31

Chapter 31


So, the journey is complete! Congrats! Instead of me quoting Murray, I would like for you to quote yourselves - based on what you have learned, come up with your own one liner/word of wisdom about prayer and let us have it!

I hope that you enjoyed the book - not necessarily because you agreed with everything, but because it caused you to wrestle with prayer and learn from God. That was the point.

til next year...

30

Chapter 30:

"Every priest knew that when he presented a sacrifice according to the law of the sanctuary, it was accepted: under the covering of the blood and spirit you have the assurance that all the wonderful promises to prayer in the Name of Jesus will be fulfilled in you. Abiding in union with the Great High Priest, 'you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you.'"

The consecration we have been through for the past few weeks, the prayer time, the fasting, the setting aside time for reflection and repentance and receiving....all of this has not been to keep us busy. It has been so we might come to realize who God is and who we are in Him. We are priests called to a holy work - to pray and worship and live out the calling upon our lives. My prayer is that the confidence Murray speaks of above has begun to take root in your heart. Your prayers matter to God, and He is willing and able to both hear and respond to you.

29

chapter 29

"In the heart the word and Spirit must meet: it is only by indwelling that we can experience their teaching. The word must dwell, must abide in us: heart and life must day by day be under its influence. Not from without, but from within, comes the quickening of the word by the Spirit."

I woke up this morning thinking about the mystery of God - how can we really even know him? But since we are called to know Him, to seek Him, to worship Him, and to follow Him, He certainly has and will reveal Himself to us. How? By the WORD and the SPIRIT. Not by one or the other, nor by one over the other - but both. Our prayer life is only a life if it is connected to God, and that connection is grounded in the Word and the Spirit.

28

chapter 28

"Our Lord always wins for us the opposite of what he suffered. He was bound that we might go free. He was made sin that we might become the righteousness of God. He died that we might live. He bore God's curse that God's blessing might be ours. He endured the not answering of His prayer, that our prayers might find an answer."

This is a beautiful picture of the goodness of God. Taste and see today....

27

Chapter 27

"....He gives his this precious legacy of his prayer to the Father. He does this at the same time because they as priests are to share in His work of intercession, that they and we might know how to perform this holy work. "

We are priests, holy ones set apart for the work of the Kingdom, and that work includes intercession. We are the go-betweens, the gap standers for our friends, families, communities, and territories. This truth of being a priest should impact our identity. It is a calling. I believe too many people today are misguided because they are consumed with understanding what their 'calling' is - the problem is that they are tying their calling strictly to their vocation. One of the traps of modern society is to tie your identity into what you do. Thus, pursuing a calling could become a vain attempt to feel better about who we are.
Jesus here reveals to us that our identity is who HE HAS MADE US TO BE. You can be a intercessory priest in any vocation, in any position or season of life. It is our inheritance and our true calling from God.

26

Chapter 26

"Because He prays, we pray too."

I have probably answered the question of 'why should we pray' a hundred times. And honestly, I have never answered it the way that Murray does here. I usually talk about the call from God to be obedient, the blessings that could come from it, or the necessity of communication in a relationship. While all of these have merit, the example of Jesus should be enough for us, for me. If Jesus did it/does it, then there should be little conversation needed to convince me that I should be praying as well.

25

Chapter 25


"Oh! We need to understand and believe that to be filled with this, the Spirit of the glorified One, is the one need of God's believing people."

Bob has been preaching this all year! What a great reminder to all of us from an 'outside' source - that we we need is what our shepherd has been telling us over and over. The Holy Spirit is not just an add on to the Father and the Son. He is not simply an entity that makes people do weird things on tv when they receive prayer from people in nice suits. He IS GOD, and He has been sent to FILL us. I am always haunted by Christ's words of it being better that He go away so the Holy Spirit can come - how many times have I wished that Jesus was just here in person? I need to renew my mind because the Holy Spirit has been given to me - to us - by Jesus and He lives within us! Prayer becomes a different event when we actually realize that God is within us to teach us, to fill us, to empower us to do it.

