Recently I have been hearing/reading/doing/sharing a lot on prayer.
In church, during prayer gathering:
Someone was sharing on prayer and she asked "Have you ever wonder whether does it matter whether you pray or not?" Have you ever thought about it? Always during major events or evangelistic events, it's like a standard practice to pray for it to be smooth running, many people to come, many to believe in Christ etc., but how convinced are you that what you pray will come true or it is just a routine we go through? I think I was rebuked when I heard that sister share and recognized how faithless and routine I have been when it comes to prayer.
On one of my church evangelistic effort, "prayer walking":
I have always been skeptical when it comes to the term "prayer walking". But through this church outing, I've learnt to see it as being conscious to pray for the people I see on the streets, for the news that I read, for the people that comes to my mind as i journey. And I believe it is an important practice to be found doing. That way, I can really be "praying without ceasing" (1 Thess 5:17).
In work, during the POD meetings we talked about the Lord's Prayer:
We were talking about The Lord's Prayer where Jesus started the prayer by reminding the disciples that it is to our Father that we are talking to. And because He is our Father, we do not need to craft our prayers like a speech or put in flowery language to show our linguistic capabilities. It is simply coming before our Father and pouring out our hearts to Him.
During my reading, on Jesus Driven Ministry by Ajith Fernado on the last chapter "Prayer":
Jesus Himself took many opportunities to talk with God, before something major happens, when He is struggling, when He gets busy etc. And prayer, the author suggests, is the preventive measure against burnout in the ministry.
During my reading of my new book, "When You Pray" by Phillip Ryken:
He quoted D.A Carson, "The person who prays more in public than private reveals that he is less interested in God's approval than man's praise". He also mentioned that public prayers are like the tip of the iceberg, it should only make up 10% of our prayer time whereas 90% of our time should be spent in closet prayer. And I think I am pretty far from the 90% bit...
What more can I say? I am convinced that I need to pray much much more. :)
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