Thousands of books and websites recommend just as many formulas to help you use the various means of devotion. These devotional formulas can be helpful. But they can also be harmful.
Some are a specific prayer procedure like ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication). Others propose a particular form of fasting such as the Daniel fast (eating only fruits and vegetables for a certain amount of time). Rather than encouraging a relationship, these formulas often turn into checklists of dos and don’ts. This tears from the means of devotion their intimacy, for passion rarely accompanies obligation.
Even so, devotional formulas are worth studying. Like learning dance patterns, they reveal possibilities you might never have realized on your own. Yet also like dance patterns, devotional formulas must be discerned for what they are—isolated, artificial choreographies that only teach theory.
Following theory will never take you to the depths of intimacy, nor the center of the dance floor. That space belongs to those who are moving not to formulas they’ve memorized, but something far more powerful they feel. Devotion is like dancing; you don’t count steps, you feel a rhythm. And just as the same music in a room full of people moves each dancer differently, sacred intimacy inspires each of us to personal expressions that transcend choreography.
Explore devotional formulas. Just don’t let them dictate your dance. Take from them and adapt whatever helps you move more gracefully to the rhythm of your relationship with God.
Wed, Apr 15, 2009
Devotionals