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Key Bible Verse: "If you don't go with us personally, don't let us move a step from this place" (Exodus 33:15). Bonus Reading: Psalm 143:5-8

I had been a youth pastor for almost a year. Our midweek group started the school year with around 25 and was ending it with 14! I'd read the manuals, tried the gimmicks, and packaged the gospel as relevantly as I knew how. And for what? A bunch of kids who sat there bored stiff. I was ready to hang it up, leaving youth ministry to those hipper than I.

But first, I decided to do something different. I'd get there 15 minutes early, sit down at the piano, and worship for as long as I wanted. Right in front of the kids! What did I have to lose?

So I did it. I closed my eyes at the piano, and began to sing—while a handful of teens sat looking at me, puzzled. I just concentrated on Jesus. A half hour passed; several more youths had come into the room, but I kept worshiping. After about 45 minutes, I finally looked up and saw almost every one of these kids singing their hearts out, tears streaming down their faces. They were caught up in simply adoring God.

That's how nine years of astounding growth began. We learned then that immersing ourselves in God's presence is priority, that intimacy with God is everything.

—Steve Fry in Rekindled Flame

My Response: A time when I really felt God's presence was …

Thought to Apply: It is dangerous business … to tickle the senses in place of calling men to bow their hearts in faith and repentance.
—John C. Neville (theologian)

Adapted from: Rekindled Flame (Multnomah, 2001) by permission.

Prayer for the Week

O God, I need You desperately. As I grope my way toward you, please reveal Yourself to me.

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