Bells and Prayers

C.H. Spurgeon once said, "Prayer pulls the rope down below and the great bell rings above in the ears of God. Some scarcely stir the bell, for they pray so languidly; others give only an occasional jerk at the rope. But he who communicates with heaven is the man who grasps the rope boldly and pulls continuously with all his might."

So if you have been near me as of late...you have probably heard me quote this to you! I know that I sometimes overdue things. I am a pretty passionate person. But...this quote is life changing if grasped. Its true that in our daily lives, there are periods of time when we scarcely pray. We are the ones who walk by the bell daily but forget to pull the rope. We may think....gee....I wish God would work in my life like he did a year ago. We forget to pursue, forget to pray, forget to connect with God. In the midst of our daily lives, we offer an occasional, often apathetic prayer, or a prayer over our food...a meaningless tradition.

Other times, crisis times arise and we grab the rope in desperation....asking God to work. Yet, as the hard time roll by, we again forget to pray. We get caught up again...in our lives. Only when we really need something from God do we pray.

However, who are the men and women who will begin to pray with such passion, determination, and dedication to the cause of God that the bells in heaven begin to ring with such fervency that God cannot help but begin to move with revival in this generation. Sometimes I find myself falling in the apathetic prayer or crisis prayer rut....and I complain about things...complain about the church...complain about how people don't love God as much...etc. However, what if I began to pray for the church...and a move of God in it. What if I began to pray for students like their lives depended on it. What if I began to pray for my friends....that God would light a fire in their souls. Is it not true that George Muller lived his entire life dependent on prayer. Do I live my life dependent on prayer. DO YOU? What if we began to live our lives dependent on prayer....? I bet we would begin to see revival in our churches. I bet we would begin to see creativity stir in ministry. I am sure we would begin to see miracles happen again. I am sure of it....when we begin to pray....GOD MOVES!

Aren't you sick of it....wanting more of God...but never doing anything about it. Guys...and gals....lets go hard after God. Lets run after him. Lets ring that bell until God begins to move in new creative ways we have never seen before!

Frustrating conversations

SO tonight I had this conversation. I said a lot of things that came from the heart. The other person I was talking to towards the end of this conversation said that everything was surface! SURFACE....it was so frustrating. Have you ever been in a conversation when you have said so much....BUT not what you really were wanting to say. That was tonight for me. I feel the agonizing pain now inside of know that I did not say what needed to be said tonight and wondering when I will finally muster the courage to say what I need to....ugh sometimes its hard to be honest!