My favourite Bible verse of the last two years is John 6:68, “Simon Peter answered [Jesus], Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
I suppose that I like this declaration of follow-ship both because it feels like my true sentiment of trust, and because these words also hold a level of uncertainty that I often relate to. When I think about prayer, a large part of this, for me personally, is how my heart is postured in the ‘gap’ moments of my ordinary days. It’s how my inner narrative is going as I wake in the morning, as I leave a social gathering or work meeting.
[I am a firm believer in set rhythms of focused prayer, where we’re intentionally talking to God about situations that matter to us (and Him) and listening to His guidance. I believe in laying out my plans before God and contending for breakthroughs; where I can see the need for God’s kingdom to come and His will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.]
It’s the ‘gap’ moments of life that Simon Peter’s words affect for me, those moments of worry, or meditation, or prayer: Jesus, I’m confused by some of the things that happen in life, and some of the things that you’ve said. I’ve seen others walking away, and I have internally walked away from You plenty of times too. But, I think that I will choose to stay. I choose to follow, because in You, Jesus, I find the words of eternal life.
I heard John Mark Comer end an interview recently with this advice, “Find the goodness of God in the life that you do have.” I love this because the temptation for me is to believe that God is good once a certain thing happens, in a life that I don’t yet have. I tell Him, I’ll stop compromising once certain issues line up. You can have all of my finances, once I feel I’ve got enough. I’ll trust You, once I’ve run out of things I can control.
Perhaps, like me, you started 2024 with an idea of how the year would map out. Some of this was based on intentionally postured prayers, but other aspects were simply where my trust was falling in life’s ‘gap’ moments. There were hopes and dreams, with many of these matters well outside of my control.
Mid-year is a good time to review where we are up to.
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As you reflect on your life and look at the things that you can and can’t control, how is your heart posture feeling towards following God? In the ‘gap’ moments, is your heart’s cry one of trust and follow-ship?
In the life that you do have, where good and evil seem to co-exist, will you join me today in posturing your heart in a declaration of trust? Watch your ‘gap’ moments becoming opportunities to partner in prayer — prayers of trust and follow-ship.
Much love,
Katy Rylan and the eFocus team
“Prayer is more than thoughts and feelings expressed in words.
It is the opening of mind and heart — our whole being to God our Abba Father.”
Richard J. Foster
As I reflect on my life of faith, I used to say that I was a professional Christian. I knew the truths of scripture, I was trying to apply them to my life and I was leading others in the same journey but, if I’m honest, it was all very exhausting. I was burnt out on religion. Don’t get me wrong, living in obedience to God and His word is good. However, for me it was more an intellectual exercise than a raw, authentic life lived from the overflow of a transformed heart. I’d had a complicated history of fathering and didn’t understand the potential fullness offered.
No matter your story, going deeper in relationship with the Father can only lead to greater intimacy in prayer, deeper security in self and fuller blessing of the world around.
There is a Sioux Indian saying that, The longest journey you will make in your life is from your head to your heart. This feels especially true when transferring our knowledge of God in our heads to a lived experience of God’s love in our hearts. This is not a one-off exercise but a lifelong pursuit. In a fast paced world, it can be difficult to go slow enough to sit and reflect; to pause over scripture, to avoid skim reading over our emotions and the responses we may have, to notice moments in our day pointing us deeper in God.
Jesus teaches us that God is our father when He calls us to pray in Matthew 6:9 to ‘our Father in heaven’. The apostles teach us that we are children of God in Galatians 3:26. 2 Corinthians 6:18 says, “And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” The Father has lovingly called us into His intimate embrace as His children and we will spend eternity expanding our understanding and experience of this reality.
Let’s pause today over six simple scriptures pointing to our Father God:
He is Compassionate and Merciful (not harsh and unforgiving)
Psalm 103:13 – Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion…
2 Corinthians 1:3 – Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.
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He is Generous (not stingy or lacking)
Matthew 7:11 – So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts…
Ephesians 1:3 – All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms …
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He is Releasing (not controlling)
Galatians 4:5-7 – God sent Him to buy freedom for us who were slaves … so that He could adopt us as His very own children. And because we are His children, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child.
Romans 8:14-17 – For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when He adopted you as His own children. Now we call Him, “Abba, Father.”
Create space in the rhythm of your life to meditate on these truths, and allow your view of the Father to expand and your heart to connect deeper.
