Ways to Pray

This year we have been focusing on spiritual growth. Our primary exercises, or disciplines for doing this have consisted of Bible reading and prayer. There are many other things that will help you grow in your faith. Do not think that these are the only methods to use in getting closer to God. However, I believe that prayer and Bible study are the most simple, universal and effective ways to enhance your relationship with God. If you will do these things, you will find your faith growing significantly and quickly.

With all of that being said, let's look at some practical approaches to prayer. I am convinced that many Christians are simply intimidated by prayer. It seems so holy, so directed at the “other” that we don't even start praying. What follows, then, is a series of solutions that are accessible and simple for anyone.

• Pray with a journal. I often (almost daily) write my prayers. It gives me a record of what is important to me and what God is teaching me. This also keeps me focused on my prayer times. I can look in my journal and know how faithful I have been. If I am not writing my prayers, I may not be praying.
• Memorize prayers. Everyone remembers prayers that they said as a child; “God is great,” and “Now I lay me...” But there is value in memorizing prayers as an adult. Learn and pray the Lord's Prayer or the 23^rd Psalm. Make those prayers, and others, a regular part of your prayer time.
• Use prayer reminders. Write a prayer request on a sticky note and put it on your bathroom mirror, your office door or some other visible location. Every time you see the note, say a short prayer for that person.
• Pray aloud. I often find that praying silently easily leads to mind wanderings for me. Although this is very discouraging, it is avoidable. If I am actually speaking, I tend to stay more focused.
• Pray while you are driving (but don't close your eyes). There is a lot of driving time that is wasted. We listen to radio programs that may not be good for us and generally lose all the time we are in the car. Make your car a “prayer closet.”
• Text message prayers. Get a friend or prayer partner that you can pray with. Use text messaging as a simple, quick and effective way to keep in touch and up to date with needs and prayer concerns. Texting gives an immediacy to your prayers.
• Sing your prayers. Sometimes you will find that a particular song or hymn speaks exactly to the needs in your life. Sing to the Lord.

There are many more ways to pray, but you surely can find one here that will get you started on your path to a deeper relationship with God. 

It's Not Car Food

The advent of fast food in general, and the 'drive-thru' window in particular, has not been kind to the interior of the typical American automobile. It is not uncommon to find a missing french fry under a floor mat, or to discover that the source of that mysterious, gag-inducing smell, came from a long-forgotten Whopper that made its way under the passenger seat. I am a guilty person, but I am hoping that some of my unfortunate experiences might serve as lessons for the uninitiated. Be warned. Some foods are not intended for the car.

To begin with, let's cover the basics. If it takes more than one hand to eat, it's not car food. Keep at least one hand on the wheel at all times. Secondly, be sure that whatever you are eating while driving does not take a lot of organization. By this I mean, keep your eyes on the road. If you have to look for your food, strategize the best way to hold it, and closely monitor it's approach to and entry in your mouth, it's not car food. Finally, you should not have a buffet in the front seat of your car. Limit how many items that you plan to eat. Plan your menu based on the available table space (empty seats and/ or center console area) and cup holders.

Well, there are the ground rules. Now here are some specifics. The following are not car food.

• Any ice cream product that does not come in a cone or on a stick.
• Pizza.
• Any Mexican or Chinese food.
• Pasta.
• Soup.

How to Study the Bible

There can be little doubt among Christians that the Bible is the beginning place for spiritual information and growth. Our prayer lives are important, but we must never take for granted the Holy Scriptures as we learn about God and his will for our lives. The Bible serves as the foundation stone for everything else that we believe, do or value. We have spent time discussing the importance of reading and studying God's word, and we have considered some tools that will assist us in understanding the background and meaning of the Bible. Now let's consider how to study the Bible.

To begin with we need to reiterate the importance of reading the Bible. In the words of the famous Nike ad, “Just do it.” You do not need to learn everything before you start reading the Bible. Just start reading it. There are a lot of aids at this point. Find a schedule that will work for you. There are many online resources to help with this. In addition, we have a schedule that we are following as a congregation for 2012. Choose something and get started.

Now that you are started, ask yourself the following questions about your reading each time you read.

• What does this passage say? Decide what it is that the Biblical author is trying to communicate. You can do this by using some resources that will assist you in understanding. A study Bible or a commentary might be helpful. It could be that you will want to read the passage in some different translations. Start by reading the passage slowly. Ask the big questions: Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? Learn what is happening and what is being said in a passage before you move on.
• How does this passage apply to me? Bible study is perhaps the most important thing that you can do on a regular basis. But the value of that study is severely limited if you don't follow it up by learning what you should do about it. The Bible calls us to action. It is a great source of information, but more importantly it is a book of instruction. When studying God's word think about what you should do because of what it says. How does a passage affect you? How should you think?
• Why is this passage important? To begin with we need to understand that all the passages in the Bible are important. Some are more or less relevant to us than others, but all are equally a part of God's word to us. With that disclaimer out of the way, pray about the significance of a passage. Not how important it is compared to other passages, but rather, answer why it is important to you. What is God trying to teach you with this passage? What is it's significance in my life?

There was a Christian song that was pretty popular several years ago. The hook of the chorus was “Read the book; don't wait for the movie.” That should be our approach to the Bible. We need to jump in and have a go. Hopefully you are now feeling more prepared to do that.

Things my Dad Says

My Dad is better than yours. And to prove it, I offer the following life-lessons. This is wisdom from the lips of Dewey L Miller, Sr.

• That smells like money! (upon approaching a particularly pungent hog farm)
• I bet that suit cost him a pretty penny! (upon seeing this weeks outfit on the Porter Wagoner Show)
• This is the standingest one church I have ever been to! (upon attending any congregation that asks you to stand, even once)

So now you have a little insight into how I have developed my rather complicated life philosophy.

