Monday, November 06, 2006
Prayer- Does it Make Any Difference
As I mentioned before I seem to get on topical discussions. My new topic is prayer. I am reading Phillip Yancey’s book on Prayer. Yesterday I heard a very good sermon on prayer taken from the book of II Chronicles. Today I have read a couple of blog post that center on the topic of prayer.
The thing that has stuck with me today has been the way that Yancey described the relationship of lament and dare I say “complaining” to God. You know to be totally real with anyone we can’t always be sunshine and roses. There is a part of us that needs to cry out and to grieve out loud about our troubles and our burdens. God can take that. He gives us enough examples of it that you might even say he expects it of us. Do we try to keep our masks on when we pray? God knows our hearts anyway….we need to get real in our prayers. Then we can experience the healing love of our Father.
The thing that has stuck with me today has been the way that Yancey described the relationship of lament and dare I say “complaining” to God. You know to be totally real with anyone we can’t always be sunshine and roses. There is a part of us that needs to cry out and to grieve out loud about our troubles and our burdens. God can take that. He gives us enough examples of it that you might even say he expects it of us. Do we try to keep our masks on when we pray? God knows our hearts anyway….we need to get real in our prayers. Then we can experience the healing love of our Father.
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Excellent thoughts Donna. The reason we hold back many times in expressing our true feels to others is fear of their reaction. With the Father, there is no fear. Job's straight foward talk to God is an encouragement to say what is on our hearts, but always with respect. Thanks again for sharing this.
# posted by 
: 1:52 PM, November 06, 2006
: 1:52 PM, November 06, 2006
I'm all over that lament stuff! Actually a big part of the Psalms are written from a heart crying out to God and then expressing hope in God's deliverance. Our real life if full of ups and downs. God wants them all.
I've ben giving this a lot of thought ebcause so many of our prayers for others seem to make no difference at all.
But your bringing up prayer in the OT, it is often complaining. I think it is about Union with God. This seems to be what Jesus does most in Relationship to the Father, and a careful reading of John 17 is His asking the Father for us to share in that Union.
Just a thought.
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But your bringing up prayer in the OT, it is often complaining. I think it is about Union with God. This seems to be what Jesus does most in Relationship to the Father, and a careful reading of John 17 is His asking the Father for us to share in that Union.
Just a thought.
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