Pete's Page
3.Clearing away the clutter in your prayer life
Some of us are good at keeping things organised and focussed in our homes or offices, others of us don’t act until we’ve tripped over that misplaced shoe, persistent box or migrating book at least ten times. The state of our houses is considered by some to be a bit of an indication as to the state of our inner lives…that maybe true, but sometimes an immaculate home is at the cost of time for prayer, or a way of avoiding the intense intimacy of a close relationship with God (or others for that matter.)
Many in fact have a level of clutter in their inner lives they would never countenance in their homes or offices. They have effigies to their pride and achievement scattered in all sorts of places, sinister dark chests bursting with unredeemed hurts and unacknowledged sins (we often call them foibles.) They preserve with tenacity, a library of records of wrong thinking about themselves, about God, about the way others see them and won’t believe any contrary thought that might unsettle their carelessly constructed worldview.
For some the more shaky our inner world, the greater the noise we make in our outer world to mask our interior shambles. We hope folk won’t look at them too closely, we avoid any attempt to get us to “open up” a little…whether to family, friends and certainly not to God (…which is absurd since He sees everything with aching clarity.)
The great broom to sweep away piece by embarrassing piece is true humility before the Lord; the same Lord who endured horrifying shame to liberate us enough to be able to see that God loves us desperately. Humility means accepting the provision of and need for God’s act of forgiving love in Jesus’ crucifixion. Humility is also about accepting that the best things happen in and through our lives when the Holy Spirit is both the instigator and the power source. Humility is about the annoying reality that “I can’t do everything” and that we need others to do the more wonderful things God calls us to.
Got some clutter? Boy have I got a broom for you?
Wednesday, 1 August 2007
Pete's Page
2.Wanting it bad
Can’t make up your mind? Toss a coin. Want the best of three? How you respond reveals what you really want. Interesting eh?
What’s this got to do with prayer? Well perhaps we don’t persist with our prayer concerns, or even neglect to pray about some things, because they don’t really matter to us. We’re so used to being able to do whatever we need for ourselves that it’s hard to see why we should pray about these basic things…we can even miss seeing that all things come as a gift from our gracious Father in heaven. All this can mean God is not the first place we think of going when a need confronts us…and as a result we miss the incredible blessing of knowing that He is vitally concerned for every aspect of existence…(in itself a marvellous gift.)
So it’s often the really hard stuff we bring to Him! And because we’ve not tried His readiness to do the small things, we haven’t got that astonishing history with Him that would’ve shown us that nothing’s too trivial or too huge for God to respond to as a prayer from His kids.
You want to try an experiment? Next time you have a need that you could easily take care of yourself, STOP! Do nothing for a start… then ask God what you should do, ask Him to fill your need somehow…ask Him to show what His preference would be for you. However there is a condition…you really, really have to want Him to answer you. You have “waste” some time listening…perhaps reading His words in the Bible…maybe come and sit in the Prayer Room for an hour and just be with Him…see what comes up. Something will - may not be what you’d expect…but something will come up for your attention.
If a truly large request comes to mind, take time to think about what it is you’re asking. Reflect on God as the giver of every good thing, as the one who could win lost people like us to Himself as totally committed followers. Remember that Jesus said to call Him, Papa.
Now ask, “How bad do I want this?!” Then start asking; persist and get ready to be amazed…have fun with the quest.
2.Wanting it bad
Can’t make up your mind? Toss a coin. Want the best of three? How you respond reveals what you really want. Interesting eh?
What’s this got to do with prayer? Well perhaps we don’t persist with our prayer concerns, or even neglect to pray about some things, because they don’t really matter to us. We’re so used to being able to do whatever we need for ourselves that it’s hard to see why we should pray about these basic things…we can even miss seeing that all things come as a gift from our gracious Father in heaven. All this can mean God is not the first place we think of going when a need confronts us…and as a result we miss the incredible blessing of knowing that He is vitally concerned for every aspect of existence…(in itself a marvellous gift.)
So it’s often the really hard stuff we bring to Him! And because we’ve not tried His readiness to do the small things, we haven’t got that astonishing history with Him that would’ve shown us that nothing’s too trivial or too huge for God to respond to as a prayer from His kids.
