22 December 2024

What We Truly Believe About Prayer, Part 4 (TMF:2515)

Friday, December 27, 2024

Peace to Live By: What We Truly Believe About Prayer, Part 4 (TMF:2515) - Daniel Litton
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The man prays for his current relationship with his girlfriend Sarah because he believes that the prayers could affect the future quality and outcome of the relationship. This person believes that prayer isn’t just merely a command stated at various places in the Scriptures, but that prayer actually does have positive impact on persons and events. This is living prayer versus ceremonial prayer. There are great numbers of Christians on both sides of this, and specifically, in the evangelical world, the first view, the predetermined view, is probably more prevalent. It seems befitting to actually present prayer as something that can provide cause for change, though, as just stated, not everyone sees things this way. Many are not comfortable in believing that God is open to the thoughts, ideas, wishes, and desires of humans. They may say, “Humans are too evil to desire anything good” or “God would not be persuaded by humans because humans are often driven by the flesh.”

What We Truly Believe About Prayer, Part 3 (TMF:2514)

Thursday, December 26, 2024

Peace to Live By: What We Truly Believe About Prayer, Part 3 (TMF:2514) - Daniel Litton
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So, under this model, the one who prays does so because he or she is commanded to do so by the Scriptures. The belief is present, however, that the prayer really, at the end of the day, doesn’t produce any effects on the world because, after all, God has already decided all matters. To provide some specific examples, we could say, “Why pray for the salvation of Joe, if God has already determined whether Joe will be saved or not?” That’s a very common one. Or, we could say, “Why pray for success in dating Sarah, if God has already predetermined if the relationship will lead to marriage or not.” And the common response obviously is, “We pray because we are commanded to pray.” For the one who views prayer as effectual, as potentially changing things, the belief (or hope) is real and different. This person prays for the salvation of Joe because he or she believes that the prayers make a real difference on whether or not Joe will end up accepting the Gospel message.

What We Truly Believe About Prayer, Part 2 (TMF:2513)

Wednesday, December 25, 2024

Peace to Live By: What We Truly Believe About Prayer, Part 2 (TMF:2513) - Daniel Litton
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Without getting into technical terminology, we could note first there are those who view the future in a predetermined way. That is, all events in the future are predetermined. Then, a second view, or middle view, might be held by those who believe some events are predetermined, while others are open to contingencies. And still a third view could be that nothing is predetermined, that everything is open. The last view seems to be the hardest to line up with the Scriptures. But for the one who views everything as predetermined, the issue with that view is that prayer then becomes a ritual, a ceremony, that in reality, doesn’t in point of fact produce any real, tangible results. How could it, if everything has already been decided? So, under this model, the one who prays does so because he or she is commanded to do so by the Scriptures. The belief is present, however, that the prayer really, at the end of the day, doesn’t produce any effects on the world because, after all, God has already decided all matters.

What We Truly Believe About Prayer, Part 1 (TMF:2512)

Tuesday, December 24, 2024

Peace to Live By: What We Truly Believe About Prayer, Part 1 (TMF:2512) - Daniel Litton
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“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you” (Colossians 1:9, ESV). It seems good for us to spend some time considering what we really, internally, believe about prayer before discussing the laid out prescription as to what is actually to be prayed for. When thinking about the use of prayer, one might ask themselves inside the mind what they truly believe about prayer. And one will likely find that that they do not believe in it as much as they might wish to. Perhaps some noble souls do believe in it, believe that it works. But it seems that many, though they practice the art of prayer, the going through the motions, do not in actuality believe it produces much fruit. For one who does not believe prayer works all that much, and that it bears little fruit, it seems that the core of the issue lies in one’s view of God in answering prayer (with a positive answer). By view of God, it is meant how God actually views praying from an individual. And really, down the line, this all ties into one’s view of the future, believe it or not.

Church Size & Relationships (TMF:2511)

Monday, December 23, 2024

Peace to Live By: Church Size & Relationships (TMF:2511) - Daniel Litton
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But a study was done in which it was determined that the perfect size for a community is about 150 people. After that, it appears the group becomes too large for everyone to effectively interact with each other. We know a lot of churches make use of small groups, and one reason for that is because of this fact. Especially for a larger church, small groups are almost critical. Otherwise, relationships only remain at a surface level, cultivated by the people who are communicated to before, during, and after Sunday morning services. Church events might help, but the relationships, unless continued outside of church on a more personal level, remain surface. Small groups, however, work to take care of this issue and break down a church into more manageable size groups. But the true rule of thumb really, if one was to have the best experience in knowing everyone, would be a church size that is no greater than 150 people.