Opening Windows

Scripture Focus: Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6

My mother was widowed when I was six. We moved into my grandpa’s house and my mom went to work managing the Highway Café in Branson, my grandfather’s restaurant. She worked all the time, including Sunday mornings. My sister, then, took us to church. The church we attended was a little Assembly of God Church that had been constructed on one corner of our farm, quite a change from the Nazarene Church that we had attended before our family moved to Missouri.

Gary, the pastor of that AG church, ran it with an n iron-fist. He presided over the church, controlled the purse, supervised the board, and was proud and haughty in the pulpit. He was full of pride.

The first thing I noticed in reading the intimate words of Frank Laubach was his lack of

pride; he was an incredibly humble man.

A Place for Pride?

Frank Laubach writes, “To be able to look backward and say, “This, this has been the finest year of my life” – that is glorious! But anticipation! To be able to look ahead and say, “The present year can and shall be better!” – that is more glorious! If we said such things about our achievements, we would be consummate egotists. But if we are speaking of God’s kindness, and we speak truly, we are but 

grateful. And this is what I do witness. I have done nothing but open windows – God has done all the rest.

11. How have you opened windows for others?
12.   IS there a proper place for pride?

Why?

But why do I constantly harp upon this inner experience? Because I feel convinced that for me and for you who read there lie ahead undiscovered continents of spiritual living compared with which we are infants in arms

What?

Hour-by-Hour, Minute-by-Minute Fixing of My Mind on God.

So, 1930 is just around the corner, and the students at Union College in Manilla, along with college president Frank Laubach, are talking about resolutions. Laubach decides that one of his resolutions will be to continue with a new discipline that he had begun in the previous year. The discipline is simply this: to try to stay focused or fixed upon God.

“It is a will act. I compel my mind to open straight out toward God. I wait and listen with determined sensitiveness. I fix my attention there, and sometimes it requires a long time early in the morning to attain that mental state. I determine not to get out of bed until that mind set, that concentration upon God, is settled. It also requires

determination to keep it there, for I feel as though the words and thoughts of others near me were constantly exerting a drag backward or sidewise. But for the most part recently I have not lost sight of this purpose for long and have soon come back to it. After a while, perhaps, it will become a habit, and the sense of effort will grow less.

It is “more than surrender,” he writes. “In awhile, perhaps, it will become a habit, and the sense of effort will grow less.”

Note that this is not a type of meditation. This is no eastern philosophy or New Age mysticism. One does not repeat a mantra, nor clear the mind of all thought, nor allow thoughts to come and go This is focusing on our Lord Jesus.

“It’s more than surrender; I had that before. More than listening to God. I tried that before. I cannot find the word…” It is “PRACTICING HIS PRESENCE.”

13. What are the danger of clearing your mind, or following “wherever your thoughts take you,” as in meditation?
14. How does one fix his mind on God?
15. Even before Laubach judged his efforts to be successful, he said that things that the world values no longer make a difference to him, because “they would all be forgotten in athousand years.” What were some of the things he listed? ____________________________

    _________________________________________________

    Come, Let Us Reason:

    1. “I must pursue this voyage of discovery in quest of God’s will. I must because the world needs me to do it.”

     

    1. “I must plunge into mighty experiments in intercessory prayer, to test my hypothesis that God needs my help to do his will for others, and that my prayer releases his power. I must be his channel, for the world needs me.”

     

    1. “I must confront these Moros with a divine love which will speak Christ to them though I never use his name. They must see God in me, and I must see God in them. Not to change the name of their religion, but to take their hand and say, ‘Come, let us look for God.’”

     

    16. What Laubach says above could sound vain to those who have not read his entire work. Do you think he was vain when he twice says, “The world needs me to do it,” or was he simply expressing the burden God had laid on his heart in the best way he knew how?

The most wonderful discovery that has ever come to me is that I do not have to wait until some future time for the glorious hour. I need not sing, “Oh that will be glory for me -” and wait for any grave. This hour can be heaven. Any hour for anybody can be as rich as God! – Frank Laubach

You must awaken hunger there, for until they hunger they cannot be fed.” – Frank Laubach

17. Did the world indeed need him to plunge in to a closer relationship with Christ?  

18. Who are the Moros in your life? Those who may frighten you, whom you may even dislike… whom you may hate, but whom God has called you to minister?