Much love,
Sue and the eFocus team
For further resources on this journey
Songs to meditate to:
No Longer Slaves by Jonathan & Melissa Helser
Run to the Father by Cody Carnes
Books to read:
Spiritual Slavery to Spiritual Sonship by Jack Frost
Now I Become Myself by Ken Shigamatsu
Have you heard the old saying, “It takes a village to raise a child’?
We are keenly aware that a parent needs as much support as they can get to raise a child, despite the claims of our individualistic society. We might mostly live in nuclear families but we desperately need those who live beyond the four walls of our home.
Yet, how often I find myself limited in how I can be part of the village for the people around me. I so often lack the time, finance or wisdom to really support them and make a difference.
In comes the concept of prayer…
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The reason I’ve loved using the prayer calendar is because it prompts me where so often my human efforts fall down. I love my Auntie, but sometimes she slips to the back of my mind. Now, on the 13th of every month, my prayers turn to her again, often accompanied by a message asking her how she’s doing.
I’ve found many times that on the day that I’m praying for a certain neighbour I see them in the street, or it happens to be a day of a hospital appointment when I text the person I’m praying for. I have had one university friend call me on the very day I’d first written down her name, to tell me that she had started Alpha. And two others I was praying for are now walking in relationship with God again after some time away. Our prayers are powerful!
Now I have a list of 30 people who I am in the habit of bringing before God in prayer each month and I’m loving those people in one of the best ways I know how: by praying for them.
If you, like me, need help to not get overwhelmed with a whole list of things to pray, can I invite you to join me in using the prayer calendar and set a daily reminder? I leave a physical copy by the chair where I sit to drink my coffee and read my Bible, it could be by the kettle or the toothbrush — whatever works for you!
Let’s partner with God in praying for those in our village.
Much love,
Katy Ryland and the eFocus team
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Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on His law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither —
whatever they do prospers.
Psalm 1:1-3
Today we begin our 365-Days Daily Bible Reading Plan, meditating on the New Testament and Psalms throughout the year. What an appropriate verse to begin with!
As we look forward to 2024, today is a good day to make some decisions about how we would like our year to look. Many of us have developed an aversion to setting ‘New Year’s Resolutions’ because we’re fed up with the feeling of failing by January 5th! Instead, what if you received this invitation to dive deeper into God’s word without ‘success’ and ‘failure’ as your measure, but rather a deeper desire to draw near to God this year.
What if success isn’t never missing a day’s reading but taking the time to ‘be still and know that He is God’ (Psalm 46:10) on the days that you read; taking deep breaths and recommitting your plans to Him. What if success looks like your family spending one meal a week studying that day’s New Testament reading and discussing what it means?
I’ve discovered that in the unseen realm there’s a battle going on for my attention. The enemy who comes to ‘steal, kill and destroy’ (John 10:10a) wants me to believe that I’m failing before I’ve even begun. He wants me to believe that, because I didn’t read yesterday, I’m less worthy of God’s love today.
Here are some truths that I have learnt about God over the years:
- I am unable to earn His love, not matter how well I behave — it is freely given (Ephesians 2:8-9)
- When I repent, my sins are removed as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12)
- His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23)
- There is no condemnation for those of us who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1)
- Absolutely nothing can separate us from the love of God! Romans 8:38-39)
So, with these truths in mind, will you join me in choosing ahead of time to meditate on God’s word? Let’s become those who are planted by streams of water! Let’s be a people of extraordinary devotion!
With love,
Katy Ryland and the eFocus Team
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How can we support our young people in building their faith? In Proverbs 22:6 it says, “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” (The word ‘children’ in this verse from the original translation actually means young person.) Let’s take a look at one those foundational tools that we can teach our young people; a tool that Jesus modelled to us really well — asking questions.
The Youthscape’s research team recently did a study on 16-19 year olds called ‘No questions asked’. They gathered a range of young people, some with faith and some without. The aim of the study was to discover what questions young people had about God and faith. They discovered that young people showed a severe lack of questions and curiosity about faith due to five main reasons. One of the reasons given was that young people saw questions as disrespectful.
Here is an extract from the article (you can read a summary of the published article here):
We were surprised to find a lack of questioning among some of the religious young people in our sample. For some of the religious young people, this was due to what they perceived as active discouragement from the religious communities they are part of, or for fear of what would happen if they aired their questions publicly. Take the following example from Ammir’s interview.
Interviewer: Are you comfortable talking about any of those things that you don’t have answers for at the moment?
Ammir: Not really.
Interviewer: Okay, yeah.
