…….instead, pray. Pray about everything…
If that statement makes you angry, cringe, huff or feel like switching blog then PLEASE bear with me a moment longer.
If you felt any of the above responses to the suggestion prayer is the answer, then I would assume one of two things.
a) You do not believe in God and do not have a 'faith', in which case feel free to pass by this blog.
b) Your God/faith is limited, in which case I invite you to read on:-)
Where does our 'faith' come from? and in whom do we believe? and who are we praying to?
Last Sunday I was asked to lead children in preparation of hearts to worship God. I knew that the children's view of God would either help or limit their heart engagement with Him so I took some time to examine with them the description of the heavenly courts in Revelation 4 to see the sort of things that surround God in all His glory. Things that are out of this world and beyond our human understanding or comprehension. We pray and worship in this context, beyond the earthly realm to engage with the heavenly realm.
The difficulty comes in not being able to see this realm and here is where I normally ask the children to think about wind. When I asked if they could actually see the wind they began to describe the things the wind did, but quickly realised that they weren't truly seeing the wind, only it's effects. Does this mean we don't believe in the wind? Many of the children had previously sensed God's presence and power, so it was relatively easy as we then came in praise, worship and prayer to engage with this invisible realm.
The ability to do this expands our view beyond ourselves and helps us receive the deep and profound truths of God's love, care and desire to love us and know us intimately. To know the fullness of these truths involves reading and discovering a bit more from the most ancient of books.….the Bible. The more we know and understand, the deeper our revelation is in prayer. Revelations of God's peace, love and perfect plan CRITICALLY extend beyond the here and now and reach into eternity. Living with the knowledge that there are things we won't fully comprehend this side of heaven helps us trust and cast our cares on the one who cares for us. Prayer really can be the cure to all our anxieties.
If you desire to grow in the practise of prayer but have always found the Bible a bit of a tough read, then I highly recommend a recent translation called 'The Voice'.
Philippians 4 v 6-7
'Keep your gentle nature so that all people will know what it looks like to walk in Jesus footsteps. The Lord is ever present with us. Don’t be anxious about things; instead, pray. Pray about everything. He longs to hear your requests, so talk to God about your needs and be thankful for what has come. And know that the peace of God (a peace that is beyond any and all of our human understanding) will stand watch over your hearts and minds in Jesus, the Anointed One.'
