Means Of Grace

You know, over the last couple of weeks I have not been able to shake off one phrase and that phrase is ‘Means Of Grace’.  This phrase traditionally means prayer, The Word, Communion and Baptism.  However, what has been playing on my mind is the realisation that these things, in particular prayer, The Word and  Communion are the “MEANS” God uses to pour His grace in to our lives.  If I am running on empty or grumpy or don’t want to serve my family or church family, is it perhaps that I am not using the means of Grace?  Although this might seem obvious to some, what I have found helpful about all this is how I now approach The Word, prayer and The Lord’s Table, no longer as something I want to do as it is a good thing to do or any other reason for that matter, but so that I might partake and open the door to God’s Grace in my life!!  As always, John Piper says it better than me:

God has given us means of grace. If we do not use them to their fullest advantage, our complaints against him will not stick. If we don’t eat, we starve. If we don’t drink, we get dehydrated. If we don’t exercise a muscle, it atrophies. If we don’t breathe, we suffocate. And just as there are physical means of life, there spiritual are means of grace.

So I hope that like myself, the Holy Spirit might ignite a new vision within you, that you might approach these “Means Of Grace” as the very things that help you breath Spiritually.