24

chapter 24

"Let each disciple of Jesus seek to avail himself of the rights of his royal priesthood, and use the power placed at his disposal for his circle and his work. Let Christians awake and hear the message: your prayer can obtain what otherwise will be withheld, can accomplish what otherwise remains undone."

Again, this is simply encouraging. It takes prayer out of something we do in order not to feel guilty or something we do to check in with God. It is a place where things CHANGE. It is a place where God wants to meet with us, tell us His heart, and effect change in our lives and in the lives of others.

I loved what Murray said earlier in the chapter about how much God trusts us because He has given us His name. I oftentimes think the Lord is a bit crazy for what He has entrusted to us, but it is also inspiring to have the creator of the universe on your side. I want all of us to be awakened to just how great God is towards us, and as we are, our prayers will change. Instead of coming into the place of prayer thinking that we have to convince God to do something, I want us coming to Him convinced that He is for us and will accomplish what we are asking for in His name.

23

Chapter 23

"The one thing He commands us as His branches is to bear fruit. Let us live to bless others, to testify of the life and the love there is in Jesus. Let us in faith and obedience give our whole life to that which Jesus chose us for and appointed us to - fruit bearing."

So, my guess is that most of us would not pick many parts from this chapter and put it on a bumper sticker. It was a tough word, but a true word. Obedience is our call and our way to honor God. His commands, though, are not impossible - if we walk by the spirit, then they become what we WANT to do not what we HAVE to do. The key is surrender because we cannot accomplish the commands of God by our own strength.

22

Chapter 22

"The chief thing is, not to know what God has said we must do, but that God Himself says it to us. It is not the law, and not the book, not the knowledge of what is right, that works obedience, but the personal influence of God and His living fellowship. And even so it is not the knowledge of what God has promised, but the presence of God Himself as the Promiser, that awakens faith and trust in prayer."

Thanks, A.M., for this common but crucial reminder that the Word of God is actually WORDS FROM GOD. He has not only spoken them, but He still speaks them today. The Word is current to us because the author is still speaking from His heart through His book. This reminds us that as we learn to pray, the Word should be vital to us because it is an incredible avenue to communicate with God. If one of the big points is to pray the will of God, then the Bible should become part of our language and response to God in intercession.

21

Chapter 21

"But let us not be discouraged. The abiding of the branch in the vine is a life of never ceasing growth. The abiding, as the Master meant it, is within our reach, for He lives to give it to us."

The past several chapters have been heavily focused on dying to self, selflessness, absolute surrender, etc. And while I appreciate his lessons and agree with him biblically, the tone has been pretty intense. Murray does not beat around the bush, and so he has clearly laid out our path to walking in faith and abiding in the vine - complete life transformation and nothing less.

The reason I picked the quote above is because it reminds us what Christ lives for. If we are to totally sell out and die to our flesh and so on and so on, then, for me, that only makes sense as I remember that Christ has done that for me. Further, His sacrifice and what He gives in exchange for my sacrifice is incomparable, and so it inspires me and puts my choices into a more clear and healthy perspective. He LIVES to give it to us - that is really good news!

20

chapter 20

"'Do all to the glory of God,' and 'Ask all to the glory of God' - these twin commands are inseperable: obedience to the former is the secret of grace for the latter."

The big question of this chapter is 'what does it mean to 'do all' and 'ask all' to the glory of God? If the glory of God is so important, then how do we do it? I appreciate Murray's answer, which in a nutshell, is dying to self. As a result of this death, according to Murray, our will will be crushed and God's will, via the Holy Spirit, will come through every aspect of our lives. Our life will be His is how he writes it.

