A New Season

#1
A New Season

I thank the Lord for Sunday's message about prayer. I don't go for service every Sunday except for the official once-a-week cell commitment. But I went for this Sunday's one because I had an overnight usher bonding. And I really enjoyed the message.

I've loved praying since young. It was always a joy for me to pray. I found it fun. But as I grew older, praying seemed to be less enjoyable and more like a chore. Maybe because sometimes there's so many things to pray for. Sometimes, I was just lazy. But most of the time, I disciplined myself to pray even though I didn't feel like it because I knew how powerful prayer is and I knew what prayer could do. But then, it became something like praying for the sole purpose of receiving something instead of praying because I loved to and because I wanted to. Anyway, that's why I volunteered to be prayer i/c. I loved prayer. And I still do. And recently, I've kinda rekindled my love for prayer. So I thank the Lord for that.

I guess my prayer life has been alright. Used to just pray for myself and family. As I grew, prayed for friends as well. And nowadays, I pray for others around the world, for those quite faraway in distant lands. I just think that sometimes I should. But I don't pray very long. Far from an hour a day. I find it difficult to set aside a specific amount of time each day to pray, because most of the time I can't think of much to pray. Quiet time is ok. But when it comes to prayer initiatives like the 24/365 prayer chain thingy, I barely reach the target time. For the 24/365 prayer chain we had, I struggled to reach 15min. Maybe I was not ready, being in a holiday mood and all. As I was overseas, I didn't really use the book that was given to us throughout the week. Used it just that day we prayed. This happens for most prayer events. Can't reach the target time. I'm kinda like if I think of something during the course of the day, I will say a short prayer there and then. If is special time set aside to pray, I usually have nothing much to pray. But I guess this is where the gift of tongues comes in handy. Been using it more often now than in the past, so I guess that's good. I lost it once before, I think. At that time I think I didn't really want it, so I didn't really use it.

Yes, anyway here's sharing with you all Bishop Moses Tay's suggested prayer structure based on the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 for those who weren't there. It helps you keep watch for at least one hour and when you're not sure what to pray for, like me. Of course there's no set structure for prayer but it's just a guide.

The Lord's Prayer

Focus on God

1. His Person: Relationship
2. His Names: Worship
3. His Kingdom: Salvation of family and friends
4. His Will: Purpose - Church on earth
5. His Provision: Personal needs
6. His Forgiveness: Personal revival
7. His Freedom: Forgive others and be free!
8. His Word: Hear and obey
9. His Guidance: Lead us not into temptation
10. His Protection: Safe from evil
11. His World: Nations for God
12. His Glory: Praise for transformation

5min x 12 = 1hr

The one hour is based on the passage in Matthew 26:36-46 where Jesus asked three of his disciples to keep watch with him for an hour while he prayed but they fell asleep doing so.

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Anyway, I apologise for my comments during cell on Saturday. What I said about the season our cell was in, I think I didn't really answer the question well. Yes, I believe our cell is in a season of harvesting and bringing more people into the Kingdom of God. What I said about how I felt that we sometimes we focus too much on salvations and neglect the ones who have come and gone were my feelings about the Youth Church as a whole. Maybe 'neglect' was a word that had too strong a meaning. What I meant was that maybe we haven't done enough to keep people in church. Because I know our cell never forgets our more distant members. The Youth Church has undergone a lot of changes since its days in the Chapel. And as we all know I'm not a fan of change, so maybe my feelings were partly due to reminiscing about the past and how I've seen many people leave the church and maybe that's why I felt at that time that we haven't done enough. After thinking it through, though, I think I was a bit impulsive and hadn't thought it through properly before answering the question. I made a lot of assumptions and jumped to conclusions. People can leave the church for many reasons, and it doesn't mean the church hasn't done its best to keep them. I guess my feelings were based on what I saw on the surface and I did not consider all the "behind the scenes" activity that was going on. So I guess I might have judged the Youth Church wrongly at that instant. I don't know why I suddenly felt that way too. But I'm sorry. I later realised that God was speaking to me. I was the one who wasn't doing enough to keep people in the cell, in the church. I guess I didn't see the plank in my own eye.

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Now, for the final part, I'd just like to share with you all something. As I shared during cell on Saturday, I usually know what I ought to do, what season I am in, which direction God intends me to go. But most of the time I don't paddle in that direction or at the most very slowly, because I don't want to commit or I think I'm not ready. But now, I think I'm ready to move along with the current and towards what God has in store for me. And God has challenged me to something quite achievable, something I love doing - praying! He has hoped for me to pray more each day and eventually reach the one hour daily. I guess I might not find it that easy to reach the one hour and be consistent about it after reaching it. But I think if anything, this is the best time to do it - during the holidays.

Sorry this post was so long but I had just had a lot to say.

Thanks,
Daryl =)