A Recommendation

Last time I wrote about the process of saying "yes, with God's help". It is a phrase we say repeatedly when we are installed or commissioned in church service. It is also the response we make when we make the vows of affirmation of faith. We confirm our intention to be in covenant with God and:

to live among God's faithful people,

to hear the word of God and share in the Lord's supper,

to proclaim the good news of God in Christ

through word and deed

to serve all people, following the example of Jesus,

and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth.

At our confirmation, WE say "I do, and I ask God to help and guide me.

And the entire congregation is asked: People of God, do you promise to support and pray for one another in your life in Christ?

The response is "We do, and we ask God to help and guide us."

Repeatedly, relentlessly, we are reminded by the church of our dependence upon God to help us to follow through on the intentions of faith. This is a simple fact, isn't it? Most of the time there are so many diversions or distractions. Sometimes it is simply a matter of too many good and wonderful possibilities that come our way... and our human desires for pleasure and happiness draw us ever so gradually away from the intentions established in our promises to God.

So we ask God to help us... and God will! In God's amazing, abundant presence, God will invite us in very specific ways to draw closer, to be more open and willing.

I want to encourage you to be wildly curious about ways that you can remind yourself to always ask for God's help and guidance as you go through a day. I trust that if you are reading this site regularly, you are also finding time to pray about whatever thoughts or ideas emerge. I recommend, also, that you visit some of the sites I have listed in the section "Other Formation Sites".

Find ways to stay close to scripture, either through your own reading of the Bible, or through a summer Bible Study.
Re-read your baptismal promises...where and in what circumstances might you ask for God's help more regularly?