While I agree with Murray's answer, his language and stance might be a hiccup for some. Bob made the same point last night in a more digestible way - we are called to walk blameless (with nothing inbetween) before God. Dying to self is often thought of as this terrible lifestyle of hating ourselves and wretching on the floor of the prayer closet in tears. Dying to self certainly has 'death' involved - the death of our flesh - but it is not a death that we are meant to mourn because the death we experienced is replaced by the life of Christ. Instead of your focus being on what needs to die/how hard and painful and impossible it will be, try focusing on the goodness and beauty and mercy of God as your reward. God does not offer His life to us as some bone he is just throwing to us - remember, HE CAME TO US! He wants to give us His life.

hope this helps!

19

Chapter 19

"Give yourself, and live, to do the works of Christ and you will learn to pray and so as to obtain wonderful answers to prayer. Give yourself, and live, to pray, and you will learn to do the works He did, and greater works. With disciples full of faith in Himself, and bold in prayer to ask great things, Christ can conquer the world."

This points to what we heard from Steve and what I mentioned on Monday: We must both pray and act. We cannot use prayer as a shield to hide from obeying the commandments of God to go and advance His Kingdom. Yet, we also cannot advance His kindgom with our actions if they are not birthed in and covered by prayer. Our goal is avoid being powerless and prayerless.

As we have fasted and prayed, we have petitioned God for many things. Next week, we will go and seek to stand upon the promises and goodness of God that we have sensed in the place of prayer. I believe that this span of time is extremely important, because we are walking in the balance and blessing of what James spoke of concerning 'faith' and 'works.' Let us continue to seek Him and to also move with Him in the things that He has called us to - it's gonna be good!

18

Chapter 18:

"Prayer is not merely the cry of the suppliant for mercy; it is the highest forth-putting of his will by man, knowing himself to be of Divine Origin, created for and capable of being, in king-like liberty, the executor of the counsels of the Eternal."

"As image-bearer and representative of God on earth, redeemed man has by his prayers to determine the history of this earth. Man was created, and has now again been redeemed to pray, and by his prayer to have dominion."

Just trying to get my mind around this....


PS - crazy how Murray must have listened to Steve Thompson's messages, isn't it?

chapter 17

chapter 17 (sorry for the delay)

"...the Father-heart holds itself open and free to listen to every prayer that rises through the Son, and that God does indeed allow Himself to be decided by prayer to do what He otherwise would not have done."

"God HImself is the Living Love, who in His Son as man has entered into the tenderest relation with all that is human, who through the Holy Spirit takes up all that is human into the Divine life of love, and keeps Himself free to give every human prayer its place in His government of the world."

Wow - this chapter, even though it was pretty heavy with some theological thoughts and concepts, the essence of the chapter is that PRAYER MATTERS. It is not a ritual that we do in order to clear our religious consciences; it is not a simply an exercise that disciplines our flesh without influences the Father. It is something that God has created to have power and generate power. As the great theologian, spiderman's uncle taught us, with great power comes great responsibility. Thus, we have the responsibility to know and pray God's heart in order to see His power impact the world.

16

Chapter 16

"Give God time."

This was repeated several times throughout the chapter. I find it interesting because Murray seems to explain the delay in the answer to our prayers is a result of the work needed to be done in us. Thus, the quote really could be, 'Give God time to work in you."

I am thankful that Murray first recognized the mystery of unanswered/delayed prayer before giving his explanation behind it. I appreciate both his attempt to answer and the answer itself; There is much wisdom to be found here. In the delay we must wait in faith, wait with patience, but wait with expectation and joy. I believe that this is impossible without the Holy Spirit, because our flesh does not like to wait on anything for long. This is why walking with the Holy Spirit and praying in the Holy Spirit (not a tongues reference, relax) are inseparable.

15

Chapter 15 ( I feel like I could have quoted the whole chapter)

"A prayer meeting without recognized answer to prayer ought to be an anomaly."

"The mark that there has been true united prayer is the fruit, the answer, the receiving of the thing we have asked..."

