c o n v e r g e n c e

Thursday, March 23, 2006

When you want to work for God… start a committee. When you want to work with God…start a prayer group.
-Corrie TenBoom
You can do more than pray after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed.
-A.J. Gordon
Prayer is a trade to be learned. We must be apprentices and serve our time at it. Painstaking care, much thought, practice, and labour are required to be a skillful tradesman in praying. Practice in this, as well as in all other trades, makes perfect.
-E.M. Bounds
I don't know if you've noticed...but we've been praying lately. Other people have started to notice. A few months ago, people at the church would see me around and ask, “Is anything happening for young adults these days?”
And then we started praying.
Since then, people have been hearing about the group. Good things. And I would agree. Good things are happening. Some of them already, and some of them not yet.
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14
There's a promise for you.
I was reading over parts of Too Busy Not To Pray by Bill Hybels this week. In many ways, I feel like that title describes our group. Right now, there are too many things happening and about to happen that we don’t have time not to be praying.

Hybels quotes a popular phrase in his introduction,

When we work, we work; but when we pray, God works.

Sounds like a deal to me.

In other news...thanks to everyone who showed up for the First Annual Convergence ‘It’s All About Green’ St. Patrick's Day party! Pictures to follow. Next year: we'll work on the green theme more. Brace yourselves.

Next week, Andy Lambkin will be sharing at Convergence. Andy facilitates the young adults ministry at North Shore Alliance called ‘As Simple As Possible’ …you’ll find his style to be thought-provoking and challenging.

posted by white girl at 3:20 PM

7 Comments:

  • some good thoughts. prayer is an amazing thing and we are so blessed to be able to talk to Jesus so easily. sometimes it's easy to forget to ask him for help or thank him for things, but we really do see results when prayer is priority in any church group and individual life! prayer is making us stronger as a group and i know God has big plans for us! sweet!!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6:25 PM  

  • I'm a fan of that third quote. It's pretty cool how many people have shown themselves willing to put in the time to apprentice themselves to being pray-ers. If even more wanted to come out, that would be pretty neat, too (hint hint!).

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:10 PM  

  • This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    By Blogger -me-, at 4:46 PM  

  • I think maybe your prayer has reached someone who isn't even amongst you yet. I want you to know that I appreciate it.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4:48 PM  

  • off topic but when is baseball starting again?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4:47 PM  

  • Baseball starts in May (I think?) but I’ll double check and get back to you.

    Jared. You’re not the devil. While I agree with you in part, a few more thoughts...

    1. Sometimes prayer ISN’T easy.
    2. It does get easier with practice. The more I pray, the more my thoughts are toward God all day long.
    3. I have learned a lot about prayer from praying with people who are more wise and experienced.
    4. Maybe it IS an awkward conversation sometime, because we don’t know God well enough. And there’s a getting-to-know process. And some people find that frustrating. Also, sometimes prayer is like talking to the friend that you know you’ve neglected – those conversations sometimes get off to a slow start (because we know our bad, not because God is being distant).
    5. Jesus said “pray like this” which would suggest that the disciples needed coaching.

    That wasn’t to negate anything you said. I tend to think that prayer is both simple and complex (the type of dichotomy that only God can get away with).

    -Jamie

    By Blogger white girl, at 8:48 AM  

  • hazz, a thought that your comment provoked in me is this...in the NT after Jesus left, his followers prayed individually and they prayed corporately. "where two or more gather in my name..." corporate prayer is AS important as individual prayer and the changes within convergence cannot be denied. these changes are correlated to our corporate prayer, and my knowledge of the NT leads me to believe that the change in us is a direct result of our commitment to prayer. we used to have prayer for convergence and the johnson's outside of the setting of convergence, once a month, and it was a time that was fun, as well as being hugely beneficial to us and our group. just because we are now meeting on thursday's during convergence which is more convenient for most people, doesn't mean it has to be any less enjoyable while also being powerful.

    corporate prayer is a spiritual discipline, and like any discipline, needs to be practiced. with time we will be better at it, more connnected through it, and will love our times of prayer as a group of believers.

    how can you tell i've done time at bible college =)

    the power of prayer still astounds me after more than two decades. brandon commented several times tonight on how much the group has grown in the few weeks he's been gone...prayer you guys, it's amazing! it's God's most precious gift to us, and i only wish i could be there more often!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12:06 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home