When the disciples asked Jesus how to pray he said "pray like this" and then proceeded to give a model for prayer. I don't believe we should just have vain repitition of any prayer but I do believe we can use the model prayer as a springboard to pray more effectively. What do I mean. As we spend time in prayer we can quote the model prayer ,and as we do, we can allow the components of the prayer to make the prayer ours. So we start buy reciting the model prayer and then as we come back around to the begining wecan focus on the parts of the prayer that will act as a focal point. "Our Father who is Heaven" O how thankful I am that you my Father are so far above anything a man can even imagine. Your greatness surpasses all power and glory. How long can you park on that that statement and just give God the praise and honor due His name. One part of the prayer that has helped me is when Jesus says "and lead not into temptation but deliever us from evil". Here we can spend time asking God to head temptation off even as it will make its way to us during the day. We can thank God before hand that we will not allow temptation to creep up on us because we have asked for supernatural strength before hand to overcome. We can place a shield of protection around us when we ask to be delivered from evil.
The model prayer can help us pray strong everyday. We should use the words of Jesus to help us pray everyday. When you don't know what to prayer go to this prayer and use it as a jump off point to get you in the Spirit of prayer.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Sunday Night Reflection
This morning we had a guest speaker at Living Springs. Don Baily is a Biker preacher(He goes to Sturgis and Daytona bike rally's). Brother Don also sings Christian Country music. Bottom line about this preacher is he loves Jesus. Don is the guy who preaches where ever the door opens. Most weeks you will find him in a nursing home and out of the way places preaching and singing for Jesus. Brother Don loves lost souls. Brother Don loves people.
It was good to see new faces in the crowd this morning. I am praying for the day when the crowd become the core. Rick Warren says like this:
The community becomes a crowd, the crowd becomes a congregation, the congregation becomes the committed and the committed become the core.
We are getting ready for our Vision banquet. It is necessary to continue to cast vision. We need to revisit vision often because vision leaks and people forget. The main focus will be the urgency of why things cannot remain the same. We will talk more about the here than the there.
Living Springs cannot not stay where it is because we will miss the greatest opportunities to reach its community. Everything is on the table but the greatest obsitcle we face is ourselves. The status quo is safe. Cruzing is optional but not acceptable. We cannot, we will not remain where we are. It is time for "Carpe Diem" "seize the day".
It was good to see new faces in the crowd this morning. I am praying for the day when the crowd become the core. Rick Warren says like this:
The community becomes a crowd, the crowd becomes a congregation, the congregation becomes the committed and the committed become the core.
We are getting ready for our Vision banquet. It is necessary to continue to cast vision. We need to revisit vision often because vision leaks and people forget. The main focus will be the urgency of why things cannot remain the same. We will talk more about the here than the there.
Living Springs cannot not stay where it is because we will miss the greatest opportunities to reach its community. Everything is on the table but the greatest obsitcle we face is ourselves. The status quo is safe. Cruzing is optional but not acceptable. We cannot, we will not remain where we are. It is time for "Carpe Diem" "seize the day".
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