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Prayer
... Tell us what you think here |
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| Following
on from our look at prayer last week, here
are a few suggestions for how you might turn
your conversations with God from simple lists
of demands to something deeper, more profound
and ultimately, even life-changing. |
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In the West our view of prayer is
often one of supplication: we come to
God when things in the world or our
lives are wrong and need fixing, or
when we want (or think) that we need
something. Eastern views on prayer are
quite different. There, speaking out
thoughts and desires to God is often
more a process of letting go, acknowledging
that God is sovereign and is with us
and loves us. It’s a process of
bending to His will, lifting our desires
and expressing our own innermost thoughts
while acknowledging that we don’t
control God. It’s not about a
lack of faith – in fact, quite
the opposite. It’s saying that
God, even if this situation doesn’t
work out how I think it should, you
are God, I love you and, even if I lose
my life, I still choose to follow you. |
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Have a good long chat to a friend.
Pull up and armchair and pour out a
coffee before talking to them about
what is going on in your life; your
thoughts, dreams, visions, concerns,
worries, hurts as well as the things
that make you glad. Simply finish your
time together committing the things
you’ve expressed to God, asking
that you would understand your place
in the world and his love and delight
in you. |
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Be still and know that God is God.
Is it any wonder we struggle to hear
what God might be saying to us at any
one time when most of our day is filled
with noise? We’re addicted to
stimulation – be that spending
time on the internet, chatting on MSN,
reading, watching television, listening
to music, talking with others, eating
or being on the phone. There’s
nothing wrong with any of these things
but sometimes our life is only filled
with them and so taking a quiet walk
will often quieten the noise so that
we can, at last, be still. |
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Pray in all situations. This is a
habit that needs building – so
often we kid ourselves that God isn’t
concerned with the day-to-day minutiae
of our lives so that in the end we find
we have stopped talking to Him about
even the bigger things in our lives.
Praying in all times and situations
is not about constantly demanding things
of God like an annoying child tugging
at their parents arm. Rather, it is
a way to acknowledge God in all of our
lives, to remind ourselves of him and
his presence in all of life and to put
our thoughts under his authority. |
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Mess with your expectations of when
and how to pray. We’re used to
praying at the end of a Small Group
or Bible Study session, or at the end
of a service at Church. But what about
praying after you’ve watched a
film that has revealed truth to you
in some way? Or thanking God at the
end of an incredible concert for his
gift of music and musicianship and for
the performers that managed to tap into
something beautiful. What about praying
with a friend during the tea and coffee
break after church? Make a concerted
effort to change your views on prayer
- breaking it out of the boxes church
puts it into so that our whole lives
become a dialogue with God and a search
for his truth and will. |
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Youthwork -
The Partnership ...
ALOVE,
Youthwork Magazine, Youth For Christ, Spring Harvest and
Oasis are working together to equip and resource the Church
for effective youth work and ministry. |
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