S03E015, Whiteboards, Erasers and Faith, Andy B 2 Minute Video

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As Christians - when we pray - are we praying to a loving, Father God who desires us to spend time with Him?

Or do we prefer to pray using a non-permanent pen, just in case we got our prayer wrong and don’t want to look foolish.

When we’re praying, as David Wilkerson wonderful pointed out and illustrated in his book “The Cross and The Switchblade” when we pray we should pray out loud so others can hear us.

To me, that is the difference between writing with permanent and non-permanent pen; praying so others can hear might make us look foolish if ‘it doesn’t work out’. But it also demonstrates that we’re serious about what we’re speaking to God about.

Just a thought...

Andy B

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So another Andy B 2 Minute Video and I got thinking - over the weekend.

So, erm, we use a whiteboard and onto the whiteboard we put all of the things that we're going to be doing in the week - erm, I'll link to another blog post where we talk about this a little bit.

But on this whiteboard we've got, erm, permanent pens which we use to mark out, er, all the things that we know are going to be fixed - so we keep the days of the week have got the same, erm there's little lines and markers that makes a grid over the board and, well - that's permanent pen as well. And all the things that change on a day to day basis, go in a semi permanent pen: you write it down and you can easily erase it.

And I got thinking about how sometimes when we're praying and walking with Jesus, that we sometimes like to use a non-permanent pen when we're making plans.

Now there's a really good piece of scripture that said, don't make plans for tomorrow, er, because you don't know where you're gonna be, so don't make plans that you're going to be in this city or in that city coz you don't know.

This isn't quite what I'm talking about!

When we're praying out loud. Are we praying in a, in a non-permanent pen or a permanent pen?

And what I mean by that is are we praying with the belief - that we see in James 1; don't be double minded, tossed about like a wave of the sea.

Are we praying in faith - with a permanent pen, so to speak - that is permanent and can be kept, so we can actually believe what we're saying. Or are we very carefully, and tentatively, saying 'oh excuse me, God, if you wouldn't mind, would you, would you kindly think about this possible prayer request?'

As children of God, we come to the Father. The Father is there waiting for us to talk to Him. Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father, so even if we're not praying, or talking to God, Jesus is doing it on our behalf.

So when we're praying to God, let's use a permanent pen!

Let's declare what we're trying to pray - not in some sort of trickery, to make sure that God gives us what we want. It's not 'well if I say it out loud, then it'll happen.'

It's about , are we speaking out loud, believing that God can heal; believing that God can do; believing that God is hearing our prayer; believing that what we're saying matters; believing that what we're actually going to pray can make a difference in the world.

David Wilkinson, erm, all, often talked in the book "The Cross and the Switchblade" about saying things out loud, because then you're actually held to account and when you pray out loud, you're not praying in a non-permanent pen.

So let's get our permanent pens.

Let's pray believing, out loud, for God to do some amazing things in our lives and the lives of others.

It's good to have a non-permanent pen for our future; to be careful and tentative and say 'God, what is your will?'

When we're praying in belief, in the right attitude before God let's pray with a permanent pen, to declare things, so that God can hear us and so can other people.

Just a thought.