Thursday, November 16, 2006

Why I need to pray with others.

Yesterday at 4:00pm I met with another group to learn about prayer and to pray. This was an all men's group. I was tired. I was distracted. I was discouraged. Over the course of the last two weeks, I had been short on sleep. I had been a part of several difficult conversations. I had received criticisms on several fronts.

All of the men said similar things about prayer--things like focus, quiets my soul from performance mode, relinquishment. One guy said of his motivation in prayer, "I must do something to quiet down so I can observe what is going on around me... so I can get out of these earth thoughts."

We took time to pray for the city, the church and each other. We each prayed for one other person in the group. Joe prayed for me last. As he began to pray everyone stood up and laid their hands on me. It wasn't planned. They didn't know what I was going through. My tears began to fall. I needed their help to get me out of my "earth thoughts". (James 5:13-19)

The rest of the evening I expereinced some of the peace I have heard others talk about the last two weeks. I desperately need others to pray with me. Do you?

May God give you a couple of friends to join you in a conversation with Him.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Why do you pray?

Why do you pray? I wasn't expecting to get the answer to this question as I met with another group of people from our church to hear what they have learned about prayer.

When I heard the following I thought, "Wow, I want that too!"

"My prayer life is like a love relationship with Jesus. You spend time with those you love. I want to be consistent because I want to know him as I know friends on the earth."

It was said simply and directly. It caught me by suprise. It made me think of James 3:23.

"...and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, 'And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,' and he was called the friend of God."

I want to pray. I want to be a friend of God. Why do you pray?

Thursday, November 09, 2006

First Prayer Time

Last Friday at noon I gathered with my first group to learn and pray. There were 6 of us. Four women and two men. It seems like women tend to be more attracted not just to prayer but to talking about these kinds of things.

I was suprised about the passion people had in speaking about their experiences in prayer. One main idea became clear. People pray expecting God to give them peace. These people prayed and experienced God's peace. I find this difficult to talk about because it is so subjective. I wonder as a pastor if sometimes when I speak about God's peace if people are asking, "Can that really happen for me?" Apparently some are saying yes to that question.

Php 4:6,7

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Prayer Series


Last week, I began praying with small groups of people from our church. We talked about prayer and the things we've been learning. Wow!

I will be sharing some of their insights here.

Please add your thoughts.