I am talking about Prayer this week as part of our series called “Deep” that is designed to encourage us to cultivate good practices of Bible study, prayer, community, and serving, and I need your help…
if you could take a minute or two and answer one or more of these questions I would really appreciate it…
What does prayer mean to you?
How do you pray?
What was the greatest thing that happened because you prayed?
I struggle with prayer because…
I don’t feel comfortable praying because…
over time my prayers have become much more conversational. i have tried following the ACTS style, but I find myself too distracted by the steps. now i usually find myself just praying a sentence or two at a time. it might be praise or a request or a thanks, but sprinkled through out the day. another purpose this serves is i don’t forget and i find that once i’ve prayed for or about it it sticks with me better.
not all my prayers are this way. there are somethings that require fervor, time, meditation and/or listening on my part.
I agree, there are times when these short bursts of prayer like a quick phone call do amazing things, and at other times resting before God with our hearts open for prolonged periods is deeply settling… thanks for your input!
What does prayer mean to you?: Prayer is my way of communicating with God in a tangible & purposeful manner. He knows my thoughts before they even become my thoughts, however I feel the need to express myself to him to engage in a relationship with my Creator and as an act of worship and reverence of him.
How do you pray?: My prayers these days aren’t always as dedicated as they used to be. Not sure if that is necessarily a bad thing. I tend to do a lot of short bursts of prayer throughout the day, rather than isolate myself in a quiet place every day. I do periodically go to a quiet place and offer dedicated prayer to God, but because I find that I pray for so many people these days, praying as they come to mind throughout the day helps keep me more faithful to prayer.
What was the greatest thing that happened because you prayed?: At this moment, the birth of our new church plant and having public preview services has been an answer to a lot of prayer. Knowing my background as a former atheist, it’s almost a miracle to be where I am at today. For all of the great things I feel have resulted in God’s response to prayer, I know that there are more yet to come. The door to this chapter is not anywhere near being closed yet!
I struggle with prayer because…: Of my schedule. Sometimes I put my schedule/tasks ahead of my time with God. If I could get to a place of having a little bit of focused time with God every morning in prayer I think things would be better. As I am now feeling convicted by that, thank you for this post Graham and I am now going to make it a priority
I don’t feel comfortable praying because…: I used to be uncomfortable praying in public settings around people that weren’t Christian. However, I can’t think of an uncomfortable moment I have with prayer right now. As acknowledging that it is up to God and not my hands when I pray, I am reminded of the yoke of Christ being light and I am immediately comforted by that.
Pastor Graham, know that you and your ministry and the people of the Colorado Springs area are continually in my prayers. You’re one of the first people whose blog I subscribed to and have spoken into my life greatly. Keep doing great things for his kingdom and loving God’s people no matter how far away they believe they are from him. Blessings to you my friend!
Great stuff Dave, Thank you for being so open. I rejoice with you for what God is doing in your life! And know I am praying for you too! Thanks for the encouraging words, my hope is that I am half as encouraging to you as you have been to me!