Prayer Obstacles

In our class this week, we discussed prayer as a spiritual discipline.

Prayers of desperation are not sufficient to sustain us spiritually. Instead, like an athlete in training, we need to learn to incorporate prayer into our daily spiritual regimen.

How strong are your prayer muscles? Could they stand to become stronger if you would just commit to the practice of prayer more regularly?

Here are some tips that may be helpful as we all strive to become better people of prayer:

Pick a time: This one is almost cliche. I don't think God really cares when you pray, but I think we should all strive to pray when we are at our best. For some that is the morning. For those of us who are more nocturnally oriented, it's in the evening. When are you at your best mentally? Try scheduling some prayer time around that time.

Pick a place: When you pray, pick a place that is free from distractions. In Mark 1:35-37 we read: Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: "Everyone is looking for you!" Peter seemed almost offended that it was tough to track Jesus down. But that was the point. Jesus needed some "J-time" to pray. Pick a place that allows you to have some "U-time" with God, uninterrupted.

Know your prayer path: Some people find it easier to pray outdoors. Some people like to focus on a picture or a sculpture to help get them in tuned with God. What is your prayer path? You may not have discovered it yet. Keep seeking it. You'll find it.

Pray authentically: Don't pontificate to God. Be authentic. Pray to God what is on you heart right where you are at that time.

Remember, as we learned in class, "history belongs to the intercessors." Pray boldly, like Abraham did and intercede on behalf of others.

For some more thoughts on prayer...check some of my other musings.

Whispers

God tends to speak to us in whispers.

His "still, small" voice has something for you to hear on your journey from what you were to what He has in store for you.

Remember our passage we studied in Luke 8:14? It reads:

"The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature."

Life's worries, riches, and pleasures create tons of noise and distraction that prevent you and I from hearing the transforming whispers of God. No one is immune from this reality.

Remember that other passage. Mark 6:31? It's your invitation from God today:

"Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."

Find a place to turn off the "noise" and listen for whispers this week.

Pseudo-Transformation

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  We've talked in class about how faking transformation leads to pseudo-transformation.
  
  This is when we really don't have the fruits of the Spirit growing in our lives, but we really do a good job of looking the part. We may not have the real thing inside, but we go to church twice on Sunday, tithe, pray a really good prayer, and keep up our privacy walls.
  
  In Ortberg's book, he poses some tough questions to determine if we are settling for pseudo-transformation:
  
  Am I spiritually "inauthentic"?
  Am I becoming judgmental or exclusive or proud?
  Am I becoming more approachable, or less?
  Am I growing weary of pursuing spiritual growth?
  Am I measuring my spiritual life in superficial ways?
  
  Interesting, isn't it, that we're always becoming and growing.....but becoming what? Growing into what?
  
  Are you becoming the real deal? Or is it just a good show?
  
  
  

Transformation Take Time!

What is the difference between a T-Bone steak slowly cooked over the fire and one that is cooked in the microwave in 4 minutes?

Transformation takes time. We are transformed over time into the image of Christ.

Sometimes the changes the Holy Spirit makes in our live are instant and some take years to complete.

Billy Graham wrote that when we are saved, there is immediately peace between ourselves and God. It's an instant transformation in our relationship to God. But Graham notes that it takes much more time for that peace to permeate our lives in relation to other people and the world around us.

In order for God to be able to change us into what He wants us to be, we need to intentionally orient or arrange our lives in a manner that allows Him to do so.

Remember the metaphor of the sail boat? What can you intentionally do in your life to unfurl your sail to catch the wind of the Holy Spirit? You can't catch the wind if you don't hoist your sail?

We Are Made to Transform!

Redemption is all about transformation.

When we accept Jesus as our personal Savior, we are saved from the eternal punishment we deserve, but we're also save for something else.

We are saved to be transformed into the likeness of Christ....not just to look good, but to BE GOODNESS to a hurting world.

God's intent for us to be transformed from our old yucky self into the image of Christ is laid out in 2 Corinthians 5:16-20:

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. (NIV)

You and I are made for this!