As we seek to start dynamic spiritual conversations with the people that we are drawn to, it’s important that first we:

• Experience God’s love and acceptance towards us, and live out of that
• Be filled with God’s love towards others, shown through our instinctive prayers for them
• Live an authentically real and open life with others

Now, thinking externally and directionally towards others, let’s explore what it looks like to practically and tangibly demonstrate God’s infectious love. 

The message that Jesus taught, that God's way of life was now available here and now on earth to all who chose to align their lives with Him, was constantly being demonstrated as Jesus lived life with people. 

To some, he brought physical healing. To others, emotional healing. For those who were cast aside by society as rejected, he befriended. For those who stopped believing in themselves, he gave hope. Every person was different and had different needs, but he met each one as he was guided by God his Father. 

For every encounter Jesus had with people who were open to him, he deposited an experience of God's love in them and around them. Sometimes, he didn't lead with words, he led with actions. Every time, though, sparked a spiritual conversation. 

What would it look like for you and I to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, and demonstrate God's love towards them in creative and unexpected ways?

What could it look like to strategically and proactively demonstrate God's love? To create experiences, offer gifts, share invitations, recognize accomplishments, encourage the discouraged, celebrate milestones, send notes/texts/emails that communicate God's love?

Before we start spiritual conversations, it's important that we live the message. I love Young Life's phrase: "Earn the right to be heard." 

Let's be so serious about demonstrating the love of God before we start talking about it. Talk, we know, is cheap, unless reinforced with consistent behavior. By the time we're hoping for our conversations to turn towards spiritual matters, wouldn't it be cool if our lives sparked such curiosity that people responded to our questions with, "You know what, I was dying to ask you about that....!"?

What's something you could do- right now- to demonstrate God's infectious love towards someone else? Take a few seconds to get quiet, and ask God WHO and WHAT....and don't wait for the WHEN because it's right now.

I want to know the real YOU. I want to know what makes you tick- what fires you up, what irritates you, what makes you laugh and what makes you cry. I want to know if you've had a good day. And why. I want to know if you had a bad day. I care about YOU. 

So do people who you're intentionally becoming friends with to express the love of God towards. They are NOT interested in a contrived, everything is happy, life-is-always-good version of you. They aren't interested in you "becoming all things to all people" by pretending to like things that you don't have any interest in, or doing things that you don't like to do. They want to know the real YOU. 

In this third post of a six part series on Starting Everyday Spiritual Conversations, we're going to take a look at what it means to live your life in an authentically passionate, honest and humble way, and allow God to use you to impact others. 

If it's true that you and I are "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:14) then apparently it's no accident that we are the way that we are. If it's true that God knew us before we were born, and "prepared us to do good works" (Ephesians 2:10) 

And if we are the way that we are then we must have purpose and a design behind who we are: personality, sense of humor, skin color, born into our family, at this point in time, with our unique story. 

We are the way we are because God wants us to be the way we are.

And if we are made the way we are then God must want to use us the way we are. 

Not the way somebody else is. Not the way I feel like I'm supposed to be. 

Just me. 


Just you. 

Do the people around you know the real YOU? Do they know how quirky and weird you are? Do they know what you want to do with your life? Do they know who you're voting for? Do they know who your favorite team is? Or what your favorite movie is? Do they know about what or who has hurt you?

We don't really become friends with other people until we start letting our guards down. (That's why road trips, retreats, and living together are so bonding- we just can't keep up the pretending for very long). 

God wants to use you. Not the you that you think you're supposed to be. Not the you that you think other people want you to be.

You. 

Awhile back I was spending time with a recent grad early into his career and helping him think through his new rhythms of life and brainstorm how to continue to grow in his relationship with God. 

His challenge: long, long hours at least five days per week if not six, and constant busyness and demands for his attention. In college, he had long hours of uninterrupted prayer times, spiritual conversations with friends, Bible studies, retreats, weekly worship services, and more. Now, he could barely wake up in time to shower, shave, and get out the door- getting home at night was about finishing the laundry and paying bills. 

Can you relate?

Christians in the workplace share a common barrier to staying connected with God: time. There are deadlines, stress, projects, meetings and interruptions. 

Carving out space before or after work to sit down, breathe slowly, meditate on scripture, and connect with God's presence through prayer is also extremely challenging. There are distractions and noises and sleepiness and traffic. 

