Sjogren Cat and Dog Prayer

1. Auflage 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8308-5866-8
Verlag: InterVarsity Press
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 117 Seiten

When we first become believers, we still have a natural tendency to be self-centered, especially in how we pray. As a result, many Christians prayers that are more of a laundry list of 'all about me' requests. Because God doesn't answer these kinds of prayer, we tend to give up on praying believing that God doesn't answer prayer. As a result, we end up checking in from time to time making sure he knows we're there and reminding him of our needs-hoping he'll do something about them.Cat and Dog Prayer will help move you from self-centered prayers to God-focused prayers. You'll learn how to pray, as the authors show: - How to pray prayers that God wants to answer - How you've been given a Blank Check by God - The six reasons why God says Wait - The four reasons why God says No - How to pray Cause Me Prayers releasing the Holy Spirit completely in your life, and - How you need to be careful about what you pray about-because it can be the very thing that takes you away from God himself! This book will change the way you pray. It is a natural outflow of Cat and Dog Theology also written by Bob and Gerald.

Bob Sjogren is the president of UnveilinGLORY, a ministry geared toward awakening the church to a new awareness of God's glory in all areas of life and to see that glory go to all peoples of the world. Bob is co-author of Cat Dog Theology, Cat Dog Prayer and A Cat Dog Look at the Cross. Currently, Bob and his wife, Debby, their four children and his mother reside in Richmond, Virginia.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Sjogren, Bob

Leseproben

1

The Problem of Prayer

One of the most disappointing and misunderstood aspects of the Christian life has to do with prayer. We’re told that prayer is essential to the Christian life, that it is our main means of communication with God, and that it is our source of power for God’s intervention in this life. We’re told that God answers prayer and that our effectual prayers will be answered. In fact, we’re told that if we ask anything in His name, He will do it.

But the sad fact is, most Christians are disappointed and frustrated, weak and ineffectual, ignorant and ignoring of their prayer lives. This raises a lot of questions:

•     Why are so few prayers made?

•     Why are so many prayers not answered?

•     Are there different kinds of prayers?

•     How are we to pray so that we do receive answers?

•     Is there a secret to prayer?

Let’s start with the basics. Prayer is nothing more than talking to God, having a conversation with Him just as you would with any other person. We’re going to begin this book assuming a couple of things: first, that you are a Christian (God does not obligate himself to answer any prayer of a unbeliever except the plea for salvation), and second, that you have already experienced prayer to some degree.

Now, what type of prayer have you used? Oops! You didn’t know there were different kinds of prayer? Well, just as you have different kinds of conversations with people—so we do with God.

As we said, in its most basic form, prayer is simply communication with God. Sometimes we use prayer for praising Him, sometimes for confessing or asking forgiveness. In our most dire circumstances, we may use prayer to ask for deliverance. And of course we pray requesting wisdom or provision. Sometimes we want to plead and intervene for someone else; sometimes we just need to unload our thoughts and feelings.

But the prayers most often used, especially by Cat Christians, are those of petition, asking God to do something for us. We seem to have no hesitation about asking God to transcend heaven and earth, and time and space if necessary, for the purpose of changing some circumstance or giving us something we wouldn’t get otherwise.

In this book we’ll focus our attention on this prayer of petition. Why? Because this seems to be the area where we need the greatest help, guidance, and understanding.

Ready? Let’s get started.

Why do Cat Christians find that their prayers of petition are so ineffective? Why aren’t these prayers answered in more direct and obvious ways? A British Broadcasting Corporation online article titled “Does Prayer Work?” showed a picture of the pope and two other key Christian leaders. The caption read, “The world’s religions got together a month ago to pray for peace. Has the planet seen any impact—and is there any evidence that praying works anyway?” The article elaborated:

Just a month ago, the Pope led 200 religious leaders from round the world in prayers for peace.

The venue for this landmark occasion was Assisi—the place which, fittingly, gave the world St Francis and his prayer “Make me a channel of your peace.”

And yet a month on, peace seems as elusive as ever. Dozens of Israelis and Palestinians have died. Worshippers at a Rawalpindi mosque have been gunned down. Fears of further conflict rose after President Bush spoke of an “axis of evil.” Zimbabwe grows further from the world community….

