Posted by justinfox on Jan 17, 2015
This is may be quite last-minute for some, but NEXT THURSDAY I will be facilitating a retreat for pastors and church leaders. It’ll be held from 10AM-3Pm on Jan. 29th, at the beautiful Still Waters Retreat Center. $30 covers lunch, the facility, and retreat materials. This event is being supported by an inter-denominational organization that I partner with called Church Resource Ministries, and it’s especially designed as an opportunity for leaders and pastors to get some space, rest, and silence in order to hear God in fresh ways. Come out and join us! Sign up here
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Posted by justinfox on Oct 3, 2014
1. Present and open your heart to the Lord and intend to learn from Him.
Prayer of Presenting: Lord, I am here; I present myself to you. Open my heart to the truth of
what is going on in my life. (Rom. 12:1-2)
2. Consider as loss all things that could tempt you to find gain outside of Christ; consider as loss all things in comparison to Christ. Detach from potential idols of the heart, both good and bad things, that your flesh might be tempted to find its identity in outside of being in Christ. Open to the truth of these matters and talk to the Lord about this, whether you struggle with these matters of the flesh.
Prayer of Detachment: At the core of my spirit, I am not a successful person or a failure, a wealthy or poor person, someone who needs to be honored, a good person or a bad person. At the core, my identity is not being a good or bad student-professor, a father or mother, a husband or a wife, a daughter or a son, a kind person or angry person. I am not a … (Confess any idolatry)
3. Affirm to your soul and the Lord your true identity in Christ, that being in union with Christ, no longer condemned but accepted in Him, is your true self. Be open to the truth at this moment, whether this is truly what you experience or not and talk with the Lord about this.
Prayer of Attachment: I was created for union with God. I came into the world in sin but longing for perfect love. I am now clothed with Christ’s righteousness, with full pardon from guilt and full acceptance from God. I am precious in God’s eyes. God calls me His beloved. That is who I truly am. (Confess any unbelief)
4. Resolve to keep your heart and mind attentive to the Lord. Be receptive, silent and still.
5. Hear the Word of God
– end your time pondering a short verse that you can memorize and quote a few times in a reflective, meditative way. Example: John 15:5. “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.”
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