"They do not remember that Jesus has, by His promise, consecrated every assembly in His Name to be a gate of heaven, where His Presence is to be felt, and His Power experienced in the Father fulfilling their desires."


I loved this chapter because it lit me up again for our times of prayer as a staff and as a ministry. I never want our times of prayer together simply to be a slot on the calendar or a duty fulfilled; I long for them to be times where we not only sense the presence of God but see the power of God in answers to our prayers.

This chapter awakened in my a renewed expectation for the time after the prayer meeting. I want to somehow wait expectantly on God based on the very things that we just spent an hour or more asking Him for....somehow I want to be connected to the whole process and not just the beginning. Part of this is figuring out how to record and keep present our prayer requests, and another part is asking for real, tangible things.

Too often I will gauge a prayer meeting by how I felt, the room felt, the people responded to the leading of prayers and worship. However, this chapter was helpful in reminding me that the measure of the prayer meeting should not be how it felt during the time of prayer but what was the fruit after the prayer. That is good stuff.

14

chapter 14

"The deep sure ground of answer to prayer is God's forgiving love. When it has taken possession of the heart, we pray in faith. But also, when it has taken possession of the heart, we live in love. God's forgiving disposition, revealed in His love to us, becomes a disposition in us..."

"In that love, not inded the love of perfect attainment, but the love of fixed purpose and sincere obedience, faith can alone obtain the blessing. It is he who gives himself to let the love of God dweill in him, and in the practice of daily life to love as God loves, who will have the power to believe in the Love that hears his every prayer."

I enjoyed this chapter because it did a wonderful job of tearing down the walls of the prayer closet and connecting devotional life to real life. All to often, the temptation is to put on your holy face while in prayer and to act accordingly because it's time to be as Christian as possible. Then, once it's over, we can go back to being normal. A.W. Tozer has a brilliant chapter on this subject about not dividing the sacred and the secular. We simply cannot learn principles of prayer, apply them in short bursts of intercession, and hope to see our lives, as well as others, change. Life in Christ is not the sum of some good prayer slots; it's His life in ours, 24/7.

13

chapter 13

"We are creatures of the senses: our mind is helped by what comes to us embodied in concrete form; fasting helps to express, to deepen, and to confirm the resolution that we are ready to sacrifice anything, to sacrifice ourselves, to attain what we seek for the Kingdom of God."

I chose this quote because it focuses on what fasting does/is to us instead of what it does to God. Too often the trap we find ourselves in is thinking that fasting manipulates God. Sometimes people think that fasting is the magic key that will open every door to God's heart; other times people think that it makes God feel so sorry for us that He has pity and answers our prayers. I personally think that fasting has a lot more to do with us than it does God.

Several things occur in us and to us when we fast: Our fraility and weakness, our intense desire to see what is unseen instead of partaking in what is already seen, how scattered are thoughts and intentions are, etc. Just as fasting (all or most food for a time) acts as a cleansing agent for the body, it also is used in that way for our hearts and minds by the Holy Spirit. The cravings of our body (sugar, caffeine, salt, etc) are brought to the surface, purified, and subdued in fasting, and that is also what the Lord wants to do in us in regards to the cravings of our flesh.

I believe that fasting is a time when God comes to work in us, instead of it being a time when we go to work on God. What do yall think?

ck

12

Chapter 12

"Faith in the promise is the fruit of faith in the promiser; the prayer of faith is rooted in the life of faith. And in this way the faith that prays effectually is inded a gift of God."

"We think of prayer as teh power to drawn down good gifts from heaven; Jesus as a means to draw ourselves up to God. We want to stand at the door and cry; Jesus would have us first enter in and realize that we are friends and children."

