Teach Me To Pray

"Lord, Teach us to pray."

That was the request of the disciples one day as they followed Jesus. They knew he had a special connection to the throne of God and wanted to be able to pray like He did. It was then that Jesus taught the ever popular Lord's Prayer.

Isn't it amazing that we find ourselves with still the same request thousands of years later. We want to draw near to God, but often find ourselves wondering how. We battle to pray the right way. We want to touch the throne of God, feel His presence, and recieve an answer. So, we ask with hearts expecting something akin to the Lord's Prayer to happen in our lives.

What my experience has been, instead, is that the Lord allows me to go through trials. He brings me to the end of my rope, and it is there and then that I learn how to really pray! I begin to seek God like my life depends on it - because it does.

Oh, if only we could rejoice in the hard times knowing that it is through the trials our faith is made strong.

Learning to Trust and Obey

When Namaan went to the prophet, he expected to be miraculously healed in a marvelous way. Maybe some lightning, or the appearance of a supernatural being to cure him of his leprosey. But, that wasn't what happened. The prophet told him to go dip in the dirty river Jordan and be healed. He was FURIOUS! That was beneath him in so many ways. It took a servant to remind him of the point to the whole matter. "Namaan, do you want to be healed or not? Then go jump in the stupid river!"

It takes alot for us humans sometimes to accept what God wants from us. We often look for the Lord to bless us in BIG ways, perhaps in front of everyone. We expect that we'll do great things for God, and that's what we seek after. We want the gifts that everyone recognizes (healing, prophecy) instead of helps, because who notices that?

God, however, is more interested in what comes of our hearts. Submission to the simple creeds of life. Obedience even when it seems stupid, or might get you laughed at. Or, how about, just obedience for obedience's sake- when no one is looking, and it seems that it doesn't matter to anyone in the world.

Be faithful in the LITTLE things. They are what God is looking at.

Consider Yourself A Christian?

I have been thinking lately about what it means to be a Christian. I am sure you've heard many people say things like:

• Well, I'm a Christian, and I....


• I consider myself a Christian, but...


• You can be a Christian, and still...


• I might be a Christian, but I don't feel it's necessary to...

What do they mean? Are there really different levels of Christianity? Do we even have the ability to determine if we are Christians? I mean, what is the criteria? I decided to look into the matter. Here's what I found:

• The disciples were first called "Christians" about the time of Paul's conversion in a place called Antioch. (Acts 12:260


• It had become a widespread enough term by the time of Paul's Third Missionary Journey. (Acts 26:28- King Agrippa confesses that Paul had almost persuaded him to become a "Christian".)


• Peter referred to believer's as Christians when he spoke of those who "suffer as a Christian". (I Peter 4:16)

These biblical references still didn't answer the questions I had been considering, so I dug deeper. Well, as deep as Webster's Student Dictionary would let me: 1. Of or belonging to any of the religions that accept the divinity or the leadership of Christ. 2. Consisting chiefly of Christians, as a Christian nation. 3. Characteristic of Christian people; kindly. 4. A person who accepts or professes the teachings of Christ; a member of any Christian church.

So, again, I turned to the Bible. The second book of Timothy, to be exact. Verse 19 of chapter 2 says this, "The Lord knoweth them that are His." And that really is the point. Whether we or others consider us to be Christian doesn't matter. It's all about how He views us. I believe that heaven will be filled with people whom others thought would never end up there, and will be absent of some who professed Christ but didn't walk the talk. Where does your life leave you?

Hope. For a Change.

If you are like me, you know at least one person who has been laid off from their job recently. You might know someone whose home is on the brink of foreclosure. These days we all tend to have one eye on our bills and bank accounts, and the other on the list of things we need to do to keep them afloat .
With the national unemployment rate at its highest level since 1983 , and in specific ares as high it's peak during the Great Depression, fear of collapse is bubbling under the surface of everyday life for many Americans. For some, that fear is becoming reality. And for some, that reality has brought despair. And that despair has brought suicides, murders, depression and the like.
Politicians and Wall Street are both doing their best to pass blame on to the next guy, but the truth is we have been living in a castle built with sand. Most everyone I know carries a load of unsecure debt, on top of secured debt, on top of one or two mortgages, on top of cell phone bills, cable bills, Internet bills, with a boat or ATV payment thrown on top.
For too many years, we Americans (especially us 30-somethings and younger) have been sold anything we could ever want. We've filled our lives with gadgets, do-hickeys, thing-a-ma-jigs, and whats-its. We've lived paycheck to paycheck for our entire lives, dutifully checking to see "what's in your wallet" when the time for payment came. Think of it: Our lives are filled with plastic toys we paid for using plastic. And plastic isn't listed on the Periodic Table of Elements. It has no fundamental value.
Job said "If I have made gold my hope....If I rejoiced because my wealth was great...This also was a sin to be punished by the Judge, for I denied the God that is above." (paraphrasing Job 31:24-28) How much more foolish are we to have made plastic our god?
First Thessalonians 4:13 instructs us what to do when faced with death. We aren't to mourn as those who have no hope, but we are to have faith in the ressurection of the dead unto Eternal Life. And, in this time when so many of us are seeing our 401ks die a slow, painful death we must have Hope - not in their ressurection (though that would be nice!) but in our Champion, the Lord of Hosts.
I believe that Hope is the missing element in our society today. Without hope, the homeless man drinks himself to death. Because she sees no hope of a better future, the inner-city child drops out of school and makes the street corner her final resting place. The executive who lost everything sees no hope of tomorrow as he jumps from his office window. The blue-collar worker turns his shotgun on his family and himself. Hope. Hope. Hope.
If you are a believer today you have Hope within you. Don't be afraid to share Him with those who are mourning in darkness. It may save a life.