tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2082159232985218064.post9027419387667556426..comments2023-11-03T08:45:34.724-04:00Comments on Barclay and Me...and Sweet Pea: Prayer?Helen Joyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00673873458952305392noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2082159232985218064.post-77088634209546191162010-02-01T15:27:10.020-05:002010-02-01T15:27:10.020-05:00Hj- I appreciate your vulneralbe honesty here. I ...Hj- I appreciate your vulneralbe honesty here. I will certainly pray. I don't think prayer is my gift either...though i do think it is so simple that it doesn't reguire gifting,....just practice. You can always pray using scripture if you do not know what else to pray. The psalms often speak to similar circumstances as what we daily go through today. I guess pain and hardship (asa well as joy and health) are not new to mankind..... so much so, that even those heartfelt songs from so long ago can be used in your personal prayers today. That's how I started practicing prayer. And i am thabnkful for it... because with it, I can (and you can) cast all your anxieties on Him, and instead use prayer and petition(with supplication((relational speaking)) to make your requests known. Remember that if "He is a friend that sticks close than a brother", that you can always trust him with your deepest of thoughts and feelings/yearnings. He loves us and I can't imagine what life would be like wihtout that knowledge. I'm glad you know that too and you are trusting in Him today. Many Blessings and I will add your Grandpa to my list that I try to keep up with, in regard to praying. In His Grip- Amy N.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2082159232985218064.post-63697733563116172032010-02-01T13:19:41.079-05:002010-02-01T13:19:41.079-05:00Hi HJ- you sure have gotten a lot of comments on t...Hi HJ- you sure have gotten a lot of comments on this post, huh? :) I struggle in the same area as you do. One thing that has helped me understand why to pray is understanding this: I don't pray to try to "change" God's mind, but really by praying I'm acknowledging that I need Him, that I don't have things under control, that I defer all decisions to Him. I tend to be a very prideful person who thinks I can do it on my own, and prayer helps me get things back into perspective. Anyway, know that we're both praying for you and your family during this hard time.Emily Freemanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00940311537601838774noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2082159232985218064.post-75749519605430493712010-02-01T12:44:24.534-05:002010-02-01T12:44:24.534-05:00HJ,
We all face many "crisis of belief"...HJ,<br /><br />We all face many "crisis of belief" stages in life; and your grandfather's state is one of these times for you. I know you and there have been countless times where, during other crisis times, God answered right on time for you and your family. I can assure you your Grandpa has been praying for you for a long time, one of the very reasons you love him so much. What a joy to have in your life, what a testimony to others that someone would have so much love for you to go out of their way to help raise you into the great person you are! During trials is when God shows us His most precious and magnificent gifts to us. You are beginning to experience the kind of love God has for you as you do for your Grandpa, that is, that great gift freely given us, that God doesn't want us to ever die, ever. So I would hope as your friend, that you take this opportunity to grow closer to Him, not further away. Love doesn't come from the enemy. Lies and deception is his game plan. You are right, we don't always know the will of God but there has been much revealed to us, and prayer affords us the opportunity to line up with His will. He is calling on you to come closer to Him and share in His goodness. This is a crisis of belief time for you. Which will you choose? Your will or his? Which one do you believe will bear more fruit, produce more days of complete joy, see the impossible happen - your personal determination or His absolute control over all situations. You have to make that choice for yourself and for your family this week.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2082159232985218064.post-66118371800691046372010-02-01T12:10:43.100-05:002010-02-01T12:10:43.100-05:00I love how honest you are. I think the honesty in ...I love how honest you are. I think the honesty in and of itself pleases God. <br /><br />I am a HUGE prayer. And b.c of this...b.c I LOVE to pray, I feel compelled to tell you wahy =)<br />I don't pray for things to "go my way". I pray to connect with God. <br /><br />I love to talk. Talking is HUGE to my husband and I. We love to have long drives, b.c we get to talk. We connect this way.