The Pursuit of God

Resources for Application

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concentration on God” that has been shown to change neuropathways in our brains, rewiring our anxious hearts toward peace and joy. 11 In sum, contemplative prayer guides us into a deeper knowledge, experience, and understanding of the love of God. Why is contemplative prayer especially needed by this generation? At least three reasons are evident: distraction, busyness, and an increasingly secular context. First, we live in an age of distraction. Money, sex, and power have always been challenging distractions to serious disciples. But the power of these distractions was exponentially increased in 2013 when a majority of North Americans became owners and operators of smartphones. What was true for North America in 2013 has become increasingly true for the entire world. Today, digital distractions abound unlike in any previous generation. A majority of the world’s population has access to encyclopedic knowledge, limitless entertainment, and sexual temptations (especially pornography) at a level never seen in earth’s history. A second reason we need contemplation is because we live in an age of busyness. A friend of mine (Hank) often remarks, “BUSY means Being Under Satan’s Yoke!” Pastor Robert Sarah understands this truth with special clarity. He grew up in Africa under a dictatorship and has described life in the West as life in a dictatorship—a dictatorship of noise. Our world no longer hears God because it is constantly speaking, at a devastating speed and volume, in order to say nothing. Modern civilization does not know how to be quiet. It holds forth in an unending monologue. . . .

11 Moreland, 97.