No, the daily office was much quicker. It contained ten different parts, many of them were very short. There was a call to prayer, Psalm of Invitation, Joint prayer, Hymn of Praise, Psalm for the day, Reading of Scripture, Response to the Word, Prayers of the People, Confession of Sin (only once a day) and a Blessing. It sounds like a lot, but we did one in class and it only lasted around fifteen minutes, and that was with trying to get people to pray.
As for personal prayer life one of the only things I could say to help on the practical side is to do it more. Not that you don't pray a lot already, but we could always do more. We talked about some ideas like a prayer journal or a prayer box. I really like what James says in chapter five of his letter because it includes personal prayer and corporate prayer and shows a need for both.
"Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. I anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord." James 5:13-14 ESV
In addition to prayer we talked about meditation and solitude. Both are very helpful because we are all always so busy and overwhelmed. With meditation we talked about slowing down and spending time focusing on God, scripture, and creation. Some good ideas as you begin meditation would be to find a specific place to go to, a specific time, and clear your mind.
When we go into solitude take many of the ideas we have for meditation and apply them to it. However, in meditation we work at clearing our mind. In Solitude we find time to just be with God. However, you must differentiate between being lonely and being in solitude. None of us wants to be lonely really. That's not what solitude is. We are just taking time away and spending it with God.
So that is a brief overview of what we talked about real quick. Here's a little update on how things are going. Some of the books are in. If you signed up for one I can have it to you on Sunday if you have your fourteen dollars. Some of them were just ordered so there is a chance I will not have all of them on Sunday, but I will have them the next week. The only problem is that I will be at CIY. So I will give them to the receptionist at church if you want to stop by and pick one up and she will take your money. Or you can wait until Sunday the 12th if you think you can read the chapters we need to by Tuesday the 14th when our discussion begins, most likely at my house that night. So pick up books this Sunday, next week at church, or the Sunday after.
Reds game deadline sign up is this Sunday. I would love to have your money then but it is not completely necessary. That cost is ten dollars.
We are filled up for the children's ministry on the 30th, so we can't have any more sign ups, sorry. I will get with you all when I get back from CIY to go over some planning for it.
Cedar Point is set for August 8th. I need you to sign up and a deposit of $20 dollars by like July 31st (I need to reserve our tickets a week in advance). The only vote for the free drink wristband was a no, so since not many people cared we will keep the cost at $44 dollars provided we get 15 people to go and barring any major push for the drink wristbands. So let me know if you want to go and we can get your name down. See you all next week.
Brad
You guys are aware that prayer is just as effective as flipping a coin correct? I mean, regardless of how good it makes you feel you guys do KNOW that it just doesnt do anything, right?
ReplyDeletePrayer, at least to me, is a psychological placebo that serves to make people think they are doing something useful when in reality they are not. Most of you know this subconsciously, when you guys get sick you go to the doctor, you may pray but what actually gets you better is the medicine and the science, not the useless prayer.
Both the discovery institute and the templeton foundation (both highly unscientific and dishonest) have conducted experiments to determine how effective prayer is. Both studies, and many from real scientists, have determined that prayer is just as effective as any chance model.
So to wrap this up and finally go to bed:
What effect (if any) do you believe that prayer has IN THE REAL WORLD? And whatever you answer to that question (if you answer) what do you do when you get sick? Do you pray or do you go to the doctor?
Prayer isn't anything that can be conducted through experiment. And of course someone without any belief in any god doesn't see the merit in prayer. There isn't a whole lot I can tell you to support why I pray besides that I am a follower of Christ. And for me it is incredible to think that the creator of everything hears what I am saying and I can talk to him. Yes we go to the doctor when we are sick. We also pray. Yes the medicine makes us better. But for healing isn't what we always ask for when we pray. Maybe its for strength. Maybe its for perseverance. Depending on what type of illness it is, we may ask that we come away stronger because of it.
