Imitation blueberries
Sometimes just going through the motions creates genuine emotion
P.S. This week, I am sending these posts out around noon. Let me know if you like this time better or worse than 7am! Please and thank you.
A camp I worked at in 2012 & 2013 had some of the longest and hardest working hours I have ever experienced in my life.
The reason why was because they wanted to produce genuine “fruit” in our spiritual lives…
…because when you come to the end of yourself you have to rely on Jesus.
And they had a saying for when your heart wasn’t in the action but you needed to do it anyway.
Imitation blueberries.
They aren’t as good as real blueberries in your morning muffin, but they get the job done for adding flavor to your dry muffin.
And as you continued to rely on Jesus, you’ll find those imitation blueberries you were faking becoming real, juicy blueberries in your life.
The idea was to become so reliant on Jesus that the joy of Christ starts flowing through you, the Spirit fueling your words and actions.
And practicing prayer is a lot like cooking with imitation blueberries.
It’s okay to not “feel” it.
Keep on practicing, keep cooking, and you’ll find those blueberries starting to get juicier, fleshier.
My prayer for today
Our Father, help me continue to practice prayer, putting in the work even when I don’t feel like it. And help us to focus on letting Jesus produce plump blueberries in our prayer life rather than trying to force ourselves into “better.” Amen.
Remember
All it takes is starting the work of practicing prayer.