Comments on: Sermon Notes: The Art of Prayer – Listening to God http://www.faith-journey.com/archives/sermon-notes-the-art-of-prayer-listening-to-god/ learning to walk as Jesus walked Thu, 08 Jul 2010 19:53:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Nick Mendez http://www.faith-journey.com/archives/sermon-notes-the-art-of-prayer-listening-to-god/comment-page-1/#comment-2913 Nick Mendez Sun, 26 Aug 2007 03:06:46 +0000 http://www.faith-journey.com/?p=95#comment-2913 Thank-you Jessica. Psalm 27 does provide me with knowledge of help, hope, and that God truly is the only protection against fear, and loneliness. That I remind you of who you used to be, and go on to mention “…spiritual warfare…” and “….living a life of fear…” saddens me. You continue to grow in His Word and in your walk with Him. If just for that I sing praises and give thanksgiving to God. Jessica, there are different types of warfare and they are happening on different levels. Read Ephesians 6:12. The meditative state that can be brought about in “silencing your mind”, can open you to other spirits who are not inclined to speak the truth or tell you things that are for your benefit, even if they don’t’ appear to be doing so. Here’s an example. Before continuing this please Read Psalm 91. Now pay particular attention to verses 11, and 12………This Psalm is full of the knowledge of God’s protection. I asked you to read verses 11, and 12 for a reason. Do you know who quoted those verses and to whom they were quoted? Read Matthew 4:5, 6, and then verse 7 (The reply is a WOW. I don’t know about you but I don’t believe that Deuteronomy 6:16 would have come to my mind). As you can see it was the knowledge of the Word that our Lord used in response.
I understand that as you said, “…it is difficult to encapsulate all that prayer has to offer in one sermon.” However, if you are going to delve into the subject of prayer and provide associated subject of meditation, for practice then, please, prepare those who may take your advise to have on the Armor of God. Keep in mind what the Apostle John said (1 John 4:1) “…do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see where they are from God,…..” . How will you know its God your having a “conversation” with? I think if you question God, he’ll understand. You’d be joining good company (Our Lord, Moses and many others.) I pray the above clarifies where I was coming from. I truly see our Brother in Christ Paul, as one who is seeking after the Spirit (Romans 8:1). Thank-you Jessica. You’ve had me praying, researching in the Word, and praying some more. It has been a joy! I end this as I ended my letter to Paul. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God be with you always.

]]> By: Paul http://www.faith-journey.com/archives/sermon-notes-the-art-of-prayer-listening-to-god/comment-page-1/#comment-2902 Paul Fri, 24 Aug 2007 17:24:07 +0000 http://www.faith-journey.com/?p=95#comment-2902 Thanks for your comments everyone! I think an important thing to understand in this area of prayer is that we need balance. Spiritual warfare is real and we should not forget that, however, we need to remember that, as you pointed out Jessica in Psalm 27, God is our protector, He does not leave us alone to fend for ourself. Yes, in times of meditative & listening prayer we do need to be on guard in a sense (hence the need for Bible Study - study forms a safety net for our meditation) but we also need to learn to simply dive into God and into His presence and as Psalm 27:4 says "gaze upon the beauty of the Lord." As you said Jessica, the main point of my message was the communication aspect. Perhaps, as Nick pointed out, I should have included a side note briefly touching on the spiritual warfare aspect, but again the main point was to try and help people learn that prayer is primarily a wonderful conversation that God is inviting us into, one in which we must learn to listen as well as speak. Thanks again for the comments and conversation, keep em coming! God Bless! Thanks for your comments everyone!

I think an important thing to understand in this area of prayer is that we need balance. Spiritual warfare is real and we should not forget that, however, we need to remember that, as you pointed out Jessica in Psalm 27, God is our protector, He does not leave us alone to fend for ourself. Yes, in times of meditative & listening prayer we do need to be on guard in a sense (hence the need for Bible Study – study forms a safety net for our meditation) but we also need to learn to simply dive into God and into His presence and as Psalm 27:4 says “gaze upon the beauty of the Lord.”

As you said Jessica, the main point of my message was the communication aspect. Perhaps, as Nick pointed out, I should have included a side note briefly touching on the spiritual warfare aspect, but again the main point was to try and help people learn that prayer is primarily a wonderful conversation that God is inviting us into, one in which we must learn to listen as well as speak.

Thanks again for the comments and conversation, keep em coming! God Bless!

