The sports world is very competitive, and social media doesn’t make it any easier. It is so easy to lose focus on what really matters:
1 - Having fun
2 - Getting better 3 - Learning how to compete
4 - Learning how to manage adversity
When I lose focus, I fall into a mental pit, and I can stay there for hours, days, and sometimes weeks.
@AussieDave is an Instagram account that I go to when I am struggling with my focus. In a recent post, he shared how to pray like Jesus. This is an idea I hope to start doing when I need to regain my focus on what is important.
Below is his post.
ENJOY!!
Want to know how to pray like Jesus?
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Do you ever wake up feeling like your world is cold and foggy and bleak?
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The stress of work, unresolved issues at home, sickness, tiredness, financial pressure and SO many other things can leave you flat when you wake up in the morning, right?!
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To help take the focus off themselves and on to God, Jewish believers recite a specific prayer the moment they wake up.
The prayer is called the “Shema”, (שמע, pronounced “shay’-mah”), which is a Hebrew word meaning “hear”, and also “obey”. The word “shema” implies action.
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It’s the word Jesus would have referred to when he said “whoever has ears, let them HEAR”, which was his way of telling his followers to not just listen to his words—but to obey them too!
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And the Hebrew word we translate as “ears” in the Bible is “ozen”, (אוזן, pronounced “oh-zen”), which also refers to someone who receives a “divine revelation”. And when you get a revelation from God, you need to do something about it!
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So, as a Jewish man, Jesus would have prayed the “Shema” prayer first thing every morning when he opened his eyes as way of committing himself to loving God and obeying his Word that day. He would also have prayed the “shema” just before he fell asleep every night.
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Pastor @CraigGroeschel says that “…when you increase your focus, you decrease your options” … so I wonder how much better your mornings would be if the first thing you focussed on was God?
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What if, the moment you woke up, you committed yourself to loving God and to obeying his word?
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One of my @Instagram Highlights is called “Key Prayer”, where you’ll find the Shema prayer written out so you can read it for yourself.
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Are you willing to pray this prayer and see how it changes your focus?
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your might." — Deuteronomy 6:4-5
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
1 - When you lose your focus, how do you regain it?
2 - Who is someone who helps you regain your focus when you lose it?
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