ANNOUNCEMENT!
hello everybody, especially those who weren't at cell, i am doing some publicity work. my dad will be conducting some seminar entitled "life stewardship: a biblical and practical approach to time management" at wesley methodist church. in case the title of the seminar isnt self-explanatory enough, you can get a brochure from myself to find out more. it's being held on 20/21 feb frm 7.30pm-10pm and it costs $4 for materials. can pay on the day itself. if anyone's interested in going, pls let me know.

and since i have your attention, i might as well post some thoughts about friday's cg.

For those who weren't at cell last fri, we were watching some dvd regarding prayer and answering questions related to what was shown. The idea of "why we pray" was touched upon once again, and i feel led to say some stuff (which may or may not overlap with the email i typed out previously concering the concept of whether prayer works. If you want it, i still have it, or you can scroll down, or you can click here).

I think that, first of all, we all have to admit that we have different comprehensions and different convictions about prayer. But more importantly, i feel that we all need to come to the consensus that prayer is an act of faith. In realising, and reflecting upon, this, i believe that all of us will be reminded that faith plays a very large part of Christianity, and that it is also the most illogical part of Christianity (to put it very crudely and bluntly).

It is faith, or more precisely the concept of faith, that prevents us from bringing others to Christ on our own strength alone (because these people have to ultimately make their own steps of faith to come to Christ), and it is also faith that gives us hope to believe that the people we are reaching out to will eventually come to Christ. Different levels of faith in different people will determine how they react to the scenarios mentioned here, and prayer could very well be a reflection of the level of a person's faith. On the other hand, people convicted differently might not believe so, possibly because their personal experiences have not led them to believe in such a way.

Our faith is strengthened when these people are brought to Christ, and it is our faith that strengthens us when these people reject Christ or are lost before they accept Christ. Faith is necessary in accepting these losses and trusting that God will use the experience for good, no matter in what way (from experience, God works in mysterious ways; this applies to how He does good as well). More often than not, such faith is manifested in the form of prayer. Other times, faith could be manifested in a form of stoicism; a general acceptance of the way things are going and refusing to despair over them. Once again, the level of our relationship with God comes into action here.

Having said all this, i feel that, in addition, it is necessary to remember that we are all only human; it is impossible for us to fully comprehend how God works or the rationale behind His actions. The application of faith in order to accept this is very necessary. Some might argue then that it seems slightly absurd or contrived to just attribute everything to "God's mysterious ways" as an escape clause, which is something that i doubt i could adequately contend on my own knowledge, but to which i would suggest that whoever is in doubt try to find some other way to explain their own question and see whether it suitably solves their doubt. At the same time, it is important to distinguish between child-like faith and blind faith, but this isn't the point of this entry.

How does this then relate to the idea of "why we pray"? As i mentioned before, 1) prayer is an act of faith, and 2) we probably have our own convictions about prayer. At the end of the day, prayer is also a very personal thing, and so are the reasons for why one prays. Each person has his/her own level of conviction toward prayer and the reasons for praying, in the same way that each person has his/her own level of faith. The convictions of a person who prays as a form of communion with God are as equally legitimate as the convictions of a person who prays to God in order to intercede for others, or as a form of supplication. It takes faith to believe that when you pray, there is actually a God listening to you, and that you aren't merely talking to yourself.

In conclusion, i'd like to reiterate that, just as how people have different levels of faith, people have different convictions toward the purpose of praying. In the same way that people's faiths are shaped by their experiences, people's convictions toward the idea of prayer and the reason for praying are also very personal. While we might sometimes not view other people's convictions toward prayer as sound or agreeable, i think that it is necessary to respect their level of conviction, because things like these ultimately cannot be intellectually articulated for people.

ok ironically, i left out any bible references in this post, as it's meant to be food for thought more than something theologically foolproof. if anyone would like to point out things from what i said that should be clarified based on biblical reference, pls let me know and ill try to find relevant passages