What a privilege to talk about prayer - talking to our creator.
Firstly, I got to preach with no shoes on, that was cool!
Secondly, talked about our relationship with God and the power of prayer and what actually happens in the spiritual realm - we really have no idea of all that actually happens. During the second session, I got us to think back to the worship time we just had and we all remember hearing more people than were actually there - there was only around 25 of us, but we all remember hearing a huge army worshipping God!! Were we surrounded by angels? Over the weekend, our eyes were opened to many new things. (have a look at 2 Kings 6:15-18)
During the last session we had some practical teaching on prayer and we had been praying for the Holy Spirit to be free to do His work and for the guys to actually experience God. Many of the youngsters had never really experienced God in a tangible way, and by the end of this last session all the kids were prophesying over each other - hearing accurate messages and visions from God while praying for each other!!! How awesome is God!! It knocked my socks off (yeah I know I didn't have shoes on, but metaphorically speaking [Jordan!! lol])
It didn't just stop there, that night, Sunday night, we went back to Noosa for their youth meeting - Undefeated - also very cool. This night was also, unplanned, was on being undefeated through prayer. This meeting went for 3 hours, we ended up breaking up into groups for more prayer (couldn't get enough) and more ministry was seen, prophecies, salvation, deliverance etc. One of the guys said at the end, 'What we learned this afternoon was exactly what we needed for tonight'. God is good, He knows exactly what we need and when - God's timing is perfect.
I think we all had one of the best weekends of our lives. They are some of the best guys/girls I have ever met, love them so much and am surprisingly missing them a heap too.
For the next 30 days (28 now) we also committed to praying for revival in Noosa, so you might like to join us in that!! Bring it on God - they're ready for You
"'Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation."
Luke 11:2-4
10 comments:
How do you counter the following approach to prayer:
http://religionismanmade.blogspot.com/2008/11/proving-that-prayer-is-superstition.html
Wow! Wish i was there. Sounds like you had a heap of fun. Im might burst soon, I want and need more Jesus!!! hehehe
might go to that movie night sunday at glenroy, hope ill see ya there yh?
Blessings to you! xxxx
After all this prayer, I don't see any difference in the world. Are you sure it's working?
David have you ever prayed?
Tish, how does prayer differ from an experience like meditation?
If you claim to be talking to a separate (spiritual) entity, how do you distinguish that experience from an one that originates entirely from within your neurological hardware? As a comparison, I would claim that communicating with another person is an entirely different kind of experience and has more solidly re-inforcing evidence that it is not an psychological illusion.
Does the continued practice of prayer train your brain to believe an external listening entity exists?
On the purpose of prayer: it's obviously not to persuade God to change His perfect will. That would be presumptuous on our part - and just leads to divination-style guessing games of whether God has answered prayer, and how it was answered. If prayer is more to change the person praying, then it's just a practice like meditiation after all.
You did not answer my question David.
Jesus says we should meditate on the Word of God.
In prayer we spend time with God, getting to know Him and releasing His power into the world.
Tish, I answered your question with a question. Did you understand the answer?
Here it is again in other words.
Do ambulance paramedics carry drugs and medical equipment with them, or just a book of prayers? When they get to an emergency, do they hold a lengthy prayer meeting and hope that God performs a miracle, or do they apply their training using their drugs and medical equipment?
When a computer programmer is investigating a software error, does she request God, in prayer, to "heal" the computer program and make it produce the correct results? Or does she track it down using logical analysis of error output, source code and user feedback?
When state and federal governments address the water crisis facing various parts of our country, do they establish a department of prayer, or do they put forward solutions such as pipelines, water extraction facilities, more dams, etc?
You made a kuffufle about prayer being an illusion which it is not. I believe in prayer and medicine working in unison. Include God in everything. Try talking to God sometime, you might be surprised.
Prayer amd medicine working in unison? Then why retain the medicine; remove it, for is not prayer sufficient if God supplies all your needs?
We tend to see prayer as us somehow inducing God to change his mind if only we can get it right in the end. The popular refrain that “prayer changes things” while true bears examination if we are to understand what it means. The question for us is, “Who changes what through prayer?”
What moves you to prayer the most?
·The idea of the power of prayer to move God to act, or
·The idea of the power of God who allows his children to share in his revealed purposes?
According to Scripture prayer is an activity of the saved people of God. It belongs to us because of the sonship that has been restored to us through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Learning to pray and developing one’s habits of prayer is one of the fruits of salvation in Christ.
In prayer we become involved in the business that God has with putting the world to rights. Thus, we do not worship or praise or petition God in the abstract. More than anything, the overarching story of the ‘mission of God’ reveals to us God’s purposes for the whole of creation. Its as we pray that we recognise this and are compelled to pray towards the fulfilment of God’s purposes for the whole of the created order.
All Christian prayer, then, will be oriented toward the ‘gospel’ and its God-ordained outcome. Having said that, we might wonder about praying for the smaller details of our lives, but we shouldn’t be put off. Every detail of our lives is caught up in the purpose of God for us. It not the matters we pray about that are the problem, but what we pray concerning them. Our aim ought to be to pray in a way that is consistent with God’s revelation in the Scriptures.
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