Saturday, July 21, 2012
Author - Jonathan Graf
ross8900@sbcglobal.net,
9:02 AM Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Prayer is a tough subject for believers to learn. I know from personal experience. When I was 11 yrs old I prayed that my parents would not divorce. They did anyway causing great pain in my life. I blamed God and was angry at Him. My mom helped heal me of that and grow me deeper in the Lord. When she became ill I prayed for her life. God took her anyway. I did not grow angry this time instead I bear-hugged Him. I think it's Richard Foster who said that prayer aligns us with God's will. If we pray for something that is not in His will then it doesn't happen. We learn to pray for things in His will by listening for His voice/leading/urging. As I have grown closer to Him I feel those urgings much stronger. Only through dedicated spiritual reading of His word and spending more and more time in prayer has this happened. Those are foundational for growing spiritually. Good post.
jeanewhiteside@att.net,
4:06 PM Saturday, September 01, 2012
This brings much peace to mind...I have been involved a little with a group at my church who pray together; and some of the things they say and do seem mixed with their thoughts and personalities. I have not said anything, but do not want to get more involved because I think this type of ministry can get into our minds and usurp the Holy Spirit??? I want to join with others in worship and prayer but without the input of "whatever" comes to mind.
birdvbertsos@sbcglobal.net,
4:05 PM Thursday, August 30, 2012
Help me O Lord to follow your path
patti.mctee@gmail.com,
7:44 AM Sunday, July 22, 2012
Jon, great article, I couldn't agree more. In fact you really helped clarify in my mind why I was hesitant to release my altar prayer ministers in some practices. Thank you for putting in words what I was pondering. Also, if someone does write a book on this subject, please let me know because I for sure want a copy. :)
jcrawford777@comcast.net,
2:00 AM Saturday, July 21, 2012
Thank you for this article, I do believe you are very correct (as opposed to partially correct, I guess) But I have even wondered how to teach someone how to hear the Holy Spirit speaking. Especially, when I don't always discern Him properly. I think He probably doesn't sound the same to everyone, but I think His leading is as profound in one person as He is in another if we are hearing correctly. (and I don't mean with ears necessarily) because I have never heard Him that way. None the less, when I have been absolutely certain I have heard, there's just no way to fully explain it. Gal.5:25 comes to mind, "If you live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit". It's that keeping in step with Him that gets many of us. We are not so sure footed as we ought to be. May God continue to bless your ministry. JC
Wcliffmeyer@gmail.com,
1:59 AM Saturday, July 21, 2012
You asked for comments: I agree with you very much. First of all, I agree very much regarding people tacking on "in Jesus' name" to any and every prayer like it was a magic formula to get whatever they want. Second, Jesus did not talk about "ask whatever you wish" until after He had dealt with attitudes like "shall we call down fire." We need to learn that "in Jesus' name" and "what ever you wish" are not explosives to blow open the vault, but an initation to join the keeper of the vault and co-labor with Him. When we do that He opens the vault and pours out incredible resources to accomplish His purposes. I think one of the ways for people to learn to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit when they pray is to regularly attend a prayer meeting that is worship and prayer combined. I know when I was learning I would often get a "feeling" that I should pray about something or in a certain way. Not having the most "outgoing" personality I would usually keep quiet. What I begin to notice was that after a little while the subject that I felt I should pray about would come up. At that point I could say, "OK I was hearing the Holy Spirit." This was a maturing and confidence building experience for me. I like your idea about a book on the "discipleship progression of prayer practices." That could be a very thought provoking book and helpful to those who teach about prayer.
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