Day 8
It's Day 8 and I'm read through more than half the Old Testament already. I've found that the more I read the bigger my appetite becomes. I don't think I've ever read this much Scripture in this short a time.
Window-Shopping Prayers
I'm reading a great book titled Adventures in Prayer by Catherine Marshall, wife of Peter Marshall (former Chaplain of the Senate). She says too many Christian pray "window-shopping" prayers. Window-shopping can be enjoyable and it costs nothing, but you walk away empty-handed. She says, "Too many of our prayers--private and public--are just browsing among possible petitions. We expect nothing from our prayers except perhaps a euphoric feeling." I think too often we pray and forget what we prayed for so even if that prayer is answered we fail to give God the credit. That is probably one reason for a prayer journal to track what we're praying for.
I think another angle on this is Yonggi Cho's comment that "God doesn't answer vague prayers." I'm praying for more specificity in my prayer life. What do I want to believe God for? I think an example is the prayer desire the Lord has birthed in my heart to see Acts 2:41 happen once in my lifetime. I'm believing that at some point I'll be part of 3,000 people baptized in one day! I don't know how or where or when it'll happen. But I'm believing for it.
The Prayer of Helplessness
Catherine Marshall also writes about what she calls The Prayer of Helplessness. She says, "Helplessness is one of the greatest assets a human being can have." The more helpless I am the more credit I'm bound to give God. Helplessness forces us to really rely on God--and that's the goal. II Corinthians 1:9 explains why bad things happen to good people. "This happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God." God wants to move us from a place of total independence (sin) to total dependence (Spirit-led).
It's about daily dependence. We need to take up our cross daily. There were daily sacrifices at the Temple. The manna had a daily expiration date. I don't want to live on leftovers! And the only way to avoid that is to be in the word on a daily basis. For what it's worth, the King was commanded to read the word daily. Deuternomy 17:19 says, "The king must always keep this copy of the law with him and read it daily as long as he lives." The Psalms that speak of David meditating on the word day and night are a fulfillment of this command.
The bottom-line is this: I think our most effective prayers are the ones prayer out of helplessness. And we all qualify on that count.
Window-Shopping Prayers
I'm reading a great book titled Adventures in Prayer by Catherine Marshall, wife of Peter Marshall (former Chaplain of the Senate). She says too many Christian pray "window-shopping" prayers. Window-shopping can be enjoyable and it costs nothing, but you walk away empty-handed. She says, "Too many of our prayers--private and public--are just browsing among possible petitions. We expect nothing from our prayers except perhaps a euphoric feeling." I think too often we pray and forget what we prayed for so even if that prayer is answered we fail to give God the credit. That is probably one reason for a prayer journal to track what we're praying for.
I think another angle on this is Yonggi Cho's comment that "God doesn't answer vague prayers." I'm praying for more specificity in my prayer life. What do I want to believe God for? I think an example is the prayer desire the Lord has birthed in my heart to see Acts 2:41 happen once in my lifetime. I'm believing that at some point I'll be part of 3,000 people baptized in one day! I don't know how or where or when it'll happen. But I'm believing for it.
The Prayer of Helplessness
Catherine Marshall also writes about what she calls The Prayer of Helplessness. She says, "Helplessness is one of the greatest assets a human being can have." The more helpless I am the more credit I'm bound to give God. Helplessness forces us to really rely on God--and that's the goal. II Corinthians 1:9 explains why bad things happen to good people. "This happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God." God wants to move us from a place of total independence (sin) to total dependence (Spirit-led).
It's about daily dependence. We need to take up our cross daily. There were daily sacrifices at the Temple. The manna had a daily expiration date. I don't want to live on leftovers! And the only way to avoid that is to be in the word on a daily basis. For what it's worth, the King was commanded to read the word daily. Deuternomy 17:19 says, "The king must always keep this copy of the law with him and read it daily as long as he lives." The Psalms that speak of David meditating on the word day and night are a fulfillment of this command.
The bottom-line is this: I think our most effective prayers are the ones prayer out of helplessness. And we all qualify on that count.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home