ReplyDeleteA few years ago I had a bad rappelling accident. I nearly died. It was a hundred foot rappel and I fell with around thirty feet left and my belayer just thought I was going down really fast. My elbow was shattered and many other things were bruised, sprained, and marred. The first thing I remember after the fall was hearing someone praying over me. Asking to keep me safe. The Emergency Response people showed up and started treating me and everything (about an hour and a half later, don't get seriously injured in Kentucky) and they all remarked about how lucky I was and if I had fallen just a bit differently I would have died. Well I was taken out of the woods over a two mile hike out and sent to the hospital. I can't even begin to tell you how comforting it was to hear that person's voice praying over me, and I was kept safe on the way out to the hospital, and all I needed was a few surgeries.
Science has its place. I think there is too much evidence for some stuff. I am an Old Earth Creationist. I do not think that this planet is merely 6,000 years old. However, Science and studies and research have no place in prayer. Because no, there really isn't anything factual I can say to support prayer. It is purely faith based. It is for those who desire to be in close communion with God.
"Prayer isn't anything that can be conducted through experiment"
ReplyDeleteWHY NOT??? Just because you say so? Just because you are unable to justify the belief? Or because "there really isn't anything factual [you] can say to support prayer"? It is very peculiar that theists only say certain things about their beliefs are outside the realm of scientific inquiry, it always turns out to be the things they cant demonstrate. However they never explain WHY that is the case.
What about all the other people that have had similar accidents but didnt survive? I am sure plenty of people were praying for them as they fell too. Your experience is NOT evidence of divine intervention, its just evidence that you got lucky, nothing more. Or maybe you wish to tell the families of those that didnt make it that it was the result of a divine being?
"It is purely faith based"
I am unable to see how that is a point in the favor of your argument. If anything it is a point against it: you believe prayer has an effect for no good reason at all. You JUST believe that it does. It makes you feel good to think that the universe maker has a plan, and that you can talk to him.
Is there anything about your beliefs that s based on evidence? And that is a serious question, and if you are going to respond I would love a serious answer back.
"You JUST believe that it does."
ReplyDeleteYeah I do. I don't really know what else to say. What's so wrong about having belief? In your last comment on the post before this one, you said, "He is not the idiot... someone else is." So you believe that we are idiots because we have faith? Because we want to believe in something? Because our lives have changed for the better since we found God? I don't care if you don't believe in him or not, all I know is that my life is better with Him than without. I don't know what happened with these conversations. I thought that we were simply asking questions. And now we're idiots. So if we're idiots why do you care so much about what we think? Why do you care so much about why we believe?
I'll go ahead and say this. You're smarter than me. You simply know more. I admire you're dedication to your concepts and way of thinking. But what do you think is going to happen here? Do you think we're just going to stop believing, because you can't look anywhere beyond what you can see? I'm sorry man, but my faith is too important to me.
I've tried to explain some my faith. I thought I would gain at least your respect. I don't condemn people. I accept them. I don't support the institution of religion. I think the institution of religion is the biggest group of unrepentant sinners the world has ever seen. I fight against the Phelps family. When they showed up in Knoxville, near where I go to school, to say that the death of a cheerleader was God's judgment, we went and tried to talk to them about their misunderstandings. But it's not enough is it? You can't accept anyone or anything that looks beyond just reason. Reason isn't the end all be all of existence. We all must constantly say to ourselves, "I might be wrong," because we're never going to be right all the time or have everything figured out. So I apologize for not fitting in with the society of reason. I apologize for wanting to believe in something more. But my faith isn't going anywhere. I'm am willing to talk about my beliefs with you, but man just calm down. Because I am not going to convince you and you're not going to convince me.
My evidence is my own life experiences and the experiences of my friends and family. I know it isn't acceptable as scientific evidence, but there's my serious answer for you.
Oh and I apologize for my mistake in the other set of comments. Peter's vision is in Acts 10:9. No idea why I put chapter 10, probably had something to do it was verse 9. So I apologize. I didn't feel like commenting on each one so here you go.