Both of these quotes have to do with the same thing - the essence of faith and the essence of prayer lies not in a secret code, discipline, or calling - it lies only in God Himself. Knowing God's promises are good, and beleiving in His promises is even better, but knowing God himself is what we are made for. When knowing God is your target, having faith in Him and growing in your prayer life will be byproducts. Yet, even when mystery replaces faith and our prayers go unanswered, the knowledge of God can remain strong. This is why God would have us pursue Him as our first love and why He pursues us relentlessly; God desperately wants us to be close to Him and with Him.

11

chapter 11

"And now remember one thing more: It is Jesus who said this."

If you are anything like me, than this chapter challenges my mind and my flesh. I want to remind Andrew Murray of all of the times that I did not get what I received, when I exerted faith and was failed, when I believed for things and was left wanting. But, I would be having that conversation with the wrong person, because as Murray points out, it was JESUS who said it. Jesus, the one who is full of grace and truth, the one who is the kindest person in the world, the one who died for me (and you) when I was yet a sinner. He is the one who spoke these words that confuse my mind but excite my spirit.

As our fast begins today, this is a brilliant reminder: Jesus is to be our focus, Jesus is to be our goal, Jesus is to be our Lord, Jesus is to be our everything. Lord, please help us to move past any and every distraction, and allow us to live in the purity and simplicity of devotion to Jesus. Amen.

10

chapter ten

"But is not such a will at variance with our dependence on God and our submission to HIm? By no means; it is much rather the true submission that honours God. It is only when the child has yielded his own will in entire surrender to the Father, that he receives from the Father liberty and power to will what he would have."

This lines up with what you hear from Bob when he mentions Ps 37:4 and what Steve Thompson was talking about over the weekend. It is possible to walk with God and have our wills become the will of God. The desires of our hearts can become the desire of God's own heart, and when that happens, we move in power and authority. Our prayer life is transformed as well in this reality. The whole point of the 21 days of prayer and fasting is to surrender to God and then to do His will; thus, this quote should make us excited about what God is doing in us!

9

Chapter nine

"Every believer is a laborer..."

As I read this chapter, I was reminded over and over that in essence, we are praying for ourselves we when pray for the workers of the harvest. Bob clearly has felt this as well since he has specifically asked us to go out on the campus at the end of the month and pronounce that the harvest is here. We cannot merely seek the Lord in this manner for some unnamed, faceless workers to magically appear and do the work we are afraid of or unconcerned with in Athens. Let us realize that we should include ourselves in this prayer, and be ready to go and do the work that we have prayed for.

8

Chapter 8

"Nothing is at first so strange to us that God should really really require perservering prayer, that there should be a real spiritual needs-be for importunity. To teach it us, the Master uses this almost strange parable. If the unfriendliness of a selfish earthly friend can be conquered by importunity, how much more will it avail with the heavely Friend, who does so love to give, but is held back by our spiritual unfitness, our incapacity to possess what He has to give."

I realize this is not the quote that most of us would want on a bumper sticker, especially the last part. What is important to focus on, though, is not our lack of maturity in the place of prayer, but on God's willingness to teach us and provide for us in that lack. The real gem of this parable is what Murray pointed out in the aforementioned quote - that if the friend who is selfish gives what is needed, then HOW MUCH MORE will our loving heavenly Father give to those in need?! Never think that God is suggesting that we take the characteristics of the selfish friend and create our image of God Himself. We are to see the difference, and that difference is meant to be the fuel for prayer and the comfort when there is a delay in the answer to prayer.

It is the fuel because we should be excited to pray to a God who is generous, loving, and willing to help us in our times of need. Further, He is also loving and generous not only to us but also to the ones that we are interceding for. It is the comfort during delay because we are so often tempted to lose sight of God's loving nature when we do not get what we want. Silence from heaven is often when the enemy speaks the loudest, so we must hold fast to the reality that God is better than the selfish friend, even when we do not get our own way.

It is already week 2 in this book - hope you are liking it!

