CoffeeSwirls

Praying the Bible

Coffeeswirls Weekly Bible - Week 23

A few weeks ago, I mentioned a plan to pray with the A.C.T.S. theme. To recap, that is to pray with Adoration, Confession, Thankfulness and Supplication. In reading "Desiring God" by John Piper, I came across the story of a man who would read his Bible and pause every so often to pray about what he had just read and then go on. I didn't really understand that at the time, but Pastor Host brought it up in our "Christianity 101" class this last Thursday. The concept was defined as praying the Bible to God. At first, this confused me.

I grew up with the impression that God wouldn't want to hear canned speeches or paraphrasing of His own words. How did this concept fit what I was hearing? Was I to pray, "Our Father, who art in Heaven, In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth?" I was a bit confused, so I asked for clarification. Pastor Host said that it's not just praying the scriptures back to God. It's reading and praying as you go. Let me explain a bit.

Friday, I went to the top of the parking garage across from where I work and opened by Bible to Ezekiel. Why Ezekiel? Why not? I began, and the setting was about thirty years into the time that Israel was captured by Babylon. I wasn't sure how to pray about the living creatures and the wheels, but I ended up praying anyway, thanking God for the wonders of Him that are beyond our understanding. I thanked Him that we cannot understand an infinite God with our finite minds.

In the next chapter, the Spirit raised Ezekiel to his feet. I thanked God, for when we are confronted with the holiness of God, we cannot stand, so He takes the initiative. He has raised many to be adopted sons and daughters and we will stand with Him on the last day. I think you see the pattern here, and I was starting to get the idea. Later on, God caused Ezekiel to be unable to speak until it was God's time and God's words. I prayed that I may also be tongue-tied if I am ever about to speak out in a way that is unpleasing to the Lord.

There were other examples in my reading of times I just stopped to pray. It was a very cool way to spend my lunch alone with God, and I learned that you can pray through much of the Bible with much more ease than I had thought. It was also more personal than I had assumed before. I encourage you to give it a try. To do this, you are better off making time for God than finding time, for if you look for a time to squeeze Him into your schedule, you're missing something special!

Praying A.C.T.S.

Coffeeswirls Weekly Bible - Week 20

I go to a men's group at church every Thursday from 9:00 p.m. until it's over. That can make for some late evenings, but it's always worth a little less sleep. We usually discuss Biblical matters, and had been going through Ephesians until we began to focus more on our own current events. Health concerns, legal matters, praying for (and rejoicing) financial matters and being better husbands and fathers are all common topics of discussion. We compare our reading of the Word and keep each other accountable. Iron sharpens iron, you know.

One way that Ken has sharpened us all is in his "pattern" he follows for prayer, following the acronym of ACTS. I'm not sure that "pattern" or "template" are good descriptors for his method, but those are the best things I can think of. I've been using this... pattern... for the last week and I must say that I believe it to be very reverent. I'll break it down for you:

• Adoration is the first step. I spend a healthy amount of time ascribing glory to God. He is so full of wonder and joy that I often just keep going on this theme! Of course, in ascribing glory to God, I am not adding to His glory, for He has glory in abundance. What this time is, though, is recognizing the majesty of the Lord, for He alone is worthy of our praise.
• Confession follows this. After proclaiming God's glory, I feel a stronger sense of unworthiness to even pray to God, much less develop a relationship with Him. The beauty of the relationship in the fact that He is a forgiving God. Day after day I fail Him and day after day, he renews me.
• Thanks are offered up to the Lord for all that He has done for me. I am not a rich man. I am not wise or especially talented. The family, home, job, health, peace and all of the other gifts He gives me are all given to me by Him, for without His grace, I am nothing. Have you ever thanked God for the very fact that you can hear a songbird? Have you thanked Him for the difficulties in your life? It's very liberating, I must say! And what's this about thanks for difficulties? When Moses was a shepherd all of those years, have you ever considered that time to be a training for him to lead the Israelites for forty years?
• Supplication is the last stage of the prayer. This is the time when we ask God for help with all matters great and small. And by the time you get to this step of the prayer, you often find that there is so much in your life to be thankful for and there is so much that the Lord does for you, that this part is amended. I often go back to the earlier stages as I pray. I may have some issue to pray about, but I have just given Him so much praise that it seems odd to beg for a morsel of a blessing in a small matter. It's like the saying goes, "Don't sweat the small stuff and it's all small stuff." Don't get me wrong, I give this step it's due, but by the time I get there, it doesn't seem to be as important as it was when I first went to my knees.

How about you? Do you have any particular formula you like to follow in prayer or do you prefer more of a free-flowing time in conversation with God? Until Ken shared that method with us, I was more of a free-flowing worshiper. Structure isn't important to prayer, but I have found that I praise God all the more for using this pattern. It helps keep my eyes up on Him rather than down at my troubles. I end up placing so many of them at His feet that my burden seems lighter.