I was able to attend the "Big IF" day conference hosted by Alpha Scotland. Made some new friends and had the chance to listen to Peter Greig for the first time. He said a lot of very helpful things about prayer.
One of the challenges from the day was to become naive again. Let me explain. PG said that we begin the Christian life being naive about God. We just expect Him to answer prayer. We expect Him to make things work for us. Often He does! And life can seem a breeze. Then it gets complicated. We get tired - perhaps even confused. The challenge was to allow God to lead us out of complexity and attendant pain, disappointment, confusion, etc., and back into a second naivety.
There's a challenge for you!
2 comments:
I believe this naivety is what makes working with children so utterly challenging and thought provoking for me, an adult. The simple belief that what the child asks for when they pray, led by the Spirit (* and this is a key point) in line with Scripture, will be granted to them - is so refreshing.
Each week at the moment the children in my church are praying for any adult that walks their way - someone who is in physical pain, or one of their leaders who is going abroad. I'll gather them round the person, give them some pointers then stand back and let them get on with it.
Some of the children are absolutely awesome pray-ers and I'd have them praying for me any day of the week!
What a joy it is to be around naivety. I wish for it more and more.
Thanks for the comments Lynn. Children are often far more spiritual than we give them credit for - and thay are far less complicated about it. They can be talking about X-Box one moment and praying for healing the next - without any apparent trouble transitioning between the two!
Post a Comment