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June 1, 2012
Prayer is all about our relationship with God, and is more about God than it is about me. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. (Romans 10:17) If I want to increase my faith, and improve my relationship with God, I need to spend more time praying the scriptures.
Thank you for the privilege of watching these videos. I feel that I am growing in prayer and in Christ. I am attempting to put this information into practice, with God’s help.
At first I had a little trouble viewing some of the videos, so I attempted to watch them on Brainhoney To Go. That seemed to take hours to download the videos, so I gave up, and switched back to the online download. Apparently that was a connection problem on my end, and it seems to be resolved now, as far as I can tell. Then, it was difficult to tell what I had already watched, as some of them shut down in the middle. I went back and opened up some of the videos, and watched them again. They were well worth watching a second time. I have completed 100% of the assignment.
Through viewing these informative videos, I have been reminded of the essential truths that prayer is all about our relationship with God, and prayer is more about God than it is about me. Throughout the videos, the instructor emphasized that “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” (Romans 10:17) If I want to increase my faith, and improve my relationship with God, I need to spend more time praying the scriptures.
With God’s help, I am attempting to put into practice some of what I have learned, praying the scriptures in private and with other believers. Also, I am looking into additional resources, such as the recommended author, Andrew Murray. I have not yet obtained his book on Christ in the School of Prayer, but I have found an eBook of another book by Murray, The Ministry of Intercession, written in 1898, and freely available through http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/29296 . I also plan to look into using The Book of Common Prayer, as I have not had much occasion to read it. Gutenberg had the Episcopal 1912 Scotland, version, available for free here: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/29622 .
I enjoyed the personal anecdotes and humor from the instructor, Rev. Edsel Trouten, and especially appreciated the focus on learning how to pray the scriptures. Scripture is the basis for prayer. John 14: 13-14 states that whatever we ask the Lord in His name, He will do. ("And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.") So I can pray the scriptures, confident that He will do what I ask, if it is in His will, for God’s glory.
There is nothing in this world more important than my relationship with Christ. As my instructor demonstrated, I can find time to pray. I can pray in the car, instead of listening to the radio. I can combine exercise (or gardening, or housework) and prayer. God’s Word has a purpose. Through the videos, I feel better equipped to take what God said in the Bible, and pray it back to Him. I appreciate the examples in the video on how to use God’s Word to express desires and needs in our prayers to God, releasing “the inherent power within the scripture.” I also appreciated the information on written prayers.
Through these videos, I am learning that the source of faith is God’s Word. I can go to the source of faith, God’s Word, and pray the scriptures. Isaiah 55: 10-12 states that God’s Word will not return void.
Isaiah 55:10-12 (New King James Version) says:
“For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,
And do not return there,
But water the earth,
And make it bring forth and bud,
That it may give seed to the sower
And bread to the eater,
So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
“For you shall go out with joy,
And be led out with peace;
The mountains and the hills
Shall break forth into singing before you,
And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands."
As I grow older, I have increasingly desired to know Christ more deeply. Thank you again, for the opportunity to grow in prayer through this excellent course and videos.I pray that I continue to put what I have learned into practice.