Ammir: Yeah, not even to my parents. I wouldn’t–You know, it’s just something for me to–
Interviewer: So, it’s just some internal wrestlings there?
Ammir: Yeah, I wouldn’t really talk about it publicly or even privately, it’s just something for me to figure out, something for me to, you know, accomplish later.
Interviewer: Yeah, and do you ever talk to God about those things?
Ammir: Not really, again.
So, what does it look like to ask questions in a way that empowers young people?
Encourage young people to ask their own questions
If we want young people to grow in their faith, we need to actively encourage them to be asking their own questions and not be keeping them hidden to figure out later on, as Ammir pointed out in the extract above. Questions and curiosity are a vital part of growth both in young Christians and all of us!Learning to turn to God and the Bible for answers is how we grow. Jesus loved asking questions. Some of those questions were — Who do you think I am? Do you believe? Do you want to get well?
Model a lifestyle of asking questions in a real and vulnerable way
Parents, grandparents, mentors, youth leaders, whoever you are, modelling how to ask questions and find answers is so important. I remember once asking my dad a theological question and he answered me with “I don’t know, what do you think the Bible says?” I grew up watching my dad turn to the Bible for answers and express his own curiosity. His openness taught me to be the same.
When was the last time you openly shared the questions you have and your journey of finding answers? Where can you do this? Over the breakfast table with your family? When you’re hanging out with friends? If you’re helping out in Youth?
We need to be intentional to engage young people
We need to keep asking young people what their thoughts and questions are. In a culture that has taught them that questions are disrespectful, we need to display a culture that sees questions as good growth opportunities. Jesus asked questions, we should too. Let’s make sure that we do not become the fountain of knowledge for them, but that we keep pointing them to the Bible and God — the true fountain of knowledge. It’s also ok for us and for young people to not always know the answers. Tim Keller says, “a faith without some doubts is like a human body without any antibodies in it.” Let that sink in! It’s healthy to wrestle with doubts and uncertainty when we ask questions.
If we want to make a difference in the lives of the young people around us, let’s start by asking questions. Simple, yet deeply impactful.
Much love,
Lauren Wilthew and the eFocus Team
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What would it look like for our whole church to decide to ‘fully consecrate’ ourselves to God? What would that consecration look like, what would the fruit of this consecration be?
Consecration is a word of discipleship: devoting ourselves to God in response to the grace He has freely given to us. Take a look at this video to find out about what we feel God has been calling us to:
The journey of discipleship under Jesus is a lifelong journey of growth. At King’s Arms we love to use the word ‘extraordinary’ to describe this kind of this discipleship — especially in regards to our prayers and devotion to God. We take what was ordinary, add something extra, and we have something extraordinary.
extra + ordinary = extraordinary
It is about growth and it’s possible for every single one of us no matter where we’re starting, and it’s an invitation to all in our community.
What does it look like to devote yourself? In Acts 2:42 the early church was just beginning and “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
We can use this verse to show us what it means to be devoted,
- We read the scriptures (‘apostles’ teaching’)
- We come together as a community (‘fellowship’)
- We partake in Communion (‘breaking of bread’)
- We pray (‘…and to prayer’)
With this in mind, we are inviting our church family to go on this journey with us in 2024!
We created a resource to help us with this, our new Devoted booklet. This contains:
365-days Bible Reading Plan (Psalms and New Testament)
The New Testament readings will track with this YouVersion reading plan made by the Bible Project, meaning you can access the readings on your device through the YouVersion app too — and there are excellent videos to accompany this plan.
We love the idea that on any given day you could pray the Psalm reading knowing that many others in our community are using the same scriptures as a basis for their prayers as well. Our Daily Devotion emails will also link with our reading plan which can aid you as you walk through the year.
Tools on how to Pray / Fast / Read the word
You’ll find multiple ideas and resources on how to pray, ideas on how to fast (watch out for more information on this — including starting January with 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting!) and a useful model for reading the Bible.
Make it personal and journal daily
We also have a Devoted Journal edition available (£5) which includes space to write your own notes as you work through the Bible readings. We know that for many, journaling is a means to listen to God and keep a record of His words to us.
Want to find out more?
If you want more information about the booklets, journals and other resources, go to kingsarms.org/devoted.
I often find that I make better decisions when I have time to think about them in advance, and get the chance to prepare and make adjustments ahead of time to enable me to live the devoted life I actually want to live! Come, join us!
Much love,
Katy Ryland and the eFocus Team
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