We Need Someone to Equip Us!
Author: Pastor John Smith
November 30, 2021
Proverbs 22:6 says, “train up a child/youth in the way that
he should go.” This passage has often intrigued me because on the surface it
appears to be a simple command to follow at least that is the way I understood
it as a teenager. The word train means to guide as you would a horse with the
bit in his mouth so that the horse will know which way to turn and walk or to
stop. The idea of the passage is that if you train a child in the predetermined
way that he should go (in his own way) then he will never depart from it. It is
with this understanding that I approach the subject matter of spiritual
disciplines, things that the Christ follower does as his duty toward Christ
that ultimately brings him emotionally, spiritually, and yes even spatially closer
to Christ. Let us begin…
While growing up in the Piney Woods of East Texas, I never
had anyone to take me aside and sit me down and explain to me the importance of
various spiritual disciplines. Although I did have individuals tell me that I
needed to pray and fast, read the Bible daily, and that was about all the equipping
that I acquired during my childhood and teenage years. I encountered a similar
culture at Bible college and seminary. I was being given just a couple of
things that I needed to participate in and it should clear up any struggles
that I may be experiencing at the time. However, no one attempted to explain
how these activities were supposed to be accomplished.
Now, I must be completely honest about the aspect of prayer.
I was equipped in the spiritual discipline of prayer by three elderly ladies
that lived up the street from my grandmother’s house. You see, I started preaching
when I was thirteen years old in the fall of 1982 while I was in the sixth grade.
By the time the school year had ended I had preached over 75 times. Now, let me
pick back up about prayer. It was the week that school would let out for the
summer that Mrs. Mary Johnson saw me playing with the other kids in my
grandmother’s neighborhood and called me over to her porch and informed me that
if I was going to be a preacher I needed to learn how to pray and she told me
that her and two other ladies gathered every morning, Monday through Friday,
for early morning prayer at 6 am and that I was invited to come learn to pray
with them every morning when my mom and dad dropped me off at my grandmother’s
house.
As soon as school was
dismissed for summer break I could not wait until the following week to learn
how to pray with these aged ladies that appeared to be so close to God. When
that Monday morning came, I rushed up the street and the ladies were already
praying and they invited me to come on in and initially just watch and listen.
I was mesmerized by their devotion to Christ and how they appeared to enjoy
praying so much. I spent my entire summer praying with these ladies early in
the morning. I remember those days with great humility and gratefulness that
the Lord would allow those ladies to disciple me in the art of prayer! This was
my only exposure to someone teaching me how to carry out a spiritual discipline
until I was well into adulthood and pastoring.
Now don’t get me wrong I did do all the various things that
pastors did but it was hit and miss. I had to learn many things through trial
and error. However, in my early adulthood I was discipled by many other
individuals in the various practices of spiritual disciplines, such as,
silence, solitude, celebration, witnessing, giving, and many others. Moreover, God
used a multiplicity of people to disciple me in these areas. Some were from my
particular Christian community but many others came from various Christian
communities. It was during these periods of equipping that I developed a love
of God’s people that came from various religious backgrounds. It is with great
anticipation that a begin a study in this blog on various spiritual disciplines
as a way to encourage and hold myself accountable for their placement in my
everyday life and hopefully it will do the same thing for you as you observe my
journey. Today, is only the beginning of us interacting with each other as we
pursue Christ with the intent of making His imprint larger in our lives. I am
already excited about the coming days as we discuss spiritual disciplines.
Please allow me in the coming days to be extremely transparent in this journey
of faith! See you tomorrow!
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