SLOW: ABIDE

THE PRAYER       

• Find a quiet space.       


• Breathe deeply and recognise God with you in this moment.       


• When you are ready, speak to God about this time together.       


• After you've finished praying, go through the following passage a few times slowly and thoughtfully (preferably out loud).    


• Allow God to meet you in these words.

God, investigate my life; get all the facts firsthand. I’m an open book to you; even from a distance, you know what I’m thinking. You know when I leave and when I get back; I’m never out of your sight. You know everything I’m going to say before I start the first sentence. I look behind me and you’re there, then up ahead and you’re there, too - your reassuring presence, coming and going. Amen. Psalm 139: 1-5 (MSG)

THE FIRST READING

Read this passage slowly (preferably out loud) as you allow God to meet you in these words. Pay attention to anything God might be saying as you do.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:1-5 (ESV)

RESPONSE

Take some time to respond (write down, draw, pray, etc.) to God’s prompting in the first reading of the passage. What is he highlighting and saying to you through this?

THE SECOND READING

Read the passage again (slowly and preferably out loud) through the “lens” of what The Spirit highlighted in the first reading. Listen for anything else the Spirit might be saying.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing". John 15:1-5 (ESV)

THE REFLECTION

Have you ever had a moment that took your breath away?

I’ve had a few, but one that stands out involves a surfboard, an ocean, and some dolphins. It was 5 am and I was driving through Durban city with a friend. We were heading to the beach for a morning surf as I silently sipped my coffee and woke up to the day. We pulled into the parking lot just in time to see the sun break over the horizon, a thin crack of light that glistened on the breaking waves painting the morning gold. We climbed out of the car, got our boards off the roof, and walked down to the ocean edge as the wind danced gently across my face. I took a deep breath and ran into the waves. After some paddling, I was at the backline. I sat there, bobbing in the tides. The golden sun, hanging low in the sky, waited with me for the sets to come in.

Then I saw them. A school of dolphins coming straight for us. The other surfers saw them too. For a moment, we all forgot about surfing. What mattered were the dolphins. A giant pod swimming so close we could touch them. Playing in the waves. Jumping in the air just out of arm's reach. For that moment everything stood still and nothing else really mattered.

The only way to honour the beauty of that moment was to be in it.

This is what the practice of slowing is trying to cultivate within us. An awareness of God that displaces our preoccupation with all that needs to be done. A glimpse of God that takes our breath away. A friendship with God of such substance that the only way to honour it is to simply be there.

To abide in him.

Not just for a moment, not even for moments, but with practice, for a lifetime. To cultivate a state of being that makes intimacy with Jesus the central issue of our lives. We want to learn to set the Lord always before us and know the unshakeable strength that comes from living in his presence. This abiding is not spiritual navel-gazing or self-indulgent introspection. Rather, it is the posture of a soul consistently set toward God. It is a rich soil of being, in which the reality of God can take root and grow. And, it is a revolutionary act in a world of hurry and distraction.

Until we choose it for ourselves, we will consistently fail to produce the fruit that God desires for our lives.