Practice, Practice, Practice
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Practice, Practice, Practice
February 19, 2012
by Rev. William “Buck” Day
Well, many of you know that I spent a good number of years in my adult life working for Best Buy Company and I spent most of that time actually, believe it or not, putting radios into cars. When I was working, a lot of the cars that were sold then that were new didn’t have any radios or speakers in them, so they came to us to put in radios or speakers. I, along with the other installers, worked on commission; so, in other words, the faster you could get a car done, the more money you would make. More cars, more money— you get the idea. So the idea was to do it as quickly as you could. However, if the car came back with a problem, we had to repair it, whoever installed it had to repair it at their own expense; so there was no money to be made. So the key here was how quickly you could you do your work and do it well.
I will tell you that the guys I worked with, as well as myself, we prided ourselves on being able to do very good work and do it quickly. One of our favorite cars to work on was a Honda Civic, and we did a lot of them, primarily because they were already wired for speakers in those days and that was kind of a rarity. So we would install a radio, four speakers and an antenna—that is kind of what most people needed in those cars. I don’t remember how much we earned by putting in a radio and four speakers but I know that I could do one in twelve minutes. In fact, we had a name for Honda Civics—they were called “gravy cars.” They were quick and they were easy. When the car came in, it was interesting because we would all jockey for position to try and get that car because we all knew exactly where we had to cut the holes in the back deck to put the speakers and we knew exactly where we had to put our hand up under the dashboard to grab the antenna cable. We knew the color codes of the cars so we could just do it all and put it right in. We made a lot of money doing those cars. I could do those cars in my sleep. And how was I able to do them in twelve minutes? Practice! Practice—we did lots of Hondas.
So the old adage is true: Practice makes perfect. Doesn’t it? And doesn’t that apply too for much of our lives, as well? I mean anytime you are going to do something new, after you have done it for a while you know how to do it better, whether it is learning a sport, like golf, whether it is learning to sing, or whether it is even a doctor who does surgery. I mean how many of us want to go to a doctor who wants to practice surgery on us? I don’t think we want to do that, do we? We want one who has probably done it a few thousand times. So if that is the case, why would it be any different when it comes to us learning how to listen for the voice of God? It would be exactly the same thing. And that is what we have been talking about over the last couple of weeks, this idea of listening for the whispers of God, sometimes referred to as the leadings or the promptings of God. It is all the same thing.
Today we want to focus on practicing our listening skills, for as we practice our listening, it will get better and we will have a better chance to hear God’s voice. So the way we want to look at that today is we want to look at that by learning to listen to God by practicing the presence of God. For as we learn to live in God’s presence, his voice will be more recognizable to us, won’t it? And we will better be able to hear his voice. I think that is what Jesus is talking about in John 15 when he says “abide in me” or “remain in me.” He is talking about remaining in God’s presence. So we want to look at and ask the question, what might that look like?
I want to give you three ways that we are going to talk about practicing the presence of God. One of the ways that we can practice the presence of God is to corral our thoughts. What we think about will greatly affect who we are. King David said “May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the LORD.” Ralph Waldo Emerson put it this way, he said “Sow a thought and reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.” And Paul continues to build on that as well, this idea of corralling our thoughts and he talks about it in our Scripture today, which is Philippians 4:8. So I want to read this to you for our Scripture today.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.
So we want to work through those kinds of pieces out of Philippians 4:8. We look at this first one that is the question: are your thoughts true? I want to start by talking about Ephesians 4:25 that says, “…put off all falsehood, speak truthfully with your neighbors.” Before we can speak truthfully with our neighbors, don’t we also have to think about what is true? So I wonder what your thoughts are. Are your thoughts and your thinking today true? Let me start by maybe sharing a few nuggets of truth with you that if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, these things are true about you:
You are chosen.
You are an adopted son or daughter.
You are a saint.
You are a joint heir with Christ.
You are accepted.
You are redeemed and have been forgiven.
You are free from condemnation forever.
You are beloved.
You are the salt and the light of the earth.
You are God’s temple.
You are God’s workmanship— the word there actually means “poem.” You are God’s poem.
You are safe in God’s grip.
