Begin with the following words, and… complete the two verses accordingly. “Do not be calm about anything, but in everything…
“…feel stress and anxiety, with fear, and hold it all inside yourself. And the nauseous, nervous feeling in the pit of your stomach will continue and grow until you feel like you might throw up.”
Satan knows prayerless lives are powerless lives, while prayerful lives are powerful lives!
Record the specific blessings that come through prayer.
– “the spirit of wisdom
– “eyes of heart enlightened
– “to know the hope to which He has called you”
Can you see ways in which any of these blessings or manifestations of the Holy Spirit could replace anxiety with peace? Please be specific.
“The spirit of wisdom could reveal God’s suggested course of action if decisions are required, or else give calm reassurance of God’s control if not. Seeing with the heart the hope to which he has called us gives us a great perspective to the petty nature of so many of our daily worries.”
You paraphrased Philippians 4:6-7. Read these two verses again, out loud if possible. Sounds like a promise to me. Has the world ever promised you anything that really delivered an authentic and lasting peace when turmoil continued around you?
“No. The only thing close to that is breathing exercises – they are rather effective (not ‘lasting,’ though.”
No, it’s not all small stuff.
Why do you think prayerlessness is such an obstacle?
“(This question can be interpreted different ways.)
“Often we forget to pray. We’re so busy trying to solve the problem, we forget to pause a moment to consult God about it.
“Sometimes we know it is small stuff and we don’t want to ‘bother’ Him with it. (Talk about arrogance if I think my little request might distract God and prevent Him from being able to do everything else!)
“Sometimes we have no clue how to pray for a problem, and we forget the Holy Spirit within us will interpret our groans.”
Describe why you think prayer was especially important in matters of warfare.
“Warfare is a dangerous and deadly pursuit. If God joins your side, it will go much better for you. Even if He doesn’t take sides, but just helps protect your person, your chances are much better.”
We won’t experience that peace without prayer.
Read Ephesians 6:19-20. In these verses, what was Paul depending on to help him be fearless? “prayer”
Dearest Rachel –
This is probably the one subject that I have the most trouble with, myself. I may have been the one leading prayers at mealtimes and elsewhen in our family (and I can still pray in front of people to an extent that a lot of people have difficulty with), but I don’t find myself conversing with God one-on-one as often as I should – especially in comparison to the amount of time I spend communicating with you, for instance.
To be fair, it’s hard to hold a conversation with One who doesn’t appear to be physically present, and Who doesn’t respond verbally to one’s inquiries. After a certain length of time of what appears to be silence on the other end of the line, one tends to just hang up.
This is particularly difficult when it comes to making decisions; specifically, in determining what His will for me is. I mentioned to someone the other day how I couldn’t tell the difference between my conscience and the Holy Spirit in certain situations; basically, I couldn’t tell if I was being led by God in a direction, or if it was my own mind telling me where to go. I think I recall them claiming that it might be that each might be amplifying the other in a sort of feedback loop; if the two are sufficiently in tune, the input I might get from one would be the same as that which I would receive from the other. However, given my diminished prayer life, I wouldn’t claim that they’re necessarily in sync with each other like that.
I can definitely relate (and I would assume whoever might encounter this study of you would likewise) with the reasons you give for how a lack of prayer becomes an obstacle in one’s life. I’ve brought up the prayer about parking spaces in the past, and your comment about simply forgetting to ask about certain things, whether big or small, goes hand in hand with that. I might also suggest that our forgetting may also merge with our reaction to a lack of movement on this or that issue; too long without a perceptible answer results in our no longer ‘bothering’ God with it, as He seems to be uninterested in answering (or perhaps, He’s tacitly given an answer of “No,” so why persist?) Didn’t Jesus tell us not to pray “repetitively, like the heathens, who think they will be heard for their much speaking”? At a certain point, constantly bringing up the same issues feels very much like a rote habit; such a request might as well be stricken from our list (and after all, we ask too much of God as it is, treating Him like some cosmic Genie for our own wants and alleged needs)
At the same time, we’re told to “pray without ceasing” which, while sounding absurd on the face of it, I’ve heard likened to an open internet connection. We may not be exchanging words at a given moment, but the line is open at any time for instant communication. Likewise, Jesus tells us of the widow and the unjust judge; she got her ruling out of pestering the man. How much more can we expect from God, who has our best interests at heart, better for us than we ourselves can be?
It’s just… it’s so hard to bear that in mind. The silence can be interminable, and we have such short lives – and increasingly shorter attention spans.
So… keep an eye on us, honey, and wish us luck. We’re going to need it.
Letters to Rachel 