I recently contributed to a BBC radio documentary on healing and disability. Here’s a written summary article, and you’ll also find a link in there to listen to the programme. There’ll be a slightly longer version on Radio 4 in a few weeks time.
Oh, and there’s a picture of me driving a sports car through the pearly gates, which has to be worth a look!
Posted by Lyndall Bywater on 28/04/2019
https://lyndallbywater.net/2019/04/28/disability-and-healing/
Chapter 12: Resilience; Part 2: Growing a Relationship
This is the final episode in the podcast series! I’ve thoroughly enjoyed doing these … almost as much as I enjoyed writing the book … and I hope they’ve been helpful to you.
This last one is me getting to the nub of things. If I could leave you with one lasting thought, it’s the contents of this podcast.
Thanks so much for joining me on this journey. May your prayer life grow from strength to strength, and may you always know God loves you, just as you are. If that knowledge sinks deep within you, the whole business of prayer gets a million times easier and more exciting. (That’s not what the podcast says, by the way … that’s just another equally important thing to grasp!)
And to all of you, a very happy Easter!
Posted by Lyndall Bywater on 21/04/2019
https://lyndallbywater.net/2019/04/21/lent-bookclub-part-26-the-nub-of-it-all/
Chapter 11: Warfare; Part 1: Opposition Strategies
Why on earth is prayer so hard? I don’t mean when you sit down to do it (though that bit can be tricky), I mean the business of building it into your life … of finding a rhythm and connection that fits and brings joy. One of the reasons is that it is opposed. The Bible seems to suggest that since time immemorial the enemy has been seeking to sow alienation between God and humankind. Don’t get me wrong … we’re quite capable of messing up our own lives … but he does seem to have a vested interest in stopping us from truly finding the joy of prayer. Perhaps that’s because humans who find the ultimate freedom and wonder of prayer are a force to be reckoned with.
So I’m sharing a couple of thoughts on the Garden of Eden story, and musing on how we can fight back against the effort to alienate us from God and steal the joy of prayer.
Please share your thoughts and insights in the comments if you’d like to.
Posted by Lyndall Bywater on 14/04/2019
https://lyndallbywater.net/2019/04/14/lent-bookclub-part-23-alienation-and-homecoming/
Chapter 8: Restoration; Part 2: Forgiveness
Hmmmmm … this is a huge topic to tackle, either in a 2000 word chapter or a podcast, but I hope these are helpful thoughts. I wanted to talk a bit about why and how prayer can make it easier to forgive, so I’ve shared with you the three things I try to do in prayer when I’m finding forgiveness hard.
Note there’s a disclaimer in the podcast because these three techniques aren’t meant to make forgiveness easy, and they’re certainly not meant to minimise those situations where you’ve been very deeply wounded. If that’s the case, your path to forgiveness will be far more complex than this podcast would imply.
But if you’re wanting to get better at the daily work of forgiving and moving on, these things just might be helpful.
https://anchor.fm/lyndall-bywater/episodes/Thoughts-on-forgiveness-Chapter-8-Part-2-e3lnp5
Posted by Lyndall Bywater on 07/04/2019
https://lyndallbywater.net/2019/04/07/lent-bookclub-part-18-thoughts-on-forgiveness/
Chapter 8: Restoration; Part 1: Inner Healing
It’s Chapter 8 and we’re getting into some deep places here … because when you pray, you invite the Spirit into the depths of yourself, and that can have uncomfortable yet glorious consequences. The other day, in my podcast on “Getting life into focus”, I mentioned that God is always at work in us doing some kind of renovation. This podcast is about how we know what that renovation work is … which particular things is he working on in us at the moment … and how we can partner with that process in prayer. It’s about how to bring our wounds into our prayer times without going mad, without naval gazing in an unhelpful way, and without overwhelming ourselves and getting lost in the difficult stuff. I hope it helps!
It’s a very personal subject, but if you fancy sharing thoughts in the comments, please do.
https://anchor.fm/lyndall-bywater/episodes/Wound-management-Chapter-8-Part-1-e3l4dt
Posted by Lyndall Bywater on 04/04/2019
https://lyndallbywater.net/2019/04/04/lent-bookclub-part-17-wound-management/
Here’s a link to an interview I did for UCB a couple of weeks ago. It was a long chat – almost an hour – and it covered a vast range of subjects … everything from white canes to grief and disappointment!
