A: They share the same slogan: Just do it
Well, I'm paraphrasing, but in week 2, Steve made it clear that Scripture reading and Prayer are not optional. There's a reason they are called disciplines.
It's good that I'm taking this course now, and not some years ago. In the past I would have been too caught up in frustration and condemnation to even give this a fair hearing. My reaction now is different. I know that I fall short in these areas, so I need to concretely look at what I can change. Of course, it might be most efficient in the long run to simply start by praying that God will give me a passionate desire to pray and read more!
But I'm also putting together what Steve said with some tapes I was just listening to by Brennan Manning, and something clicked. Brennan Manning was directing people to spend 40 minutes a day simply saying "Abba, I belong to you". That sounds a bit overwhelming, to tell the truth, but it was a little throwaway line that suddenly stood up and said "listen to this". He said to pick the time of day you are at your best. And I suddenly realized that one of my mistakes is that I do the opposite -- I pull out my Bible the last thing in the day, when I'm too tired to think straight. No wonder it seems confusing and boring. Of course, my previous attempt at a solution was equally ineffective: reading the first thing in the morning, when everything in me is reaching back to sleep.
On the topic of scripture, I'm still baffled at how Brother Yun was able to memorize a chapter a day! I've been working really hard on this (during the day, not when I'm asleep). Naively inspired by his story, I started learning Ephesians 1 and I'm not even managing a chapter per month. Not only that, the chapter I thought I had memorized is now slipping away. And yet I'm still glad that I'm working on it.
+God, give me a hunger to know your Word. Give me a passion for your presence. Help me to quiet my heart and my mind, so that distractions don't derail my attempts to meet with You.+
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