Christian Reflection and Prayer

Whitney Hopler

There are many ways to pray -
many paths of communication that
can lead you closer to God.

Here are some different paths you
can take to prayer:

"Absence":  When God feels far away,
recognize that as a normal part of your
spiritual journey, but remember that
God hasn't abandoned you.  He has
promised always to be with you, but
when you don't sense His presence,
you're experiencing it in a whole new
way.  During the time that you feel
separated from God, He can wean
you from your attachment to immature
thoughts and feelings about Him and
help you grow to eventually see Him
in clearer ways, experience His love
more deeply, and let it flow through
you to others.

"An argument with God":  When you
argue with God through prayer, you
can actually grow closer to Him by
engaging with Him in real, raw, and
honest ways.  Be humble yet confident
about confronting God about an issue
in your life.  God would rather have you
argue with Him than not care enough
to confront Him about what's troubling
you.  Feel free to wrestle with God as
part of the process of passionately
pursuing Him.  Don't be afraid to tell
God: "I love you, but I'm mad and
confused."

"A long, slow journey":  When the
answers to your prayers take a long time
to come, you can learn to adjust your
lifestyle to God's timing.  Remember that
prayer isn't primarily about getting
something from God right when you
want it; instead, it's about being with
God and allowing Him to change you
in the process.  Waiting on God helps
you learn to trust God's good plans for
your life, even when you don't understand
or agree with His timing.  Ask God to give
you the strength to be patient while you
must wait.

"A dangerous activity":  When God
responds to your prayers by calling you
to grow as a person in uncomfortable ways
or make difficult sacrifices to help others,
praying can seem like a dangerous activity. 
But remember that God wants to bless you -
just on His terms, not yours.  While you
may pray to be relieved of your cares, God
wants to propel you into spiritual growth and
service.  Invite Him to do the work He wants
to do in your soul and through your life. 
You'll ultimately benefit in powerful ways
from it.

Adapted from The Folly of Prayer: Practicing the
Presence and Absence of God, copyright 2009 by
Matt Woodley. Published by IVP Books, a division
of InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, Ill.,
www.ivpress.com.

(Will Continue)

Whitney Hopler

There are many ways to pray -
many paths of communication that
can lead you closer to God.

Here are some different paths you
can take to prayer:

"Guttural groaning": 
When you feel pain or doubt so deeply
that you can't express verbally, you can
simply groan in your spirit and God will hear. 
The Holy Spirit within you will intercede to
God the Father for you to express what
you can't put into words.  Guttural groaning
will open your heart to God's comfort,
hope, and compassion.

"Skin, trees, blood, bread, and wine": 
When you pray using your physical senses
(such as seeing, hearing, smelling, touching,
or tasting), you can deepen your connection
to God.  Start by celebrating Communion for
a powerful encounter with God.  Then try other
sacramental approaches to prayer, like praying
with other people whose faces you can see,
touching someone you're praying for, praying
outside in nature, moving your body when you
pray (kneeling, raising your hands, dancing, walking,
making the sign of the cross, or anything else
God may lead you to do).

"Desperation":  When you cry out to God
from the depths of your helplessness, God
hears you.  Don't let either pride or insecurity
keep you from praying when you feel desperate. 
Remember that Jesus has given you the freedom
and confidence you need to turn to God in the midst
of desperate situations.  Open yourself up fully to
receive His help.  Expect God to reach out to you. 
Let the desperation you experience motivate you to
pursue God more and develop deeper compassion
for other people in need.

"Mystery":  When your prayers go unanswered
and you don't know why, don't hesitate to ask God
questions and express your agony to Him.  Choose
to trust God's promise that He will do what's best
when you pray.  Realize that He may be using
unanswered prayers to change you for the better
as you go through difficult circumstances. 
Understand that sometimes God will choose to
give you something more valuable than answers to
your prayers: Himself.  Get to know the Giver rather
than just the gifts.  Make your ultimate goal in prayer
to spend time with God instead of trying to get
something from Him.  Ask God to help you surrender
your will to His will and trust that He will work out every
situation according to what's best when you invite Him
to do so.

Adapted from The Folly of Prayer: Practicing the
Presence and Absence of God, copyright 2009 by
Matt Woodley. Published by IVP Books, a division
of InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, Ill.,
www.ivpress.com.

(Will Continue)

Scripture:

22Do not merely listen to the word,
and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

23Anyone who listens to the word but does
not do what it says is like a man who looks
at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at
himself, goes away and immediately forgets
what he looks like. 25But the man who looks
intently into the perfect law that gives freedom,
and continues to do this, not forgetting what
he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed
in what he does.
James 1:21-25 (New International Version)

Reflection:

These versus from the Book of James have
always hit home to me.  When I was active
in the ministry, I considered myself a
somewhat Biblical scholar.  I would always
look at the Scriptures and read the words
and decide how I was going to present the
words to my congregation. I very rarely
applied Gods words to my life.  I quickly
became a man of a lot of words and not
a man that lived by those words.  I was
not a man of action. 
I began to see that this was true of my
congregation.  We all talked the game
but we didn't participate.  We would read
the word, and hear the word, but we
would not live by the word.
It is so very true what David C.
McCasland said,
When I study God’s Word, my first
question should not be, “What am I
going to say about this?” but “What
am I going to do about this?”
Remember what it says in James
2: 14-17: "4What good is it, my brothers,
if a man claims to have faith but has no
deeds? Can such faith save him?
15Suppose a brother or sister is without
clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says
to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and
well fed," but does nothing about his physical
needs, what good is it? 17In the same way,
faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action,
is dead.
ASK YOURSELF, "ARE YOU ALIVE OR DEAD".

Prayer:

Oh God as I look at and hear Your Word, I pray
that I apply Your Word to my life.  Oh God
I want to be a doer of Your Word. Let my first
question be "What am I going to do about this?"