How easy is it to become disheartened or weary about praying? If we’re really honest with ourselves, it’s pretty easy at times, especially when our prayers seem to go unanswered. How about distractions? How easy is it to allow distractions to interrupt your prayers? How frustrating is it when those unexpected thoughts pop into your head while praying? On average, how long can you pray before these distractions take effect? If you’re fortunate, it may be several minutes before things we forgot to do or need to do just pop into our mind. We catch ourselves and go right back into our prayers only to be distracted again, at some later time. Do you think this happens with every Christian? How about with Billy Graham, R. C. Sproul, Vernon McGee …show more content…
Take a moment to think about ten of them. If I asked you, where in the world is the hardest place to pray, where would you say? The hardest place would be here in the United States. Why? Awesome question! As Americans, we’ve become so caught up in a culture of always doing “something” that it’s hard to slow down and pray for any length of time. It feels uncomfortable or feels like we’re wasting valuable time. Our society has placed such a high premium on accomplishments or on being productive that prayer sometimes goes against the grain of our society. Do we see any accomplishments in prayer? Are we being productive when we pray? Prayer is nothing more than talking to God, but how many of us feel like it’s hopeless or useless? We pray for healing only to continue in sickness. We ask for victory over sin only to find defeat. What good does it do to pray? Another problem with the American culture is our attention span. When we’re not working, we’re watching television, playing video games, surfing the Internet(s) or on our smartphones. The next time you go to a restaurant or to the movie theaters, look around to see how many people are on their phones. Being still and quiet is not in the American culture. Sin is another “thing” which keeps us from praying as we ought to. In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet Act III, scene iii, Hamlet sneaks in to kill King Claudius, who killed his own brother and Hamlet’s father. At the end of the scene, Hamlet realized he cannot kill Claudius and sneaks back out of the room and we hear Claudius say, “My words fly up, my thoughts remain low. Words without thought never to heaven go.” Claudius tried to repent for committing murder, but he couldn’t. We see him kneeling in prayer, but he couldn’t feel any sense of comfort or mercy from God. There’s a realization that because he had no intentions of confessing to the crime or even changing his life, his words were empty
Prayer is an essential to any kind of religious faith. Over the years and years of believing in a higher power,
I had always felt that to pray there had to be some eloquent way to convey the things that you wanted to say to God. I also was often frustrated, as I questioned that if God was all knowing, why was it necessary to pray to him and tell him things he already knew. Throughout my time at NCYC I came to understand my relationship with God less like a human and omniscient being relationship, but more as a parent and child relationship. Though He may already know what you have to tell Him, it is about building the communication and the friendship, so that He can work best in your life. The best analogy that I have heard about this was from one of the leaders of the trip, and he compared life to being in a marching band. From the point of view of the musicians, it seems chaotic and as though people are going in every direction for no apparent reason; however, from up
For centuries, the debate has existed whether or not to allow prayer in public schools. Many Americans feel it is not right of the schools to teach religion. With all the diversity associated with the United States, public schools cannot select one standard religion to practice, due to the cultural and religious differences in the country. Not only are schools the storm center of controversy involving religious differences, they are the principal institution charged with transmitting the identity and mission of the United States from one generation to the next. If we fail in our school policies and classrooms to model and to teach how to live with differences, we endanger our experiment in religious liberty and our
Prayer is also another area where I have grown. I tend to pray all throughout the day. I like being in constant communication with God. I have learned that prayer is important when combatting human trafficking. There are situations in which prayer seems to be the only option. I believe everything should be done with
but, so far no compromise has been agreed upon. This is due to the fact that
(Soren Kierkegaard) Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known of God. (Philippians 4:6 ESV) And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (Matthew 6:5-8
1. The value of prayer and communing with God in a personal relationship, asking and hearing, and promoting prayer is essential to me as a church leader. Prayer should be the heart of the church according to Christ as a “house of prayer” (Matt 11:17). It has been my habit to be a part of and lead prayer meetings consistently throughout my Christian walk. God taught me about the power of prayer as I went through challenging life situations and had friends that believed prayer was the key to intimacy with God and seeking revival. It allows the church to commune with God, minister to one another, and intercede together. My desire is to use what I have learned from other pastors about prayer to make it engaging for people and provide
This paper will examine the topic of prayer in school. School prayer has remained a subject of national debate in the United States. This freedom has slowly but surely been taken away from students across the country. By bringing to light the laws pertaining to prayer in schools, understanding the current situation in schools, and rewriting school policy regarding prayer, this travesty can be avoided before it grows further.
There are many different philosophies regarding prayer in public school. It seems to be a difficult issue to decide upon. The opinions are wide-ranging and convoluted. This paper will attempt to highlight the many ideas and opinions as to whether prayers in public school should be allowed and to what extent. It will further show how our founders' idea of a separate church and state has been taken out of context and why prayer in school should be allowed, but not required.
What is faith? Scripture tells us in Hebrews 11:1 that “Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (NIV) Faith means trusting that various situations will provide results best suited to help us in some way during our life. I’m sure others may have a different opinion; however, throughout my life, that has been the most accurate description.
In Andrew Hudgins’ poem, Praying Drunk, the speaker portrays the act of writing as something important, mysterious, and difficult when sober, and compares it to the act of praying, which, for him, is equally complicated. The entire poem is in the form of a prayer, which provides an insightful look at the motivations for faith, the pursuit of truth, and the struggle to come to terms with both. When these ideas are applied to the act of writing, they reveal the complex struggle that a writer faces in developing confidence in his own ideas, while maintaining a degree of credibility that will encourage an audience to care about what he has written.
What is theology? What does it explain if anything? According to the encyclopedia, it is related to the Greek Religion. In Christianity, the systematic study of the nature of God and God's relationship with humanity and with the world. Although other religions may be said to have theologies, this is a matter of controversy within, for instance, Judaism , which holds that God is unknowable. This article will therefore confine itself to Christian theology. The development of theology in Christendom arose from the need for educated Christians of the ancient world to express their ideas in terminology familiar in current thought. Hence arose the close relation of Christian theology with Greek philosophy formulated by the Greek and Latin
Even though public schools today are without school prayer, most schools have replaced prayer, with a "Silent moment of reflection." Also, the assumption if there is a God or not is a big question as well. I think prayer should be re-instated into schools, because children should be able to express religion freely. I also feel that lack of discipline; youth pregnancy, dropouts, and violence in schools are other issues that can be more controllable if there were religious classes and school prayer.
Religion and prayer can benefit students in educational settings by positively contributing to better grades and behavior. Personal faith and prayer are important to people in many walks of life. Some individuals believe that this need for religious stimulation includes the youth in our school systems. There are different reasons why knowledge of religion and prayer can be important to students. For example, if students do not know about diverse faiths, it can be difficult for them to have a well-rounded knowledge and understanding of other cultures. There are oppositional sides to this issue as well. Some people believe that prayer in educational settings could be used as a way to persuade students into believing certain things that they
“Every time I go to church, I thank God for my loving husband and my