Re: Outlive Your Life

I do not believe  that God is real for most people who consider themselves Christian.

 

At our last mens business meeting the subject was securing the building. We have an alarm system but do not have it on. We will turn it on soon. I don't think we need one. The catholics have had open buildings for centuries and anyone can go in and pray or or genuflect or whatever. While we lock our building to keep the derelicts out. One fellow told me the other night that where he used to go the building was broken into and their food supply for the poor was pretty much ransacked. I asked him what the problem was. Their congregation had participated in a benevolent act without having to participate. Apparently we are concerned someone will steal our sound system. I told them no problem if they do we can get a better one.
 
ON television several years ago some prognosticator was positive looking down the road 5 years of what Iran would do if Israel did such and such . But when asked what Iran was going to do tomorrow in response to a certain act by Israel today he was not sure.   It appears the more verifiable the less his confidence and when the act is less verifiable his confidence increased.
 
Same with prayer. Does it say anything about a people's convictions when they claim prayer works and have absolute confidence God will heal their sick but are not that confident about him protecting the congregation's property?
 
How about the confidence shown by others who withhold medical treatment because their faith in God's healing is so great. Why do you suppose we think they are loony for having such a ridiculous faith?
 

I for one have never met a righteous man or at least I have not been in their presence when they were saying one of those effective prayers. I have never experienced or observed effective prayer. And from what I observed and experienced no one I know has either. We talk a lot but our prayers are hollow. When attempts are made to discuss or think on the subject the response is to belittle the effort. Our classes are shallow and there is no learning. Hollow prayer is the product of shallow learning.

Thanks, John Jenkins
865-803-8179  cell
Gatlinburg, TN

Email: jrjenki@gmail.com
Website: http://www.greenbriersolutions.com 
Blog: http://littlepigeon.blogspot.com/

"And do not forget brethren, that we are drifting."

J.D. Tant

On Thu, Oct 7, 2010 at 1:22 PM, Grover W. Hastings <gwh1206@comcast.net> wrote:

John this is an excerpt from Max Lucado's book title above. Look carefully at what I've highlighted in red below. Are we known as a house of prayer? This bothers me considerably.

Col 4:2

Pray First, Pray Most

One of our Brazilian church leaders taught me something about earnest prayer. He met Christ during a yearlong stay in a drug-rehab center. His therapy included three one-hour sessions of prayer a day. Patients weren't required to pray, but they were required to attend the prayer meeting. Dozens of recovering drug addicts spent sixty uninterrupted minutes on their knees.

I expressed amazement and confessed that my prayers were short and formal. He invited (dared?) me to meet him for prayer. I did the next day. We knelt on the concrete floor of our small church auditorium and began to talk to God. Change that. I talked; he cried, wailed, begged, cajoled, and pleaded. He pounded his fists on the floor, shook a fist toward heaven, confessed, and reconfessed every sin. He recited every promise in the Bible as if God needed a reminder. He prayed like Moses.

When God determined to destroy the Israelites for their golden calf stunt, "Moses begged the Lord his God and said, 'Lord, don't let your anger destroy your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with your great power and strength. Don't let the people of Egypt say, "The Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt for an evil purpose." . . . Remember the men who served you—Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. You promised with an oath to them'" (Ex. 32:11–13 NCV).

Moses on Mount Sinai is not calm and quiet, with folded hands and a serene expression. He's on his face one minute, in God's the next. He's on his knees, pointing his finger, lifting his hands. Shedding tears. Shredding his cloak. Wrestling like Jacob at Jabbok for the lives of his people. And God heard him! "So the Lord changed his mind and did not destroy the people as he had said he might" (v.14 NCV).

Our passionate prayers move the heart of God. "The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much" (James 5:16). Prayer does not change God's nature; who he is will never be altered. Prayer does, however, impact the flow of history. God has wired his world for power, but he calls on us to flip the switch.

Most of us struggle with prayer. We forget to pray, and when we remember, we hurry through prayers with hollow words. Our minds drift; our thoughts scatter like a covey of quail. Why is this? Prayer requires minimal effort. No location is prescribed. No particular clothing is required. No title or office is stipulated. Yet you'd think we were wrestling a greased pig.

Speaking of pigs, Satan seeks to interrupt our prayers. Our battle with prayer is not entirely our fault. The devil knows the stories; he witnessed the angel in Peter's cell and the revival in Jerusalem. He knows what happens when we pray. "Our weapons have power from God that can destroy the enemy's strong places" (2 Cor. 10:4 NCV).

Satan is not troubled when Max writes books or prepares sermons, but his knobby knees tremble when Max prays. Satan does not stutter or stumble when you walk through church doors or attend committee meetings. Demons aren't flustered when you read this book. But the walls of hell shake when one person with an honest heart and faithful confession says, "Oh, God, how great thou art."

Satan keeps you and me from prayer. He tries to position himself between us and God. But he scampers like a spooked dog when we move forward. So let's do.

Let's pray, first. Traveling to help the hungry? Be sure to bathe your mission in prayer. Working to disentangle the knots of injustice? Pray. Weary with a world of racism and division? So is God. And he would love to talk to you about it.

Let's pray, most. Did God call us to preach without ceasing? Or teach without ceasing? Or have committee meetings without ceasing? Or sing without ceasing? No, but he did call us to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:17).

Did Jesus declare: My house shall be called a house of study? Fellowship? Music? A house of exposition? A house of activities? No, but he did say, "My house will be called a house of prayer" (Mark 11:17 NIV).

No other spiritual activity is guaranteed such results. "When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action" (Matt. 18:19 MSG). He is moved by the humble, prayerful heart.

Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ.

(Colossians 4:2–3 NLT)

God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, you created all that exists, and you keep it running through your infinite wisdom and boundless power. Yet you invite me to come to you in prayer, boldly and with the expectation that you will hear me and answer me. Teach me, Lord, to take full advantage of this amazing 

, especially in regard to reaching others with your love. Give me a heart for those who have yet to experience the fullness of your grace, and prompt me to pray for them and for their welfare, both in this world and in eternity. Lord, bring me to the front lines of this battle. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.

*******************************

Grover W. Hastings

gwh1206@comcast.net

In God We Trust

"If we ever forget that we are one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under."  President Ronald Reagan