Radical Prayer

I have been overwhelmed lately with books on prayer. Some of them are garbage, some are ok, and some are really making me think! I started reading "Red Moon Rising" today. Before I blog about it - I'm going to finish it. So far, I love the excitement that 24/7 prayer has generated. I love that people are finding themselves committed to getting to know God intimately.

I'm tired of weak, unfulfilled prayer. I want to pray knowing that I am fully living within God's will and that my prayers are simply outgrowths of the relationship that He and I have. I'm not even sure what this looks like! But, I want to know more! I don't want to be satisfied with the status quo any longer. I beg and plead with God to shake the foundations.

Am I ready for this? Have I got the internal fortitude to hold up under that kind of moving and shaking from God? Well, what an interesting question. The answer: I don't have to.

I just read an interesting interview with the founder of "Big Idea" (the guy who did VeggieTales). In three years he built a company and then lost it. He no longer dreams - because that's all about HIS dreaming. He brainstorms like crazy, but every day he operates within what he knows is God's plan. He doesn't do things at all without spending time in prayer and letting God tell him what is coming next.

This was his answer to the last question in the article:

Do you pray differently now?
My perspective at Big Idea, what drove me was always, was "how far have I gone, and am I gaining on Nickelodeon, MTV … the ones using the attention of our kids for selfish gain? I need to catch up with them." I was always measuring results and comparing myself. The big difference is focusing not on results but obedience: What has God asked me to do today, and am I doing it?

To answer the question: I find I spend more time now praying for other people. I spent more of my time before praying for my plans, my dreams, myself.

This goes against everything we know in the United States: setting goals, measuring the results and changing our plan of action to get a higher measurement. We are so focused on success that we measure our relationship with God based on the success or failure of our activities.

We finally get to the point where we eliminate God completely from our decisions - even from the activities in our church. We get so busy doing and succeeding (or failing) that it becomes all about our dreams and our plans.

Check out the article ... it's kind of interesting. Looks like this will be one more book that I will end up reading in the next few weeks.

I'm going to need a new set of glasses pretty soon!