The Sabbath is a set-apart 24-hour period dedicated to the elimination of busyness and usual work, focused on rest, worship, and activities that bring attention to God and fill you with joy/delight.

The word Sabbath is translated as “to stop” or “to cease”. God creates one more thing when he finishes the sixth day and starts the seventh day. He creates rest. He stops, looks at all he has done, and makes something in the rhythm of all of creation – Sabbath. He then makes this day holy and sets it apart. As his children, we receive our loving Father’s gift and once a week we stop/cease work, we rest, we worship, and we take time to be filled with the delight of the gifts from our God. We do this through*:

1. Stopping—we cease all working, all thinking about working, all worrying and all wanting.

2. Resting—we rest our soul, meaning, our whole person. Physical: we sleep. Mental and emotional: we calm down, relax, and process the week. Spiritual: we cease our striving and rest in God’s love for us through abiding.

3. Delighting—we fill our soul with activities that spark joy, wonder, gratitude, and happiness, such as eating good food, walking in nature, spending time with family or friends, listening to music, playing games, making love to our spouse, or just having fun before God.

4. Worshiping—we index our hearts toward grateful praise and adoration of God, and we surrender our life to him, one week at a time.

*List from “How to Un-hurry Workbook” by John Mark Comer

Whenever we ask people how they are, they often respond with, “Good, just busy”. Growing kids, endless work, family drama, the house that always needs to be cleaned, homework that’s due, and endless content on our devices leave us tired. God has created a rhythm from creation for us to be able to contribute to this world through work and to have a deep rest within our souls. In the depths of all of us, we want Sabbath. The reason is because God created it in us and for us.

God is fully Sovereign and Provident. God is sovereign meaning that everything he decides to do comes to pass. We see this on display in his ability to restore our lives and restore creation through the life, work, death, resurrection, and eventual return of Jesus. God is also provident, meaning that God sustains and upholds all things. Sabbath is a physical practice that reminds us of these truths. Even when we cease work, God’s will comes to pass, and the world (as well as our world) is upheld.

On the other side of this, man is limited. Our bodies, minds, souls, and lives are limited. We can often try to live as if we are limitless and that leaves us burnt out. Through Sabbath, we resist the temptation of more (one more workday, one more purchase, etc.) and we confess our limits through ceasing and focusing our worship on a God who works beyond our limits.

A great custom to have on Sabbath is something that brings you into a place of rest. One way of doing this is having a prayer that serves as the start of Sabbath. This can be a written prayer, a kneeling prayer, a prayer that is alongside something like lighting a candle, etc. The point is that this is a physical acknowledgment with God of the time you are entering into and then when Sabbath is done, it serves as a dependence on God to enter back into the world and work.

A great form of prayer on Sabbath is a prayer walk. This helps us slow down, take our minds off work, allow feelings to come up, and get our bodies moving. During this time, you can speak to God and listen to God in silence. Our encouragement during these walks is to keep your phone inside, or on Do Not Disturb so that the focus can be the presence of God.

Sleeping is one of the most spiritual acts. The reason is that it is a physical confession that God is in control. Take a Sabbath Nap. Have the whole family take a nap. Before you go to sleep pray to God that He would remind you that as you rest, He is the sustainer and provider for the world.

Many of our weeks can feel nonstop. There is the constant noise of voices, music, and our own inner thoughts that keep our minds going. A great prayer practice on Sabbath is to set a timer (1 min // 10 min // 20 min) and allow yourself just to be silent. Turn off your phone, sit in your favorite chair, make sure your spouse is watching the kids, and sit in the quiet. These are the times when we are most aware of what we are feeling. Be with God and allow yourself that time to do nothing except sit with Him.

Sabbath can serve as a consistent bookmark for our weeks. This gives us a consistent time to be able to reflect on the past week and prayer for the future week. Each week take a journal and pray with God through written words. Write key memories from the week, where God showed up during the week, and a prayer for your coming week.

The heart of the Sabbath is to Delight + Rest in God. The question that you should ask each week as you enter Sabbath and finish Sabbath is, “Will this/Did this bring delight + rest in God, and an awareness of the goodness of God for me and the people around me?”

“People who keep Sabbath live all seven days differently.”* In order to have a 24-hour day set apart, our other 6 days must be lived out intentionally. We must make sure our necessary work is finished, all the housework is finished, and the day is prepared for. Here are some things to consider to help with preparation:

• Plan out a rough schedule for Sabbath and consider what must be done before then.

• Wash the dishes before Sabbath.

• Plan out your Dinner.

• Answer all phone messages and return all text messages.

• Clean or pick up your house or apartment.

• Make a list of work responsibilities that would interrupt your set apart time and make sure to complete those.