So what options do you have? Quit your job and enter a monastery? Tell your boss that from now on you need to focus on spiritual growth, so you'll be taking a half hour longer at lunch to pray and study the Bible?

Maybe.

Back to my friend. When we were trying to figure out his life and schedule, one thought popped up: 

I said, "How many times a day do you go to the bathroom?" (yes, he looked at me strangely)

"Oh, maybe five, six, or seven times over the course of a long day. Why?"

I said, "Well, let's assume you have a couple minutes every time you go. Seems to me like that would be a great time to have a 'moment' with God."

So began the Potty Quiet Times. 

A couple minutes a few times a day to take a deep breath, invite God's presence in, catch up your heart to where it's been over the past couple of hours, maybe repeat a scripture verse a couple times (or maybe even read a quick, short devotional on your phone), and invite God to lead you and guide you for the next couple hours.  

Maybe it's a little unconventional, a little profane even. Or maybe a little creative...

Wuddya think?

In a negative sense, there's a lot of pressure in being a Christian. There's pressure to do a lot of stuff: go to church, read your Bible, pray for your friends and family, pressure to give money, pressure to serve, pressure to be kind, pressure to be moral...

And when you start your first job or internship, there's pressure to be a spiritual influence on those around you and be a leader. You might have Christian friends or a pastor ask you: So, who are you reaching out to at work? Or, has anyone accepted Christ yet in  your office?

But I'm not so sure God wanted it to feel like pressure for us. Do you think Jesus felt pressure?

Here's what Jesus said about the kind of pressure he felt to fulfill his calling:

“‘Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.’ ” John 5:19-20

I don't think he felt pressure in the same way you and I feel it. He seemed at peace, unhurried and unburdened in his interactions and the way he kept his relationships.

Here are some practical ways you and I can get into the same flow that Jesus had:

1. Pray less but more frequently: I know, it sounds mildly heretical, but what I mean is what if you experimented by praying more often throughout the day, like every hour for a minute or two, rather than try to cram all of your prayer requests in on your commute to work. It might shift prayer for you to be more relational and conversational, and you might start catching glimpses of the things God is up to throughout the day. Your life with God would become less compartmentalized.

2. Think like a Spiritual Director: a good spiritual director recognizes that his/her role is to help you identify the movements of God within and around you, and respond to God appropriately with courage and faith. They ask great questions like: Where are you sensing God draw you into relationship with someone? Where are you feeling his invitation to bless someone around you?

3. Use your imagination: what are the things that God is into? Probably things like: being kind, using your words to encourage others, helping people experience acceptance, being a source of healing, working with excellence....when you start living out of a sense of imagination, I think we start catching more glimpses of what God is up to. 

What do you need to start or stop doing to experience less pressure but more connection with God?

It's rare to find someone who would admit to not wanting to experience God more regularly in daily and normal life. The fact is, experiencing the presence of God is what fuels our faith and ignites our passion for the things that God cares about. Being used by Him, seeing Him work through your prayers, receiving moments of supernatural coincidence- we hunger and thirst for more of those.

For many, though, there's a false belief about where and when we can experience God the most. We all tend to believe, and the message is reinforced at church, that God's presence dwells more in religious settings: worship services, retreats, quiet prayer times, small group meetings, housebuilding projects, etc. 

Unless Jesus was lying (not a great premise to get yourself trapped in...!), his presence was and is available fully at all times and in all places. 

But what about in the workplace? 

Is it possible to experience God-- in a cubicle?

To encounter God and hear his voice-- while in a meeting?

To see the fingerprints of God-- while staring at your computer screen?

To experience more of God's presence, we need to be watchful and expectant for Him to show up. Good, proper theology (thinking about God) would say God's presence is everywhere, always. To connect and tap into it, we must be mindful of him, consciously becoming more aware of Him and inviting Him to reveal Himself to you. 

Many people have found it helpful to shoot for the Brother Lawrence or Apostle Paul goal of "praying without ceasing"- consciously offering more and more of your mind and heart to be tuned into the frequency of God. 

An intermediate step could be to appoint regular times to pause and pray throughout the day, similar to what monks would do in a monastery. Put an alarm on your phone, or an appointment in your calendar. 

A simple prayer and a minute or two might be all you need to reorient yourself to God, reconnect with His presence, and become more aware of what He's up to. I would HIGHLY recommend Pete Scazzero's website Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, specifically his guides for daily prayer in your everyday life. 

What works for you to connect with God's presence more often and more powerfully? What do you need to do next?