<br />I love to talk to my family, my friends, etc. <br />So, for me, it is very natural to talk to God.<br />However....there is also the silent part of praying, where I get to HEAR him. <br />I hear him a lot when I am praying....<br /><br />My understanding of prayer is not for it to "be" a certain way or "sound" a certain way. It should be just like any conversation you would have with someone you can't live without. or love. or enjoy.<br /><br />Sadly, I think that some people have made prayer a "showy" thing...which the bible actually warns us against. It says it would be better to pray behind closed doors so we are never tempted to make a show of it (my paraphrase)<br /><br />And, although I DO pray for healing, for hurts to go away, for finances to be better, for relationships to be restored....what I pray the MOST for is that whoever is involved in these situations would come to know Christ in a way they may otherwise NOT know him. <br /><br />The last thing about prayer I will say is that even though I don't believe AT ALL that we should "use" prayer to just ask for everything we want...I do think God wants us to actually ask.<br />Not b.c he can't do or fulfill our needs/wants without us asking...but b.c he wants us to be in communication with Him.<br />For example. I might recognize a need/want of my children...but I want a relationship with them, one which consists of them sharing their hearts with me. So, I am MUCH more likely to act on their need/want if they communicate it to me.<br />Does that make sense?<br /><br />=)<br /><br />Sorry I just made a blog post out of my comment...I may just copy and paste this to my own blog! =) hahaMisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05219777561202352792noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2082159232985218064.post-53671148845688749202010-02-01T12:04:25.814-05:002010-02-01T12:04:25.814-05:00I know as a fact that prayer works. I have tons of...I know as a fact that prayer works. I have tons of examples in how God worked things that were impossible. I believe in his will as well and the Bible is clear about how God listens to his people when we pray and there is tons of examples as well how God answered to his people because of a prayer.(Bible-Daniel-Esther-David etc etc etc etc).<br />I will pray and I know that He will listen I am very CONFIDENT ABOUT IT! because of prayers is that we are where we are!<br /><br />LOve you and I DID pray for him!<br /><br />Aurora Swain!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2082159232985218064.post-48047034468987582432010-02-01T12:04:07.860-05:002010-02-01T12:04:07.860-05:00"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our ..."In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express" (Romans 8:26). <br /><br />Even if we can't form the words because the pain is too much, He knows. You just have to BELIEVE!<br />He loves for us to come to Him with our thanks and needs - often. <br />I will pray for you and your family in this difficult time.<br />RhondaBlue Creek Homehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01094468011062192664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2082159232985218064.post-76411938202826058752010-02-01T11:24:05.980-05:002010-02-01T11:24:05.980-05:00Like you said, i won't say "i'll pray...Like you said, i won't say "i'll pray for you if i'm not doing it,but this time, I will pray for you, and i mean it.Kevinhttp://www.facebook.com/kevinmalvaeznoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2082159232985218064.post-7597093760612155652010-02-01T11:05:28.994-05:002010-02-01T11:05:28.994-05:00Wow. And, yes. I did in fact offer a one sentence ...Wow. And, yes. I did in fact offer a one sentence prayer for your grandfather.<br /><br />I feel exactly the same about prayer, Helen Joy, although I think I feel it more in seasons. Sometimes I'm gung ho about it, daily and easily filling pages in a journal. Which means nothing. It means nothing because when I don't pray, I know that God is still working, just like you said. He absolutely doesn't NEED us to pray in order to act. But, also like you said, it pleases him. I find myself cynically thinking, okay, well that probably would have happened even if I hadn't prayed. I guess for me the biggest reason to pray is that Jesus did. If for no other reason - especially not because God is a vending machine in the sky, at our beckon call - I can pray only because Jesus did.<br /><br />Of course that doesn't mean I do very much...<br /><br />Thank you for saying what a lot of people are too bashful to say.<br /><br />-Sara T.jim thompsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07007618921884871637noreply@blogger.com