You are able to withstand the temptations that come your way.
And you are invited into perpetual rest.
And finally you will be seated with Christ in the heavenly realm.
So my question to you is, are your thoughts reflecting those truths? Or are you consistently finding yourself listening to the lies that like to run through our head—lies like:
Nobody wants me.
Nobody could ever love me, I’m worthless.
That sin will never be forgiven.
See Christ’s purpose in coming to earth was to testify to the truth. Truth was very important to Jesus because he is the truth and every scheme of the evil one begins with a lie. So to practice the presence of God, we have to start with thinking true thoughts.
The second one that comes from our scripture of Philippians 4:8 is, are your thoughts noble? Are your thoughts noble? One of the ways to tell if your thoughts are noble is to ask if your thoughts tend to center on the next self-focused indulgence that is coming your way. Maybe it is the next drink or the next hit or the next online porn session or that innocent meeting with your administrative assistant. Those things don’t pass the noble test, do they? In 1 Timothy, and in Titus, older folks within the church are called to have noble character. Why? Because the church of Jesus Christ has a responsibility to raise up the next generation of leaders in the church. That is one of the values that the Fellowship of Presbyterians upholds and I think it is a good one. Because we have this responsibility to raise up the next generation of leaders, we need to do it in a manner that honors God. So we need to be noble so that they will be noble. And guess where a noble character begins? …In our thought life, in our thought life.
The next thing that Philippians talks about is, are your thoughts right? James 1:5 says that if you don’t know what you are doing, ask God and he will help you. He will give you the help you need, so ask boldly without a second thought. Are you perplexed about what might be the right thing or the wrong thing to do in a particular situation? Our Scripture is telling you right here—ask God. Ask God, for that wisdom for the right decision and he will give it to you. He will give it to you. He will do it joyfully and without any condemnation. That is a promise for you to hang on to. So are your thoughts right?
The next one is, are your thoughts pure? If your thoughts are pure they are focused on the things that are clean and undefiled. As a result, your actions will be pure, as well. So what does that look like as we walk through our lives, as we walk through our relational life? It means that we are going to tell the truth. It means that we are going to serve others’ interest instead of just simply seeking our own. It means we are going to be obedient to the authority that is over us. It means you are going to be a loving person. In the academic world it means you are not going to cheat on tests. In your entertainment world it means that you are going to walk right past those videos, those pictures, those activities, anything that promotes impurity as something that is worth pursuing. You are going to avoid those. Vocationally it means you are going to affirm the people around you instead of gossiping. It means you are going to work diligently instead of being lazy. Sexually it means that you are going to treat others with the utmost respect. It means you are going to keep sex in the confines of marriage. Spiritually it means you are going to be free. So let me give you maybe a word of encouragement, a word of encouragement if this idea of having pure thoughts has been something that has been difficult for you along the way. One of the surefire ways I think to develop greater purity in your mind is to simply prioritize other peoples’ needs before your own. So if you are going to tell a lie to cover your backside, think about what the consequences might be of that lie to the other person. If you are thinking about cheating on a test, think about what the consequences of those actions will be for your parents because your parents will find out, guys. The same thing for your work life, your dating life; you get my point. Put others’ needs before your own. Are your thoughts pure?
Then are your thoughts lovely? In other words, we are supposed to be thinking about lovely things. The original word there is that which promotes peace instead of conflict. That is what lovely is about. That is pretty cut and dried, wouldn’t you say? Do your thoughts promote peace? Peace with others or do they seek to divide? Do you cause dissention or invite discord or are you constantly thinking about ways to build bridges to other peoples’ minds and their hearts? Or do you find your thoughts drifting towards maybe self-focused ends? Do you think about endeavoring to understand the people that God has put in your path or would you rather just simply be understood? We are to think lovely thoughts and lovely thoughts lead to lovely actions and don’t you think that our world could use a little more of that?
