Once again, It's prayer time!

Hey Gang,

As you may or may not have noticed I once again missed a blog last week. This time I even knew what to say and didn't get to it. That is because God gave me a great blessing last week but that blessing threw off my schedule. He gave me work. I now have a job that will keep me busy up till the time I leave for my trip. Can I just say we have a really cool God. I spend one night going over my budget and begin to be concerned about having any dollars in my pocket when I leave then bam the day after asking him about it he gives me work. Now when I leave in two weeks I'll actually have a little bit of money in my pocket.

This leads me beautifully to our assignment this week. You see things seem to happen when we pray. I mean really pray. I don't have scripture to throw out this time just experience. You see when I'm going through my day to day and praying through my day I don't always get a ton of response. But suddenly when I am in real need when my very soul reaches out to God in prayer I hear from him (Not always exactly how I hope too but I still hear from him.) What does this mean? Does it mean God only cares when we are in a state of desperation? I don't think so. As I think back on these times I ask myself "Is there a difference in how I pray" I can only speak for me but I have found the answer is a definite YES! I have found that my prayers change from "God do this for me" To "God help me" In other words I move from a list of specific requests to "God I need you please come and work in my life" My guess is that God wants us to realize just who he is. He wants to be appreciated, he wants to be loved, and he wants us to realize that his plans for us are better than our plans for us.

I hear ya Larry but how do I reach that point of prayer without getting to desperation first? I'm glad you asked. This is something I learned from a prayer class in my Church in Houston (The Houston Vineyard) I've always kept it in mind but rarely practiced. I was recently reminded of it while reading a wonderful book that a group of my friends are currently reading called "The Celebration of Disciplines" Rather than going to prayer with a list of specific requests try going to prayer with one specific request "Come Holy Spirit, Speak to me tell me how to pray" I know it sounds kind of strange "Praying to God asking him to tell me how to pray" But if you think about it it really makes sense. God already knows our thoughts right? God already knows our needs right? Well if he already knows these things then why do we pray? Prayer is a dialogue it's communication. God knows our thoughts but we don't know his. So I would like to suggest that prayer is opening the dialogue. "God you already know my issues and concerns tell me what you think about it." God then answers "This is what I think about it and this is what I want to do about it." To which we respond God this is what I hear you saying you are much smarter than me so please do it?" To which God says great now that we have that out of the way lets chat. What would you like to know about me? I would love to tell you all you want to know."

Don't agree with me? You don't have to. Here is what I would like to challenge you to do and your assignment this week. Try it out! Set aside a prayer time where you sit down with no specific request in mind no preset agenda and ask him "God how would you like me to pray?"

sit and wait to hear from him. Then pray what you hear. See what happens. I believe God will show himself in wonderful ways. If I'm wrong what are you out? A few minutes of sitting and listening to God? If that's all you're ahead of the game anyway.

Ok Gang hope you have a great week. Let's Live it Upside Down!