Postkiwi Duncan Macleod

Since we were restored to friendship with God by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be delivered from eternal punishment by his life.
Romans 5:10 (New Living Translation)

Rick Warren in chapter 11 of The Purpose Driven Life, Becoming Friends With God, reminds us that Jesus invites us into an intimate relationship of friendship with God.

I was a young teenager when the wonder of this invitation almost knocked me over. I was cycling to catch the bus to high school. Where I lived we were a mile away from the bus stop. As I came down the final straight I was looking directly at the snow-covered mountain range, the Takitimus, in Southland. I was amazed at the spectacular vista - and I almost fell off my bike as I realised that the creator of this mountain range and the whole universe, was accessible to me in an intimate friendship!

Rick draws on Brother Lawrence today for insights into the contemplative life of prayer for the busy follower of Christ.

There’s a web site dedicated to Brother Lawrence’s material, with a downloadable copy of “Practicing the Presence of God” - www.practicegodspresence.com

Rick draws on Brother Lawrence’s practice as a busy monk, learning to pray throughout the day while continuing his work. The first step, Rick writes, is to change our attitude so that we don’t separate spiritual and practical. Everything we do we can include God. That, of course, assumes that you can pray without speaking aloud!

Another learning from Brother Lawrence is to make our prayer nice and short - more like the conversations we usually hold. That assumes we don’t have monologues with our friends where we do all the talking and they put up with us! :>)

The second technique for building friendship with God today is Continual Meditation - focused thinking about God’s word. I know and Rick knows that many Christians have an inbuilt suspicion of the word ‘meditation’. It reminds people of new age and Eastern mystic movements in which people empty their minds and chant mantras. But Christianity has a long deep tradition of people growing closer in their friendship with God through constant reflection on God’s word and its application to our lives. Once again the key is keeping it short. That’s why Scripture in Song was so popular in the 1980s - it gave people a good excuse for repeating Scriptures over and over again.

What can I do to remind myself to think about God and talk to him more often throughout the day?

I like to use symbols to remind me of God’s presence in my life. Like a cross cut of wood reminding me to center myself in Jesus. Unfortunately unless it travels with me all day I forget it. Maybe something attached to my keyring - reminding me of Christ’s constant presence. Yep - I’ll find something like that.