I am three weeks into a six week study based on the book “Prayer Does It Make Any Difference?” by Philip Yancey. Here are a few passages that have spoken to me so far:
“These things feed my faith: epiphanies of beauty in nature, sunbursts of grace and forgiveness, the portrait of God I get in Jesus, stirring encounters with people who truly live out their faith. And these feed my doubts: God’s baffling tolerance of history’s atrocities, my unanswered prayers, sustained periods of God’s seeming absence. Meetings with God may include ecstasy and joy, or withdrawal and silence; always they include mystery.” Page 50
“After surveying Jesus’ practice of prayer, I realize that his example does answer one important question about prayer: Does it matter? When doubts creep in and I wonder whether prayer is a sanctified form of talking to myself, I remind myself that the Son of God, who had spoken worlds into being and sustains all that exists, felt a compelling need to pray. He prayed as if it made a difference, as if the time he devoted to prayer mattered every bit as much as the time he devoted to caring for people.” Page 79
“Over time, however, I have come to appreciate how meditation can transform my requests. Ultimately, I want to pray for what God wants, and if God doesn’t want something for me, I shouldn’t want it either. Spending time in meditative prayer, getting to know God, helps align my desires with God’s.” Page 108
Jesus prayed fervently so we follow his example. There is no right or wrong way to do it, you can pour out all your laments to God as Job and many of the psalmists did. God can take our honest emotions, He created them. The situation prayed about may not actually change much except that you have peace about it and can get through it.
S and I pray for our family every day, just know that. We pray for each other too and that has been such a blessing to our marriage. We didn’t always have that habit and it made a big difference once we started it up.
Lou
Prayer is still something that is hard for me to devote time to. I know the importance of it and truely believe in it but it's one of those things thats hard to find time to do. Sometimes I pray before I go to bed, or rather before I go to sleep, but it usually lasts 5minutes then I'm in la la land. I respect the people that can get up earlier to pray before their day, but I have a hard time getting up early to do even something I'd enjoy. So needless to say it's something I'm still working on figuring out myself, but I like all the quotes, maybe I should borrow that book when you are done.
ReplyDeleteI fall asleep sometimes when I pray in bed at the end of the day too. Prayer is helpful though if you wake up in the night and can't sleep, I just start praying for whatever is on my mind. If you can find some time at the start of your day or in the car on the way to work it really helps to begin the day right.
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