7.

chapter 7

"Let us now believe this. As we pray to be filled with the Spirit, let us not seek for the answer in our feelings.  All spiritual blessings must be received, that is accepted or taken in faith.  Let me believe, the Father gives the Holy Spirit to His praying child.  Even now, while I pray, I must say in faith, 'I have what I ask, the fulness of the Spirit is mine.'"

Here, Murray exposes one of the greatest hindrances to believing prayer: our feelings (or lack thereof).  Feelings are not inherently evil and they are not the root of all of our problems.  They can be redeemed and utilized and enjoyed in the Christian life.  However, in prayer, our feelings can, at times, be a roadblock to us as we attempt to live out the things we are asking for.

He instructs us here to simply accept God's Word for what it says with or without the confirmation of our feelings.  When our feelings line up with the truth of the Bible, then enjoy your blessing from heaven.  When they do not, you must allow faith to rise above and have a higher place of importance than your feelings.  

The Holy Spirit, at times, will show Himself in the most clear and experiential ways.  Yet, at other times, He is so gentle and quiet that only faith can resolve that He actually is working in our lives.  Let us allow God to be God, in which ever way He chooses to demonstrate and reveal Himself to us, and let us allow our faith to accept His goodness no matter what we feel.

6.

prayer blog again

chapter 6

"But Will not such teaching discourage the feeble one? If we are first to answer to this portrait of a child, must not many give up all hope of answers to prayer? The difficulty is removed if we think again of the blessed name of father and child.  A child is weak; there is a great difference among children in age and gift.  The Lord does not demand of us a perfect fulfillment of the law; no, but only the childlike and whole-hearted surrender to live as a child with Him in obedience and truth.  Nothing more. But also, nothing less.  The Father must have the whole heart.  When this is given, and He sees the child with honest purpose and steady will seeking in everything to be and live as a child, then our prayer will count with Him as the prayer of a child."

This is such an exciting truth to realize and believe; becoming a child of God is not about our performance but our surrender.  God knows our weakness, but still He loves us and keeps us as His children.  No one would go to great lengths and great sacrifice to send help to someone who does not need it.  Only the weakened, imperfect ones need help.  In the same light, God would not have sent His Son to us if we were not in need.  Yet, because He did, then we must realize that He realizes our imperfect state.  Thus, His love and acceptance of us began when we were weak, and it will continue forever.

Our prayer lives will change when we live as children accepted by Christ instead of children wanting to be accepted by Christ.  If we have given our hearts to Him to be Lord and set up residency, then we are His children, and if we are His children, then He will give us the HOW MUCH MORE type blessings in prayer.

5.

prayer blog

chapter five

"Let every learner in the school of Christ therefore take the Master's word in all simplicity: Every one that asketh, receiveth.  He had good reasons for  speaking so unconditionally.  Let us beware of weakening the Word with our human wisdom.  When He tells us heavenly things, let us believe Him: His Word will explain itself to him who believes it fully.  If questions and difficulties arise, let us not seek to have them settled before we accept the Word.  No; let us entrust them all to Him: it is His to solve them: our work is first and fully to accept and hold fast His promise"


Well, I certainly am I who has added human wisdom to try to explain away the mystery and difficulty of certain Bible passages.  As I read this chapter though, I believe that what I do is not add human wisdom as much as I attempt to cover up the fact that I do not live up to Biblical standards a lot of the time.  I explain away the mystery because its still a mystery to me.  

Let us resolve together to do one thing: instead of changing the word to fit our experience, let us allow the word to change us and our experience.  I definitely want to understand the complexity and depth of truth in the promise of asking and receiving.  I do not want to pray if all it is going to be is a religious activity that I check off my list.  But, I want to get to know the God who has made this outrageous promise to me - that when I ask, I am to receive; when I seek, I am to find; when I knock, I am to see open doors before me.    
Sounds good - I am in!

4

"in true worship, the Father must be first, must be all. The sooner I learn to forget myself in the desire that He may be glorified, the richer will the blessing be that prayer will bring to myself. No one ever loses by what he sacrifices for the Father."

