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| Monroe county |
Praying is being-in-relationship-with God, rather than a religious duty that one has to do.
I communicate with Linda, not because I "have to," but because I love her. To only talk and listen to her out of duty would signify a strange, unsatisfying marriage.
Philip Yancey writes: "Prayer as transaction rather than relationship can decline into a practice more duty than joy, an occasional and awkward exercise with little connection to life." (Yancey, Prayer, Kindle Locations 844-845)
How I communicate with Linda when no one else is around is an indicator of how I view her and our marriage. In a similar way, how I pray shows how I view God. "Who one believes God to be is most accurately revealed not in any credo but in the way one speaks to God when no one else is listening." (Nancy Mairs, quoted in Ib., Kindle Locations 820-822)
Praying is not something we have to do. To pray is to be in relationship with God. When you are in a loving relationship, you communicate.
I communicate with Linda, not because I "have to," but because I love her. To only talk and listen to her out of duty would signify a strange, unsatisfying marriage.
Philip Yancey writes: "Prayer as transaction rather than relationship can decline into a practice more duty than joy, an occasional and awkward exercise with little connection to life." (Yancey, Prayer, Kindle Locations 844-845)
How I communicate with Linda when no one else is around is an indicator of how I view her and our marriage. In a similar way, how I pray shows how I view God. "Who one believes God to be is most accurately revealed not in any credo but in the way one speaks to God when no one else is listening." (Nancy Mairs, quoted in Ib., Kindle Locations 820-822)
Praying is not something we have to do. To pray is to be in relationship with God. When you are in a loving relationship, you communicate.
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My three books are:
Leading the Presence-Driven Church
Praying: Reflections on 40 Years of Solitary Conversations with God
Encounters with the Holy Spirit (co-edited with Janice Trigg)
After a break I'll continue writing Transformation: How God Changes the Human Heart.
Then: Technology and Spiritual Formation.
Then, the Lord willing, Linda and I will write our book on Relationships.
My three books are:
Leading the Presence-Driven Church
Praying: Reflections on 40 Years of Solitary Conversations with God
Encounters with the Holy Spirit (co-edited with Janice Trigg)
After a break I'll continue writing Transformation: How God Changes the Human Heart.
Then: Technology and Spiritual Formation.
Then, the Lord willing, Linda and I will write our book on Relationships.
