Some Short Thoughts on Prayer

If prayer is primarily about changing us; if all our prayer is ask ask ask - we become selfcentred...

If prayer doesn't ask for God's involvement - then we stop asking and our view of God becomes shallow and unloving...

If prayer doesn't lead to us living Godly lives, if it doesn't lead to actions - then is it even prayer or just an abundance of words in the wind...

The Joy Of The Retweet

Tis a strange ole world that we live in here in the 21st century. Methods of communication have become so diverse and intrinsically linked with the way in which we operate as human beings.

Last night on my way to play football, or soccer if you are so inclined, I tweeted that I was listening to an album by one of my favourite bands!

This morning I awoke to a message on my phone saying Project 86 has retweeted you.

Now I was very sleepy at the time but this little piece of 'news' made me very happy. But the question I find myself asking a few hours on is why? Why does a retweet bring such joy?

Affirmation? The craving of acceptance? Recognition, even if fleeting, from someone I admire? A deep seated void in my soul?

Hopefully it is not a reflection of the profound need to be loved. I say this because firstly I believe that need can really only be satisfied by God and secondly as a very happily* married man it would reflect poorly on that relationship.

I think I'll pencil it down to "I love this band and they showed a bit of love back" and that is a good thing!

Tomorrow though when I wake up, I shall try and interact with the two who love me unconditionally first before I find my acceptance in Twitter. And I might also ponder how I can communicate and interact with the world in more positive ways. Whether that's less time on brightly lit screens or being more positive on them.

* understatement

The Subtle Reminder of God's Abundance

At present we have a kind of financial situation. Now before people start worrying or getting their underwear of choice in a twist don't worry, we are not about to be evicted or some such other catastrophe!

Anyways, on Sunday evening as the wife and I do most Sunday evenings, we left church and hit Jacks. For the uninitiated Jacks is a purveyor of fried foods. Our routine for the last year has meant that as soon as we walk in they now say hello and get our order for us. We don't have to ask anymore. One day this may become an issue if we ever fancy a different meal but right now it's pretty cool!

Yesterday we were running late, got there about fifteen minutes before they were closing. And they said to us, do you want 3 battered sausages instead of 2. We were like err ok then. So we got a free sausage.

Now this might not seem like much BUT for me it was a timely reminder of God's blessing and abundance and how he can make more out of something. We paid the same price, £5.10 but got more.

Right now the facts or whatever we care to call our situation say one thing but that doesn't mean we have to be tied down by it. God's economy is rather different to the world's one.

Am gonna be trusting in the One who says I can meet all your need.

Misunderstanding God

Today I realised that I have laboured under a misconception of who God is. Now this is probably in itself no great mystery in that all of humanity has in some way misunderstood God. But if you have the inclination to read on then please work with me here.

Two common descriptions of God are of Father and of Teacher. I realised while lying on my bed this afternoon that I had come to view God firstly in some sort of educational/disciplinary type role. The problem with this understanding of God goes thus - if I do well he will bless me, if I do bad he won't. As I don't feel blessed right now I must be doing badly. This then leads to a certain negative state of being and a definite feeling of being unloved.

Now don't get me wrong, I wholeheartedly believe that God is a teacher, but my understanding of this due to my educational upbringing and the like has clouded what teacher actually means. A cursery glance at the old testament shows that the first thing that God does is create the world and create people - his first act is that of a Father (creating the home and then creating the baby!). So my first understanding of God should be as a Father (in the positive sense of who a Father should be). A Father who loves me, and then from there explore other facets of his character.

So my mindset needs to change. I am loved. I am blessed. And from that secure place I can learn, grow, make mistakes, learn, mature and be all that I can be and understand more of who He is.

Apologies that this isn't the most well thought out or well written post; but I wanted to get my thoughts out before I lost the moment, as such.