I love this quote because it reveals the truth behind humility - for humility is not simply an absence of self but a fullness of God. Often we are tempted to believe that we will suffer greatly and miss out if we really sacrifice and sell out for God, but nothing could be further from the truth. 'no one ever loses by what he sacrifices for the Father.' As we remember this in prayer, then the time it takes will not be such a burden. As we remember this, then the place of putting our own agenda aside and interceding for others will become a joy.

3

Quote from the third lesson:

"Not on the strong or fervent feeling with which I pray does the blessing of the closet depend, but upon the love and the power of the Father to whom I there entrust my needs."

Can I get an 'amen' here?!?! How often I have evaluated my prayer life based on how I felt in the moment of prayer or after the fact, yet both vantage points are missing the point. If I 'felt' good then does that magically make my prayers better? If I felt 'nothing' does that mean that my prayers did not make it all the way to the top? This all sounds silly now but this is such a trap for many of us - to make prayer about how we feel instead of what Christ offers.

Lord, help us to be able to focus on You - what You have done, what You are doing, what You will do - instead of focusing on ourselves. We confess that we are weak in prayer, but You not only will teach us how to do it, but You strongly desire to help us. That desire is so strong that You promise to be there EVERYTIME we close the door and pray - despite our feelings. Thank you for the revelation of this truth; Now may accept it and be transformed by it. Amen.

2

Two great quotes for day 2:

'How much our Christianity suffers from this, that it is confined to certain times and places.'

- Takes Christianity and prayer from something we only do as part of our schedule and makes it what it supposed to be - all consuming.

'...That the knowledge of the Fatherhood of God, the revelation of His inifinite Fatherliness in our hearts, the faith in the infinite love that gives us His Son and His Spirit to make us children, is indeed the secret of prayer in spirit and truth. This is the new and living way Christ opened up for us. To have Christ the Son, and the Spirit of the Son, dwelling within us, and revealing the Father, this makes us true, spiritual worshippers.'


- The Love of God is not just something that makes us feel good about ourselves and makes our problems go away. It is also the pathway that is both devoid of fear and apathy and filled with desire to commune with God. We talk about the love of God all the time at Wesley, but have we understood its place and role in teaching us to pray? How much voluntary time do you spend with people you do not love/like or with people with whom you believe do not like/love you? Father, help us to understand your love so we might learn how to pray....

1

Happy New Year Everyone! Today begins our reading of Andrew Murray's, With Christ in the School of Prayer. This book was instrumental in my life as I was desperately seeking help from anyone who could teach me about prayer. I want to recognize that the language and style that he writes in is different than what many of us might be used to. However, I believe we are all capable of grasping the truths in these pages as we read and seek help from the Holy Spirit. Also, if you forget to read or miss a few days for other reasons, just do your best because the more you read the more you will learn. As always, no pressure, just opportunity here!

I hope that this blog will serve as both a reminder for you to read and a platform for you to ask questions/make comments. In reality, it would be best if your questions and comments were directed toward one another in conversation around the office. Yet, if you do want to go the electronic route, here you go.

My plan is to choose a quote or an idea from the daily chapter and highlight it here on the blog. Here is the first one....

Chapter One:

'Let but the deep undertone of all our prayer be the teachableness that comes from a sense of ignorance, and from faith in Him as a perfect teacher, and we may be sure we shall be taught, we shall learn to pray in power. Yes, we may depend upon it, He teaches to pray.'

What a brilliant reminder, that the burden is upon the Lord to teach us as we place ourselves in a position to learn from Him. We are the ones who must receive, and He is the one that has promised to teach us. If He has promised to teach us then we know that He will be true to His word; If He commands us to pray, then we know that He will generous to us with the passion He has for prayer. This makes want me want to learn from God, because I realize that He desires to teach me. May His desire be our fuel to humble ourselves and learn from Him.