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faith comes
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In "Secrets of Prayer Warrior," Derek Prince writes about
understanding that came to him in the midst of year long illness:
"When I submitted myself to the Lord's will, I knew that
His will was for me to be restored to health. I was lying
there realizing that if I had faith God would heal me. But
every time I came to that realization, my next thought was,
I don't have faith.
Then one day the Holy Spirit directed me to Romans 10:17:
"So faith comes from hearing." Suddenly I laid hold of
two words: Faith comes. If you do not have it, you can
get it.
How does faith come? Faith comes from hearing. It comes
from listening to God. You see, prayer is not just talking
to God; prayer is two-way communication WITH God. It is
holding intimate personal conversation with Him. And
actually, of the two, what God has to say is much more
important than what we have to say."
Then Derek points to this scripture:
Proverbs 4:20-22 (New International Version)
20 My son, pay attention to what I say;
listen closely to my words.
21 Do not let them out of your sight,
keep them within your heart;
22 for they are life to those who find them
and health to a man's whole body.
Didn't you always used to think that the Romans text was ONLY about
the bible? I mean, "the word of God" is the bible right? But it isn't only
that I'm convinced, if only for how difficult the action of listening is. But look at
the examples.
Moses didn't have earbuds on when he saw the burning bush. See how quiet
it was in the desert before the meeting. Where did Jesus go to prepare to raise
the dead? He didn't go to his favorite fm radio station. He went where it was very
quiet and he saw what the father was up to. I so need to be able to do this, but
it is SO very hard to do.
I had our small group sit quietly last night and pray without speaking words. It was
only a few moments before someone brought out their techno dodad.
"Did I get the socks out of the dryer?"
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Ray 03/04/2010 12:26 |
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Mike
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04/20/2010 14:04 |
Ray,
I agree that prayer will be more effective if its 2 way commuication. My prayers had been a series of one way communications from me to God, pretty much without a pause for God to answer. He would then answer me in diffeent ways later.
A few days ago I realised this and decided to try and just listen. So I said a one sentence prayer "God please tell me what you want me to do." then I lay in silence for several minutes. After a few moments of silence he answered in a still small voise to "be patient"
This simple answer restored calm to my spirit and I am happy to trust in his plan and his timing
So I beleive if we are able to quiet ourselves in the presence of the lord, he will take the opportunity to spek into our prayers and lives.
mike
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Joyce
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07/03/2010 19:55 |
I wondered how I just now stumbled upon this post. I am feeling such an intense urge to spend some quiet time just listening. I have been so very guilty of doing all the talking and not listening during my devotion time. Father please forgive me for not being a listener. Thank you for this thread.
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Leslie
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07/04/2010 08:18 |
Joyce, praying your quiet time is just perfect with you and Him.
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Joyce
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07/04/2010 13:26 |
Leslie, thank you> your words are always so kind and comforting. Appreciate you taking the time to respond.
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Ray
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07/04/2010 18:24 |
My prayer has been very opposed lately. I feel the great battle today. I appreciate what Eldredge writes about our attitude towards prayer as it relates to our own strength:
Do Whatever Brings You Back to Your Heart and the Heart of God
05/26/2009
Against the flesh, the traitor within, a warrior uses discipline. We have a two-dimensional version of this now, which we call a “quiet time.” But most men have a hard time sustaining any sort of devotional life because it has no vital connection to recovering and protecting their strength; it feels about as important as flossing. But if you saw your life as a great battle and you knew you needed time with God for your very survival, you would do it. Maybe not perfectly—nobody ever does and that’s not the point anyway—but you would have a reason to seek him. We give a halfhearted attempt at the spiritual disciplines when the only reason we have is that we “ought” to. But we’ll find a way to make it work when we are convinced we’re history if we don’t.
Time with God each day is not about academic study or getting through a certain amount of Scripture or any of that. It’s about connecting with God. We’ve got to keep those lines of communication open, so use whatever helps. Sometimes I’ll listen to music; other times I’ll read Scripture or a passage from a book; often I will journal; maybe I’ll go for a run; then there are days when all I need is silence and solitude and the rising sun. The point is simply to do whatever brings me back to my heart and the heart of God.
The discipline, by the way, is never the point. The whole point of a “devotional life” is connecting with God. This is our primary antidote to the counterfeits the world holds out to us.
(Wild at Heart , 171–72)
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