This is so neat. I had never heard this before...This is beautiful - and
it is surely worth making the 5 finger prayer a part of our lives.
1. Your thumb is nearest you. So begin your prayers by praying for those
closest to you. They are the easiest to remember. To pray for our loved
ones is, as C. S. Lewis once said, a "sweet duty."
2. The next finger is the pointing finger. Pray for those who teach,
instruct and heal. This includes teachers, doctors, and ministers. They
need support and wisdom in pointing others in the right direction. Keep
them in your prayers.
3. The next finger is the tallest finger. It reminds us of our leaders.
Pray for the president, leaders in business and industry, and
administrators. These people shape our nation and guide public opinion.
They need God's guidance.
4. The fourth finger is our ring finger. Surprising to many is the fact
that this is our weakest finger; as any piano teacher will testify. It
should remind us to pray for those who are weak, in trouble or in pain.
They need your prayers day and night. You cannot pray too much for them.
5. And lastly comes our little finger; the smallest finger of all which is
where we should place ourselves in relation to God and others. As the
Bible says, "The least shall be the greatest among you." Your pinkie
should remind you to pray for yourself. By the time you have prayed for
the other four groups, your own needs will be put into proper perspective
and you will be able to pray for yourself more effectively.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
RICK WARREN's Purpose Driven Life
Last November and December, I went through a 40-day hiatus from dating and decided to take the Purpose Driven Life Book by Rick Warren. I did it with a close childhood friend of mine, Lelet. It drew us closer and I find it very helpful to have found someone I can share my walk with God.
Here we are in one of those PDL nights. She was also the one who invited me to attend the Victory Christian Fellowship church which eventually led to looking for a small Bible Group. I have since grown in my relationship with God and I am truly grateful for all the changes that are happening in my life.
I used to be very worried, self-centered and depressed about life and now, I have learned to trust and lift them all up to God. He has changed me in so many ways and even confirmed that an emotional healing is underway. How do I know? Early this year, I joined VCF's Corporate Prayer and Fasting and one of my faith goals is a complete emotional healing from my separation/divorce. This was confirmed when I was assessed by my friend Gerry Sy of Hilot Express (Check out his website at www.hilotexpress.com) who is an iridologist. If in reflexology, nerve endings found in your palms and soles are connected to your organs, so are the nerve endings in your irises. I guess the old adage that says "Your eyes are the windows to your soul" now extends to the eyes as also windows to the past, present and future state of your health. Anyway, Gerry told me as he was looking through my left iris, he said, "A few years ago you went through some emotional trauma, didn't you?" I said yes and asked how he knew. He said that he noticed nerve endings connected to emotions as having pus but he says that they are now healing. I was taken aback because I was at the end of my fasting day. He continued, "I know that it is healing because there is some kind of a protective film that is covering the nerves which is very rare. I now believe that you are now healing from this trauma." Praise God! I was totally speechless! God has created a miracle and I am forever grateful! I actually feel much happier, more joyful, content and friends have confirmed that they can sense that I am stronger emotionally now than ever. I shall forever praise God for all that things that is creating in my life. And that's just the tip of the iceberg! :)
Anyway, going back to Rick Warren I came across a story about him that I would like to share with you: An Interview with Rick Warren (REMEMBER, HE WROTE 'PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE')
You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has, with his wife now having cancer and him having 'wealth' from the book sales. This is an absolutely incredible short interview with Rick Warren,'Purpose Driven Life ' author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California
In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:
People ask me, What is the purpose of life?
And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were not
made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.
One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body--
but not the end of me.
I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of
years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God wants
us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.
We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't
going to make sense.
Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming
out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one.
The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than
your comfort; God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in
making your life happy.
We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life.
The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.
This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest,
with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.
I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark
time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that
anymore.
Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like
two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and
something bad in your life.
No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad
that needs to be worked on.
And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something
good you can thank God for.
You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems:
If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, which is
my problem, my issues, my pain.' But one of the easiest ways to get rid of
pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.
We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands
of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her- It has
been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character,
given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn
her closer to Him and to people.
You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.
Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance,
this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it
made me instantly very wealthy..
It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before.
I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you
to live a life of ease.
So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and
influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to
do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.
First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our
lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases.
Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the
church.
Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to
plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and
educate the next generation.
Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I
started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to
serve God for free.
We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity?
Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am
I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?
When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I
don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You
better God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more
interested in what I am than what I do..
That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.
Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD..
If you do not pass it on, nothing will happen. But it will just be nice to
pass it on to a friend...just like i have done.
God's Blessings to you and your family.
Here we are in one of those PDL nights. She was also the one who invited me to attend the Victory Christian Fellowship church which eventually led to looking for a small Bible Group. I have since grown in my relationship with God and I am truly grateful for all the changes that are happening in my life.
I used to be very worried, self-centered and depressed about life and now, I have learned to trust and lift them all up to God. He has changed me in so many ways and even confirmed that an emotional healing is underway. How do I know? Early this year, I joined VCF's Corporate Prayer and Fasting and one of my faith goals is a complete emotional healing from my separation/divorce. This was confirmed when I was assessed by my friend Gerry Sy of Hilot Express (Check out his website at www.hilotexpress.com) who is an iridologist. If in reflexology, nerve endings found in your palms and soles are connected to your organs, so are the nerve endings in your irises. I guess the old adage that says "Your eyes are the windows to your soul" now extends to the eyes as also windows to the past, present and future state of your health. Anyway, Gerry told me as he was looking through my left iris, he said, "A few years ago you went through some emotional trauma, didn't you?" I said yes and asked how he knew. He said that he noticed nerve endings connected to emotions as having pus but he says that they are now healing. I was taken aback because I was at the end of my fasting day. He continued, "I know that it is healing because there is some kind of a protective film that is covering the nerves which is very rare. I now believe that you are now healing from this trauma." Praise God! I was totally speechless! God has created a miracle and I am forever grateful! I actually feel much happier, more joyful, content and friends have confirmed that they can sense that I am stronger emotionally now than ever. I shall forever praise God for all that things that is creating in my life. And that's just the tip of the iceberg! :)
Anyway, going back to Rick Warren I came across a story about him that I would like to share with you: An Interview with Rick Warren (REMEMBER, HE WROTE 'PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE')
You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has, with his wife now having cancer and him having 'wealth' from the book sales. This is an absolutely incredible short interview with Rick Warren,'Purpose Driven Life ' author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California
In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:
People ask me, What is the purpose of life?
And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were not
made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.
One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body--
but not the end of me.
I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of
years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God wants
us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.
We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't
going to make sense.
Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming
out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one.
The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than
your comfort; God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in
making your life happy.
We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life.
The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.
This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest,
with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.
I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark
time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that
anymore.
Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like
two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and
something bad in your life.
No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad
that needs to be worked on.
And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something
good you can thank God for.
You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems:
If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, which is
my problem, my issues, my pain.' But one of the easiest ways to get rid of
pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.
We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands
of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her- It has
been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character,
given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn
her closer to Him and to people.
You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.
Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance,
this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it
made me instantly very wealthy..
It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before.
I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you
to live a life of ease.
So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and
influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to
do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.
First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our
lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases.
Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the
church.
Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to
plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and
educate the next generation.
Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I
started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to
serve God for free.
We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity?
Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am
I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?
When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I
don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You
better God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more
interested in what I am than what I do..
That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.
Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD..
If you do not pass it on, nothing will happen. But it will just be nice to
pass it on to a friend...just like i have done.
God's Blessings to you and your family.
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