Striking (Spiritual) Gold!

I recently stumbled upon a band of (Christian) brothers, who meet 6 days a week at 5am in the morning, to read and pray scripture together. While this practice of reading and praying scripture is not new to me, what is new (or different) about this group, is how they do it. That is, 

• online (Zoom), 
• systematic study (one book at a time, verse by verse), 
• 6 days a week (Sunday they break), 
• as a group of between 4-7 brothers, 
• 1st thing in the morning (long before the sun rise), 
• digesting (reading, meditating and praying) the word,
• for 40 minutes (a free Zoom session).

Now not everything about this is my (or most people's) cup of tea... For example, 5am is early (to say the least)... And 6 days a week is a lot (to say the least)... But these men are seasoned Kingdom warriors, and they're not going to compromise for the sake of some extra sleep, or an extra day off. Having said that, I too have struck gold in my alone times of prayer and reflection, which didn't take place at 5am either. My personal disciplines of intercession and rewriting scripture (in my own words) also, continue to be a great blessing to me (as often as I practice them).

Accordingly, as with so many things in life, the answer is perhaps somewhere in the middle... That is, what about I take a great big Holy leaf out of the lives of this band of warrior brothers, but add some personal preferences and modifications of my own. So, what about meeting 3 (instead of 6) mornings a week (Monday, Wednesday & Friday) at 5.15am (not 5am), in this way still allowing for my personal devotions, disciplines and rest times, while not having to crack the dawn either - especially in the winter! How does that sound?

But perhaps before you answer, consider this men. The truth of the matter, is that if we're not feeding (growing & strengthening) our spirit man with scripture reading and prayer anyway, we don't have a hope in hell of winning our spiritual battle. Add to this, that one of the best ways to be and make disciples, is in small groups, centered on the Word, fuelled with prayer, grounded in confession and soaked in brotherly affection. Perhaps now, it sounds more like a battleplan both you and I should be considering?

But as for me, it's spiritual gold and I'm sold!

So like any good gold digger, I'm now going to stake my own claim, and find some other brothers to come dig with me. Maybe that's you, or maybe you're going to stake a claim of your own? Either way, of 2 things we can be sure... 

1) There's a lot more gold where it comes from!

2) There's a lot more brothers not digging for it!

Strength and grace mighty man!