Posted by Lyndall Bywater on 01/04/2019
https://lyndallbywater.net/2019/04/01/an-interview-i-did-for-ucb2-radio/
Chapter 4: Stillness; Part 1: Making Space for God
Stillness is definitely one of the aspects of prayer which people think they’re no good at. Praying on the go is something we tend to think we can manage, but stopping and stilling ourselves for any length of time feels nigh on impossible for some of us. And there’s a good reason for that. Stilling our bodies may be relatively straightforward, but stilling our souls is a whole different ballgame … mostly because our souls would usually rather be caught up in said exciting ballgame than sitting still. In fact, the psalmist wasn’t a million miles off when he (or she, perhaps?) Likened the soul to a toddler (Ps 131:2). Listen to the podcast for more on that subject.
I hope you get chance for a bit of stillness over the next couple of days. Feel free to comment and tell us all what you learn as you give it a try.
Posted by Lyndall Bywater on 21/03/2019
https://lyndallbywater.net/2019/03/21/lent-bookclub-part-9-soul-parenting/
Chapter 1: Encounter; Part 2: Heart to Heart
This evening I’ve been thinking about being honest when we pray … honest about how we’re feeling, for instance. That’s handy as it’s what this second part of chapter 1 is all about. But why does it matter? Doesn’t God know how we’re doing before we know it ourselves? I’ve come to the conclusion that there’s something we miss out on when we don’t stop to acknowledge how we feel … when we don’t stop to tell God what is going on in our hearts. And that’s what this podcast is about. Oh, and of course the Heart to Heart section has even more to get your teeth into.
If you do the “Trying it” activity with the photograph, by the way, please do pop in here and tell us how it was for you. Some people find it challenging and others find it exhilarating.
https://anchor.fm/lyndall-bywater/episodes/Deep-calls-to-deep-Chapter-1-Part-2-e3eloa/Main-abl2d8
Posted by Lyndall Bywater on 13/03/2019
https://lyndallbywater.net/2019/03/13/lent-bookclub-part-4-deep-calls-to-deep/
Chapter 1: Encounter; Part 1: Face to Face
Today we’re revisiting some of the basics of Christian prayer. There’s a lot of prayer out there, but Christian Prayer has some distinctives that are encouraging to get hold of. Have a read of today’s section of the book to see what some of those distinctives are, and listen to this podcast to hear me debunking some of the unhelpful ideas we sometimes develop around prayer.
But most of all, take a moment today to celebrate the astonishing truth that God is not far off. God is real, present, and close to you every moment of your day, if you want him to be.
And if you’ve got a moment to leave a comment, tell us about a time when you knew God was right there with you. What was happening and how did you know he was there?
Happy Monday!
https://anchor.fm/lyndall-bywater/episodes/God-is-real-Chapter-1-Part-1-e3e1d8/Main-abhi6n
Posted by Lyndall Bywater on 11/03/2019
https://lyndallbywater.net/2019/03/11/lent-bookclub-part-3-god-is-real/
Prayer in the Making Lent Bookclub: more thoughts from the Introduction chapter
Welcome back! I hope you’re enjoying thinking about your bests and worsts in prayer. Don’t forget to share your thoughts with us. I’ll give you this one as an encouragement: a couple of days ago, my brain was so dead when I sat down to pray that I ended up doing an online M&S order! And since I’ve banned myself from feeling guilty about prayer, I am just concluding that these trousers (which have just arrived) will be the most blessed trousers I’ve ever worn!
Maybe that’s what set me thinking about how important is for us to know that God wants to be with us. Even when we get so weary in prayer that we resort to the online shopping app, he still loves us and enjoys our company. (I have a hunch he quite likes a bit of shopping too!)
And if we know how much he wants to remain in us (john 15), then it changes how we pray. When we know we’re utterly known and loved by the one we’re talking to, it brings prayer to life in a new way. The prayer practices in this book are all good things to be learning, but they transform into vibrant encounters when we know we’re not talking to a distant acquaintance, a churlish parent or a task-focused boss, but to the one who said “I want to be right there with you – in you – for all time.
Listen to the podcast to hear me talking a bit more about that. And please do share your thoughts in the comments. There’s a little interactive exercise to do at the end of the podcast, so you might like to pop back in and tell us how it went for you.
Posted by Lyndall Bywater on 08/03/2019
https://lyndallbywater.net/2019/03/08/lent-bookclub-part-2-god-wants-to-be-with-you/
Lyndall Bywater 