January 20, 2007
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Prayer
If you haven’t read Pastor Don’s Bible study from Wednesday, I highly recommend it. Friday’s Bible study was from a question. I will type up the notes on that another day, but today I want to share a few quotes from Phillip Yancey’s book, Prayer: Does it make a difference? They impacted me so much that I thought you would be blessed as well.
P.21-22 “Prayer helps correct myopia, calling to mind a perspective I daily forget. I keep reversing roles, thinking of ways in which God should serve me, rather than vice versa. As God fiercely reminded Job, the Lord of the universe has many things to manage, and in the midst of my self-pity I would do well to contemplate for a moment God’s own point of view.”
P. 26 “Prayer allows me to admit my failures, weaknesses, and limitations to One who responds to human vulnerability with infinite mercy.”
P. 30 “Sometimes I wonder if the words I use are the least important part of prayer. Who am I? And who is God? If I can answer those two questions, the words I pray recede. Prayer invites me to lower defenses and present the self that no other person fully knows to a God who already knows.”
P. 40 “I challenge skeptics to find a single argument used against God by the great agnostics –Voltaire, David Hume, Bertrand Russell—that is not already included in such biblical books as Habakkuk, the Psalms, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, and, yes, Job. ….Most important, these accusations contained in the Bible itself are framed as prayers. Prayer allows a place for me to bring my doubts and complaints–in sum, my ignorance–and subject them to the blinding light of reality I cannot comprehend but can haltingly learn to trust. Prayer is personal, and my doubts take on a different cast as I get to know the Person to whom I bring them.”
P. 51 “Prayer is a subversive act performed in a world that constantly calls faith into question.”
P. 51 “I have learned to see prayer not as my way of establishing God’s presence, rather as my way of responding to God’s presence that is a fact whether or not I can detect it.”
P. 62 “The psalms express all levels of friendship with God.”
P. 80 “Jesus clung to prayer as to a lifeline, for it gave him both the guidance and the energy to know and do the Father’s will.
P. 85 “Words fail to capture the enormity of descent when a sovereign God takes up residence in a person and says, in effect, “Don’t hurt me. Don’t push me away.”
P. 86 “For most of us prayer serves as a resource to help in time of testing or conflict. For Jesus, it was the battle itself.”
P. 97 “Like Abraham, I approach God at first in fear and trembling, only to learn that God wants me to stop groveling and start arguing.. I dare not meekly accept the state of the world, with all its injustice and unfairness. I must call God to account for God’s own promises, God’s own character.”
P. 101 “Yet virtually everyone God picked to lead a new venture–Adam, Abraham, Moses, David—proved disappointing in part. Apparently God committed to work with human partners no matter how inept.”
P. 130 “The message is clear,” comments Walter Wink about that scene, “history belongs to the intercessors, who believe the future into being.” The pray-ers are essential agents in the final victory over evil, suffering, and death.
This book is a blessing! It is not one you can speed read, but it is full of gems.
Hoping you have a blessed Sunday.
Heather
Comments (18)
Heather, I love books on prayer…I think I must have this one! Probably the best study I have ever done on prayer is LIFE A PRAYING LIFE by JEnnifer Kennedy Dean…I wanted to mention it–just in case you haven’t done it or ever want to do an in depth study on prayer. Thanks, as always, HEather! With much love, Paula
Hope you and your family have a Very Blessed Sunday!…….In Christ’s Love……..Monic
you have a blessing wkend, Heather.
~Kham.
i really liked some of yancey’s old books and articles; haven’t kept up with them recently, like the past ten years!
Good post Heather…thanks for your concern…have a great weekend….Be Blessed…Mike
Thanks for your kind word. I have some prayer serious request to asking you to pray for , could you please give me your email address . Do you mind ?……love in Christ,…Tip
nice post
Heather,
Thanks for sharing. Prayer is a mystery in itself. We enter into prayer hoping to reveal the heart of God but it in turn reveals our heart and that is when He starst working…..to conform our Will to His will.
prayer is a very interesting subject. no doubt, one that may be discussed dimly or brightly. i suppose our underlying view of God greatly impacts how we pray.
Another book for me to buy. Heather, I dont know how you do it! Your a voracious reader-i hope thats the right word!
Prayer is essential,plain and simple, for our journey and relationship with God.
Thanks for your comment. I know these kids are struggling with so much. I know it’s hard. And I do pray for them, trust me!
It’s a common problem among Christians, I’m afraid. We are too comfortable and way too apathetic.
Have a great day. Thanks again.
Hi Heather,
Thank you my friend for stopping by and commenting on my last post. As it stands now I’m getting ready to go into a period of time beginning tomorrow in whcih I will be hiding, eating, and immersing myself in the Word of God for the depressive mood swings, the cancer, the self-pity, the calling on my life, and any other thing that I can think of to be finally changed to God’s will for my life. I’m seriously contemplating taking an 8-10 hr. day and devoting myself totally to learning as much as I can from God while sitting at His feet with diligence and patience. I’m tired of just making promises, and never completing them. From griping and complaining that God doesn’t move fast enough and all of that other type of ritualist griping that I somehow get myself involved in every week of my life. I’m so aggravated at myself for allowing the devil to take over my emotions and throwing them up in my face. I’ve done too much good by God’s grace and mercy to let that go by the wayside in vanity. So I’d like to just ask you if you would pray a prayer of faith on my behalf that in my intentions I will succeed in what the Lord wants me to do over the next 25-or-30 years of my life. I feel so desperate to have more of the Lord right up in my face and in my heart to the extent that fail all the time and lose hope that I’ll ever amount to much in the Kingdom of God. I just need more wisdom and a great amount of common sense. I’m acutually quite a mess when you get right down to the nitty gritty. I’ve come to you to just ask for your prayers. And to confess my faults so that I may be healed.
God bless you Heather…You’ve always impressed me with your knowledge and your dedication to what you do best.
Joe : )
Prayer is a play, in which we act, not only as players, but also as an audience to the Lord. We must watch and listen as much as we feel we must speak, sing, and dance.
You are very right. When people use “love” as way to get something else in return it does indeed tarnish what love is all about. I thank God for you and your testimony because it just shows that no matter how deep the pain and struggle, success can be obtained. You are an inspiration.
I appreciate and thank you for visiting my site and leaving comments. Its a blessing.
God bless from Isaac
this post is really good.
Thank you for the quotes from Yancey’s book. I had been thinking about buying it – your review makes me really want to read it.
Your site ALWAYS amazes me. TIME is something you give and I really appreciate the TIME you take to write all your thoughts down…God said something about prayer to me recently and I will post it soon… blessings!
I can see the depth of this man’s thoughts on prayer. Thank you for bringing them to our attention. I think that I shall e-mail them to me so that I can meditate on them further. Love in Jesus ~ Carolyn