No Small Feats

Elijah prayed for God to light a fire. Well, not exactly. Elijah actually prayed that the Lord would let the people know that he was God in Israel. And he did.

God didn't just start the fire with some sparks or some smoke or some really intense beams of sunlight focused by some properly placed raindrops that happened to start a tiny piece of the wood on the altar. Because this wasn't about the fire.

Elijah prayed that God would let the people know that he was God. So, God did. Fire fell from heaven. The wood was consumed. The sacrifice was consumed. The rocks of the altar were consumed. The soil around the altar was consumed. The water soaking it all was consumed. This was no small feat. There was no doubting what happened here.

We pray for healing. We pray for wisdom. We pray for stuff. Most of our prayers are just like praying for fire. Why don't we pray for God to show himself? Pray for the big things to show his glory.

Boldness and Prayer

"Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness."

Where is our boldness when we tell others about God?

Where is our boldness when we think about what God can do?

Where is our boldness when we think about what God will do?

What are we afraid of?

Luke 19 - IHOP

When Jesus clears out the Temple, he declares what the Temple should be. His first, primary insistence is that the Temple is a house of Prayer. He doesn't say it is a house of worship. He doesn't say it is a house of fellowship. He doesn't say it is a house of preaching. He puts prayer above all of these things.

Do we?

Luke 11 - P.R.A.Y?

Maybe you've heard or read or practiced the P.R.A.Y. model of prayer. If not, it is a model that gives some guidelines on how to talk to God. It goes like this:

P - Praise. Tell God how great he is.

R - Repent. Admit the stuff you've done wrong to God and turn from it.

A - Ask. Let God know what you want for yourself and others.

Y - Yield. Relax, be quite and listen for God's response to your prayer.

If we look at this model in relation to Jesus example of prayer in Luke 11:2-4, what do we find?

P - "Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come"

R - "Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us"

A - "Give us each day our daily bread." "And lead us not into temptation"

Y - ?

Okay, How about Matthew 6:9-13?

P - "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

R - "Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors."

A - "Give us today our daily bread." "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."

Y - ?

I'm not seeing Y as modeled specifically in prayer.

Have we added Y to prayer as an expedient to making this more like a conversation?

Do any of you practice this model regularly and if so, how does the Y part go for you?

Have we added Y to prayer because it is easier to do it there than in the rest of our lives?

Personally, I've never had an experience where I've prayed and heard God speak (or move or influence or prod) specifically when I yielded. Instead, His voice has reached me when I've yielded in other parts of my life.

So, I'm yielding now (Not to God, but to you) so I want to hear your voice. What do you think about this?