Spiritual Growth

Holidays or Holy Days?

Many of us have mixed feelings as Thanksgiving ends and we enter the month of December. There may be things we love about this time of year, but we may also dread the added activity to already full schedules, the stress of buying gifts and dealing with our own and other’s expectations for this season. We may long for a different experience of the days leading up to Christmas than we have had in previous years. Christview Ministries sponsored a retreat for women at the beginning of December 2006 called “Holidays or Holy Days?”  The purpose of the retreat was to give us the opportunity to think and pray about how Christ is inviting us to live in this season when we celebrate His coming and to open our hearts to receive His coming into our lives in new and surprising ways.

The retreat was of great benefit to the 20 women who participated. But we want to share the benefit more broadly, with you as you visit this website. If you have identified so far with those who have mixed feelings about “the holiday season”, you can take your own spiritual retreat with this guide.

The Main Idea

Our retreat leader was Gail Pitt, a Christian counselor and spiritual director from Old Hickory, Tennessee.  Gail led us in exploring the difference between having “expectations” for the holidays, and having an expectant heart.

Expectations are particular mental pictures of what we want to happen in these days. These pictures are created by our own longings and by influences in our culture such as greeting cards and commercials, with a dash of nostalgia in the mix.

But since we cannot control people or circumstances, our expectations are often disappointed.  We must trust that a good and loving God who always works for our best is in control to give up the expectations we clutch in our spiritual fists.

An expectant heart begins with open hands, surrendering our ideas of how things need to be.  An expectant heart is open to whatever God wants to do in our lives. 

An expectant heart is focused on the character and the promises of God, not on our ideas and plans.

An expectant heart is focused on growing in relationship with Jesus, who always wants to come into our lives more fully.

 

Guide for Prayer Time

As Gail prayed in preparation for this retreat, she was led to invite us to pray with Revelation 3:20.  The Message reads, “Look at me. I stand at the door and knock. If you hear me call and open the door, I’ll come right in and sit down to supper with you.”

Find a place to sit and get into a comfortable position.

Ask God to quiet your heart and ask Him for the grace to open the door to Jesus, and to know and feel His love.

Be generous with Him. Offer your heart to Him and receive what He longs to give you.

Read through Revelation 3:20 three times, slowly and prayerfully. Notice the words or phrases that stand out to you. When you come to these words or phrases, stop and see if God is saying something to you. When you are ready to go on, continue reading.

Once you have finished the third reading, listen for Jesus knocking on the door of your heart, calling to you. When you are ready invite Him in to sit with you, fellowship with you.

Pay attention to what He is saying, what you want to say to Him, what you are feeling as you sit with Him. Share your heart with Him, and let Him speak to your heart.

Thank Jesus for this time you have spent together.  You may want to write some things down about this time of prayer so you can continue the dialogue with God. You might want to share your conversation with the Lord with a Christian friend.

Ideas for Keeping the Christ-Focus

How can we more frequently hear Jesus call and knock?  How can we keep the door open so we can have that experience of sharing Life and growing in relationship with Jesus?

At the conclusion of the retreat, I thought about some simple, practical approaches we can take, even during these very full and busy days leading up to Christmas.  I share these with the hope that they will either be something God invites you to do, or will stimulate your own ideas.