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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Keeping with my routine of Matthew Kelly books, here are my notes for this book:
Life doesn't unfold as we plan. It is important to routinely check within ourselves if our life is "working" because God speaks to us through satisfaction and dissatisfaction.
If things are not working, it is time to stop muddling along.
The first place to check is our spirituality. We need to pay attention to our soul because it is our humanity an dit re-orients us to what matters the most.
We nurture our spirituality through a habit of daily prayer.
In Prayer we learn who we are why we are here, what matters the most, and what matters the least.
There is always a storm brewing on the horizon and life doesn't go how we plan.
A tree with strong roots can weather almost any storm and bears great fruit.
Questions are an important part of the spiritual journey so don't ignore them.
The essential practical virtue of prayer is patience... love is patient.
"Why do I pray?" - well because I can't thrive without it.
Our lives change when our habits change.
The being of something changeable (humans) is not only what it is, but also what it still can be.
Let nobody discourage you from your daily communion with the one who created you.
We are called to continuous conversion
Some people have a conversion experience because they encounter tragedy and grasp for God to survive. Others experience conversion because things are going well but still they sense that something is missing.
The question that will change your life: "God, what do you think I should do?"
This elevates the only opinion that truly matters.
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 5:13-16)
"Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for it will be anxious for itself" (Matthew 6:25-34)
"First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brothers" (Matthew 7:1-5)
"If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask?" (Matthew 7:7-12)
Daily prayer is life's essential habit, laying a foundation upon which many other great practical and spiritual habits can form.
The disciples traveled with Jesus for 3 years and what did they ask for? They asked Jesus to teach them to pray. In a way their request was the same as Solomon's, prayer is a pathway to wisdom.
Birds were made to fly, fish were made to swim, and human beings were made to love God and eachother.
Rather than going to bed without praying because you don't have the will or the energy to pray for ten minutes, you can shorten the experience, because yes, one single minute can have a huge impact. Never let what you can't do interfere with what you can do. God works wonders.
The Prayer Process:
1. Gratitude
2. Awareness, identify weakness
3. Significant Moments
4. Peace, ask for forgiveness
5. Freedom, to change your life
6. Others, lift them up
7. Finish with the Our Father
Commit yourself to this practice for ten minutes each day and you will advance spiritually like never before. This prayer process liberates us from living unconsciously.
It is easy to fall into the trap of merely thinking during prayer. When you become aware of yourself doing that, return to actually speaking with God.
For what is a friend? Anyone who wants what is best for you and actively seeks to help you become all God created you to be --the very best version of yourself.
Conversation is the heart of all dynamic relationships. Life is about relationships.
Ultimately, a life with prayer is simply better than a life without prayer. Just take it one day at a time. Once a day gets away from us, we tend to go into survival mode. Begin your day with prayer, however brief, to give it direction. Get to a point where you would rather get up an hour early, rather than give up your morning prayer.
Mastering the basics is the secret to success.
The image you hold of God profoundly affects the image you hold of yourself because we are told we are made in the image and likeness of God. Ask God to reveal himself to you, to re-align how you perceive him with who he really is.
There is power in the name of Jesus. What you call someone and how you treat their name reveals how you know them and what you think of them. The names we use are a sign of intimacy. Find which names help you best connect during prayer.
The first 21 days of a new habit are like the launching of a space shuttle which requires 96% of it;s fuel on the first leg. Once it is launched, it can continue with lower effort.
Do not set course for the day alone- seek the wise counsel of your captain.
Make a promise and keep that promise!!
Children resist routine, complain about it, wrestle with it, but ultimately need it, and it brings the best out in them.
Life itself is a pilgrimage. We are just passing through this place.
The longest journey we can make in this life is from the head to the heart. Prayer allows us to balance the heart and mind so that we can live in wisdom.
The spiritual life is made up of seasons, and even in the darkest moments it is important to remind ourselves that spring will come again.
Begin the conversation
Turn from thinking type of prayer to the relational style of prayer. Turn the focus over.
Stop asking God for what we want and start asking what he wants.
To want anything other than the will of God is foolish and futile.
Stop doing prayer and start giving yourself over to it. Show up and let God do what he intends to. Let go and focus on being with him in carefree timelessness.
Transform everything into prayer.
We are continuously in his presence. It is a way of life. To pray is to live in the presence of God.
"remember, I am with you always" (Matthew 28:20)
Offer each task, one at a time, to God as a prayer for an intention with love.
If we do this, then by simply meeting someone else, we are ushering the into the presence of God and sharing his love, joy, peace, and wisdom with them. "Lord make me an instrument of your peace"
As the journey goes on, you may realize that you need less and less. We need so little.
Every unnecessary thing we burden ourselves with creates an obstacle between us and God. Every little thing, however small and inconsequential, makes us less available to God.
We often need to learn lessons more than once. Practice emptying yourself so God can fill you up.
Filling yourself with things of the world is like drinking salt water to quench your thirst.
Make space for God in your life. Don't crowd him out with things that don't matter.
