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...
Monday, January 31, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
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.
"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.
"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.
Friday, January 28, 2011
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....
"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.
"....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.
"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.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
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.
"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.
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