Friday, July 13, 2012

#shereadstruth: Prayer -- day 2

Prayer Day 2 Passage: Luke 11:1-12 Verses that stand out: Luke 11:4: "Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us." 11:8: "I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man's boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs." Thoughts: Verse 4 stuck out to me because I remember doing a study on prayer with the dean of the chapel at college. He gave us the question: "If you could change one part of the Lord's Prayer, which would it be?" I couldn't think of anything, but he mentioned that the "forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors" part was hard, mostly because it would mean that God forgive us exactly the way we forgive, which sometimes isn't at all. The wording of this verse (NIV) was also challenging for similar reasons. We say we forgive those who sin against us, but do we really? It almost seems a little presumptuous. Verse 8 stuck out because of its wording as well. If this sentence appeared in a transcript I was working on, it would be really hard to punctuate. I copied it as is, but I still think it needs some cleanup in order to make it understandable. Here's my attempt at picking it apart: The friend will get out of bed and go to the door because the man outside is not going to go away until he gets his bread. in a way, it's the same as the widow and the unjust judge: "I'm going to give this woman justice just so she'll stop bothering me." (My paraphrase)

Thursday, July 12, 2012

#shereadstruth: Prayer -- Day 1

Prayer Day 1 Passage: Matthew 6:5-13 Verse that stands out: Mattherw 6:6: "But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Tehn your Father, who sees what is done in secret will reward you." Thoughts: This verse has stood out to me for a long time. Perhaps it is the reason I feel uncomfortable praying aloud and hearing other people say long, drawn-out prayers aloud. If I pray out loud, it is usually only a couple sentences, short and to-the-point. As verse 8 says: "your Father knows what you need before you ask him." However, when I get into a deep, contemplative prayer, I also become more lengthy, if only in my head. I find these prayers so satisfying, going point by point, elaborating my requests for particular individuals or situations. If I do this at bed time, the peace I feel can even lead me to drift off before I've finished my prayer. :) I suppose it's like a lengthy conversation with a good friend. Isn't that how prayer is supposed to be? :)