Praying Outside the Box

For some of us, praying can be very routine. I'm as guilty as anybody when it comes to making prayer routine. Sometimes prayer can just be another thing for us. One of my goals is to make prayer more than just a routine. Prayer should be refreshing every time we venture into it. This week at our church, we're focusing an entire week on prayer. Last night we had an AMAZING time of eating, fellowship and prayer. We had a great turnout as almost everybody in the congregation came out to be a true community of faith. We had a dinner first, then it was followed by personal prayer time at various prayer stations.

Here's what we did for the prayer stations:

Station #1 - Names of God
On a wall we had numerous pieces of paper, each containing a different name of God (i.e. "Shepard", "Healer," "Adonai", etc. People were encouraged to simply pray through the various names for God, thanking Him for who He is.

Station #2 - Life Mural
On a table, we had a long roll of paper where people could write or draw their life journey. The purpose was for people (in words or pictures) to draw the ups and downs of the journey God has taken them on.

Station #3 - Praying through the News
Here we had today's news from 2 local newspapers. The goal was for people to look through the papers and find stories that need prayer.

Station #4 - Alliance Prayers
This week our denomination, the Christian and Missionary Alliance, has a list of prayer requests for all of our ministries around the world. We cut up the prayer requests and folded them up and put them in a bowl. People randomly choose prayer requests to pray for rigth there and then. People were also encouraged to take these requests home and pray for them during the week.

Misc. Station - Praying Together
For people who didn't want to go to various stations or who had a hard time walking, we had them just pray in a room together as they felt led.

Preparing Ourselves to Listen

In our society today, listening is often a lost hard. It is extremely hard for most of us to listen. I would have to admit that I am one of the many who sometimes cannot listen well (just ask Melinda). I hear everything, but do I really listen? Therefore I have to make a strong effort to focus and listen to what is being said. That same concept must apply to our relationship with God as well. God constantly speaks to us and it is our responsibility to prepare our heart and mind to listen to His voice. Giving, fasting, praying, and worshipping are our ways we intentionally listen to the voice of God.

What do you think, is it hard to listen to God speaking to us? Give your feedback.

Tim Kong

www.carmanroadalliance.org