Yesterday's message was the second in a 4 part series on "How God Build's A Strong Church." We have discovered that the first way is that we "Know our Mission" (i.e. our purpose).
What is our purpose? God gave us the Great Commandment (love God, love others) found in Matthew 22:37-40 and the Great Commission (As we live our lives "going", we are to reach people for Christ "make disciples", and train them to live and reach others "teach all things that I have commanded") found in Matthew 28:19-20.
The second way God builds a strong church is through prayer. We discovered that prayer is both learning to talk and listen to God. Some of the best time you will ever spend is talking to God.
How can you have an effective prayer life?
1. Pray intentionally -- make and appointment every day to meet with God. Don't let anything stand in your way. Believe me, it will, but work around all possible hindrances.
2. Pray intelligently -- pray with pencil and paper in hand. Don't wander in your prayer life. Write down what you want to say. Remember, you don't have to close your eyes to pray!
3. Pray individually -- Pray for each other.
A question came out of our reading this week on how we can foster a more intimate small group setting. Let me tell you one way---prayer.
Just wanted you to know that I am praying for you!
Pastor John
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As we read on in our book " The Purpose Driven Life", not only is prayer important but fellowship as a church and helping others when help is needed. We can't let gossip interupt our fellowship with God because it will break up the church as well. As Christians we need to love one another and help each other by listening to each other problems and coming up with a solution or after listening the solution might present itself and work it out itself. As we grow we need to help each other grow individually as well as a church group.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I definately remember from last night's lesson is something that Mrs. Julie said in our group. Pray before you act. Pray to God, talk to him before going to someone else and telling them all about your problems. I know I am at fault with this because when some "big catastrophe" happens to me, I want to call my mom, or tell my close friends about what happened. I look to them for advice and guidance on what to do with my situations. Unfortunately, I often forget that talking to God is a key ingredient and one of the most important ways in which all my problems can be appeased. Sure, talking to trusted friends and family is great, but God should be your most trusted friend. He IS your most trusted friend. He is someone you are confident with confiding in, and he is the one who can help you through those complicated situations. I also often forget that praying is not just when you praise God for all that he has given you, or a time in which you ask to help others, but it is a time in which you ask God to help you with your most personal problems. Praying is just talking to God, talking to your most trusted friend. Pray to God for guidance, before you act on the situation.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing that struck me last night is something that Mrs. Karen said in our group. Church should be a safe place. A safe place where no one can judge you when you come to this haven, this embodiment of people where you are protected and unharmed. Like Jonathan said, we cannot let gossip interupt that close fellowship with God. Mrs. Karen really opened my eyes wide open when she said that prayer requests are exclusive only to the one's that are there to support and believe. What is told in a prayer circle stays in a prayer circle. You do not judge someone because you learn about their situations in the home or thier difficulties. People come to church and we have prayer requests to lift up others, and be with them in their time of suffering. We do not tear them down, snicker and scoff behind their backs when you see them at a supermarket, or start up gossip about them. Church members are there to support, and pray for eachother, not humiliate people to alleviate the mess in their own lives. Alot of times I do not bring up prayer requests because I feel that people might tell others about what is going on in my life, and scoff, or some might think it is not important. Now, thanks to these discussions, I feel that I can give a prayer request and not be judged. People want to hear about it and listen, and they understand. Thank God for that. It is a great way to grow in fellowship with others, and to talk to God with others in a place that I know is a cherished and inviolable sanctum.