An Orchard of Delight
*Watch or listen to the corresponding message here.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, I celebrate you with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength. With everything I have, I lift my hands in the air and envision praising you not just on your place on the throne over the universe, but on your rightful place on the throne of my heart. May the rule of your Kingdom of Light last forever and ever! Amen!
Focus
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
(1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, ESV)
(1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, ESV)
Devotion
I love to think of who we are as believers as gardeners of eternal life. We plant the seed of the Word in the hearts of those who will hear. We water this seed. Sometimes we water, and we water, and we water, and we wait eagerly for a tiny sprout to show. Even the tiniest revelation of life kindles our heart—oftentimes setting it on fire! And that’s just a shoot… wait for the fruit!
While God, absolutely, moves everything to grow, we are his hands and feet in the garden.
In my mind, prayer is the most direct power that activates God who gives life to it all.
My first day at All City was on Father's Day back in 2022. I was instantly hooked. I met with Joe that week and asked if I could start showing up in the morning to help out. He was stoked, and said of course! A few months after that I was meeting up with our Young Adult crew. In my eyes, we were a bunch of YAs super hungry for the Word, super happy to be with each other, and super honored to be children of God. We were terrifically rich soil for the seed of the Word to be planted, and for God to grow.
In hindsight, at the beginning of our YA group I, honestly, did not know what I was getting into. I had never seen so clearly what happens when the seed of the Word is planted, watered, and grown. I was just looking at our group as a place to learn stuff about God and the Bible and have a good time. But that was a little over a year ago.
A few months back Matì asked me if I would like to be one of the leaders of the YA. I thought about it, prayed about it, and said yes! What was once a place for me to learn about God and the Bible became a place where I was now helping to shepherd a flock. Not that we weren’t praying over the YAs before, but my prayer life kicked up a notch, and became more intentional towards our group.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 says to “pray without ceasing.” In other words, always be talking to God. Talk to him about everything! Your day. Your night. Work. Ups and downs. Friends. Family. Loved ones. Enemies. Strangers. Everything. When it came to our YAs I, as well as the other YA leaders and everyone else, were often talking to God about our group. We prayed for love, for life, for provision, for struggles, and so much more. We prayed in celebration of the movements of God. We prayed thanks for the peace that surpasses all understanding. We prayed for blessings. We prayed without ceasing.
God gives life to the seed to grow. God also partners with us to cultivate that seed, to work and keep it, and to nurture it. Today, a little over a year since our YA group started to meet—as a river of love and admiration flows out of my mouth when I think about our young adults, rendering me speechless—I am floored. The love our young adults have for God. The love our young adults have for each other. The love our young adults have for the world. It’s breathtaking. Without a doubt in my mind, our prayers were answered.
Sometimes we don’t know what the future is going to look like. I’d never been part of a YA group before and had never really paid attention to what happens when the seed of the Word is planted, watered, and grown. We might feel like we don’t know what to pray for. We might feel like we don’t have the right words. When we lean on our own understanding, we can fall short. But we have God, and God has us.
There’s never a moment we can’t pray into God’s perfect love, perfect goodness, and perfect understanding. There’s never a moment we can’t say, “God, you take the reins because I know that you not only know what to do, you also have perfect goodness in mind.” We can always lean into and have faith in who he is. He is the Creator and Author of Life.
I knew things to pray for when I was praying for our YA, but I never could have imagined what was on the horizon. The fruit our YA produces is so full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, it’s a mouthful. It’s a glimpse, in my heart and mind, of the Garden of Eden, an orchard of delight.
Glory be to God!!
While God, absolutely, moves everything to grow, we are his hands and feet in the garden.
In my mind, prayer is the most direct power that activates God who gives life to it all.
My first day at All City was on Father's Day back in 2022. I was instantly hooked. I met with Joe that week and asked if I could start showing up in the morning to help out. He was stoked, and said of course! A few months after that I was meeting up with our Young Adult crew. In my eyes, we were a bunch of YAs super hungry for the Word, super happy to be with each other, and super honored to be children of God. We were terrifically rich soil for the seed of the Word to be planted, and for God to grow.
In hindsight, at the beginning of our YA group I, honestly, did not know what I was getting into. I had never seen so clearly what happens when the seed of the Word is planted, watered, and grown. I was just looking at our group as a place to learn stuff about God and the Bible and have a good time. But that was a little over a year ago.
A few months back Matì asked me if I would like to be one of the leaders of the YA. I thought about it, prayed about it, and said yes! What was once a place for me to learn about God and the Bible became a place where I was now helping to shepherd a flock. Not that we weren’t praying over the YAs before, but my prayer life kicked up a notch, and became more intentional towards our group.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 says to “pray without ceasing.” In other words, always be talking to God. Talk to him about everything! Your day. Your night. Work. Ups and downs. Friends. Family. Loved ones. Enemies. Strangers. Everything. When it came to our YAs I, as well as the other YA leaders and everyone else, were often talking to God about our group. We prayed for love, for life, for provision, for struggles, and so much more. We prayed in celebration of the movements of God. We prayed thanks for the peace that surpasses all understanding. We prayed for blessings. We prayed without ceasing.
God gives life to the seed to grow. God also partners with us to cultivate that seed, to work and keep it, and to nurture it. Today, a little over a year since our YA group started to meet—as a river of love and admiration flows out of my mouth when I think about our young adults, rendering me speechless—I am floored. The love our young adults have for God. The love our young adults have for each other. The love our young adults have for the world. It’s breathtaking. Without a doubt in my mind, our prayers were answered.
Sometimes we don’t know what the future is going to look like. I’d never been part of a YA group before and had never really paid attention to what happens when the seed of the Word is planted, watered, and grown. We might feel like we don’t know what to pray for. We might feel like we don’t have the right words. When we lean on our own understanding, we can fall short. But we have God, and God has us.
There’s never a moment we can’t pray into God’s perfect love, perfect goodness, and perfect understanding. There’s never a moment we can’t say, “God, you take the reins because I know that you not only know what to do, you also have perfect goodness in mind.” We can always lean into and have faith in who he is. He is the Creator and Author of Life.
I knew things to pray for when I was praying for our YA, but I never could have imagined what was on the horizon. The fruit our YA produces is so full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, it’s a mouthful. It’s a glimpse, in my heart and mind, of the Garden of Eden, an orchard of delight.
Glory be to God!!
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2 Comments
Beautiful devotional.
Thank you so much for this I truly enjoyed it . I never thought I would give my life to god and all city changed my life and I'm so thankful for god for leading me to all city and changing my life for the better . I continue to learn about god each more everyday and thank you everybody all city church .