BE STILL and KNOW
Contemplative prayer has often been relegated to ancient church history.But God is restoring it as a means to develop intimacy with Him.
By Jim W. Goll
I have found that the most direct road to greater intimacy with God has come through the practice or discipline of an almost lost art in the fast- paced church of today - something called contemplative prayer. More than a decade ago this type of prayer came to my attention through some experiences God ordained, and since that time it has become one of the central features of my walk with God.
When I first began to practice it, I spent one full year reading only the Bible and the writings of the earliest Christian leaders, commonly known as the "desert fathers." The more I read the more I realized I was on familiar ground. This was a road I was already walking on to some extent.
Contemplative prayer is all about the quest for intimacy with God. The Bible is full of references to this quest:
"But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Cor. 3:18, NKJV, emphasis added).
"Be still, and know that 1 am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth" (Ps. 46:1O, emphasis added).
"Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Heb. 12:2, emphasis added).
Contemplative prayer is an ancient Christian practice that has not been widely known or practiced in many evangelical and charismatic ranks, but I believe the Spirit of God is restoring it to the broader body of Christ in our day.
In contemplative prayer, we as Christians do not relate to God primarily as the one who sits on His throne in heaven; we connect with Him instead, through the reality of our new birth in Christ, as the one who has taken up residence inside us. We each have a throne in our hearts where He dwells in a very personal way....."
http://www.charismamag.com/display.php?id=9723
Contemplative prayer has often been relegated to ancient church history.But God is restoring it as a means to develop intimacy with Him.
By Jim W. Goll
I have found that the most direct road to greater intimacy with God has come through the practice or discipline of an almost lost art in the fast- paced church of today - something called contemplative prayer. More than a decade ago this type of prayer came to my attention through some experiences God ordained, and since that time it has become one of the central features of my walk with God.
When I first began to practice it, I spent one full year reading only the Bible and the writings of the earliest Christian leaders, commonly known as the "desert fathers." The more I read the more I realized I was on familiar ground. This was a road I was already walking on to some extent.
Contemplative prayer is all about the quest for intimacy with God. The Bible is full of references to this quest:
"But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Cor. 3:18, NKJV, emphasis added).
"Be still, and know that 1 am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth" (Ps. 46:1O, emphasis added).
"Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Heb. 12:2, emphasis added).
Contemplative prayer is an ancient Christian practice that has not been widely known or practiced in many evangelical and charismatic ranks, but I believe the Spirit of God is restoring it to the broader body of Christ in our day.
In contemplative prayer, we as Christians do not relate to God primarily as the one who sits on His throne in heaven; we connect with Him instead, through the reality of our new birth in Christ, as the one who has taken up residence inside us. We each have a throne in our hearts where He dwells in a very personal way....."
http://www.charismamag.com/display.php?id=9723
posted by Sound of Thunder @ 3:21 PM
