Finding Your Anchor: The Practice of Abiding in Christ

Episode 019 – How Abiding is Possible

Jesus told us to live connected to the vine. We often refer to that as the Abiding Life. If you grew up in the churh you probably heard about that a lot.

Well, I wonder… Do you have an ongoing sense of Jesus’ presence in your life? Do you even believe that’s possible? Would you think I’m crazy if I suggest that we really can have a persistent sense of the Divine in our lives?

And what if I suggested this had to do with your mental habits?

Show Notes

Show notes will not be a transcript. At least not now. You’ll find a few key bullet points, any scriptures references, as well as any other books or resources referenced.

• This is Episode 1 of the Anchor Prayer series.
• The anchor we need to hold us steady in a chaotic world is abiding in Christ. But what does that even mean?
  • Jesus taught this principle in the Upper Room in John 15.
  • Theology (intellectual ideas) is not enough to provide us with a solid anchor in a chaotic life.
  • Trying to force ourselves to think about God a lot is also not a good enough anchor to keep us steady.
• The key to abiding has to do with our mental habits. Mental habits are patterns of thought and emotion that we have practices over and over. As a result, they become easier, more natural, even second nature.
• We often practice a kind of mental liturgy when we worry. Repeating our worries over and over, we focus our minds on those worrying concerns, and they grow larger in our mental experience. This is almost like a prayer, only the focus is our worries rather than God.
• The more often we engage in this “liturgy” the easier it becomes for us.
• If we are going to really experience abiding in Christ, we are going to need different mental habits.

My Links

• You are invited to my first live event! June 1st, in Vancouver WA. The Untangled Heart Workshop. I’m doing this in collaboration with a close friend who is a trauma therapist with more than 30 years of experience. This 1-day event will give you practical tools so that by the end of the day you’ll be better able to navigate your own emotions and the emotions of other people. It’s gonna cost $90 and will be well worth it, but if you register quick you can get the early-bird registration rate of $65.00!
  • More info or to register: Go here!
• Get the The Wisdom Of Your Heart Audiobook now!
  • On Audible.com.
  • On Amazon.com.
  • On iTunes.
• If you’ve never had an Audible.com account, you can get The Wisdom of Your Heart for FREE, by following this special link and creating a new paid account. If you love audiobooks this is the very best way to get them.

• Subscribe to my Email List. Get a couple of emails each month with links to my latest blogs and podcast episode, along with other things that will be helpful to your journey. Also, this is the best way to get a notification when the audiobook goes live!
• Subscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps.
• Find it here on my website–this page that you’re on right now!
• Find a video version on my Youtube Channel.
• Want to bring me to speak to your community about this topic, practical spiritual growth, or emotional discipleship? Check out my speaking page and let’s talk about possibilities.
• Check out the Apprenticeship Lab Member Community. It’s $8/month. You get to participate in a small, private, positive community of people committed to spiritual growth as well as getting access to a growing library of resources for spiritual growth including 30 short videos for daily inspiration to kick off your year, and access to several online courses. This is also just a great way to help support the work I do. I don’t have a Patreon or other means for donations, so signing up for a membership is a great way to support my work in an ongoing way.