Gary Thomas - Sacred Pathways: Nine Ways to Connect with God

Books by Gary Thomas

Authentic Faith

Cherish

Devotions for a Sacred Marriage

Devotions for Sacred Parenting

Every Body Matters

The Glorious Pursuit

Holy Available

A Lifelong Love

Loving Him Well

Preparing Your Heart for Marriage

Pure Pleasure

Sacred Marriage

Sacred Parenting

Sacred Pathways

The Sacred Search

Thirsting for God

When to Walk Away

ZONDERVAN BOOKS

Sacred Pathways

Copyright 1996, 2010 by Gary L. Thomas

Copyright 2020 by The Center for Evangelical Spirituality

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ISBN 978-0-310-36119-0 (audio)

Epub Edition July 2020 9780310361183

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Thomas, Gary (Gary Lee), author.

Title: Sacred pathways : nine ways to connect with God / Gary Thomas.

Description: Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 2020. | Includes bibliographical references. | Summary: This revised and updated edition of Sacred Pathways will encourage you to see strengths, weaknesses, and tendencies in your devotional approach to God. Gary Thomas, bestselling author of Sacred Marriage, shows you how to improve your quiet time and personal worship life so you can strengthen your walk with the LordProvided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020022336 (print) | LCCN 2020022337 (ebook) | ISBN 9780310361176 (trade paperback) | ISBN 9780310361183 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Spiritual lifeChristianity. | God (Christianity)Worship and love. | TemperamentReligious aspectsChristianity.

Classification: LCC BV4501.3 .T47153 2020 (print) | LCC BV4501.3 (ebook) | DDC 248.4dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020022336

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020022337ISBN 978-0-310-36117-6 (softcover)

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For Allison and Kelsey and Graham
may you open
the windows of your hearts
to Gods love.

CONTENTS

I d like to thank several people for reviewing this manuscript, especially Frederica Mathewes-Green, Dr. Brian Newman, Lisa Thomas, the Reverend Brian Thorstad, and Janet Thoma. Their comments have made a significant contribution to this book. I was well served by the Zondervan staff, especially John Sloan and Dirk Buursma.

Id also like to thank the many people who have sat through seminars and offered their suggestions to add to this material.

V aluable lessons about spirituality can come at the strangest times. An ear-popping flight from Washington, D.C., to Seattle, Washington, taught me a lesson Ill not soon forget. Just before I was about to embark on the trip, I came down with a severe head cold. My sinuses act up when I fly, even if Im feeling well, so I knew I needed to get some help. Since I had just moved to Virginia, I hadnt bothered to find a doctor, so a coworker recommended an outpatient care clinic.

Nothing about the clinics appearance looked professional or gave me peace of mind. I had serious reservations about the care I would receive, but I didnt have time to go anywhere else, so I did my best to explain my dilemma to the doctor, waited for his prescription, and left.

When I got home, my wife asked me, What did the doctor say?

I dont know, I responded. I was so sick I couldnt understand him.

Her eyebrows shot up. Well, what did he prescribe?

I dont know. I cant read the writing.

What kind of clinic was this?

I dont want to know, I said. I have to leave town tomorrow.

The flight the next day was one of the most miserable flights of my life. It takes about five hours to fly from Washington, D.C., to Seattle, but I was certain that my then thirty-year-old body had turned forty-five by the time I landed. My head felt like it weighed about fifty pounds.

I dutifully took the medication as it was prescribed and expected my ears to clear a bit by the next day, but they didnt. I wouldnt even be able to speak clearly if I didnt get some help, so after a day or two, I stopped in a Portland, Oregon, clinic, hoping to obtain more relief. The new doctor put me at ease. My head had cleared enough that I could understand what he was talking about. When he learned what had been prescribed for me in Virginia, his jaw dropped. I dont know what that doctor was thinking, but I cant imagine prescribing this medicine for your ailment. Apparently this doctor knows just one or two medicines and is prescribing the same one for virtually everything.

This experience taught me the folly of using one medicine to treat every malady. It took some time, however, for the spiritual analogy to become clear. Over and over again we give Christians the same spiritual prescription: You want to grow as a Christian? All you have to do is develop a quiet time and come to church every weekend.

Sometime in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the quiet time became a staple of most discipleship and church training programs. Usually consisting of thirty to sixty minutes, the quiet time was most commonly composed of a short period of personal worship, followed by some intercessory prayer (using a prayer notebook or intercessory prayer list), Bible study (according to a set method), and then a concluding prayer, followed by a commitment to share what we learned with at least one other person that day. This is something thats easily taught and, for some circles, easy to hold people accountable to: How many times this past week have you had your quiet time? Anything less than seven was a wrong answer.