Preparing for Milano

Another point came to mind after I finished the last post:
3. Spillover
What I mean is that spending the blocks of time in prayer every day has also spilled over into other times of life. Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 we should “Pray continually”. I take that to mean that I am always walking in an awareness of Gods presence. God is present always, but much of our days, we are not thinking at all of him. But as I’ve dedicated the regular blocks of time to prayer, I find myself praying in the remainder time as well… while I’m biking to the gym, at the gym, driving with Shelly, at the store….I ultimately want to arrive at the point where I have an awareness of the Lord at all times and in so doing be in constant communication… and basically … praying continually. Especially during times of conversation with others. This seems particularly hard right now.
But learning to be in this attitude of continual prayer doesn’t seem to come without the dedicated blocks of time. One writer likened it to a marriage in this way: I am in a constant state of being in love with my wife. Even when we are apart, I love her. But I didn’t get that way by not spending any time with her. I spend dinners and nights out and we do things together. I fall in love that way, and stay in love even when she is not there.

Un terzo argomento mi ha colpito dopo di finire l’ultima post:
3. Il traboccare
Vuol dire che come risultato di passare ore regolari in preghiera ogni giorno, la preghiera ha traboccato ad altri tempi della vita. L’Apostolo Paolo ci ha esortato in 1 Tessalonici 5.17 “Non cessate mai di pregare”. L’ho capito a significare che devo camminare sempre consapevole della presenza di Dio. Certo Dio sempre c’è, ma non siamo abituati a pensare di lui tutto il tempo. Ma scopro in questo periodo che con il tempo passato in preghiera ogni giorno, consapevolezza della sua presenza ha cresciuto finchè lo riconosco mentre sto in bici, alla palestra, al mercato ….. Infine, voglio arrivare al punto di essere sempre consapevole di Lui … in effetto, di non cessare mai di pregare. Cosa che mi sembra il più difficile adesso e di ritenere una consapevolezza del Signore nelle mie conversazioni con altri, ma spero col tempo pure questo svilluperà.
Ma leggendo che dobbiamo mai cessare di pregare non è tanto facile, e mi sembra infatti impossibile senza passare tempo regolare in preghiera ogni giorno. Uno scrittore ha confrontato la vita di preghiera con il nostro rapporto con la sposa. Io sono innamorato della mia moglie. Anche quando non siamo insieme, la amo. ma non sono raggiunto a questo amore senza passare molto tempo insieme: tante cene, serate, il tempo passato faccendo le piccole cose della vita. Così mi sono innammorato di lei anche quando succede che lei sarebbe assente. Dunque, come possiamo arrivare a non cessare mai di pregare senza passare tempo regolare in preghiera?
  dave 

Traduzione in Italiano sotto. 
I suppose it’s not really the purpose of this blog to update on my personal prayer life but there’s not a whole lot to report in regards to Italy right now, and this IS a spiritual development that will come to bear so …. here goes. Prayer has been developing well as of late. I’m spending regular blocks of time morning, midday and evening with the Lord. This is actually working several different things in me.
1. Subtle
Don’t know how to best articulate this … at least in a brief way, but  I’m learning that I need to discern the Lord in the subtleties of life, and not expect him to bust into my routine. I’ve typically looked for and wanted the big signs, but I’m realizing that the Lord is actually all around. I’m just too loud to hear him.
2.  Personal Relationship 
When first praying, I suppose I could compare it to “catching up”… there was a lot to talk about, and prayer was easy. As I spend an hour each block, three times a day, I am running out of novel things to say. The Lord continues teaching me how to pray, but just like in a marriage, our conversations are not always the latest topic or scintillating discourse. Sooner or later, we learn to be in each others presence without having to say a whole lot. Likewise with the Lord.   
There is much more to say on these things.. especially the idea of subtlety. perhaps in some future posts i’ll say more, but enough for now
.Dave 

So che il scopo di questo blog non è di aggiornarvi sulla mia vita di preghiera personale, ma quanto all’Italia, non c’è un granche di raccontare in questo periodo. Inoltre, la preghiera è infatti un svillupo importante nella vita spirituale, dunque …. le mie preghiere si sono sviluppatte bene di recente. Passo tempo nella mattina, mezzogiorno eppure nella sera col Signore. Ci sono allora vari sviluppi:
1. Sottile
Spero che io possa spiegarmi bene sull’argomento… in maniere breve, ma sto imparando a distinguere il Signore nelle sottigliezze della vita, e non di aspettare tanto il grande segno. Mi rendo conto che il Signore si trova dappertutto, ma spesso io faccio troppo rumore per udirlo. 
2. Rapporto Personale
Al primo ritorno a pregare, c’era, forse posso spiegarlo così…. il bisogno di aggiornarci… cioè.. c’era sempre cose da dire, e la preghiera è venuta facilmente. Ma dopo qualche settimana… un ora ogni volta… tre volte al giorno, mi trovo senza novità da dire. Il Signore continua ad insegnarmi come passare il tempo con lui, ma una cosa che ho scoperto: proprio come un matrimonio maturo, il nostro colloquio non è sempre sui argomenti più entusiasmanti… prima o poi, impariamo di essere l’uno con l’altro senza il bisogno di dire tanto. Forse così è con il Signore.
Ho tanto da dire su questa tema. Forse fra qualche giorno mi spiegerò più, ma ora basta.
dave 

I have been stirred as well in a way beyond anything I have ever experienced to get back into prayer.10 years ago, I felt the Lord call me specifically to pray. I started down the path and read books and spent time in prayer, and God taught me many lessons and moved in my heart through those years. Then as can so often happen, I gradually diminished in prayer until over these last years, my prayer life has been sporadic at best. Recently I had been sent a link for some Paul Washer mp3’s and my life was convicted of my laziness and disobedience. I started listening to more of his teaching… especially on prayer, and I was again stirred to spend time in prayer. This time however, I have been doing much more than petitioning and supplication. It will take more time than I can spend to explain the entire history of it, but some years ago, I started moving into waiting prayer or listening prayer. I would read some small portion of scripture, then meditate on the word and wait. I never felt like I was accomplishing much so I eventually moved on to other things.But this time, I really feel the Holy Spirit telling me to wait and learn. So I have been asking the Lord to teach me how to be with him in prayer. How to pray and spend time in his presence. I have been spending much more time in waiting and listening, meditating and praise, as opposed to petition and supplication. Although those things are still very much a part of my prayer life. I am once again sensing God’s Spirit speak to me and teach me. I am learning actual prayer and the habit of prayer: specific prayer times as well as learning to continually sense the presence of God. And true to form, the Lord is bringing me back to weaknesses I had 10 years ago that I never let go of. So here I am once again needing to learn these lessons. But praise God he is working in me to help me. I am leaning more and more towards 2 Corinthians 3:18 as a life verse:”And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” When I read this verse, I get a picture of a person with the veil lifted from thier face, and spending time face to face with the Lord. As that person spends time with him, he is literally transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory.  Having tried and often failed, I am well aware that I cannot transform any aspect of my life through my own efforts. I can not change myself any more than a leopard could change his spots, like Jeremiah would say. But something happens through simply spending time in the presence of the Lord: he begins to supernaturally change us from the inside out. so if we are ever going to live out the calling we have been given, it will mean we MUST spend time with him. It is this very essence of prayer that incorporates us in a tangible sense into the body of Christ… we become vessels that he can organize and send and manipulate according to his plan and good pleasure. Back in 2001, this was our verse for the La Mirada mens retreat and I designed a T-shirt based on it. Here is my visual representation of that verse. 

dave