Praying, Plain and Simple

I am convinced, as many of you are aware, that Christian people want to pray. They believe that they should pray more than they do, but they feel ill-prepared and untrained for the task of prayer. Part of this is because of some false perceptions of prayer. For example, we often labor under the assumption that praying is about telling God what we want. We read or recite a list to him, and we think that our responsibility for prayer is complete. However, as we grow in faith, we come to learn that prayer is not about a 'wish list,' but a relationship. Being with God is more important than telling him what we need.

As we continue on this year-long journey of spiritual growth then, we should agree that the two most important steps to improving our prayer lives are simply, 1) learning to pray, and 2) just beginning to pray. What follows are some samples of ways that you can pray. These models of prayer include times for asking God to meet our needs, but there are other aspects of prayer as well. These patterns will help you get started.

The idea behind using patterns for your prayers is not to enforce a strict formula, but rather to suggest some topics that will enhance and strengthen your prayers. Use the following patterns to guide you to deeper levels of prayer, rather than to oppress you with rules and obligations.

• ACTS- This is an acronym. The letters of ACTS give you a handy reminder of some areas for prayer. Use this to remind you to have a well-rounded prayer time. A- adoration: Praise and worship God for who he is. C- confession: Confess your sins and repent of your wrongdoing. T- thanksgiving: Thank God for all the blessings that he has provided for you. S- supplication: Ask God to meet your needs.
• PRAY- This is another acronym. P- praise: Offer to God words of praise and adoration. R- repent: Repent of the things that you have done, as well as the things that you should have done, but have not. A- ask: This is where you ask God for the things that you need, and for the needs of others. Y- yield: When we yield to God we echo the words of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, “not my will but yours.”
• PATH- Yet one more acronym. P- praise: Give to God your allegiance and glory. A- ask: Again we ask God for the things that we need. T- thanksgiving: Thanking God for answers to prayer is essential. Don't forget to also thank him for the blessings he provides that you haven't specifically asked for. H- help: There are areas in which you need God's help that don't fit into any of the other categories. We need help making decisions, finding direction and forgiving others, among other things.

There are some suggestions. Now its time to start praying. Try praying in these patterns for the next month. You will find that you grow much closer to God.

Why Should You Pray More?

As we have been reflecting on spiritual growth this year, we have been focusing primarily on Bible reading and prayer. Those are two of what I call the Four Most Important Things. The Four Things, in no particular order are:

• Bible Study
• Prayer
• Christian Fellowship
• Ministry

Each of these elements lend themselves to the spirituality of the Christian believer. Be sure to participate regularly in each of those “disciplines” for your spiritual health.

In this article I would like for us to think about the question of prayer, and especially why it is valuable for us to spend more time in prayer. To that end, let us consider the following answers to the question of why we should pray more.

• We should pray more because it will help us to know God better. Like a conversation with a friend, prayer will allow you to reveal things to God, and help you to gain deeper insights into his person and his will for your life.
• We should pray more because it is gives an indication of our level of commitment to God and his ways. When we love him more, we will spend more time with him.
• When we spend more time in prayer, we are able to pray for more needs. You can pray more specifically for more things; for missionaries, family members, lost loved ones, the ministries of the church, etc.
• When we spend more time in prayer, we long to spend more time in prayer. It is intriguing how this works. The more time you spend with God, the more time you want to spend with God.
• We should pray more because our conscience pricks us. We do not pray enough presently. For peace of mind, spend more time with God.
• We should pray more because our spiritual growth depends on it. If you want to grow in your walk with the Lord, spend time in prayer.

There are more reasons than these to pray more. In fact, there are enough different reasons that each person reading this could have their own specific rationale for praying more. But the bottom line is this: The reason you pray more is insignificant. You need to pray more. Get started. Don't wait another day. Pray to the Lord as if your life depended on it- because it does.

Why Read the Bible

For this year we have been focusing on getting everyone (as many people as possible, anyway) to read the Bible. To that end everyone is encouraged to read from the New Testament every day. By reading for just a few minutes each day we will have read the entire New Testament by the end of this year. What a great accomplishment for any Christian, but especially for those who are trying to learn as much as they can about God and his word.

The question that we haven't addressed yet is “Why should we read the Bible?” Most of us agree that the Bible is good, and that we feel like we should read it, but too often we don't think about it beyond the 'ought to' of it. Let's change that, shall we? Here are some reasons to read the New Testament. You can take them as that, or view them blessings that we receive when we read and know God's Word.

• Reading the Bible gives us valuable information. When we know what God has said in the Scriptures we can use it to help ourselves and others.
• Reading the Bible can help keep us from falling into error. It is easy to listen to some one's explanation of the 'truth', but if we have studied what the Bible says we know what the truth actually is. Compare the teachings of others with God's Word.
• Reading the Bible gives us information and context to share with others, those who are believers and those who are not yet Christians. One of the calls that all Christians shares is to teach and admonish others with the Word of God.
• Reading the Bible is the best way to learn about Christ. You can listen to sermons, attend Bible studies, read Christian books, but the way to learn the most and to grow the quickest is while reading the Bible.
• Reading the Bible is perhaps the best way to receive comfort in times of trial. In times of grief, stress, discouragement or loneliness we can turn to God's word for patience and comfort.
• Reading the Bible is a way to be approved by God. The expectations of the Lord for his followers are often too high for us to grasp, but a great starting place is to learn the Bible.
• Reading the Bible also builds us up, spiritually, intellectually and emotionally. Scriptures are a source of healing, strength and encouragement.

There are a lot more ways that we will benefit from Bible reading and study, but that will give you a few ways to get started. If you haven't begun this incredible journey yet, now is the time.