Images focused

There's no shadow of a doubt that a sportsperson's best ally in their performance is the power of concentration.

No matter what the sport, the ability to block out everything else at the right time can tip the balance. I suppose that if we were to single out a particular sport where concentration is crucial we could look at synchronised swimming.

There we see hundreds of different body movements against the pressure of water and all done in perfect sync with the other team members. Now that's awesome!

In the Christian life we also need concentration. One of the most important things each day is to seek God's face: to pray, talk with Him, read His Word, listen to Him, make His thoughts ours, seek His will in all things.

But we can also slip up and lose our concentration. We can fall into the 'busyness' of doing many things, possibly even for God and for fellow- Christians... but without having sought God's face.

And every day can go by without our hearing from God and without He hearing from us. Come on, let's get our act together. Let's learn to concentrate!

Many don't seek God's face because, quite simply, they don't know Him. OK, so you read your Bible, you pray, you go to church and so on; but do you know God? Do you know what he's like?

Listen. - this could change your life: seek God's face by reading the Book of Psalms.

The Psalms contain more than 60 thumbnail sketches of God's personality. They come together to create an amazing mosaic.

All you need to do after praying is to read the Psalms carefully and note down what you learn about him. For instance, you'll see that

- God infuses happiness into our hearts

-  God is faithful

- God is righteous

- God is holy

- God is marvellous because of what he's created ... and so on.

You'll have loads of reasons to thank and praise Him and you're forced to get to know him a bit better.

And remember that however well we think we know God, there's no limit to his majesty. He is infinite and you'll be learning new things about Him forever.