It's Good to Pray
We had a good time meeting to pray for youth group last night. Thanks guys for stepping out to pray together corporately. I know it was a bit of new thing for some of you. What did you think? (post a comment) Did you like getting together to pray? (post a comment). Do you feel anything different about youth group now? Does it make you want to pray more? (seriously post a comment).
I notice that when I pray for something or spend some time "talking to God" (praying) about specific things or people, I always come away with a new mindset or heart for the thing I was praying for. For example, I've been praying for my friend Christine who is a missionary in China. She's had some hard things happening while she's there (mostly she has a house in Rochester that hasn't been rented yet--& she's in China--so it's been way stressful trying to get that thing taken care of...when she's in China!). So I've been helping her as much as I can, which is mostly praying for her. And when I stop to pray, & really ask God to help her, I just really get this big heart of compassion for her and I have boldness to say, "God. She's a missionary for you. She's serving You. Please remember that you said in Matthew 6:33 "seek first the Kingdom of God & His righteousness, & all things shall be added." So my friend is all the way in China serving the Kingdom of God and You said that you'll take care of the rest.
Here's my list of things I notice when I pray something like the above.
1.) I'm not so focused on my own problems; 2.) I really have compassion for my friend that makes me love her more (this is true when you pray for someone you don't really like either); and 3.) If I pray something like that for my friend, it gives me hope to believe that God sees me & will take care of me too.
...and if your prayers aren't answered right away. Keep asking. The New Living Bible version of Matthew 7:7 says, “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you." God sometimes delays an answer so He can see if we're really serious, or if our ADD is going to kick in & we're just going to forget what we wanted and move on to the next thing. If you were a Dad with a daughter who told you that she really wanted a Vespa GTS 250 in Navy Blue (I totally want this for me), wouldn't you want to wait a little while to make sure that she really, really wanted it and it wasn't just a passing phase ('cause actually I might want the GTV 250 in olive green). What if you spent $6,000 to get her that dream Vespa but in 2 months she had already changed her mind & was now asking for something totally different. Wouldn't you feel like you wasted your time & money? We are kind of fickle people (okay we're totally fickle & change our minds all the time) so sometimes you have to learn to perservere in your prayers and keep knocking 'til you get the answer.
Those are just some thoughts. Will love to hear what you think. (c'mon now post a comment!)
(And I accept cash or checks toward my "dream Vespa fund").
The Fear of God
7 years ago
Posts
4 comments:
Where's Christine again?
I love you... and agree that sometimes God wants to make sure we REALLY want what we're asking for, because sometimes we get it.
Then all hell breaks loose!
Prayer.
Prayer is most likely the one thing in my spiritual life that I do the most and that I struggle with the most...
I pray more than I serve, more than I read the bible, and more than I fellowship with other Christians because it's convenient! It doesn't require being somewhere. It doesn't require having your eyes open, or even using words.
Nevertheless, I struggle with prayer. A lot.
'They' say prayer can be anything- I might agree.
But with anything as a description it is overwhelming...
I often loose sight of the awe striking glory and the overwhelming reality that God is everything and my prayer because irreverent. Yet when I am in sight of God's vast awesome-ness, my prayer because rehearsed; I don't pray as Nate Forte the hooligan, I pray as Nate Forte the put-together adolescent who seems to be doing a lot right.
One thing remains no matter how I pray: shame.
Shame is something I experience daily, and in every prayer. Sometimes prayer is misrepresented as a plea for aid due to some failure. Perhaps that representation is can apply, when we have failed and do indeed need help, but oftentimes a prayer for help is something to be esteemed because it is a recognition of our innate need for help. It is a way of returning to the source- God created everything and He knows our need to be helped, so it only makes sense that we should go to God, for help.
Why then do I feel shame when I pray?
1.) Society-blah blah blah blame society. But for real. Our American society is one of the more individualistic societies I know about. In the existence of the society.
2.) I sin. A lot. I consciously make decisions to sin. I purposely choose to do wrong, in an attempt to receive a form of gratification that merely creates a desire for more. God is perfect. I suck.
3.) I feel shame because the only recognitions I allow myself to, well, recognize are my failures.
Perhaps if I allowed myself to recognize my accomplishments or the achieving of long held goals, I would not be so focused on my weaknesses; my shame. my sin. my failure. my inability to _____.
The blessing of prayer though, is that it is not a matter of presentation to God. He cares little about how we say what we say, or if we say anything. He looks into our hearts, into our motives, and we only have to present our selves to him as who we are, and seek him for how we may adjust our lifestyles in order that we may ever be increasing in righteousness, holiness, and purity.
Dude. Nate. Preach it.
Hey! Found your blog this morning through facebook wanderings- tell me more about Christines house- like where is it- how much is it being rented for- and for how long etc- I like your Bloggin's my friend!
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