The Lesson

1. Why make this journey of discovery of God’s will? Is it because you need such a change in your life? Is it because God draws you closer? Is it because the world needs you to?
   1. Step one: you must figure out why God has led you to this journey.
2. I have never understood why God calls us to pray… yet, He does. I have been awakened in the night with heavy burdens for friends, family, even acquaintances, and been compelled to pray. God is all-powerful, and certainly doesn’t need us to pray. He does, however want us to pray.

“Truly, I tell you, whatsoever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever you: loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” –  Matthew 18:18 KJV

1. God has a plan for you. It may not be as large as teaching half the population of a certain community to read. It may not be founding an international not-for-profit organization, but He has a plan for you.
2. Why has God led you into this journey? Why worry about your walk with God now?

20. Why does God want us to pray?

Fill my mind with Thy mind to the last crevice. Catch me up in Thine arms and make this hour as terribly glorious as any human being ever lived, if Thou wilt. – Frank Laubach

21. What is God’s will for your life?
22. Is there a difference between God’s will for you and His plan for you?
23. If so, then what is God’s plan for your life?
24. 24.       I’ll ask the question that Laubach asks himself: “Howfully can you surrender (to God) and not be afraid? ________________________________________________________

     

    25. Have you been like Peter? Have you faltered? Do you hesitate to begin this journey because you think it won’t last? ________________________________________________________________________

     

    I shall just live this

    hour on until it is full, then step into the next hour. Neither tomorrow

    matters, nor yesterday. Every now is an eternity if it is full of God.

     

     

    What Does the Bible Say?

    Does the Bible indicate that such an intimate relationship with Jesus is even possible? Can we spend our every waking moment with Him? Or, do we just waste our time trying? If it is possible, is it only for those who are called to special ministry? Are we vain to even attempt it? Does Christ expect or want such a relationship with us? Let’s see what the Bible says about the practicing the presence of God, if anything:

    The Garden of Eden: After man fell, God was walking  in the Garden in the cool of the day. Adam recognized the sound of God’s footsteps and hid from Him. This tells us that God regularly spent time in the Garden with man, else Adam would not have recognized His presence. God’s perfect plan was to

    1. live with us, in a perfect setting, on earth. That is still his ideal for us.

     

    Isaiah tells us that he dwells in the high places and in the low places to be present with the lowly and contrite. (57:15)

     

    2. Psalm 139:7 tells us that we live in His presence whether or not we like it.

     

    3. Acts 17:28 indicates that we live, move and exist in Him.

     

    4. Jeremiah 29:13 promises us that, if we seek Him with all our heart, we will find Him.

     

    5. God abides in us and His love is perfected in us (1 John 4:12). Is that possible unless we dedicate to Him our every breath?

     

    6. John 15:7-9 begs us to abide in Christ’s love.

     

    7. Jesus promises that He is with us always, even until the end of the earth (Matthew 28:20)

     

    8. Verses that remind us to pray continuously:

     

    1. Romans 12:12
    2. 1 Thessalonians 5:17
    3. Philippians 4:6
    4. Ephesians 6:18
    5. Colossians 4:2
    6. Luke 18:1-8
       2. So, we are to pray continuously, but what about such intimacy with Christ? Is that expected of us?
          1. Romans 8:10
          2. 2 Corinthians 4:6-7
          3. Galatians 2:20
          4. Ephesians 3:17
          5. Colossians 1:27

        

        

       Just as Jesus did only what He saw the father do, may we only do what we see the Son do.

       So, my answer to my two questions to date would be

       1. “Can it be done all the time?” Hardly.

       2: “Does the effort help?” Tremendously. Nothing I have ever found proves

       such a tonic to mind and body – Frank Laubach

I tried to keep God in mind in the second person.” – Frank Laubach

I must talk about God, or I cannot keep him in my mind. I must give Him away in order to have Him.” – Frank Laubach