Just keep showing up.
It is important to remember that God does all the heavy lifting in the spiritual life. All he asks us to do is open ourselves to him and co-operate.
Be mindful that the spiritual journey is not a straight line. Learn from the steps that may be backwards.
The genius of God is evident in laughter. Laughter is medicine for the mind, body, and soul in many miraculous ways.
Thirteen guys spending all that time together traversing with Jesus... There must have been some epic moments of humor.
Never underestimate how impactful some of the small things God calls you to do may end up being.
Ask God to draw you deeper into the mysteries of the spiritual life and it will change your life forever.
The culture prefers to keep people unthinking, unconscious, unaware, and unavailable to God, because people in this state are easily manipulated. The spiritual life is a constant invitation to go beyond the shallow and superficial offerings of this world and seek the deeper places. Jesus instructed the disciples to let down their nets in the deep water and despite their previous work and human protests, they caught too many fish to number. We are all yearning for this type of catch in our life. It doesn't happen in the shallow water.
Children desire to delight their parents.
In chapter eight of Proverbs, King Solomon wrote about creation and wisdom, and how God delights in simply being with his sons and daughters.
In relationships, there is time to talk about ordinary things, serious matters, and a time to simply just be together in wordless togetherness.
Busy is not your friend. It's not just that we are busy, but that we are busy with all the wrong things. Busyness may be the main obstacle between us and God that we face in modern day. The devil prefers the unstated daily distraction of "busy." Overwhelmed is the symptom, Busyness is the disease.
When you are working on the right things, there is a great sense of satisfaction in that tiredness at the end of the day. When you do nothing of importance, that tiredness is heavy and draining. God did not create us to be weary. (Matthew 11:28-30)
Daily prayer is a great opportunity to decide what commitments to agree to and which to graciously decline. Sit with God and go through your commitments.
Prayer is the antidote for the poison of busy. It brings our lives back into focus.
Dance in the rain, play in the mud, lose track of time and maybe then you will find yourself lost in God and found once and for all.
Life doesn't unfold as we plan. It is important to routinely check within ourselves if our life is "working" because God speaks to us through satisfaction and dissatisfaction.
If things are not working, it is time to stop muddling along.
The first place to check is our spirituality. We need to pay attention to our soul because it is our humanity an dit re-orients us to what matters the most.
We nurture our spirituality through a habit of daily prayer.
In Prayer we learn who we are why we are here, what matters the most, and what matters the least.
There is always a storm brewing on the horizon and life doesn't go how we plan.
A tree with strong roots can weather almost any storm and bears great fruit.
Questions are an important part of the spiritual journey so don't ignore them.
The essential practical virtue of prayer is patience... love is patient.
"Why do I pray?" - well because I can't thrive without it.
Our lives change when our habits change.
The being of something changeable (humans) is not only what it is, but also what it still can be.
Let nobody discourage you from your daily communion with the one who created you.
We are called to continuous conversion
Some people have a conversion experience because they encounter tragedy and grasp for God to survive. Others experience conversion because things are going well but still they sense that something is missing.
The question that will change your life: "God, what do you think I should do?"
This elevates the only opinion that truly matters.
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 5:13-16)
"Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for it will be anxious for itself" (Matthew 6:25-34)
"First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brothers" (Matthew 7:1-5)
"If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask?" (Matthew 7:7-12)
Daily prayer is life's essential habit, laying a foundation upon which many other great practical and spiritual habits can form.
The disciples traveled with Jesus for 3 years and what did they ask for? They asked Jesus to teach them to pray. In a way their request was the same as Solomon's, prayer is a pathway to wisdom.
Birds were made to fly, fish were made to swim, and human beings were made to love God and eachother.
Rather than going to bed without praying because you don't have the will or the energy to pray for ten minutes, you can shorten the experience, because yes, one single minute can have a huge impact. Never let what you can't do interfere with what you can do. God works wonders.
The Prayer Process:
1. Gratitude
2. Awareness, identify weakness
3. Significant Moments
4. Peace, ask for forgiveness
5. Freedom, to change your life
6. Others, lift them up
7. Finish with the Our Father
Commit yourself to this practice for ten minutes each day and you will advance spiritually like never before. This prayer process liberates us from living unconsciously.
It is easy to fall into the trap of merely thinking during prayer. When you become aware of yourself doing that, return to actually speaking with God.
For what is a friend? Anyone who wants what is best for you and actively seeks to help you become all God created you to be --the very best version of yourself.
Conversation is the heart of all dynamic relationships. Life is about relationships.
Ultimately, a life with prayer is simply better than a life without prayer. Just take it one day at a time. Once a day gets away from us, we tend to go into survival mode. Begin your day with prayer, however brief, to give it direction. Get to a point where you would rather get up an hour early, rather than give up your morning prayer.
Mastering the basics is the secret to success.
The image you hold of God profoundly affects the image you hold of yourself because we are told we are made in the image and likeness of God. Ask God to reveal himself to you, to re-align how you perceive him with who he really is.