[One] could scarcely conclude that prayers had been answered in any miraculous way.2

Why point out this article? Because it typifies Cat Christians’ attitudes toward prayer: Why pray if my prayers aren’t answered in any kind of miraculous way? Why pray if there’s no obvious response from heaven? Why pray if there’s no heavenly result? Why bother?

Good questions deserve good answers, so we’re going to deal with this very problem.

The Bible records 161 prayers asking God to intervene. Ninety-eight received direct answers in the text. Take away the eleven that were answered with no, and that still leaves over a 50 percent rate of answered prayer. So why don’t Cat Christians see that kind of response when they pray? Why don’t they see the miraculous hand of God intervening in their affairs today?

One obvious answer is quite simple: they don’t see God at work answering prayer because they don’t pray very much.

Second, when they do ask, they have wrong motivations.

And third, Cats ask without consideration of what God wants, without caring about His purposes, and without insight and understanding as to what He might be doing.

We’ll look at this third reason in more detail later in the book. For now, let’s just briefly consider a biblical example of this—Peter’s response to Jesus after Jesus had just described how He would need to go to Jerusalem and suffer: “Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, ‘God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You!’” (Matthew 16:22). As Cats do, Peter responded without understanding that this awful event that Jesus had just described was in the will of God and part of God’s plan. That’s why Jesus replied to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan!” (v. 23).

How many times have we acted like Peter? We plead with God to do something or to keep something from happening without ever thinking that the very opposite of what we want might well be within God’s plan. Not only that, but our own response might be just as far outside the will of God as we found the original set of circumstances to be.

Too Busy to Pray

Cat Christians say, “OK, so we don’t pray much. But why should we if our prayers won’t be answered?” We can ask the question in reverse: How can God answer a prayer that is never offered? If we took a poll around the nation and asked people, “How often do you pray?” or “How much time do you spend in prayer?” the answers might stun us.

When we asked that question on the internet, the most common answer we found was that on average, Christians pray between three and seven minutes per day, and much of that is in giving thanks for food. Pastors do only slightly better, with an average of five minutes a day. (Sounds pretty Catlike, doesn’t it?)

Think about that for a moment. Why are we averaging only three minutes of prayer a day? The most common reason people give is that they are just too busy. If Cats do give God time, it’s the scraps of the day.

We are so busy with life and work that there is very little time to be still and seek God. And because most parents don’t pray, most kids follow suit. They don’t pray because they don’t see their parents praying. (Cats beget Cats.) Besides, kids are busy too. They’ve got school, extracurricular activities, and homework. They don’t think there’s time either.

God clearly explains to us, “You do not have, because you do not ask God” (James 4:2 NIV). Simply put, if we are not asking God to move, He won’t.

Let’s be honest here. If we prayed more, we would see more answers to our prayers! Maybe not as many as we’d like, but still a lot more. And if we had evidence that prayer really worked, wouldn’t we make time—take time—and make it a much bigger part of our everyday routine? In fact, if we knew it really worked, wouldn’t we schedule the rest of our day around our prayer time?

We Want What We Want—But We Don’t Have Many Needs

There’s another reason why Cats don’t pray much. It’s not just busyness that keeps them from praying. Most people in North America have very few physical needs.

Most of us are rich by comparison with the rest of the world. So why should we go to the Lord and say, “Give us this day our daily bread” when all we have to do is go to the store and buy it? For real needs, we’ve been trained to look elsewhere, whether it’s the government, the bank, or our credit card companies. Most of us tend to look there first and go to God in prayer only when nothing else works.

But much of the world lives far differently than we do. As you read this, there are moms and dads in other parts of the world who get up each morning not knowing where they will find food for their family. If they are praying, trust us—it’s for more than our average three minutes a day! Many undoubtedly practice prayer without ceasing. Their hungry stomachs are their constant reminder to trust in the provision of the Lord.

Without a need, we seem to have little motivation for prayer. In our three minutes a day, as long as no crisis or catastrophe has come our way, we can stop in to check up on God and let Him know we’re thinking of Him and doing our daily homage.

Wants or Needs?

Parents are all too familiar with their children’s nagging requests for the latest toys, clothes, or whatever is popular at the moment. After all, they “need” it!...