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 10/30/2006 6:13:58 AM
User is offlinejdgoggin
7 posts


prayer
 (United States)
I had the opportunity to spend a few hours in prayer this week at a park. I had brought my usual tools for spending time with God that I often bring when I plan to spend a chunk of my day with the Lord. As I was getting out of my car I felt the Lord encouraging me to leave my "resources" in the car, and to simply bring myself to my time of prayer. Of course, I have spent extended time with the Lord without the bible, a book, a journal, etc., but I realized on this occasion how much I still depended on those things at times to make me feel comfortable, in control even, in my times of prayer. I wonder how much of my prayer life has been marked by an effort to remain comfortable, and whether others of you can relate to the desire to control the environment when you spend time with God in prayer.
 10/30/2006 7:19:01 AM
User is offlineanonymous
0 posts


Re: prayer
 (United States)
I can definitely relate with you on the issue of desiring to control the environment of prayer in which I interact with God.  It's actually something that God seems to be challenging me with lately.  I struggle to break out of the mold of prayer that my church has taught me to practice ("quiet times" and meal prayers, etc.)  God seems to be calling me to something deeper; all of us to something deeper than what I feel traditional evangelical churches have taught us.  Something more than just rehearsing what is "supposed to work" by conventional methods.  I often forget that prayer is communication in relationship with God. 

I love music.  It's a part of God's creation that stirs up something in my soul unlike anything else.  And I love to play the guitar.  Lately I've felt God calling me to just play my guitar with him.  No song in particular.  No praise songs being sung.  Just me, playing my guitar consciously in the presence of God.  And yet its prayer.  Does that sound crazy to anyone? 


 10/30/2006 9:16:05 PM
User is offlineaphekah
16 posts


Re: prayer
 (United Kingdom)
I totally vibe with what you both are talking about. I am in a transition time in life, and I can see myself reverting to just doing things because they are supposed to be done. I find myself praying at night because I feel bad for not doing so throughout the day, and then when I wake up in the middle of the night I feel horrible for falling asleep. I sat in a chair the other day and started to pray, and felt like I was just supposed to sit and rest. That was my prayer. Like your playing guitar, I think I was called to rest because my life has been so hectic that coming to God in that chaos was meaningless both for myself and for Him. It is interesting how little I want to rest for God - it doesn't match my understanding of Him.
 11/3/2006 10:44:55 PM
User is offlinelinasong
2 posts


Re: prayer
 (N/A)
Gosh, we can easily laugh the notion of our seemingly never ending mode of control off, as it should resonate with most of us who have even an ounce of self-awareness.  And certainly there is a place for holding it lightly because the truth of it is that we are creatures and His burden is light.  At the core, if not the very core, as least the near core, of control seems to be pride.  I know it's often argued that pride is at the core of all sin.  Pride as in doing things apart from God, away from Him; autonomy.  To answer the intial question, yes, absolutely, I can identify w/ wanting to pray and even do Christianity "my comfortable" way.  The interesting thing is that what comfort looks like for one person could be the most uncomfortable thing for another.  In the past, comfortable for me was to try new things out on a very frequent basis.  I mention this only to explicitly acknowledge the differences in our comfort level and how that could factor in when we are in corporate settings.  Sometimes, well I suppose all times, we are able to choose, but sometimes God isn't necessarily nudging us in any particular way.  He has a purpose for that.  And then those times when we know He's totally calling us and inviting us to something, there's a purpose for that too.  And most of the time, it seems that the invitation places us on some sort of path of growth and process in relationship with Him.  "I'm uncomfortable."  "I don't like not being in control?"  What makes you uncomfortable?  What do you fear in what you're being invited into?  How do you experience God as you choose to ignore His whispers?  There's much more to be written, but much more to be found out as we journey forth.  As you read the last 4 posts on this topic of control/comfort, what responses/reactions were evoked?  How would it be to talk to God about them? 
 11/8/2006 2:02:49 AM
User is offlineBCOwen
7 posts


Re: prayer
 (United States)

How easy it is for me to bring anything and everything but my self to time with God in prayer.  I can definitely relate to the temptation of relying on a stack of resources to bring comfort and control to my interaction with the Lord. 

I really do desire to simply be with God in prayer instead of simply rattling off a grocery list of requests.  But if I'm honest, I have to admit I have some reluctance mixed in with this desire.

When my nephew was younger, he loved simply sitting in my lap and spending time with me.  While I loved looking at his latest art projects or whatever else he was preoccupied with, I simply enjoyed spending time with him, regardless of what he was doing.  Does not our interaction with children reflect in some small way our Abba's desire to be with us?

Why is it so difficult for us to believe that God really does want to just be with us?  Why are we reluctant to approach him without our "props"?  Does anyone have any thoughts?
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