Godward Toil

Accountability partner for Godward Toil?

The Bible encourages Christians to confess, pray, and encourage one another.  Every wise brother or spiritual mentor I have known has always emphasized the importance of spiritual accountability.  Proverbs 27:17 puts it this way, "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another."   For me, accountability is a concept that is inextricably bound up in my experience as a Christian--I don't think I even really heard people talk in terms of "accountability" or "accountability partners" until I started to hang out with Christian believers in my mid-twenties.

If we believe that stewarding time and energy wisely is important, should we pursue accountability in our personal productivity as well?   Matt Cornell has a detailed and helpful post on a two-week experiment in which he incorporated daily accountability into his quest for a productive work day.   Warning:  Matt's post definitely falls into the category of "advanced productivity."  If you're just starting to think about getting an inbox or filing your papers, this post may not be the best starting place.   Nevertheless, accountability might be an important starting point for anyone.  If you want to be more fruitful and and less wasteful for God, why not mention that to a friend and ask him or her to pray for you?

Do you (I) need an Internet diet?

Eric Mack has written a great post about a three-month "Internet Diet" where he unplugged and really got things done.   It is a persuasive and, for me, convicting post.   I highly recommend it.  Before you read it, ask the Spirit to do Psalm 139 in you as you read:

Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts! 
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting! 

Stewardship of focused prayer time: Concentric circles and daily themes

In light of the unimaginable importance and privilege of praying, I want to steward my focused prayer time well.    The Lord wants us to pray constantly and spontaneously (1 Thes 5:16-18).   But the Bible also encourages us to "devote" ourselves and be "steadfast" in prayer (e.g. Acts 1:14, Col 4:2), suggesting a kind of discipline and focus.   We are also to pray in, for, and about everything (e.g. Phil 4:2).   Not only about everything, but about nearly everyone--Paul's epistles indicate that a full prayer life includes supplication for lots and lots of people--groups of people (like whole churches) and specific people, like companions, friends, missionaries, and enemies.   (For additional encouragement about focused supplication and the need to "take steps to see that it is part of your regular life, the same way eating and sleeping are"  read or listen to this sermon by John Piper: Devote Yourselves to Prayer)

The enormity of importance and need for prayer can be overwhelming...and, if Satan has his way, defeating.   There have been many times in my life, including very recently, where I got away from praying because I felt like I didn't know where to start.  I would approach the throne of grace, feel lame and distracted, and shrink away into other activities.  Earlier this week, I talked with a dear brother who confessed how much his heart would sink when someone asked him to pray for them, because he knew he wouldn't end up faithful to the request.   I resonated very much with that feeling.

At the deepest level, my failure and that of my brother comes down to an overfocus on self--a "pride of worm" where I am stuck on the lameness I see in the mirror, instead of on the excellencies of Christ I would see if only I would turn away from the mirror and look through the window of His Word.   So, the struggle here is the daily struggle to die to self and live in Christ.   But that struggle happens at lots of levels--from the most mysterious to the most concrete.   One of the purposes of this blog is to explore some concrete tools in that struggle, i.e. how can I set up my life to maximize the chances that I'll let go of it!   

Many books have been written about the disciplines (tools) surrounding prayer, exploring lots of different aspects of it.   I want to share one systematic supplication strategy that has helped keep me focused and encouraged in prayer.   I have just returned to and retooled these structures, so I am excited to share them.  I'm sure this level of lists and structures is not for everyone.   But for my distracted and sometimes overwhelmed soul, these have been a Godsend.

My prayer life is richest when I simultaneously use two strategies:   Concentric circles and Daily Themes.    I got the concentric circles from John Piper, who describes his circles in the sermon I linked to above ("Taking Steps: How" section).    The concentric circles approach starts with the one most in need of prayer (me), then moves out from there.  I start needs I have, then move to my wife, then to my children, then to a list of others that is different each day the week.  So, at the back of my journal I have something that looks like this:

Everyday
Me: Search me, forgive me, and help me (list of heart and other needs such as purity, integrity, gentleness as a husband...)
My wife (list of specific needs she has indicated or I have discerned)
My children (a list of 4 or 5 needs for each.  These range broadly and evolve over time.  For example, a list for one of my children right now reads, "Teachable spirit, Angry growl, Blessing others w/ joy, Intelligible speech, Kindergarten, Salvation")       

Monday:  Work, Career Direction, Coworkers (list of 2 specific co-workers).  [On Monday since it starts the work week.]
Tuesday:   Joy of the Lord for unsaved friends/family (list of 3 or 4 specific people)
Wednesday:  Local church (list of groups and ministries I'm involved in or am considering involvement in, our pastors and staff, specific people at our church I want to pray for regularly)
Thursday:   Universal Church.  Pastors/ministers, other churches/ministries, persecuted church.  (list of specific ministers/missionaries, churches, ministries) [This is a series of concentric circles that moves from specific people in ministry and missions, to larger entities.]
Friday:   World and Current Events.  City, state, country. Elected officials (list of a few, right now includes candidates too!).  Secular organizations (like my undergrad college). Key issues (list of a few like racism, abortion, poverty). 
Saturday:   Family and Closest Friends.  [On Saturday because I desire some of these prayers to prompt me to call people and Saturday is usually the best day for that.]

