We are bombarded. If, like me, you have embraced facebook and forums, can’t turn off your mobile, and check your emails constantly then you are bombarded too.
I think the greatest invention of my lifetime is the Walkman. This is because it ultimately gave birth to the iPod, which in turn led to an explosion of wonderful, wonderful podcasts. There is a fantastic banquet of epic proportions laid out for internet savvy Christian who has access to iTunes (other podcast systems are available…).
And I can’t get enough! Thank you Father for your provision!
Not an Original Idea in Sight
When I teach I often joke, saying that I have yet to have an original thought. I find that when I teach, its usually a smorgasbord of all the other teaching that I have been bombarded with other the last months. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing! However, wouldn’t it be great to have something really original to say? To be frank, I have had some original ideas,but just to give credit where its due here’s my list of sources – well, some of them – you’ll find their influences through out my teaching!
- Derek Prince
- Creflo Dollar
- Chris Vallouton
- Dallas Willard
- Leslsy Malpas
- CS Lewis
- Crispin Fletcher-Louis
- Helen Eldon
- NT Wright
- Bob Craine
- lots more..
All that’s good of course – you listen, you filter, you assimilate you pray over. But I crave the original.
The original in your hands…
I am convinced that God has much to say. There is an inexhaustible supply of fresh insight for us, waiting. Derek Prince said something along the lines, respectfully, that the bible is “Nothing more than black marks on white paper” if the Holy Spirit doesn’t make it alive. You can read it, and its interesting, maybe even beneficial, but you need the Holy Spirit to bring the words to life.
The words in the bible have to be applied to our situations. If they aren’t, it can do your head in. When the Holy Spirit of God breathes on a passage, often just a line or two, and applies them directly into our lives it is life and health and food and drink. Now there’s my original thought.
To my experience the original most often comes when I draw away. Get quite. Just me, and my bible (and sometimes coffee…).
Maybe, its easier to download a new Chris Voluton, read a theological tome, ask the wife, than it is to draw away, still your mind, and listen to God. He’ll bless in what you listen too, if you apply it (remember that Wise man building his house upon the rock). But when you get away on your own, turn off the teachers, and focus on loving logo – the unobtainable original becomes possible!
Well, there’s my original thought.,
4 Comments
I find it helpful to simply treat God as a friend with feelings, so that I can keep asking Him for a request up to a point, but then I try to ‘read’ how He would or does feel from the point of view of our relationship i.e. if I start to become mildly obsessive I realize I am losing the pleasure of the friendship, so I ‘put the request down’. There is a transcendent side to praying as well as everyone knows: a friend I know well in Africa asked for a new key member of staff just 2 weeks ago after weeks of ‘desperate’ prayer. One morning she decided to take the ‘friendship’ route and said openly to God that she would deliberately trust Him; she prayed again. That morning a suitable person for the role, fully qualified, walked onto site ready for interview – not even knowing the job was on offer initially. About the danger of ‘obsessive’ prayer, I have by contrast experienced times of great need when I just could not stop praying, almost night and day, but it was lead by the need not driven by anxiety. It was also satisfying maybe the way it is for an athlete in a race. Hope this helps.
Ok I’ve thought a bit about this and although I’ve heard and practised both, I’m not sure I can track down the biblical origins of both. Persistence in prayer comes (among other places) from Jesus’ story of the persistent widow. While Paul tells us to ask for what we need while thanking God, I don’t think he specifies thanking God for what we are praying for. Hm…
I like the relationship angle too. I have been obsessing about an issue before God – worry, worry, worry. I realised that I must sound a bit like a dripping tap. So I forced myself to stop nagging for that issue and just say “I trust you”.
On other occasions I have pushed through until a sense of peace comes over me, and I know that its dealt with in some way. That’s rare, and I wish it happened more
As I get older I think more and more that its the relationship that counts, and that means listening!
I’ve been praying for some people to become Christians for 28 years. Should I stop and just trust? A friend prayed for his sister for years and soon after he stopped and handed the situation over to God, the prayer was answered. Bit of a conundrum isn’t it? Ultimately, I have to trust that the Holy Spirit will interpret my prayers to the Father and unpick the mess I make. Maybe praying more in tongues is one solution?