Session 1 • Prayer • Activation
The Jesus Creed is a term borrowed from Dr. Scot McKnight referring to what Jesus called the Greatest Commandment - the inseparable connection between loving God and loving others. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and all your strength. Love your neighbor as yourself.”
“One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
— Mark 12:29-31
Begin this prayer with silence. It may be helpful to turn the words, “Love the Lord your God” into a breath prayer, speaking it softly with each exhale to center your mind. Use these moments to redirect your heart back to God.
Recommit your affection to God. Offer your adoration and attention. Many other cravings and desires are vying for first in your heart. This is an opportunity to stop, and say with the Apostle Paul, “I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord…” (Phil. 3:8)
Your soul is the center of your being. It is where your identity and value live. Offer God your soul—your sense of security or insecurity, your sense of peace or anxiety, your grounded center or that insatiable need to prove yourself. Invite him to restore your soul. Invite God to minister directly to you. You may want to pray, “Jesus if you walked right into the room right now, what would you want to say to me?” Then, just wait and listen.
Give God your intellect and imagination. Surrender your intellect to God, offering the day’s work as an act of worship.
Give God your imagination, naming him as your highest rest and satisfaction. Whatever may be occupying your idle imagination, ask him to reveal the root desire beneath it. Then, ask him to be the source that satisfies that deep longing.
Give God your body, offering it for his glory. Give him the opportunity to invite you beyond your comfort zone to build His Kingdom. Give him the opportunity to invite you to rest if you are weary and heavy burdened.
Pay attention to your body. Where are you holding tension, anxiety, worry, discomfort, energy, or exhaustion? What is your body telling you that your mind can’t? Let your body guide your words in prayer.
Finally, consider the people you have already seen, or will see in the day’s remaining hours. Pray for strangers, co-workers, friends, and family. Ask God for the strength to love him by loving them: Serving others, speaking encouragement, forgiving offenses, giving the benefit of the doubt, and offering grace.
You are surrounded by people, but they’re not just people—they’re God’s children. Each of them uniquely made and uniquely loved by the Father. Let that simple realization send you into the afternoon.