You want to try an experiment? Next time you have a need that you could easily take care of yourself, STOP! Do nothing for a start… then ask God what you should do, ask Him to fill your need somehow…ask Him to show what His preference would be for you. However there is a condition…you really, really have to want Him to answer you. You have “waste” some time listening…perhaps reading His words in the Bible…maybe come and sit in the Prayer Room for an hour and just be with Him…see what comes up. Something will - may not be what you’d expect…but something will come up for your attention.
If a truly large request comes to mind, take time to think about what it is you’re asking. Reflect on God as the giver of every good thing, as the one who could win lost people like us to Himself as totally committed followers. Remember that Jesus said to call Him, Papa.
Now ask, “How bad do I want this?!” Then start asking; persist and get ready to be amazed…have fun with the quest.
Pete's Page
1.Praying Prunes
We start our season of focussing on prayer by looking at Nehemiah in the throes of heartfelt pleading. He gets quite emotional! And good on him too. It meant he felt his concerns for Jerusalem very deeply…it also meant his pleading with God was passionate. Even more passionate than we are when we’re urging our team on to great things…and that’s passionate!
So many of our prayers are all too calm and reasoned because they don’t always come from the depths of our being we feel the need most dearly. Believe me “passion” is not a dirty word when applied to prayer. Without passion we are rather desiccated like prunes rather than ripe juicy plums. Without passion it’s hard to believe in our hearts that there will be any kind of answer forthcoming from the Throne of Grace.
Without passion our prayers tend to waver if something else more engaging or “interesting” comes along…even while we’re praying. We put prayer into the regions of optional spiritual practice as being too hard, or an unproductive use of time. But what if you stopped to contemplate what would be the situation of the thing you were praying for wasn’t granted…would that power you up for a greater level of persistence, for a deeper reach of passion?
As an aside if the answer to “what if it wasn’t granted” question is not too significant why are you squandering your spiritual passion on that rather than something that doesn’t really matter? This is why prayer for healing is so amazing, because it’s often out of desperation that we turn to prayer for healing (whether ourselves or another.) Is the unanswered need offensive to you? Does it seem a shocking shame for someone to suffer as you’ve seen? Does that injustice you’ve noticed seem unbearable? There’s a great reason to hammer at God’s door with your concern.
Come on get passionate about praying…God actually gives a darn about what’s on your heart…maybe the problem is that there’s nothing on our hearts. Then…have a heart!!!
1.Praying Prunes
We start our season of focussing on prayer by looking at Nehemiah in the throes of heartfelt pleading. He gets quite emotional! And good on him too. It meant he felt his concerns for Jerusalem very deeply…it also meant his pleading with God was passionate. Even more passionate than we are when we’re urging our team on to great things…and that’s passionate!
So many of our prayers are all too calm and reasoned because they don’t always come from the depths of our being we feel the need most dearly. Believe me “passion” is not a dirty word when applied to prayer. Without passion we are rather desiccated like prunes rather than ripe juicy plums. Without passion it’s hard to believe in our hearts that there will be any kind of answer forthcoming from the Throne of Grace.
Without passion our prayers tend to waver if something else more engaging or “interesting” comes along…even while we’re praying. We put prayer into the regions of optional spiritual practice as being too hard, or an unproductive use of time. But what if you stopped to contemplate what would be the situation of the thing you were praying for wasn’t granted…would that power you up for a greater level of persistence, for a deeper reach of passion?
As an aside if the answer to “what if it wasn’t granted” question is not too significant why are you squandering your spiritual passion on that rather than something that doesn’t really matter? This is why prayer for healing is so amazing, because it’s often out of desperation that we turn to prayer for healing (whether ourselves or another.) Is the unanswered need offensive to you? Does it seem a shocking shame for someone to suffer as you’ve seen? Does that injustice you’ve noticed seem unbearable? There’s a great reason to hammer at God’s door with your concern.
Come on get passionate about praying…God actually gives a darn about what’s on your heart…maybe the problem is that there’s nothing on our hearts. Then…have a heart!!!
I want to introduce you to something that I prepare for my congregation each Sunday...it's called "Pete's Page" and is included in our Sunday bulletin and reflects something a little oblique about the theme for the day. We've been working through prayer as our theme. It's included having a Prayer Room open from 6:30 a.m. through to 9:00 p.m. since 8 July, and will go 24-7 from 6 August for at least a week.
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