What did everyone think of Chapter 1? (and the intro?)
I know some of you haven't gotten the book either in the mail or been able to purchase it.
I really liked the first chapter and felt it was really easy to read and to get into, so far I like how Foster writes.
Some things I liked: the opening sentence "we today yearn for prayer and hide from prayer" I can think of so many times where I've had a great desire to be on my knees praying but my mind runs to things I think I have to get done "first" Ithought the intro passage was an accurate description of myself at times. Thinking that I have to be "good enough, or know enough in order to pray rightly"
What did you all think about the "simple prayer" ?
My last thought for now is that I really liked on page 13 at the bottom where he talks about how you wouldn't put an occasional jogger into a marathon race, and how we must not do that with prayer either. I've noticed that the more I pray daily--with people, by myself, prayer walking the campus it becomes easier for my words to come out and for my mind to be more focused. When I take breaks from praying daily it is a struggle to pray in groups or even by myself. I thought it was cool how he compared it to an exercise.
What did you all think? Lauren S
About Me
- Read With Pj
- This blog is intended for us to love and serve our friend PJ by reading a book weekly to give him fellowship! We are reading Prayer by Foster. Please plan to read a chapter by every monday evening. To post at any time during the week, click on "leave comments" and sign your name. This will be a great way for all of us to fellowship as well!
3 comments:
Thanks for the comments, Lauren! I definitely agree with you regarding Foster's conversational style - I like it, as well. I also appreciated your comment on the metaphor of prayer as an exercise. Such a good insight! It reminds me of the verse in Hebrew 12:1, exhorting Christians to "run with perseverance the race marked out for us." I think you and Foster are picking up on a similar theme to this biblical author...that the Christian life - prayer included - takes perseverance. I'm grateful for the reminder to press on!
In response to your question on the "simple prayer," I'm interested to know what everyone thinks...I'm not sure that I completely agree with all of Foster's argument. It seems that he's strongly reacting against the idea that we approach our Lord covered by a flimsy veil of pretense. To endeavor to appear as better than we really are, before the God who sees and knows all things, would be entirely fruitless. On this point, I am in wholehearted agreement with Foster...as is scripture. The Bible is filled with prayers from saints who are completely open before Him.
However, Foster seems to assume than an unpretentious, truly honest prayer is one that is focused on ourselves. He states on Page 9, "in a very real sense, we are the focus of Simple Prayer." To back this up, he quotes prayers from Moses, Elisha, and the Psalmist of Psalm 137: quotes that contain requests for the Lord to save the person praying from ruin or hardship.
When I looked up these passages, it seemed to me that Foster had taken them out of context in order to prove his point. It seems that in scripture, what we see is not weak saints who prove their honesty before God by expressing prayers that are focused on their own selfish desires. Rather, we see weak saints who - through the help of the Holy Spirit - approach God in all circumstances, and with all types of desires, and ask the Lord to change these desires to be pleasing to Him.
I hope that makes sense...I'm certainly interested to read more and see where Foster takes this discussion on prayer.
And I'm with you, Lauren, in praying that this book will convict me to seek the Lord even more!
First of all, I want to say Hi and welcome to everyone! I'm so glad that Lauren put this together... Thanks :)
I imagine that writing about a topic as simple yet extremely personal and extensive as prayer can be a daunting task. What are your thoughts on being able to sincerely delve into the personal realm of our prayer lives? (here's the question from facebook Lauren)
I agree with both of you wholeheartedly about Foster's style of writing so far. Something about it seems so personal!
Writing about prayer must be hard to focus your thoughts. I feel like I would have so much to say and not know where to start. I feel that Foster does a good job at focusing his thoughts clearly. It also must be hard to write about a topic where your audience experiences the topic differently. When everyone is at a different place in their prayer life, over generalizations can occur; however, i think that Foster addresses this well.
I agree that we can come to the Lord in prayer feeling like we aren't in a pure enough state to be in His presence. I find myself using that as a justification to put it off. I have to tell myself that the Lord wants a relationship with us, regardless of the fact that we are broken and battered.
I think 'simple prayer' is the foundation of our prayer life and personal relationship with the Lord. I love how Foster brings up time and time again that it is through prayer and our relationship with the Lord that we become changed from the inside out. Too many times we focus on our outside actions without asking God to change us from the inside first. I know I have to constantly remind myself this! Because of this, I feel that Foster is saying that it is alright to come to the Lord even if we know that our hearts aren't right. It is in the process of prayer itself, not by us, that will begin to change our hearts. The realization of our motives, and the desire to allow God to expose them, is what I felt that Foster was getting at.
I think I just went on a tangent lol. Sorry if that went somewhere off base!
I'm excited to delve into prayer with you all!
I think I need to look at the simple prayer section more, I know when I read it something unsettled me about it. So I appreciate both your comments
Post a Comment