Sup guys,
it's amazing how much reading u can get done when the internet is down at work.. i managed to get through ezra and nehemiah so far this week; these two books details the return of the jewish ppl from exile, about rebuilding jerusalem first of the temple and then of the city walls. There's so much to look at in terms of application - a lot of parallels exist between rebuilding a city, building a church, and building up a christ centered character. We can go into how important it is to have a firm foundation (words echoed by christ hundreds of years later), about encouragement, about opposition, about joys and sorrows, about teamwork, about persistence, and about leadership, so on and so forth. I decided to focus in on prayer because i feel it is a discipline many of us (myself included) do not have enough of, yet it is one that is perhaps most easily remedied if we applied the effort and it has such a huge impact on our faith.
I lost track of how many times nehemiah spontaneously breaks down into prayer in his book. This guy would literally pray while engaging a king in conversation (2:4), now i've personally prayed before and after conversations i've deemed important....but during?! nehemiah was that much in tune w/ God that praying even while holding a conversation is the most natural thing for him! he also prayed while facing injust accusations (6:9), persecution and disappointment, and (perhaps most impressive of all) even in his success. this man consulted God on practically every aspect of his life! i wish i could speak of the same devotion for myself! i think reflected in this prayerful lifestyle is the kind of humility i was talking about last week - it all starts with admitting that we need help. looking at nehemiah's life, and listening in on his prayers, it's clear to me that this man lived his life for an audience of One - see how he concludes his book? "Remember me with favour, O my God."
Encouragement for the week: if u find urself stressed (and many of u have complained to me this week so dont bother denying =P), if u find urself faced with impossible tasks, with disappointments, with anger, with boredom, with waaay too much free time, with no time at all, with success, with joy, with fear and confusion, with life - remember always to pray! bring this spiritual discipline into ur daily routines. make a conscious effort to pray when u wake up, when u commute, when u have lunch, when u...do stuff in the bathroom, haha always make time for God. prayer should not be limited to before meals and 5 min before u pass out in bed, hold this ongoing, constant conversation throughout the day. just because you do not see ur prayers answered right away does not make prayer useless - we are not talking to ourselves when we pray but to a living and holy God who hears every word spoken and unspoken. my hope is that each of us notice His presence all the more this week by taking that extra time out and offering it to Him.
Have a happy wednesday and a prayerful week!
edward
hamster vaccum!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4AGWnHJcaY
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