Recovery from Life's Hurts, Habits, and Hang-ups

This video is really well done.  It is a video montage covering the 12 steps of recovery.
(credits at the end of the video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN9x3xWn1Ck&feature=youtube_gdata_player&noredirect=1

The Work of Prayer-Part 2

"For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.  For He rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." (Colossians 1:9-14, NASB)

If you have been following my blog, you probably have noticed there hasn’t been much to follow lately.  Part of it has been that life has gotten so very busy.  I am in my same position at work but I have taken on much more responsibility.  I just accepted the role of ministry leader with Celebrate Recovery at New Life Church in Conway.  Here during this Thanksgiving season I have finally found an opportunity to just sit and meditate on what God would have me to write.  I really don’t think I have a definite answer so I figured I would pick up where I left off, with prayer.

I recently went through a season in which my prayer life changed—partly on purpose and partly not.  Several weeks ago, I was listening to a broadcast of Charles Stanley’s In Touch television ministry and he preached about prayer using Colossians 1:9-14 (referenced above).  I was amazed that prayer was his topic because I had just written the previous blog post entitled The Work of Prayer Part 1.  I was struck by the simplicity of the Apostle Paul’s prayer for the Colossians.  There were very specific things that Paul prays for them:

1. That they be filled with the knowledge of God’s will.

2. That they would walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.

3. That they would bear fruit in every good work

4. That they would increase in their knowledge of God

5. That they would be strengthened with all power

6. That they would be thankful to God especially for salvation

This litany of prayer requests started me thinking about my prayers for myself and for others.  As a default prayer, I did usually ask that God’s will be done in the lives of the people for whom I prayed.  I often would pray for God to be their strength in the situations and circumstances of their lives.  However, I rarely would pray that their walk would please the Lord, or that they would increase in their knowledge of God.  I never prayed that others would be thankful.  What wonderful things to pray for!  I started praying for all of these things in my prayers for myself and others and at least in my spiritual life it has made a tremendous difference in my walk with the Lord.  I find myself much more often throughout the day thinking of Jesus and praying spontaneous prayers as the day unfolds.  My walk with Him has grown more intimate and more consistent.

When I first began praying in this manner, I had this “cheat sheet” of keywords to help me remember what to include in my prayers (will, work, walk, strength, knowledge, thankful). After several weeks I didn’t need the cheat sheet anymore, the ideas came more naturally to mind as I was praying.  In addition to stated requests from others I would pray for God to “guide them in His will for the day” or that He would “grow them in the knowledge of who He is”.  These are the things we as believers all want from our walk with Him, so why not pray for them to happen!

There is one prayer request that I haven’t listed yet, but I feel it is the most important one: that I or others would know Jesus more intimately and have a desire to spend time with Him and to read God’s holy Word.  It is a great mystery to me that no one comes to Christ unless the Father draws him.  I am thankful this day after Thanksgiving that He drew me to Himself and has given me a heart to pray that He draw me even closer in an intimate relationship with Him.