prayer

today's youth worship was very good. i don't know why, but the 11o'clock service was just fantastic. the choir sang with more gusto, the band did more of their fancy tricks, emily did a good job:) i guess she was more confident after 2 services ^ ^

we were worshipping God.

i notice i made a "mistake" in yesterday's entry. when i was thinking about the choir, i was only concerned about their performance. i later realised that i had forgotten about the spiritual aspect.

one thing i have learned in vcf is that serving in a secular ministry, eg a cca in school, is very different from serving God in church/campus ministry... or any ministry for God.yes, we all want things to run perfect. but, it's important to realise that we are serving God in whatever we do, be it planning a camp, outing, vision for the year ahead. we carry out tasks in our human ways, by doing them. BUT, we must NOT neglect PRAYER. how a programme runs, is very important. but what is even more important is that we have to pray and intercede to God, asking that His will will be done. if we don't pray, but just go ahead planning and doing, we might as well do any other secular activity, not God's work.

now, let me explain the prayer part though. i used to think that prayer would be something like this: we have a meeting to discuss, let's say a camp. the meeting is 3 hours. you start off with a word of prayer, maybe a short devotion. then, you are off to discuss whatever you want to discuss. after 2 hours, it's about time to wrap up. there's a quick round of sharing. then, people break up into little groups of 3/4 to pray for one another and the event, for at most half an hour. and then, at the end of it, someone would wrap up the entire meeting with prayer.

we prayed right?? (at least i saw the word "pray" a few times.) NOPE.

i've since learnt that what i used to "pray" in the past, was such punified prayer. it wasn't exactly interceding. in retrospect, it was more of a prayer of convenience. i was like telling God, here are my prayer requests, if you want, take it and then give me my request. if you don't want, then nevermind lor.

what have i since learnt is prayer?(before i begin, please remember that my word is not THE Bible. so, it's my own personal experience and growth)

when we pray for an event or some vision, i've realised that it is important to spend time asking God what He has in mind/store. when i went for the ifg (international friendship group) comm meetings, we kinda started off on a wrong footing. the first 3 meetings, we went straight into doing a review of the past year and what we wanted for the year ahead. thankfully, our chairman realised it in time, and organized a prayer meeting.. we just sat there for an hour and a half, and just prayed. it was a very simple thing. we just prayed about whatever came to our minds, whatever issues that seemed pressing. it was, i think, the Holy Spirit's prompting.

i've grown to realise that when we take time out of our "busy" schedules to pray, God honours our prayers. to the world, prayer would seem like a useless thing , because we appear to be not doing anything. BUT, to God, it's very different. it shows that we are willing to quieten down our hearts before, to listen to what part of His plans He wants us to be a part of.

we must have it ingrained in us, that in whatever we do, we are serving God, not the world. and when we serve God, we've to come to seek His will.