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Don't give up!
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Don't give up!
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Outback Christians
| Sunday School lessons Here Outback Christians Home Page Articles on faith and Theology What is postmodernism? Postmodernism and the problem it presents to faith. Click here to read above papers |
| What we believe Click here for statement of faith |
| Prophecy issues! Click Here Spiritual Warfare Click Here Word search Games HERE |
| Links to Daily Devotional Sites Bonnie' s Daily Scriptures Free Christians |
| Christian Links. I do not endorse all of the content on suggested links. It is up to each individual Christian to excersise discernment. But I have found some ofthese sites useful especially when studying for my Theology degree. |
| NewsWithViews Apologetics Discernment Ministries Christian parents Lighthouse trails Martin Roth Christian Commentary Ministry Blue -Christian (resources, mission etc.) |
| To contact us please click on the link below. It should take you to your email program with my email address in it. If it does not work try link on another page |
| jackie@outbackjack.info |
| Listening Prayer - From Outback Jack Print friendly version HERE written by Jacqueline Hancock |
| What Listening prayer is not! Listening prayer is not a ritual. You do not need candles, labyrinths, mantras or anything else. It is also not a tool to make you a ‘super-spiritual Christian’. It is not a passport to a hassle free life. It is not a guarantee that you will avoid all future problems and trials. What it is! - Listening prayer is the key that stops prayer from becoming a self-focused monologue, or tired religious tradition and turns prayer into an intimate dialogue with our loving God. Listening for God and listening to God means we are primarily focused on Him and His kingdom not on self. That does not mean we don't bring our petitions to Him but rather that we allow Him to decide the answer to them. I believe listening prayer is the part of prayer that brings God’s power and purposes right into the living room of our lives. When we listen to God we are changed, transformed, little by little into the likeness of His Son Jesus. God designed us for His pleasure. A prayer life that is only one sided -( a monologue) is ultimately boring and often self-focused A prayer life that includes actually hearing from God is exciting, full of surprises and full of intimacy with the love of God and more focused on God than self. It is part of God’s plan that we have the same intimate relationship with Him that Jesus did. Read John chapters 14 - 17. How can you be intimate with someone you have not listened to and got to know? It is also part of the mission of the Holy Spirit to ensure that we do hear God. He takes from what is Jesus’ and makes it known to us. No matter whom you are, God wants to speak to you. He loves you and desires your company. Are you willing to spend the time to wait on God and see what he has to say to you? Before we get to learning about the listening part of prayer we should have a firm, Biblical understanding of prayer itself. We need to know what prayer is, why prayer is necessary, how prayer works and when to do it. The (‘what, why, when, where, and how’) So what is prayer? The what of prayer is simple to answer. Prayer is communication with God, (communication being both speaking and listening).God speaks we listen, we speak and God listens. We know this to be true because scripture assures us this is so. Here are some scriptures that show us that God listens to prayer and that we are to listen too. 2 Chron:7:14 if my people, who are called by my name, shall 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 Sam 7:27. For you, Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, have revealed to your servant, saying, I will build you a house: therefore has your servant found in his heart to pray this prayer to you. Psalm 6:9. Yahweh has heard my supplication. Yahweh accepts my prayer. Gen 30:22. God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her, and opened her womb. Exodus 15:26. and he said, "If you will diligently listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, and will do that which is right in his eyes, and will pay attention to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you, which I have put on the Egyptians; for I am Yahweh who heals you." Psalm 81:13. Oh that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways! See if you can find at least one more this week. An important idea to note from some of these scriptures is that listening to God also means obedience to what he is saying. Real listening means we will do what God tells us. There is also another dimension to the ‘what is prayer’ question. This is the speaking of God’s word into a specific situation. We first pray to God about a situation, we hear from God and then we speak out God’s word for the situation. Sometimes this can be warfare prayer, when we pray against the schemes of the enemy with the remedy of God. Sometimes it is speaking God’s will into our lives. We may have difficulties in sickness and God is saying to speak healing, or we may have a need for finances and God is saying to speak out that he will provide a way for us. . Why Pray? You would be surprised at how many people ask this question and not just new believers. Why should we pray, especially if God already knows what is on our minds or in our hearts. Why pray when God is in control anyway. We can also ask this question if we have no understanding of what prayer does. Why