This morning we are looking at prayer and meditation. \u00a0Meditation may conjure up images in your mind of yoga, someone crossing their hands and feet and saying “ohmmm” or Gregorian chants…but none of those are examples of what the Bible calls meditation. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Here is a passage in the Bible that mentions both…<\/p>\n
Phil 4:6, 8<\/em> The Bible says we all meditate, or “think about certain things.” We let certain thoughts grab our attention<\/span>, but we need to pay attention<\/span> to our thinking. God says we need to think about what we think about. Paul writes to a group in Phillipi and says, “be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication.\u201d The Bible notes that we give our attention<\/span> to someone. \u00a0We all talk to someone about our problems. If you are a worrier, or are anxious and fearful, who are you talking to when you worry? \u00a0Yourself, right? \u00a0You are telling yourself what might happen, will happen, or could happen.<\/p>\n Everyone can become Stronger by implementing two Habits: Meditation and Prayer<\/em><\/strong> Let\u2019s look at these two Habits. The first is Meditation.<\/p>\n 1. Meditation: Pay Attention To What You Think About<\/strong> Thoughts Grabbing<\/span> Our Attention<\/strong> Don’t they realize what they are thinking? \u00a0We even say, “What were you thinking…?” And when the relationship ends badly, they might even turn to a friend and sat, “What was I thinking?!”<\/p>\n When we see a family member get into debt, into drugs, into temptation, we can always trace that purchase, a pattern, a bad influence, or a substance to some thought that GRABBED their attention. They began to Think about something. They thought, “This won\u2019t hurt,” “I am only hurting myself,” \u201cDivorce will be better for the kids,\u201d \u00a0\u201cI deserve to be happy.\u201d “I deserve this house even though I can’t afford it.” \u00a0 Bottom line: Their thinking drove their decisions.\u00a0 Some thought grabbed their attention and impacted the direction of their life.<\/p>\n My life\u2019s direction has been littered with this principle. \u00a0I was in college and performing some magic tricks for a gathering of college students from my floor and a girls\u2019 floor. \u00a0\u00a0As I looked into the audience, Beth Gilbert \u201cGRABBED\u201d my attention. \u00a0I couldn\u2019t stop thinking about her. I\u2019d often go the dinner twice to try to \u201ccatch her.\u201d That thought changed by direction. We went to dinner, took a walk around Chicago and the Direction of my life has NEVER been the same. Beth and I went to a conference in Chicago in 1995 at Willow Creek. A pastor named Bill Hybels GRABBED my attention. He dropped a thought into my mind that shaped my whole career. He spoke of churches that were creative, relevant, excellent, and authentic. He spoke of creating churches that were compelling to churched and unchurched people, convinced and unconvinced people, and that changed the direction and destination of my career. That thought has shaped our church at Horizon. \u00a0The founding elders were also grabbed by what Willow Creek was doing at that time, but they wanted even more. \u00a0Therefore we have two different environments on Sundays. \u00a0Our first service is different from the 2nd and 3rd. If you like communion, prayer, worship, guided prayer in an extremely relevant way, our first service is a place to grow in the knowledge of the scriptures with verse by verse teaching. \u00a0If you are exploring your faith, our second and third services are for you. But the church\u2019s direction traces back to a thought in the mind of one of our founding elders. My life\u2019s trajectory traces back to a time as a kid when God grabbed my attention. I began to see Him as the source of life, purpose, forgiveness, and wisdom. He grabbed my attention\u2026and it changed the direction of my life, my decisions, and my destination.<\/p>\n While some thoughts GRAB our attention and we are seemingly unaware, the Bible tells us to \u201cPAY ATTENTION” to what we think about. \u00a0\u00a0Pay Attention to What you are thinking.<\/p>\n PAY ATTENTION To Our Thinking<\/strong><\/p>\n 8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy\u2014meditate<\/span> on these things<\/em><\/p>\n There are some things that don\u2019t grab our attention, but we have to consciously PAY ATTENTION TO. \u00a0Paul tells us to think about \u201cTHESE\u201d things, obviously meaning we need to not think about other things. \u00a0Think about things that are \u201ctrue, noble, just, pure, lovely, virtue.\u201d<\/p>\n We must consciously Pay ATTENTION TO THEM, rather than letting other thoughts grab our attention.\u00a0This is an active process. We know that if we don\u2019t PAY ATTENTION, we will veer in the wrong direction.<\/p>\n Years ago, I counseled a business guy because his marriage was about to explode. \u00a0He confessed to me about a sexual affair and a long history of pornography. \u00a0He spent his life \u201cmeditating\u201d and letting pictures of women \u201cgrab\u201d his attention and his thinking. \u00a0I began to teach him what the Bible says about Capturing thoughts, paying attention to your thinking, and your looking. \u00a0\u00a0Each week we talked. He was becoming better at \u201cpaying attention\u201d when his eyes were roaming. \u00a0He was paying attention to his thoughts, \u201cI can look and not touch\u201d was a common lie he believed. \u00a0\u00a0He began to \u201cthink\u201d about something different when he caught himself lusting. He would take verses like this one, \u201cWhatever is true, noble, just, and pure, meditate on these things\u201d and think about them in that moment. \u00a0\u00a0It was a long process of growth, but he was able to PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT HE THOUGHT ABOUT and restore his marriage and purity.<\/p>\n This principle impacts every area of life.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n For a free first session of Godonomics, visit: http:\/\/www.godonomics.com\/watch-session-1<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n
\n 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer<\/span> and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy\u2014meditate<\/span> on these things<\/em><\/p>\n
\n1.\u00a0 Meditation: Pay Attention To What You Think About<\/strong>
\n2.\u00a0 Prayer: Give Attention to Who You’re Talking To<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nIf meditation is simply paying attention to what you think about, I’d suggest that most people don’t know what they think about. Their heart’s true motivations and mind’s unconscious thoughts stay beneath the surface. \u00a0\u00a0Therefore thoughts, circumstances and lies grab our attention without us thinking through them.\u00a0 Meditation is moving from allowing thoughts to grab your attention<\/span> to a active process of paying attention<\/span>.<\/p>\n
\nWe say, \u201cThat grabbed my attention.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0When something \u201cgrabs\u201d our attention, it affects our direction. \u00a0But there is always some thought that drives our decision, not something. We can see it in destructive things. When our 20-year-old starts dating someone who is not a good influence, it changes the directions and destination of their lives. \u00a0But he\/she is not thinking about direction or destination, just the fact that this girl or guy GRABBED their attention.\u00a0 As parents we can see that they are not thinking clearly, or at all… \u00a0\ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n