There is power in the name of Jesus. What you call someone and how you treat their name reveals how you know them and what you think of them. The names we use are a sign of intimacy. Find which names help you best connect during prayer.
The first 21 days of a new habit are like the launching of a space shuttle which requires 96% of it;s fuel on the first leg. Once it is launched, it can continue with lower effort.
Do not set course for the day alone- seek the wise counsel of your captain.
Make a promise and keep that promise!!
Children resist routine, complain about it, wrestle with it, but ultimately need it, and it brings the best out in them.
Life itself is a pilgrimage. We are just passing through this place.
The longest journey we can make in this life is from the head to the heart. Prayer allows us to balance the heart and mind so that we can live in wisdom.
The spiritual life is made up of seasons, and even in the darkest moments it is important to remind ourselves that spring will come again.
Begin the conversation
Turn from thinking type of prayer to the relational style of prayer. Turn the focus over.
Stop asking God for what we want and start asking what he wants.
To want anything other than the will of God is foolish and futile.
Stop doing prayer and start giving yourself over to it. Show up and let God do what he intends to. Let go and focus on being with him in carefree timelessness.
Transform everything into prayer.
We are continuously in his presence. It is a way of life. To pray is to live in the presence of God.
"remember, I am with you always" (Matthew 28:20)
Offer each task, one at a time, to God as a prayer for an intention with love.
If we do this, then by simply meeting someone else, we are ushering the into the presence of God and sharing his love, joy, peace, and wisdom with them. "Lord make me an instrument of your peace"
As the journey goes on, you may realize that you need less and less. We need so little.
Every unnecessary thing we burden ourselves with creates an obstacle between us and God. Every little thing, however small and inconsequential, makes us less available to God.
We often need to learn lessons more than once. Practice emptying yourself so God can fill you up.
Filling yourself with things of the world is like drinking salt water to quench your thirst.
Make space for God in your life. Don't crowd him out with things that don't matter.
Just keep showing up.
It is important to remember that God does all the heavy lifting in the spiritual life. All he asks us to do is open ourselves to him and co-operate.
Be mindful that the spiritual journey is not a straight line. Learn from the steps that may be backwards.
The genius of God is evident in laughter. Laughter is medicine for the mind, body, and soul in many miraculous ways.
Thirteen guys spending all that time together traversing with Jesus... There must have been some epic moments of humor.
Never underestimate how impactful some of the small things God calls you to do may end up being.
Ask God to draw you deeper into the mysteries of the spiritual life and it will change your life forever.
The culture prefers to keep people unthinking, unconscious, unaware, and unavailable to God, because people in this state are easily manipulated. The spiritual life is a constant invitation to go beyond the shallow and superficial offerings of this world and seek the deeper places. Jesus instructed the disciples to let down their nets in the deep water and despite their previous work and human protests, they caught too many fish to number. We are all yearning for this type of catch in our life. It doesn't happen in the shallow water.
Children desire to delight their parents.
In chapter eight of Proverbs, King Solomon wrote about creation and wisdom, and how God delights in simply being with his sons and daughters.
In relationships, there is time to talk about ordinary things, serious matters, and a time to simply just be together in wordless togetherness.
Busy is not your friend. It's not just that we are busy, but that we are busy with all the wrong things. Busyness may be the main obstacle between us and God that we face in modern day. The devil prefers the unstated daily distraction of "busy." Overwhelmed is the symptom, Busyness is the disease.
When you are working on the right things, there is a great sense of satisfaction in that tiredness at the end of the day. When you do nothing of importance, that tiredness is heavy and draining. God did not create us to be weary. (Matthew 11:28-30)
Daily prayer is a great opportunity to decide what commitments to agree to and which to graciously decline. Sit with God and go through your commitments.
Prayer is the antidote for the poison of busy. It brings our lives back into focus.
Dance in the rain, play in the mud, lose track of time and maybe then you will find yourself lost in God and found once and for all.
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
inspiring
slow-paced
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
I liked it! There were a lot of underlines to be written and places to reflect on, but there was also a ton of repetition, which felt a bit much at times.
I feel like giving this two stars instead of three, but that seems too harsh for a well-intentioned book.
…and a few minutes have passed and I’ve updated my rating to two stars. This book was repetitive and could have been condensed into a blog post. There were some useful parts, but I need to look for another perspective on this type of stuff - the second Jesus is mentioned, I start skimming.
…and a few minutes have passed and I’ve updated my rating to two stars. This book was repetitive and could have been condensed into a blog post. There were some useful parts, but I need to look for another perspective on this type of stuff - the second Jesus is mentioned, I start skimming.
So I honestly gave up on Matthew Kelly books a few years ago because I felt they were incredibly repetitive. This one was given to me and I decided to give him another try. There was some repetition in there from previous books I read but it also had some new insightful knowledge, about what it measn to be too busy and how that takes us away from God. And also how to pray while reading the Scriptures. I really enjoyed it!
