In connection with the Daily Office, here are some of the Puritan John Owen's words about meditating on God's Word:
"To be spiritually minded... is to have our minds really exercised with delight about heavenly things..., especially Christ himself as at the right hand of God.
"Spiritual-mindedness is developed, exercised, and reinforced by meditation.
"By meditation I intend the thought of some subject spiritual and divine, with the fixing, forcing, and ordering of our thoughts about it, with a design to affect our own hearts and souls with the matter of it.... In meditation our principal aim is the affecting of our own hearts and minds with love, delight, and humiliation." (from Praying, by J.I. Packer)
Monday, November 17, 2008
"Daily Office" Resources
Here are a number of resources to use for the "daily office," that is, times to be with God throughout the day in meditation on his Word and prayer (in the case of books, links will take you to where to buy them):
Heart Aflame: Daily reflections on several verses from the Psalms, from John Calvin's commentary on the Psalms (I have used this for my noontime office).
Valley of Vision is a collection of about 180 prayers, from the published prayers of Puritan preachers. I use these prayers to start my own prayers when I first arrive at the church office. (It is also available in an audio format, and in a sturdy leatherbound volume.)
Another similar collection of prayers is by John Baillie, A Diary of Daily Prayers. It has morning and evening prayers for each day of the month.
Phyllis Tickle, The Divine Hours (comes in several volumes; one is Autumn and Winter, then there are Spring and Summer volumes as well). Tickle has brought together prayers from Scripture (mostly) with prayers from the Book of Common Prayer and church history. The downside is that it has a Roman Catholic "bent," but I would say it is not fatal. I have used her volume for Christmastide. You can find these volumes on Amazon, if nowhere else.
You can get the offices from the Book of Common Prayer online, and organized by day here (this is the internet; it's not perfect. But try "Rite II" for the time you want--the day's date, morning, noon, or evening). Or you can find just the Bible passages for the day in the ESV version here.
Somewhat more distinctly Roman Catholic, so somewhat more problematic perhaps, because less grace-centered (no one Reformed has done much of this, alas), is the daily office of the Northumbria Community, found here.
Perhaps the best way to start is to begin with Psalm 1, and take a few verses from the psalms consecutively until you work your way through all of the psalms. It will take quite a while, and you will become more familiar with the psalms (the church's inspired "prayer book," as it is sometimes called). Of course, you will want to intersperse your reading of the psalms with your own prayers, but the psalms should get you going.
Don't forget the "daily office" is God's work in you through his Word--not your work. Beware of both legalism and self-righteousness as you receive his Word in this way. It is he who works in us both to will and to do what he purposes for us (Philippians 2:13)
Heart Aflame: Daily reflections on several verses from the Psalms, from John Calvin's commentary on the Psalms (I have used this for my noontime office).
Valley of Vision is a collection of about 180 prayers, from the published prayers of Puritan preachers. I use these prayers to start my own prayers when I first arrive at the church office. (It is also available in an audio format, and in a sturdy leatherbound volume.)
Another similar collection of prayers is by John Baillie, A Diary of Daily Prayers. It has morning and evening prayers for each day of the month.
Phyllis Tickle, The Divine Hours (comes in several volumes; one is Autumn and Winter, then there are Spring and Summer volumes as well). Tickle has brought together prayers from Scripture (mostly) with prayers from the Book of Common Prayer and church history. The downside is that it has a Roman Catholic "bent," but I would say it is not fatal. I have used her volume for Christmastide. You can find these volumes on Amazon, if nowhere else.
You can get the offices from the Book of Common Prayer online, and organized by day here (this is the internet; it's not perfect. But try "Rite II" for the time you want--the day's date, morning, noon, or evening). Or you can find just the Bible passages for the day in the ESV version here.
Somewhat more distinctly Roman Catholic, so somewhat more problematic perhaps, because less grace-centered (no one Reformed has done much of this, alas), is the daily office of the Northumbria Community, found here.
Perhaps the best way to start is to begin with Psalm 1, and take a few verses from the psalms consecutively until you work your way through all of the psalms. It will take quite a while, and you will become more familiar with the psalms (the church's inspired "prayer book," as it is sometimes called). Of course, you will want to intersperse your reading of the psalms with your own prayers, but the psalms should get you going.
Don't forget the "daily office" is God's work in you through his Word--not your work. Beware of both legalism and self-righteousness as you receive his Word in this way. It is he who works in us both to will and to do what he purposes for us (Philippians 2:13)
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Brokenness
It has been a while since I got around to adding anything to the blog. That is not a function of laziness, but of busy-ness, I promise. It is also a function of brokenness.
Brokenness. Not a popular idea. Something we try very, very hard to hide. But it is unavoidable, and the sooner we make peace with our brokenness--by recognizing it, not being surprised by it, and applying the gospel to it--the sooner we will grow in grace, and in graciousness.
I have been extremely busy lately because of the brokenness of others, which in turn feeds my own brokenness. But let me add, because of the gospel that is a good thing. It is good for us to face our own sinful limitations, to find out anew that we are not "together" apart from the gospel. "Apart from me you can do nothing," Jesus said (John 15:5)--but we sure do try. And we sure do fail. And we sure do hide our failure. And it makes no sense for us to do so, but we do anyway.
For his part, Christ loved broken people. The tax collectors and sinners (Luke 5:29-31). The serial adulterers (John 4). The people who sinned, and who owned up to it, and sought his redress for it. When you think about it, that is what all Christians are--people who sin, own up to it, and seek Christ's redress for their sin.
So let's not hide our brokenness unnecessarily. We have nothing to prove before Christ except his gracious redemption (1 Corinthians 1:31). We have nothing to prove before one another except Christ and his gracious redemption.
Brokenness. Not a popular idea. Something we try very, very hard to hide. But it is unavoidable, and the sooner we make peace with our brokenness--by recognizing it, not being surprised by it, and applying the gospel to it--the sooner we will grow in grace, and in graciousness.
I have been extremely busy lately because of the brokenness of others, which in turn feeds my own brokenness. But let me add, because of the gospel that is a good thing. It is good for us to face our own sinful limitations, to find out anew that we are not "together" apart from the gospel. "Apart from me you can do nothing," Jesus said (John 15:5)--but we sure do try. And we sure do fail. And we sure do hide our failure. And it makes no sense for us to do so, but we do anyway.
For his part, Christ loved broken people. The tax collectors and sinners (Luke 5:29-31). The serial adulterers (John 4). The people who sinned, and who owned up to it, and sought his redress for it. When you think about it, that is what all Christians are--people who sin, own up to it, and seek Christ's redress for their sin.
So let's not hide our brokenness unnecessarily. We have nothing to prove before Christ except his gracious redemption (1 Corinthians 1:31). We have nothing to prove before one another except Christ and his gracious redemption.
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