pray, what difference will it make? The answer to this question is manifold. (that is there are many aspects to the answer.) Before we go on list 3 reasons why you think we should pray. 1._______________________________________________________ 2. _______________________________________________________ 3._______________________________________________________ We pray because we are commanded to pray. God calls us to prayer. Luke 10:2. Then he said to them, "The harvest is indeed plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray therefore to the Lord of the harvest, that he may send out laborers into his harvest. Luke 18:1. He also spoke a parable to them that they must always pray, and not give up, 1 Thes 5:17. Pray without ceasing. See also Phil 4:6 God not only calls us to prayer but is also the originator of prayer. “Prayer starts with God. It is his idea. The desire to pray is the result of God’s greater desire to talk with us. He has something to say when we feel the urge to pray. He is the initiator. …The sense of need to pray for challenges or opportunities throughout the day is because he has wisdom and insight he wants to impart. When we face crisis and suddenly feel the urge to pray for strength, that feeling is a response to the Lord’s invasion of our minds which triggers the desire to pray.” (J. Ogilvie:12) Isaiah 65:24 gives us insight into this. “Before they call I will answer; and while they are still speaking I will hear.” God has the answers we need and he prompts us to pray by whispering the answers. We pray because Jesus prayed. Jesus is our example on how to live to please God. Jesus prayed really often. He also taught the disciples to pray. We have examples of Jesus praying. Jesus also said that he only did what he saw the father doing, he could only know this if he was in direct communication with God. We pray to glorify God. Prayer - language of love Part of prayer is expressing our adoration to God, we bring glory to him when we tell him how much we love him, how grateful we are etc. When you love someone you love to tell them so to bring them joy. Jer 13:16 Luke 17:18, John 9:24 Stuff happens when God’s people pray. In John 14:12 Jesus tells us that we will do even greater things than he, because he is going to the Father and that he will personally see that whatever we ask in his name is done. That is a big promise. The balance to this though is that it must be according to the will of God, but we know if we listen to God we will know his will and will be able to ask accordingly. We pray because prayer defeats Satan. This is called Warfare prayer. Here we can pray directly against Satan’s plans by speaking God’s will and purpose into the situation. We can pray with the very authority of Jesus, with the gifts of the Spirit and the power of God. See Ephesians chapter 6:10-18 -‘The armor of God’ and 2 Cor 10:3-5 The weapons of our warfare. We pray because he is our Father and he loves to spend time with us. When God made Adam and Eve he came every evening to ‘hang out with them’ and to hear about their day. He did it because he loved them. We are designed to be friends with God, part of his family. Loving families seek each others company. Continue on to page two - HERE |
| Some thoughts on Listening Prayer. |
| The Key to listening prayer is attitude. You need to want to hear from God. Mind you if you remember Balam and his Donkey you will realize that God can make himself heard at times even if you have a wrong attitude! You need to desire to know what God desires for you. You need to be convinced that God does speak to his people. You need to understand that it is through God’s power and not your ability that you can hear Him. A heart that is hungry to know God will be satisfied. Humility and patience are the building blocks for successful hearing. A proud heart is only interested in its own opinions and is not prepared to listen. Even a child can listen. Listen with both ears and an open heart. God does not always give you the answer you want be open to what God wants and be prepared to lay down your own ideas sometimes. You can do it anywhere, anytime - all the time. Listening prayer is simple but sometimes not so easy. Turn down the distractions. Fear and worry are distractions! A mother can recognize the sound of her child’s voice even in a noisy, crowded room. With practice you will be able to do the same with God. The hardest part of listening is often obeying. When we have heard from God we need to put His word into action. Remember James tells us we need to obey. Be still and know that He is God and He will answer with perfect timing. This does not mean stop all activity and totally empty your mind. It means calm down, stop fretting, worrying and fussing. Hold in your mind that He is God and therefore is more than able to answer and direct you. God’s timing and our own are not always the same. Listening prayer is free but you do need to expend some faith. You need to believe. The more you do it the easier it gets. No is a valid answer sometimes. Sometimes God is silent for a while His silence is often a test. We get to see how much our faith and trust in Him and His word has grown. Remember to test all things by the standard of scripture. If what you think you are hearing from God contradicts scripture then it isn't God because God does not change. Read the word! Sometimes we are guilty of sitting around waiting for some direct communication from God, some special sign to show the way and yet the answer has been in His word all the time. Read the Word! The best way to spot the false from the true is to know the truth intimately. |
