DO YOU PRAY?

Lately I have been thinking and reading about prayer. James Montgomery, who lived in the late 1700’s to the mid 1800’s, wrote that we perish if we cease from prayer. We all know that we ought to pray. If you are like me, you may have at one time bought resources to help build patterns for daily prayer which served to revitalize your personal prayer life, but after a while these resources made prayer feel like a chore. For most people, prayer is a routine, a naming of items on a checklist and ticking them off as we pray through them. Is this what prayer is all about? Is there a formula or technique out there that makes prayer exciting and engaging as some make it out to be?

I have been reading J. I. Packer’s book, Praying; Find our way through Duty to Delight. In the book, Packer uses the word struggle as a realistic word to describe the typical Christian experience of praying. Packer goes on to quote an Anglican Bishop of Liverpool England, John Charles Ryle, who in 1852, wrote a tract that sold by the thousands under the title Do You Pray? The tract is now reprinted under the title A Call to Prayer.  As food for thought and reflection, I will leave you extracts of J.C. Ryle’s words;

I ask whether you pray, because a habit of prayer is one of the surest marks of a true Christian. All the children of God are alike in this respect. From the moment there is any life and reality about their religion they pray. Just as the first sign of life in an infant when born into the world is the act of breathing, so the first act of men and women when they are born again is praying. This is one of the common marks of all the elect of God. “They cry day and night unto him.” (Luke 18:7) The Holy Spirit, who makes them new creatures, works in them the feeling of adoption, and makes them cry, “Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15). It is as much a part of their nature to pray as it is of a child to cry. They see their need of mercy and grace. They feel their emptiness and weakness. They cannot do otherwise than they do. They must pray.

Full Post >>

5 Landmark Worship Albums

There is a program on BBC’s Radio 4 called ‘Desert Island Discs’, in which guests can nominate which ten music albums they would like to be stranded with. They then play a track from each album with a comment from the guest about why they chose that recording.

I always wanted to be a guest on that show, but instead, I’ll settle for blogging about ‘my 5’ landmark worship albums (not in any order). It may not represent your top 5… you may offer those as comments, but let’s get started!

  1. Delirious “Glo” - (1999) – What artist could possibly get away with combining passionate God-focused lyrics with a musical blending of Gregorian chant and razor-blade searing electric guitar parts?? While there are many great songs on the CD, one in particular stands out: God, You’re My God’.

Full Post >>

Another Couple of Restaurants…

A few months ago, I posted some recommendations for lunch here in Abbotsford. Some disagreed with my choices, but we all know that those people didn’t know what they were talking about. Only I have the truth when it comes to good restaurants in this town. The sooner you all realize that, the better off we will all be.

In light of the sheer magnitude of my rightness when it comes to these sorts of things, let me add a couple of other restaurants to the list. If you try these out, you will be happy. If you don’t, you will live a substandard existence for the foreseeable future.

Here they are (drum roll, please)…

Full Post >>

Have Yourself Committed

I was listening to a fantastic lecture yesterday. The speaker was talking about 2 Samuel 9 where David shows kindness to Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth even though every person in his kingdom would have been advising him to do the opposite. Kings in that day stayed in power by usually eliminating the entire family of their predecessors.

As Saul’s grandson, Mephibosheth would have had a rightful claim to Israel’s throne and thus the reason why he was hiding out in Lo-Debar, hopeful that David would never know about him. David did find out about him, though, but not because he wanted to kill Mephibosheth. Rather, he wanted to be true to his commitment to his friend Jonathan – that he would care for his family.

Full Post >>

New Fall Wardrobe

It’s the end of September. As I was getting ready for work I heard a sound I haven’t heard all summer – the revving up of the furnace. My husband just didn’t think 58F (15C) was warm enough in the house. I, in turn, went to the closet and put on a coat, realizing that summer was truly over and I needed to protect myself from the cold.

But did I really put on everything needed for my protection???? Consider Colossians 3:12-14 with me.
NIV - Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Message - So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.

Full Post >>

Page 1 of 1 pages