* “Sabbath as Resistance” by Walter Brueggemann

One way to make this day special and set apart is to establish rituals for you and your family. Something that symbolizes that this day is set apart. Some examples:

• Making pancakes and bacon in the morning each week on this day

• Going for a walk

• Praying a blessing over your kids

• The lighting of candles

• Putting on a special essential oil in your diffuser

• Making a special dinner and/or dessert

• Sleeping in each week on this day

• Meeting with your close friends

• Picking a song you play each week to start Sabbath

It is very important to be aware of and embrace your personality when it comes to Sabbath. For the introverts of the world, rest is not throwing a big party with tons of people each week; and for extroverts, rest is not sitting alone in a park for 24 hours. Sabbath is a time for rest and part of rest is establishing ways for our personalities to receive it.

We live in a time that is foreign to history. With our technological devices, we have access to unlimited information and through that, to endless work. Many companies use our devices to take our attention away from the present realities that are before us. Part of our Sabbath should be used to allow us to receive rest from the devices that are always present with us. Here are some ideas:

• A set time of turning our phone off (ex:1 hour // 5 hours // 24 hours)

• Turning off our notifications (especially work-related apps like email, slack, etc.)

• Turning off our computers + Laptops

• Limiting TV, Video games, and other entertainment (This all depends on what the rest of your week looks like. Some people limit TV for the rest of the week and then celebrate with a Movie night on Sabbath)

• Spend time alone.

• Spend time with friends and family. Get coffee, go out to lunch, take a walk, etc.

• Clear your schedule of work and errands.

• Take a Nap.

• Enjoy this season of life where you have ample time to focus on God’s presence.

• Spend time in spiritual reading.

• Listen to a podcast or teaching on the Bible.

• Practice gratitude for the season you’re in rather than focusing on where you might be in the future.

• Plan time with your closest friends

• Spend time together catching up. (Phones away, just the two of you)

• Don’t fight (there are six other days to do that).

• Avoid hard conversations.

• Don’t talk about things that aren’t restful (i.e., stuff you need to get done in the coming week).

• Talk about your personal and shared discipleship.

• Nap.

• Read.

• Give each other space to do what is life giving (opposites often attract and find very different activities restful. Create space for that). Introvert married to an extrovert? Spend the morning reading in the quiet (introvert time), then go out to an early dinner with friends (extrovert). Or something like that.

• Spend time together as a family.

• Have one parent watch the kids for a few hours, while the other goes off to rest or do something life-giving, then swap (i.e., one parent takes a two-hour block in the morning, and another in the afternoon).

• Take breaks for individual times of prayer.

• Take your kids to the park, zoo, pool, aquarium, or on a fun, restful outing.

• Make your kids nap or have quiet time, even as they get older.

• Do highlight of the week with your kids.

• Go to bed early.

• Have a special breakfast set out for the kids to eat first thing, so the parents can sleep in and relax.

• Have a special box of toys that your kids just get to play with on the Sabbath.

• Have a Movie Night

• Keep video games off

• Recognize it’s hard to rest with little kids, but this is a season. Give yourself grace.

• Spend time together as a family or couple in celebration of life.

• Share a special meal together.

• Do highlight of the week.

• Have a time of prayer and Bible reading as a family.

• Go on a fun, but restful outing to a park, coffee shop, or restaurant.

• Take a nap

Subversive Sabbath: The Surprising Power of Rest in a Nonstop World by A. J. Swoboda

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Sabbath as Resistance: Saying No to the Culture of Now by WalterBrueggemann

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Sabbath: The Ancient Practices by Dan B. Allender

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Embracing Rhythms of Work and Rest: From Sabbath to Sabbatical and Back Again by Ruth Haley Barton

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Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer

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Rule of Life Podcast – Sabbath Series

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Emotionally Healthy Leader Podcast – Sabbath Series

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Website: Discover Sabbath Delight by Pete Scazzero

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Is the Sabbath still relevant? by Ray Ortlund

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Practicing the Way

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Sacred Strides on YouVersion

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Soul Care on YouVersion

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One way to do this is to work as a team for Sabbath. One of you watches the kids while the other gets a couple of hours to go somewhere for time alone and then switches. Another way is to work with your RC to find others who Sabbath on a different day and can partner with you so you and your Spouse can have time to rest.

When Jesus returns, we will experience an eternal rest that is like nothing we have experienced before. Even now, we get to experience much of that through salvation, justification, and God restoring our lives. However, while we wait for Jesus’ return, Sabbath serves as a glimpse into eternity. A time when we get to rest in God’s goodness and not strive for more. God commands Sabbath in the 10 commandments but does so as a command of care, not a command of control.

Start with whatever is possible. If a 4-hour time of rest once a week is where you can start, then start there. The heart of this is to have time that is intentional and set apart. We would encourage you to work your way slowly but surely to 24 hours, but to start where you are now. We want this to be a lifelong practice.