some thoughts on Sabbath and prayer

I sometimes listen to Pastor Alex Bryan's sermons from WWU while I get ready in the morning. I felt this sermon was especially relevant to me recently, and I thought I would share some bits and pieces of it. It is from his sermon, Until Christ is Formed in You, on Sept. 1. 

There is also a pdf form of his sermon, found here:

http://www.wwuchurch.org/site/1/docs/UntilChristIsFormedInYou.pdf

"Prayer finds particular haven in the practice of Sabbath, a full-day, once-a-week removal of the distractions of work and other "routine" activities in favor of prayerful rest, prayer-filled worship, and prayer-bathed contemplation of God. When we quiet the noise and reduce the speed of our lives, the possibility for spiritual attentiveness increases. The Bible's two renditions of the Fourth Commandment give two primary focal points for Sabbath practice: God is our Creator (Exodus 20:8-11) and God is our Re-creator (Deuteronomy 5:12-15). Put another way: Sabbath focuses on our original spiritual formation and our current spiritual re-formation. Sabbath is a gift to the mind: we can think about God; we can fixate on Jesus. And, in doing so, we should expect to become better, and more beautiful human beings. Sabbath-keeping aright causes us to become more forgiving, more loving, more generous, more peaceful, and more awake to the concerns of Jesus in our world."

"Prayer is a means to quiet our fallen mind's cursed cacophony, in order that we might discover focused, clear communion with Jesus Christ. And this is countercultural. For in our culture there is a prevailing expectation that we maintain an intense pace, an inhumane productivity, and an insensitive omnipresence, whereby mobile technology (and related multitasking) divides our attention. We can become people who are rarely fully present because we live fast, full, and fractured. In this environment, fixing our thoughts on Jesus is essentially impossible. And so we need intentionality in matters of spiritual thinking. We need the prioritized spiritual re-formation practice of prayer in order to participate in God's great mission, which is the renewal of our minds, the regeneration of our souls. We need prayer. Prayer in Sabbath. Prayer in Scripture. Prayer in fasting. Prayer in song. Prayer in journaling. Prayer in community. Prayer in service. Prayer in study. Prayer in silence. Prayer in congregation. We need prayer. We need its ability to transform our minds in the ways and means of God Almighty."