why is it so hard to pray?

Why do Christians find it hard to pray?

I think prayer is not given the importance it deserves. When a church has a prayer meeting a fraction (often between 3-10) of its members turn up. Why is praying as a group such a problem in the minds of so many?

If we want the world to see Jesus, then as a church we need to pray, if not then the church will continue to decline - its guaranteed! Missions, evangelistic events, creative ministry, reflective services are all fine and good, but unless God is at work and we are working through prayer then they will have only little/local effect.

Prayer is the key, that is hanging in reach, but no one is prepared to try in the lock.

The question we must ask ourselves is why?

gardening

Weeds are really annoying. Why is it that plants that you want to grow quickly, take their time, and weeds which you don't want to grow at all sprout up in days. One day the garden looks ok and the next it is overgrown.

It's the same with so much of life. If we take our eye off the ball, then everything suddenly changes.

We complain that no one want to go to church any more and speak as though this is a new problem. But it's not. We have not, as a church been very good at reaching out to people. Our worship has slowly changed (at least in some churches), the formality has slowly gone (at least in some churches) and the services are getting more interesting (at least in some churches). We rested too long on the garden seat and the weeds are now 6ft tall.

We may feel despair, but what is needed is for the gardener to do some weeding. We need to work with God to weed our world, so that the true plants begin to grow.

We need to focus on the plants and not on the weeds. We need to desire for God's plants to grow, and not become content with the weeds. We all have weeds that we like, but we need to remove them and make sure that God's plants are supported and encouraged to grow.

It will take time, just as it take time to bring a garden under control again, but we will get there, however long it takes. We are not gardening alone, we have the gardener helping us.

Is there a problem...

Is there a problem with my Christian faith,

if I throw all my standards, 

all my morals, 

and all my life-choices, 

out of the window 

and declare while standing on a stool, 

"I don't care! 

I will live my life as I want to! 

I love Jesus, 

but it is my life 

and I'll live as I choose to!"?

Is there a problem, 

if I take sin, 

and lose it in a vast dictionary,

or wrap it in bubble wrap 

and send it to the postal void,

or put it on a shelf 

covered with cobwebs?

Is there a problem, 

if I choose to live by myself

life on my own terms, 

with God and Jesus, 

and the Bible, 

securely locked in their respective boxes 

so that I don't have to cry out

"LEAVE ME IN PEACE!"?

two years to pray

I know that it may seem to many that two years won't solve the problem that is facing the Church of Scotland.  Many believe that it will still result in a split, and maybe it will.  However there is one thing other than breathing space that the special commission has given us - it has given us two years to pray. 

Prayer is the most fundamental part of being a Christian and as a church if we stopped talking and discussing and just spent time in silent prayer to God, then maybe miracles would happen.  God has blessed us with two years space.  Now we can either waste it by arguing about our views or we can pray and seek God with all our hearts.  

We have also entrusted a huge amount to the Special Commission - in many ways the future unity of our church - and so we need to keep them in our prayers during these next two years.

May God bless us as we turn our hearts and minds to prayer ...

back to basics

now, maybe I have been swimming around too long, but the whole issue that the Church of Scotland seems to have been discussing (or trying hard to avoid discussing) comes down to one basic point:  

do you believe God created mankind as male and female with the intention of them coming together to create, as the bible puts it 'one flesh' (which is as much a physical statement as it is a statement relating to marriage).  

If we believe that God's designed us, as he did with just about every other creature in the world, male and female, then we cannot belive homosexuality is right in God's eyes.  If we believe however that we came from primeval soup or monkeys then we have no design and so we could be anything.  In that case we must hold to the thought that God pressed the button at the beginning but that was all he did.  

I cannot logically work out why homosexuality can be natural.  I agree people may feel something towards another member of the same sex, but if we start saying that God designed people that way then we must be very careful, as we would have to say that God designed people who are born blind or with learning difficulties.  Yes God is in contol of the world, but so much happens which was not how he designed it to be.  If God designed people to be blind, and that was his intention, why did Jesus give sight to a blind man?  

We have first to separate in our minds what is God designed and what is the effect of our collective sinfulness as humans, before we worry about what verses condemn homosexual practices.   We need to reflect on the basics first.

started swimming

hey, new to this.  been swimming for years, but thought it was about time to post my thoughts for anyone who is interested to read them.  not sure what they are at the moment, but whenever I think of something I will write something.  hope to swim here and there and let the thoughts of a swimming sheep be known...