Monday, 15 October 2007 by Paul Dubuc.

When I was looking around for a devotional topic for last week’s Prayer at Six meeting, I came across the evening devotional for that date (October 8th) in Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening. The 20th verse of the book of Jude exhorts us to “pray in the Holy Spirit.” In this devotional reading, Spurgeon gives his rendition of what this means. First, he characterizes prayer as a two-way relationship with God when he says that, “Only the prayer which comes from God can go to God.” Prayer is a conversation with God, not a monologue. Prayers that are entirely self-motivated have little effect. He then goes on to describe five qualities of praying in the Spirit. We considered the first one at this evening’s meeting: “Praying in the Holy Spirit is praying in fervency. Cold prayers ask the Lord not to hear them. Those who do not plead with fervency, plead not at all. As well speak of lukewarm fire as of lukewarm prayer—it is essential that it be red hot.” This got me to thinking about what fervency means for prayer. Read the rest of this entry »

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Saturday, 1 September 2007 by Paul Dubuc.

The weekly prayer meeting at Bethel Church has recently moved from Sunday evening to Monday evenings at 6:00 PM (except during holiday weekends). This change was made to make it accessible to more members. The meeting is open to anyone, not just members. Contact me if you are interested in more details, or just drop in and join us. The following paragraphs describe the purpose and content of the meetings. I hope they will be useful to others who lead prayer meetings. Read the rest of this entry »

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Saturday, 11 August 2007 by Paul Dubuc.

There’s a popular expression that seems to be going around ministry circles today that says, “Nothing happens (or, nothing gets done) without prayer.” I’ve heard or read this saying many different places. It isn’t meant literally, of course. Lots of things actually do get done without prayer and many things in spite of it. But sometimes I’m so puzzled by slogans like this that I have to think for a while about the meaning they are trying to convey, especially with regard to prayer. Something bothers me about this one. It’s probably the emphasis on ”getting things done“ or ”making things happen“ with prayer, as if prayer were a tool for accomplishment. Of course, it goes without saying that the accomplishments are really those of God’s design and execution, not ours, and what we’re really trying to say is that prayer ensures that what gets done by us is that which is aligned with Gods purpose, right? Maybe. Read the rest of this entry »

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Tuesday, 12 June 2007 by Paul Dubuc.

Last year I was given a copy of this devotional guide as a gift by some very good friends who seem to know me very well and I have been using it regularly since then. Dallas Willard’s writings are a tremendous inspiration and encouragement to me. They are best read in small bites and chewed thoroughly. Jan Johnson has done a fine job of compiling the main points of Willard’s book Hearing God into a devotional format that encourages just this type of reading on a very essential matter for every Christian. Reading a book about how to interact with God is not enough, no matter how good the book. The opportunity to practice is a crucial part of the learning process. Many devotional reading books jump from one one topic to another. This has much more continuity and focus. This format is ideal for the way one ought to approach such a foundational spiritual subject. Of course, it’s no substitute for the original book but it’s a great help in soaking in that book’s ideas. It should be easy for anyone to find the time to do the short readings and exercises in this book. There is a short introduction that is helpful in getting the reader started in doing the kind of prayerful meditation and reflection that is encouraged by the book but people who aren’t familiar with these practices might want to read one of Jan Johnson’s other books on prayer and meditation as well. I highly recommend this book and all of Dallas Willard’s books.

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