prayer works...

nothing too deep or to complicated but prayers get answered sooner or later with good or not so good results. i try to do my best to keep God on my heart and to speak with him. it may just be a moment of internal reflection, a verbal appreciation or just a passing image or thought. i see how things work. i see i need to be the catalyst to the reaction from God. i need to pray. when i pray, burdens are lifted, stress is relieved and the joys are magnified. i need to make effort to maintain contact. and if your heart is there, God is more evident and will deliver. many things are happening in my life and though the tough times, God has brought clarity in my life and the light of reason and understanding. he has made me strong and as i continue to converse with him, i grow and i thrive. so i see that prayer is very important in my life and i need to adjust to keep it going. i need to schedule the time alone in a special place. i believe i need to start journaling again to keep the constant contact and maintain the connection and work on this relationship with God. this is where i need to be.

sitting, waiting, wishing...

The Lord knows that this world is cruel
I ain't the Lord, no I'm just a fool... -J. Johnson

I think the one thing that really struck me in this chapter was the section on where God will say "slow!" when the timing is wrong for a prayer to be granted. The request is justified, but because of circumstances that one or a group may face at a given moment, the tangible results can't happen right then and there. We definitely find ourselves living in a society that's overwhelmingly slanted towards the concept of instant gratification, and when things don't go their way, many people seem to have a tendency to sulk and wallow in a whirlpool of internalized anger and frustration. Impatience seems to be a sinister default trait of being an imperfect race, whereas patience seems to be a heavenly virtue.

It's not my intention to denigrate the idea of prayer as I offer up the following analogy (and some of you may even roll your eyes and playfully smirk the suggestion) but I'd have to say it has similarities to the game of poker, specifically in the tournament form. After lengthy durations of not getting cards and/or after some onerous bad beats, many folks start to get fidgety / finicky, and end up haphazardly throwing all their chips in out of their frustration in an ill-timed situation when they didn't really need to. They essentially lost their patience and discipline, and let their emotions cloud correct judgment, leading them to be prematurely knocked out. I've played in numerous tourneys this past year, and I've seen the same individuals consistently finish at the final table and in the money. And I don't think it's any coincidence that it's those people that appear to be the most patient, disciplined and faithful. And it's those very traits that seem to be paramount in a bountiful cornucopia of a fruitful prayer life.

too busy (not) to pray

Recently, I find myself always feeling rushed for time. Things to do, so busy, must keep moving. Especially this past saturday with the praise night. The rest of the worship team had gathered to pray, and I was in the back tweaking the board and doing last minute checks. I looked up, saw them, and continued on about my business. I knew they would be in prayer for a bit, and I still had a couple things I needed to check. After a while, Justin, who was helping me with the sound check came over and said "hey, lets go and pray with the team." After finishing a few quick checks, I begrudgingly went with him and joined the rest of the team as they finished praying.
Ironic that the them was about returning to our first love, and I felt too preoccupied to even pray.

I find myself doing this more frequently of late during worship setup, feeling too busy to pray, to join the rest of the worship team up front with Pastor Lam and pray right before service. Not a thought to even saying a quick prayer while running around setting up. Going through this study on prayer, it's a good reminder for me that the (most) important thing on sunday is not whether the mics work, or the powerpoint slides are in order, or that the projector is on. And if I can't even take time to stop and pray, then I am missing the most important part.

"no - slow - go"?

Is that really the reason for unanswered prayers? "NO - SLOW - GO"?

I reflecting on my own prayer life in relation to this past week's chapter, it felt as if the chapter itself wasn't so helpful in regards to my own struggles with the mysteries of unanswered prayer. I've actually read several different books that try to address the issue, but because of experiences I've had in life, I think my own personal faith can sometimes struggle with the aspect of being faithful in prayer.

It's easy to pray when you see your prayers being answered immediately, and the results are crystal clear. It's much harder to pray when they aren't being answered immediately, or when the results are much more muddy and unclear. In the latter case, I think what makes it especially hard is the fact that even after I take the time to reflect on what I'm praying is in line God's will for the circumstances, there can be circumstances where I feel strongly that God should be answering my prayers because theyre prayers that involve other people's interests too. The chapter of the book seeemed to create an impression that anytime a prayer goes unanswered, that's because you're wrong or praying for the wrong thing.

But if you're praying for the right thing, doesn't that imply your prayers will be answered?

Not necessarily, I suppose...

what's that smell....

is it the "gourmet aged" food at chris' house???

alright...this is just a test...i'll post my journal blog shortly.