Our next one from Philippians 4:8 is, are your thoughts admirable? Are they admirable? Another translation defines this as things of good repute, as things of good repute. Are you positive, constructive? Is what you are thinking about life giving and helpful because remember the Holy Spirit lives inside all of us as Christ’s followers and how the Holy Spirit equips us to be conduits of encouragement and hope. So our ability to act on that truth begins with our ability to think on that truth. So as we think about the admirable things in our lives and they come out and you say, “O.K. if I am going to be admirable in my speech can my actions also be admirable?” If you think about it, don’t all of us want to be admirable in this world? Isn’t that something we all desire? I mean, first and foremost our aim should be to please God with our thoughts and our words and our actions; but, in the midst of that, shouldn’t we also hope to be admired as a treasure here on earth to those who are most close to us, whether they be our family, our friends, our colleagues, or maybe the guy at Starbucks who knows your order as soon as you walk in the door? We all want to be admirable, don’t we? We want to think God-glorifying thoughts and lead God-glorifying lives. And it all starts with corralling our thoughts.
That is one of the ways that we can practice the presence of God of that fairly long list, but it all revolves around this idea of letting our thoughts be held captive by Christ. Another way that we can practice the presence of God is to communicate with him, intimately, consistently and frequently. Intimately means as you talk to your best friend— that is how you should communicate. Consistently means you need to do it on a regular basis. And frequently means are you doing it as part of your daily experience?
Missionary Rosalind Rinker said of God, “He is always conscious of us but we need to focus our attention, our consciousness on him and then he can whisper his love plans that he has for us.” Have you ever considered the truth of that statement? The God of the universe, the God who is right here, who is everywhere, who is omnipresent, who is omnipotent, who knows everything, he is constantly conscious of you. God is constantly conscious of you. He knows about you. He knows what is going on. That is an amazing promise, an amazing statement. So when we are called to pray without ceasing, it simply means that we are to align ourselves with God, to convene with him, to fellowship with him so that he may share his heart with us and we can share what is on our mind with him.
Brother Lawrence was a seventh century monk and he wrote a book called Practicing the Presence of God. I want to give you just a kind of modern day synopsis of what he wrote. He said practicing the presence of God is getting used to being in continual conversation with God. It is as though you are having a Blue-tooth device in your ear with a constant connection with heaven so that every moment you can come before God. He has the wisdom that you need; you just simply need to ask for it. Whatever interaction, whatever task that is before you, just do exactly what he whispers and thank him for the guidance when everything is said and done.
So we are to communicate with God. That is part of what it means to be in the presence of God. And then finally, it is really hard to conform our lives to God’s word unless we know precisely what it says and that is the third way that we practice God’s presence is to conform our lives to God’s word. We need to allow the truth that is found within Scripture to direct our every step.
In the book The Power of a Whisper by Bill Hybels, that much of this series is based on, he says “The most predictable way to hear from heaven is to read and apply God’s word. When we increase our biblical engagement we increase the odds to hear God. That is as complicated as it gets.” Because if you think about it, after all if God has written down in written form advice for most of the dilemmas that you and I are going to face, things like relationships and communication and even money matters, why wouldn’t we want to take advantage of that? Why wouldn’t we want to absorb that?
Psalm 119 says that “God’s word is a lamp unto my feet, a light for my path.” I know speaking from personal experience that as long as I have followed Christ whenever I have needed some illumination, the word of God has never disappointed me. So you want to know how to listen to God? Start with Scripture. Start with Scripture. Invite God to be present in your Bible readings, in your study; for we as followers of Christ need to become people of The Book again. We just need it to become a part of second nature to us, individually, in the small groups that we are in and even here in worship. Growing in our Scripture understanding increases our ability to hear God.
So simply let me end by saying this: as we increase our exposure to God, we will be better able to hear him and that means that we need to be in his presence in order to do that. Corral your thoughts. Talk with him. Conform your lives to his word and you will be better able to hear the God who wants to speak to you, who loves you, who calls you his own and who desires to walk intimately with you through everything in your life.
Let’s pray.
Lord, God, thank you, thank you that you do desire to speak to us. So Lord help us to practice our listening, practice our listening through the ways we have talked about here and also simply by unplugging ourselves from the world; for Lord, you will not shout over the noise of our world, of our activities, of our daily lives but you do want to speak. So Lord, help us to create quiet to be able to hear you, in your name. Amen.