“I am so busy now that if I did not spend two or three hours each day in prayer, I would not get through the day.” – Martin Luther
One of my favorite philosophers once said, “You have to pray just to make it today.” M.C. Hammer wrote these lyrics for his song, “Pray.” There is much truth in this little statement.
I took some Ransomed college students on a prayer retreat this weekend, and it was great. It was incredible to see students come just knowing all they were going to do is pray and talk about building a better prayer life. There were no games, no special events, no planned “fun” time, just being with God and communicating with Him in a deeper fashion.
As I was reflecting one night after we had stopped for the night, I started to think about Jesus and being one of His disciples. He had so many different personalities in His group, yet they were able to pray and eat together because of their faith that Christ was the Messiah. How else could a tax collector, a zealot and some local fishermen remotely get along for any period of time? Only because of Christ could this ever happen. While He was there they listened and learned under His tutelage, and after the resurrection they were bonded by their faith in Him as Savior and Lord.
We had the same differences at this prayer retreat. There were many different personalities here as well, but they all had one thing in common, that they wanted to deepen their prayer life, which would ultimately deepen their relationship with Christ. It was interesting to observe and just proved to me the power of Christ. When we put Christ first, all else seems to go to the side. Maybe we should be more worried today about bringing people to Christ and helping them grow in Him? I bet half the other issues would go away if we started to do this just as Christ did in His day. He tends to make a great example to follow.
As you focus on Christ the answers to a lot of the other questions will answer themselves, whether it is morals or personality conflicts. If you are with brothers or sisters in Christ and there seems to be some personality differences then try praying together. I watched these college students put a lot of their differences aside, as they all had one thing in common and that was the inerrant authority of the Bible to direct their prayer and their Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. What else in life truly matters?
It was truly a blessing to be part of this prayer retreat and to see these young adults come together in the name of Christ. I will end my thoughts about the retreat with the same great philosopher I started with, “Thank you Lord for blessing me.” It was truly a blessing to be part of and something we all could learn from in our lives. If you want to know Christ then you have to pray, as there is no other way (I believe spending time in the Word is a form of prayer as it is hearing from God).
Col. 4:2: “Continue earnestly in prayer being vigilant in it with thanksgiving...”
One of my favorite philosophers once said, “You have to pray just to make it today.” M.C. Hammer wrote these lyrics for his song, “Pray.” There is much truth in this little statement.
I took some Ransomed college students on a prayer retreat this weekend, and it was great. It was incredible to see students come just knowing all they were going to do is pray and talk about building a better prayer life. There were no games, no special events, no planned “fun” time, just being with God and communicating with Him in a deeper fashion.
As I was reflecting one night after we had stopped for the night, I started to think about Jesus and being one of His disciples. He had so many different personalities in His group, yet they were able to pray and eat together because of their faith that Christ was the Messiah. How else could a tax collector, a zealot and some local fishermen remotely get along for any period of time? Only because of Christ could this ever happen. While He was there they listened and learned under His tutelage, and after the resurrection they were bonded by their faith in Him as Savior and Lord.
We had the same differences at this prayer retreat. There were many different personalities here as well, but they all had one thing in common, that they wanted to deepen their prayer life, which would ultimately deepen their relationship with Christ. It was interesting to observe and just proved to me the power of Christ. When we put Christ first, all else seems to go to the side. Maybe we should be more worried today about bringing people to Christ and helping them grow in Him? I bet half the other issues would go away if we started to do this just as Christ did in His day. He tends to make a great example to follow.
As you focus on Christ the answers to a lot of the other questions will answer themselves, whether it is morals or personality conflicts. If you are with brothers or sisters in Christ and there seems to be some personality differences then try praying together. I watched these college students put a lot of their differences aside, as they all had one thing in common and that was the inerrant authority of the Bible to direct their prayer and their Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. What else in life truly matters?
It was truly a blessing to be part of this prayer retreat and to see these young adults come together in the name of Christ. I will end my thoughts about the retreat with the same great philosopher I started with, “Thank you Lord for blessing me.” It was truly a blessing to be part of and something we all could learn from in our lives. If you want to know Christ then you have to pray, as there is no other way (I believe spending time in the Word is a form of prayer as it is hearing from God).
Col. 4:2: “Continue earnestly in prayer being vigilant in it with thanksgiving...”
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