I can't say enough how freeing it can be to realize that I don't need to pray for everything and everyone every time.  If I tell someone I'll keep them in prayer, it might mean I do that once a week when I reach the daily theme or list that pertains to that person.   I also don't feel the need to hit every item on the daily theme lists every week.   I let my heart, guided by the Spirit, lead me.   After all, despite these  detailed efforts to devote myself to prayer in a focused and diligent way, I don't really know what to pray for!   There is a marvelous paradox at the center of Christian prayer:  What we pray for really matters, really counts.  We need to pray often, specifically, and steadfastly. AND our prayers are like the utterances of a tired baby who knows not what she really needs:

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. (Romans 8:26-27)

Knowing this glorious truth should embolden all of us to pray freely and often.   I am jealous for the joy that comes with such prayer, so I am zealous for any tool that will get me there...concentric circles, daily themes, lists, key verses, computer code, resolutions, and whatever else it takes!

Sin is a waste of time

Thought for the day:   Sin is not only an affront against God and harmful to your soul, it is a colossal waste of time and harmful to productivity.   When a regenerated person violates God's commands and his/her own conscience, a spiritual process of conviction begins.  The pain and anxiety associated with an unclean conscience, and the process of repentance and restoration take time, energy, and focus away from the things over which God has given us stewardship.   Repentance and restoration are glorious, but purity and dwelling with God are so much better....and more productive.

Fighting temptation is often hard and time-consuming.  There is a lie that our minds generate and Satan stokes that we might just save time by giving in and getting on with other things.   We have to fight this lie by knowing that fighting will always be more productive.   We can get more done--through work and through prayer--by staying pure.    For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. (1 Pet 3:12)  (See also Jas 15:16, Prov 15:29)

Loss of productivity is not the most important reason to stay in God's loving hands, but it is a good reason.  We should desire fruit and despise whatever would rob it.    

Weekly review, the heart, and Satan

Many, many, many people have written about the importance of having a time each week when you review your commitments, calendar, and next actions toward goals.  Right now I have fallen out of the practice in a terrible way, and I'm seeing the consequences...I'm forgetting things, missing needed actions, slipping on my commitments to people, and frittering away time unproductively.   Why does this happen?  If I know that setting aside a couple of hours each week will make me more Kingdom effective ,and save time in the long run, why is it so hard to do it consistently?

With regard to sin, the apostle Paul, in his letter to the Romans, said this:  "For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate."  His idea is that his heart does not follow what his head knows to be good, true, and right.  The prophet Jeremiah said it this way, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick.  Who can understand it?"  (Jer 17:9)  A colleague told me this week that there is a Korean saying that there is no greater distance than that which is between the head and the heart.   

Paul and Jeremiah are most directly talking about the way that pride works to undermine our judgment and lead us to sin.   Not having a weekly review is not "sin" in and of itself, but it is a neglect of a discipline that can lead (and does in my life) to poor stewardship of time, lack of diligence, lack of fruit and good works, failure to honor commitments (integrity), and poor leadership in my family.

When I look at this list of outcomes, I wonder what role Satan plays in stealing my weekly review.  The devil is prowls, seeking someone to devour (1 Pet 5:8) and he wants to render me ineffective--wants me to forget that phone call to a brother in need who I promised to call.  I do not pray against Satan nearly enough--and hardly ever about things like weekly reviews!   But I need to take a stand in prayer for my disciplines. 

Father, restore me to diligence in my disciplines.  Show me how to find time for weekly review.  Defeat Satan who wishes to render me fruitless, flailing, and purposeless.   Give me every tool to stay focused on you and the good works you've prepared in advance for me to walk in.   Amen.

Productivity reflections on Psalm 127

Yesterday, I posted about my resolution to taste God's word and pray each day before launching into other work.  Today, I want to add a reflection on portions of Psalm 127  to draw the connection between this resolution and productivity.

A dear friend and mentor once pierced my heart with Psalm 127, when I told him I was getting busy with my day and leaving aside my regular routine of devotions.   He quoted me the first verse of this passage:

Unless the Lord builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.
It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives to his beloved sleep.

This passage has become something of a guiding light for me in how I think about productivity from, for, and with God.  Here are some ways that this passage has worked on me:

• Without the Lord either:
  • my plans will fail (whatever I'm trying to do will not happen or will fall apart).
  • my plans succeed, but whatever I manage to achieve will not be of any true value.
• I deeply relate to "eating the bread of anxious toil."  I hate it and don't want it.
• It is a lie that I will have rest from writing that email that tempted me yesterday morning.  The Lord gives me sleep, not getting things off my plate.
• My Bible has a note that says the last line is sometimes translated "gives to his beloved in their sleep."   If so, then true productivity does not ultimately depend on my hard work. The Lord is Getting Things Done, giving power, productivity, and purpose to my work, even as sleep. 
  

Looked at from this perspective, it is not only bad for my soul to skip or delay my morning feeding of God's Word, it's highly unproductive!

Resolved: No email before Bible

Today I got to work early.  I took out my Bible and journal and put them on my desk with the plan of filling my mind and heart with God before doing anything else.  But then...I remembered an email I had meant to send.  Rather than simply writing it down on an index card and continuing with my plan, I thought, "Let me just send this."  When I opened my Inbox to compose the email I wanted to send, I saw several other emails that needed response.  Off I was....two hours of toil in email and other computer work, then to my first meeting of a jam-packed day.  This is why Peter warned, "Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." (1 Peter 5:8)   I didn't return to the Word until I was convicted of my distraction late at night. 

I love the resolutions of Jonathan Edwards.  What a life!  So today here is mine:

Resolved:  To do nothing on my computer for work, ministry, or family before I have read the Bible and prayed.

Joshua Harris on time spent on Facebook

A post by Justin Taylor pointed me to this post by Josh Harris about why he canceled his Facebook account after one week.  There is a lot of good, renewed mind thinking in this post.   Decisions about how to spend the precious minutes God gives are essentially a stewardship decisions.  And I love how Josh goes even beyond this stewardship point to also note how Facebook pointed him toward himself more than he felt was right.  The post is worth a read, especially if you need some conviction about how you spend your time online.