Greetings,

Have you ever watched a person that was really good at knitting? Their hands and fingers keep moving in a rhythm even when they take their eyes off of their task. Or have you watched someone chop food so fine and so fast that you don’t even worry about them cutting themselves because it is obvious that they have been doing this same task for a long time? Over time, with continual effort, complicated actions like knitting, shuffling cards, making dinner, or playing a song on an instrument, can become almost automatic and void of thought.

That is what most people call muscle memory. But the memory is not held in the muscle. It is a brain function. The muscles we use regularly for these endeavors become strong and capable, but it is still our brain that makes it seamless. A recent Oxford University Article on the subject says: "This is because the memory for facts, known as declarative memory, is thought to be a different system, controlled by different brain mechanisms, than the one used for memory of life events, known as episodic memory."

Colossians 3:2 tells us, "Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things." Setting your mind is not something that is automatic. We are prone to think of the earthly things, not the stuff of heaven. So, setting our mind is a calculated and declarative decision.

The disciplines of the Christian life can become mechanical and stored as an episodic memory. They are regular episodes that happen in our lives, hopefully on a daily basis, but we can sometimes miss the declaration that we are making by our actions. When we sit down to pray, we should be making a declarative memory. Set your heart and your mind on God--try not to make it automatic. I like to begin with remembering what God did for me through Jesus. That helps me to begin with gratitude.

This week, try to make it a habit to focus while praying. It may mean that you have to carve out more time to pray, but the effort will be worth it!

Love ya,

Chris