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Effective Communication With God

  • June 25, 2010 at 2:54 pm

Prayer is an important part of any Christian’s life,. Without prayer, you do not have that personal, intimate  connection to your Lord and Savior, the God that created life from the beginning of time and who created each of us. Prayer is our personal connection with God. Through prayer we can thank God for all of our blessings. and express our gratitude to Him.  We can pray for others who may have needs. We can confess our sins and seek His forgiveness. We can seek wisdom from God as we deal with the struggles in our daily lives. It allows us to take our deepest thoughts and concerns to Him and to feel His presence as we develop an intimate relationship with Him.

Prayer does not have to be done in a private setting where there is no distraction although we should definitely make this a part of our prayer lives. Prayer can also be spontaneous and brief as we whisper prayers as we go about our daily life. These prayers may be requests for emergency situations, personal cries for help, or of some other nature.  Pray as you walk on your treadmill or as you drive to work. We can even prayerfully sings hymns of worship and praise throughout the day.

If you check out the Southeast Outlook this week, you will see several feature articles on prayer. These include articles on types of prayer to help you connect with God, the power of prayer, prayer journaling, praying couples and divorce-proofing their marriages, teaching children to pray, unanswered prayer, and a survey of American’s prayer life. Effective Communication with God Includes Several Types of Prayer is included as a featured article  for many to view online, but the Southeast Outlook newspaper is available at many locations throughout the Louisville and southern Indiana area, including  many restaurants, grocery stores, and of course both Southeast campuses in Louisville as well as the southern Indiana location.

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Prayer

  • June 20, 2010 at 8:46 pm

Strength in PRAYER is better than length in PRAYER!!!

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The New School Prayer

  • June 13, 2010 at 3:58 pm

Recently I received the following school prayer as an email. The words spoken in the prayer are so true in our society today. We continue to remove anything related to God from our schools as well as our workplace and our governments. Yet, in retrospect, we tend to accept everything else. Consider the following thought — As we continue to remove God from so much of our lives and deny teaching and instilling the godly principles on which our nation was founded, how could we possibly think that God would continue to bless us and our nation?

The New School Prayer

Now I sit me down in school

Where praying is against the rule

For this great nation under God

Finds mention of Him very odd.

If Scripture now the class recites,

It violates the Bill of Rights.

And anytime my head I bow

Becomes a Federal matter now.

Our hair can be purple, orange or green,

That’s no offense; it’s a freedom scene.

The law is specific, the law is precise.

Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice.

For praying in a public hall

Might offend someone with no faith at all

In silence alone we must meditate,

God’s name is prohibited by the state.

We’re allowed to cuss and dress like freaks,

And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks.

They’ve outlawed guns, but FIRST the Bible.

To quote the Good Book makes me liable.

We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen,

And the ‘unwed daddy,’ our Senior King.

It’s ‘inappropriate’ to teach right from wrong,

We’re taught that such ‘judgments’ do not belong.

We can get our condoms and birth controls,

Study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles

But the Ten Commandments are not allowed,

No word of God must reach this crowd.

It’s scary here I must confess,

When chaos reigns the school’s a mess.

So, Lord, this silent plea I make:

Should I be shot; My soul please take!

Amen !

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Life Is Too Short

  • June 6, 2010 at 8:09 pm

Haven’t we all had disagreements with friends, family conflicts, or issues that arise among friends or others from time to time?  Most all of us have been a party to these conflicts but it is the handling of the conflict that makes all the difference. As we accept the grace and forgiveness from God, we should also be willing to forgive others. Often times, this is not easy to do but we are commanded to forgive others just as Christ has forgiven us in the Bible. It is our responsibility to pray about the situation and ask God to help us understand and resolve the conflict.

Too often, each person tends to dwell on the issue rather than trying to understand the situation or simply to forgive and forget. Often the conflict is allowed to drive a wedge between the relationships that seems insurmountable with either party willing to take the initiative to resolve the situation. We tend to forget about forgiving as Christ has forgiven us. We fail to focus on the important things in life, being obedient to Christ as well as the relationship with family and friends, but rather allow the feelings of hurt and anger to overtake our lives.  Many times there is not a sincere effort to understand or a willingness to seek to settle the conflict. We say we are willing to forgive with our mouth, but the willingness to forgive is not present in our hearts. We do not rely on God to help us and we continue to hold on to the underlying causes that have a hold on us.

The first step in resolving the conflict should be to pray. Let God help you as you seek to understand the situation and develop a willingness to forgive.  However, when the anger and hurt is harbored so deep inside and forgiveness is not present in your heart, it is difficult to ask even ask God to intervene. It is like asking God to resolve a situation that you really  do not want to resolve. Naturally, in order to totally resolve the conflict, both parties must make an effort. However, even if the other person is not willing to forgive, it is important that you truly forgive the other person so that you can replace the turmoil in your life with an inner peace.

Often times those involved are too prideful to simply say, “I’m sorry,” because they do not feel responsible and they feel that another family member should apologize first. Maybe one of the family members has done something wrong, but haven’t we all done something wrong at one time or another.  We want to blame the other person, while finding no fault in our own actions. We must be willing to try to see the other side of the story and understand their reasoning as we seek to forgive. Pray that God will help you to understand and that you will develop willingness in your heart to make amends.

It is best to resolve the situation immediately rather than allowing the wounds to fester out of control. Don’t allow yourself to become too prideful to be able to restore an important relationship. Don’t place other things, such as money or pride, before the relationship. Don’t continually try to place the blame on others, thus not allowing the relationship to mend. Even if it is not family or close friends, we are commanded to forgive and forget. Experience a peace that only Christ can give as you call out to him and seek to be obedient to his command to forgive others as Christ has forgiven you.

Life is simply too short to dwell on such distractions. We are not promised a tomorrow. Forgive now before it is too late.

Ephesians 4:32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Colossians 3:13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

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