]]> By: Jessica Campbell http://www.faith-journey.com/archives/sermon-notes-the-art-of-prayer-listening-to-god/comment-page-1/#comment-2900 Jessica Campbell Fri, 24 Aug 2007 14:56:11 +0000 http://www.faith-journey.com/?p=95#comment-2900 Nick, After reading your post, it reminded me of someone I used to be. Having experienced spiritual warfare personally- I understand your concerns on the subejct. However, after living a life of fear that my spirit would be attacked at any moment- I realized God wants more for me than to live a life of fear. God has give me the confidence to know I can depend on Him to protect me. Psalm 27 is a beautiful example of that. It seems that Pauls message was more about the beauty of communication with God, how to make it a daily practice, and ways to make that connection easier. When only a small percentage of Christains pray on a regular basis- I don't think that spiritual warfare is really the main point when speaking on prayer. While spiritual warfare and prayer do belong, it is difficult to encapsulate all that prayer has to offer in one sermon. I think Paul did a beautiful job and I enjoy hearing what God has to say through him. Thank you for blogging. I enjoy conversation- it enriches us all. Nick,

After reading your post, it reminded me of someone I used to be. Having experienced spiritual warfare personally- I understand your concerns on the subejct. However, after living a life of fear that my spirit would be attacked at any moment- I realized God wants more for me than to live a life of fear. God has give me the confidence to know I can depend on Him to protect me. Psalm 27 is a beautiful example of that. It seems that Pauls message was more about the beauty of communication with God, how to make it a daily practice, and ways to make that connection easier. When only a small percentage of Christains pray on a regular basis- I don’t think that spiritual warfare is really the main point when speaking on prayer. While spiritual warfare and prayer do belong, it is difficult to encapsulate all that prayer has to offer in one sermon. I think Paul did a beautiful job and I enjoy hearing what God has to say through him. Thank you for blogging. I enjoy conversation- it enriches us all.

]]> By: Nick Mendez http://www.faith-journey.com/archives/sermon-notes-the-art-of-prayer-listening-to-god/comment-page-1/#comment-2830 Nick Mendez Wed, 15 Aug 2007 00:06:24 +0000 http://www.faith-journey.com/?p=95#comment-2830 Dear Paul, Even someone, who is blind, could not fail to see your passion, your desire to grow in God. However, prepared you might be in dealing with this subject matter outlined in your sermon, your failure to provide guidance in preparing the individual who follows what you are saying here, makes me fear greatly in what you have opened to them in this subject. Spiritual attack is real and failure to take into account that some who reads your sermon might not be saved, and even those who are saved, may not be prepared to defend themselves to what they may experience. Ephesians 6:10-12 confirms existence of what we are dealing with. If you mentioned at least 1 John 4:1-3 you would be preparing a little those who would follow your suggestions in regards to meditation as you've outlined in your sermon. My concern is great. I've prayed and researched your sermon and have 7 pages of "Discussion/Question" in regards to individual parts of your sermon. I really don't know if this block for comments has enough space to allow for that type of response, so please e-mail me and I can forward it to you as an attachment. This is why I'm adding these few words so others can at least be warned a little to be very careful in their seeking. I would willingly partition my longer response in order to add to this post, so others can respond. I leave that up to you. I close this as I closed my other words to you Paul. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God be with you always Paul. Nick Mendez Dear Paul,
Even someone, who is blind, could not fail to see your passion, your desire to grow in God. However, prepared you might be in dealing with this subject matter outlined in your sermon, your failure to provide guidance in preparing the individual who follows what you are saying here, makes me fear greatly in what you have opened to them in this subject. Spiritual attack is real and failure to take into account that some who reads your sermon might not be saved, and even those who are saved, may not be prepared to defend themselves to what they may experience. Ephesians 6:10-12 confirms existence of what we are dealing with. If you mentioned at least 1 John 4:1-3 you would be preparing a little those who would follow your suggestions in regards to meditation as you’ve outlined in your sermon.

My concern is great. I’ve prayed and researched your sermon and have 7 pages of “Discussion/Question” in regards to individual parts of your sermon. I really don’t know if this block for comments has enough space to allow for that type of response, so please e-mail me and I can forward it to you as an attachment. This is why I’m adding these few words so others can at least be warned a little to be very careful in their seeking.

I would willingly partition my longer response in order to add to this post, so others can respond. I leave that up to you. I close this as I closed my other words to you Paul.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God be with you always Paul.
Nick Mendez

]]> By: newsaddikt http://www.faith-journey.com/archives/sermon-notes-the-art-of-prayer-listening-to-god/comment-page-1/#comment-2483 newsaddikt Thu, 12 Jul 2007 17:43:16 +0000 http://www.faith-journey.com/?p=95#comment-2483 just wanted to post links to part of a series by dr david jeremiah. the series is about basics of the christian faith, and the two talks are about the 'lord's prayer.' http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/Turning_Point/archives.asp?bcd=2007-7-11 http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/Turning_Point/archives.asp?bcd=2007-7-10 he makes excellent points. i have always believed that the 'lord's prayer' is only a blueprint of how we should pray; not a magic potion of specific words to say. and that it is ineffective if we just say the words. dr jeremiah really fleshes out the parts and different themes w/i the prayer that we need to use in our own prayers. just wanted to post links to part of a series by dr david jeremiah. the series is about basics of the christian faith, and the two talks are about the ‘lord’s prayer.’

http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/Turning_Point/archives.asp?bcd=2007-7-11
http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/Turning_Point/archives.asp?bcd=2007-7-10

he makes excellent points. i have always believed that the ‘lord’s prayer’ is only a blueprint of how we should pray; not a magic potion of specific words to say. and that it is ineffective if we just say the words. dr jeremiah really fleshes out the parts and different themes w/i the prayer that we need to use in our own prayers.

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