David’s Nightly Practice

Tremble and do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent (4:4) The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord is on his heavenly throne. He observes everyone on earth; his eyes examine them (11:4) The Lord looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there …

Slowing Down and Using Prayer Words

I just wanted to make a few follow-up comments from my last post on cultivating interior silence. When we use a short prayer or verse to focus our minds, we need to approach this practice in the right way. In modern society, there is a tendency to rush, to do things quickly. When we read, …

Cultivating Interior Silence

These our my current thoughts on cultivating interior silence. These ideas are in no way final and my understanding, as ever, is a work in progress. It is true that we cannot control God, or make spiritual experiences happen by our own will or efforts. We can't make his felt presence turn up. God is …

Meditating on Life

I love this passage from Proverbs, as Solomon describes how he observed the events of his life and meditated upon them. I need to remember that God has gifted me with two books which he uses to speak to me: the book of scripture and the book of life. Just as I read scripture and …

Taming the Wild Beast

I was watching a documentary where a reporter was going to meet people who had managed to train dangerous animals, and the one who interested me the most was an old cowboy called RC Bridges. Now RC had trained a Buffalo called Wildthing since it was young. At first Wildthing would try to attack him …

Time

I'm obsessed with time. I'm a clock-watcher. Not in the sense of wanting something to be over, or to begin, but in the sense of wanting to carve out time for myself. Now, there's nothing wrong with having personal time, and I would say it is essential, but for me it has become a source …

The True Vine

If I may be so audacious, I've noticed what I think is a misunderstanding in how we grow in Christ. I think some Christians are under the impression that Christ makes us stronger and more gifted within ourselves over time as we walk with Him, as if God makes us independently more powerful and successful. …

Honesty in weakness

I felt that God has told me today, that he doesn't need me to be perfect, but he wants me to see my weaknesses and acknowledge them. I have been so defensive, not wanting to admit where I am weak and sinful and where I struggle, but God wants me to know today that he …

July 14th 2018

This was the day my whole world changed. I remember this Saturday morning, almost 3 years ago. I had been so depressed and just felt dead inside. I went for a walk into Preston town center. A man was playing a guitar and singing on the street, and I sat down on a bench near …

Trusting in the Invisible

If we are going to grow in life, it's going to require faith, or "trusting in the invisible." For most of our lives, we only operate on the visible plane. We respond to what we immediately see or touch, we regurgitate the things we already know, constantly affirming and strengthening the things we already believe …