Jeff's Journal

Please read Psalm 28:1-2; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Phillippians 4:4-7, Psalm 16:7-9

Our Lenten theme for Sunday is prayer.

Try this, especially if you have a little trouble

   understanding the benefits of prayer.

   Take one issue or person in your life.

   Either write down the issue or name

      or carry with you something that

      reminds you of the issue or person

      everytime you see it.

      Pray for that issue in your life or

      the specific person by name with

      intensity first thing in the morning,

      at lunch and before you go to bed

      at night. Then, throughout the day,

      be reminded of that person or issue

      and invite God to be present in the

      moment you are thinking about them

      or the issue.

Carry a notebook. Write down everything

   that comes to you from your intense prayers.

   Write, for example: "I took ten minutes to

   think about and pray for my friend. Imagined

   God's presence with him, ask for relief from

   the pain. Sensed that God was with me in

   the prayers. I should send a note. Take him

   to lunch. Tell my prayer group at church. etc.

   (You get the picture). Write down how intense

   prayer changes you. "I felt compassion for him."

   "I wrote down several possible solutions to my

   problem". You might even write, "I prayed, and

   these things came to me, but I did not sense

   God's presence. Trust me, God is all right with

   an honest appraisal of things.

Don't let insights pass you by. By all means,

   write them down, whatever they may be.

After a couple of days, stop and think about

   what has transpired through your prayers.

   I am not talking about full blown miracles

   here. What has happened with you? How

   are things different? What do you feel?

We do not give prayer enough credit.

   I believe we pray and ask for one thing,

   and God's intention may be to open us

   up to a dozen things. One blessing is never

   enough for God. God can't help it. God is a

   giver. You may be surprised that the goal

   here is not survival or wealth, but strength

   for the journey, bringing folks together,

   deepening our dependence on him.

As it says in 1 Thessalonians, pray without

   ceasing. Make prayer second nature. Live

   with God in the moment. Don't save God

   for emergencies. You may not have cultivated

   an ability to hear God's still small voice when

   you need him the most.

Try it.

Moving to the deeper places,

Jeff