires to have a "tent of meeting" where he talks with and hears from God. For Graham, his tent of meeting is his hour long drive to work along the Okanagan lake every morning. For you, it can be a morning walk, while you cook in the kitchen, while you get ready for bed or get ready for the day. For me, it can be in the washroom, in my office, or more often while I drive. It is not always an hour, or half an hour. Mothers with kids don't often have a lot of time on their own to spend meeting with God. Angela gets maybe 5 minutes a day but I know she does, and God 'speaks' to her and she shocks me with what God has put on her heart at times.

I am not suggesting that you quit your daily devotions, quit reading the Bible and praying, but I am strongly suggesting that you can be free from the guilt that drives you to do these things out of duty. That God desires to be with you and meet with you, wherever and whenever you are.

Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the "tent of meeting." Anyone inquiring of the LORD would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent. As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the LORD spoke with Moses. Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to his tent. The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent. Exodus 33:7-11

Now that is the kind of meeting I want to have with God every day.