Select Page

Web Bonus – Extraordinary Variety

by | Nov 23, 2009 | Relationship with God | 1 comment

Series 09 - Extraordinary PrayerYesterday was day 2 of our "Extraordinary Prayer" series.  And I am having a blast hearing how God is using this series in people's lives.

Our topic was the creativity & variety that God designed into prayer: prayer lists, writing a letter, singing to God, praying the Scriptures, being still, praying micro-prayers, and praying when God brings people to mind.

God never wants our communication with Him to become, as E.M. Bounds wrote, just a "recitation of words, a mere verbal performance, an empty ceremony."

There's lots of stuff to talk about:

  • The Video — We bought another SermonSpice video this week to kick off our topic.  Very creative.  Artistic.  Beautiful music.  You can watch it here.
  • The Quotes — I quoted two authors on prayer this week: E. M. Bounds and Watchman Nee.
  • Which Was Harder? — I changed up how I prayed with everyone yesterday.  (1) I had everyone keep their heads up & eyes open.  (2) I didn't end with my usual prayer script, "In Jesus' name, Amen." Which was harder to do?  #2.  After I just stopped praying, I didn't know what to say next. 🙂
  • Singing to God — Here are a couple of albums I love singing to God to:
  • Praying the Scriptures — Years ago, I was challenged to create my own personalized prayer from the Scriptures by picking out a set of verses through Psalm 119.  I chose 14 of them.  For a time, my prayer time was built around them.  It was a great exercise & great time of prayer.
  • More Variety in Prayer — Here are some other ways that God designed variety into our prayer life:
  • I'd Prefer Not To… — I'm very open to trying out new ways of ministry, including prayer.  But there's one mode of prayer I'd not into: praying in a circle while holding hands.  Unfortunately, all I can think of is, "Are my hands in the right place?  Am I gripping too hard?  Too soft?  Oh no, I'm starting to sweat!"

1 Comment

  1. Mike Miller
    Mike Miller on November 24, 2009 at 12:14 pm

    Tim,
    I have prayed before but never with intent. I am now seeing what intentional prayer time means. I have written 6 different prayers that I am praying every day. Last night I had one of those teachable moments you have with your kids before bedtime. We were having a discussion on integrity and how it’s about doing the right thing when no one else is watching. We were specifically talking about the temptation to copy at school. Having just finished my last assignment for a class I am taking I told my son that I can’t copy in my class. He responded by saying, “Well that’s because you’re alone in your office Dad.” Teachable moment. I reminded him about the fact that my research was on the Internet and that I could just copy what other people wrote or take the information and write my one story. He liked that. We prayed for self control at school. That is part of the story.
    This morning I was going through my prayer journal. In my prayer for my kids I SPECIFICALLY prayed for INTEGRITY for my son and that when tempted he would do the right thing. Now, when I was talking to him last night I wasn’t thinking about my prayer journal. I didn’t have to. God was doing the work! Awesome!
    The other thing I am praying about is to continue to remind myself that “Imperfection is a blessing!” In this world that strives for perfection in everything but never finds it, I am convinced that imperfection is a blessing. We cannot separate that which we need and is important from all of the “stuff” of life. Without it, we would never know how much we need Jesus. I have been sharing this thought all week with everyone I meet. I just know at this time of year the pressure is on to have the perfect house, perfect meal, perfect turkey, perfect party, perfect gift, etc. If we can all accept our imperfection as a blessing, I believe it can open our hearts for God to do His work.
    Thanks be to God for the work He is doing through you in this series.
    Mike