Ruakh Part 2
Message Summary: We tend to overcomplicate prayer and should not place emphasis on not being a “good” pray-er. You get better at praying the more you do it. It should become a daily practice. Release yourself from unrealistic expectations on what prayer “should’ look like.
Before organized religion, Jesus, the church, and the bible, there was the invisible presence of God who gave life to everything. That holy presence is Ruakh (Holy Spirit). The breath of God is inside you and gives you life and empowers you. The Holy Spirit is with you all the time. Get into the practice of recognizing Ruakh at work in your life and in the ordinary moments.
Three tips for prayer:
- Make it personal. God wants to hear from you. He ultimate goal of prayer is connecting with God the Father. Tell God how you’re truly feeling. Be honest with your struggles and desires for life. He can handle it.
- Make it short. There’s power in a short prayer. Ex. Father forgive them for they know not what they do.
- Make it two-way. Get good at listening; he uses different things/people to speak to you (Romans 10:17). Be intentional to stop and listen to God.
None of these come naturally! Practice makes it easier.
- What moments in your day could you make it a regular moment to spend a few minutes praying?
- If you have a strong prayer life now, what has helped you to develop this habit?
- How can you encourage yourself (or others) to think differently about what prayer should look like in the context of the message Josiah shared with us this week?
Romans 12: 12 – “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”
Psalm 139:7-10 – “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.”