|
(4/25/01 - Today) On This Page: 2/6/08 - Today "Is binn gach eun 'na dhoire fhein." ("Sweet sings each bird in his own grove." -Old Gaelic Saying) ___________________________________________ |
Next Next
Topic
|
|
||
|
Prayer
Foundation / Prayer
/ God's
Word / FYI
/ Monks / Features
/ Books / Movies /
Search Our Site /
Home
/ Site
Map / Become
A Monk / Contributors
Gifts / Contact Us Email us at: monks@prayerfoundation.org (Also: take
our Survey!
...we need your
feedback!)
12/12/08_______________________________ Survey:
How Found: Searching for
grants related to Amish. 12/9/08________________________________
I am having trouble getting a feeling for the difference between praying
the Psalms,
as opposed to just reading them---(especially on occasions when
the Psalm doesn't seem to apply to my life at the time.)
Can you explain to me what the difference is/should be---in my head
or in my heart? How do I feel that I am praying them?
Thank you,
Sheri
Comment from The Prayer Foundation ™: Usually when a verse really is applicable to something happening in your life (often some sort of problem) is where you will really feel that you are praying it. Praise, thanksgiving, and repentance/asking for forgiveness, of course, are always applicable.
Praying (slowly)
any Psalms
that you have memorized (most people begin with Psalm
23 and Psalm 117)
will give you the "feel" for it. It is often
much easier for most Protestant
Evangelicals to pray a Psalm that they have
memorized.
Those of us who have not come from a Protestant Denomination where written prayers are used in Church (as in the Anglican, Lutheran, Presbyterian Churches) have almost a "mental block" about tending to reject written prayers as "not really praying". It can be very difficult for us. This puts us in the very strange position of rejecting prayers consisting of Holy Scripture and given by God specifically for that purpose, as being "no good, not really praying", while something we just make up out of heads is "real praying" (they're both "real praying", of course!). We can do both. Praying extemporaneously is necessary and scriptural; praying the Psalms is actually praying scripture, (God speaks to us as we speak to Him) and can be wonderful, especially (to us) when they are memorized. On the other hand, I had a Professor in Bible College who had never memorized even one Psalm, but had prayed five of them daily (he liked to pray them out loud in his private prayer time) for over twenty years. You may find that praying the Psalms out loud helps you, also. He could tell you everything in each Psalm from memory (but not word for word), and considered this practice to be of the greatest benefit to him in his Christian life. We spend an hour a day either praying Psalms that we have memorized and/or praying/memorizing new ones, in which case we are praying them in an attitude of prayer while we are memorizing. This can be done for any length of time---see our webpages: How to Pray the Psalms and Athanasius: Praying the Psalms). 12/8/08________________________________ I am in search of the wilderness of God, prepared for
his people. Comment from The Prayer Foundation ™: When we started in 1999 their were no other groups, nor even a name for what we were then and still are doing---some of the other groups that came along later, came up with the "12 marks" thing---we don't recognize or accept at least one of the "marks"---that the entire group has to all live in the same local place or something---we currently have over 1,700 volunteers in 41 countries, so perhaps we're "disqualified" according to the other, newer groups? Yet perhaps not, for we were just this month contacted by the "Simple Way" group to be a part of a new magazine for the entire New Monasticism movement that they are attempting to bring out. We don't even know what all of the so-called "marks" all are---we're just not interested---the Media places us together with these other, more recent groups. However, since all true Christians are one in Christ, anyway, we don't really mind this. In fact, we thank God for all of these Christians and their unique ministries! Praise God for them, and for what they are doing! But maybe you should
write and ask your questions of one of these other, newer groups---we
had never even heard of the particular "mark" you
mention---but now that you bring it up, it makes no sense to us, and we
would probably disagree with that so-called "mark",
too. For this and other reasons Monk Preston has "coined a new term" which we prefer, our own term of Evangelical Monasticism to include or encompass all of these somewhat related (many newer) movements listed below. We ourselves would consider "New Monasticism" to be a part (a subset) of it. But we are more concerned with what we are, and with following God's Will for our lives, and not really with what we are called by others. There are many separate "movements" all coming together in this---we do in fact consider ourselves to be a part of several current movements in Christianity: Evangelical Monastic Orders, The Prayer Movement, New Monasticism, Interest in Traditional Monasticism, Spiritual Disciplines, Hours of Prayer, Church Fathers, Celtic Christianity, Church History, World Evangelism. What is God's view of us, and of what we are doing---now that is what really matters. For more thoughts on this subject see our webpage: Evangelical Monasticism. 12/7/08________________________________ Survey:
How Found: Surfing the net.
I agree whole heartily with the Statement
of Faith as does my future wife. I also can and will do
the Hours of
Prayer. I was born again April 22nd 2001 (I am Quaker) and
my fiancé (messianic) was in August/September of
2007. I am currently going through Seminary to become a Pastor
and I try to remain active in the mission fields. I have long
looked at and read over your site and with serious prayer I have
decided to seek joining you. Feeling serious conviction about
the distracted and luxurious life style in the west even among the
poor like myself. Enthralled about the ability to join without
having to remain single I have decided about contacting you.
Your brother in Christ,
Gary C.
12/2/08________________________________ The Lord led me here!
Thank you so much for your faithfulness to what God has called you to
do! 11/26/08_______________________________
You have
all made me very happy today with this email (monthly
E-Newsletter). I've missed you very much for a long
time. Thank God you are back.
Jean (Tucson,
Arizona)
11/25/08_______________________________
I Love You!
I just received my Newsletter!
Thank You!!!!!!!!
I was praying and then had a bite to
eat. I saw the Newsletter!
Praise to our most merciful God!
My
spirit is soaring!
I am renewed!
(I am praying also that we find the
money to give to your efforts that help so many.)
I am writing to you today to say that I am overjoyed that you
have returned to the website.
Your absence stirred emotions of sadness inside of me. Truly you two were terribly missed. I Love The Prayer Foundation ™ and what it stands for. But you two have brought so much into my life. With the structure of prayer and reading and contemplation, we maintain our happiness at all times. We know that we have this connection to many who feel as we do. God Bless You.
Preferring nothing to the love of Christ,
Monk Elli (Colorado)
11/23/08_______________________________ Survey:
How Found: Through a
friend. 11/20/08_______________________________ Survey:
How Found: Stumbled
onto your Top 10 list (Top
10 Christian Books; Top
Ten Christian Movies). 11/17/08_______________________________ Hi Preston
& Linda,
I
found your site and I am enjoying your articles. I am a full
gospel pastor that has become involved in Celtic
Christianity. We would appreciate your prayers, as we are
doing a similar thing in 11/13/08_______________________________ I was enjoying your posts about Telemachus,
and I read where you heard 11/8/08_______________________________ Greetings, Already this morning I have been to the Daily
Office page to begin my day, and the Prayer
Requests page. Oh, by the way, it is very cool that you
have put The Lord's
Prayer, Psalm 23
and Psalm 117 as a
foundation to the three hours of prayer. I expect I will soon have
the two Psalms memorized (already have The
Lord's Prayer, from childhood). That is one of the things
that I appreciate the most about how you have things set up in this
website: Scripture memorization, praying
the Psalms (Psalms
is my favorite book of the Bible) and all the wonderful articles and
helps for prayer. It is God's call on my life, and your website
will be most helpful as I follow that leading. Amen. 11/7/08_________________________________ My life as a monk has so much enriched my life that I am filled with gratitude. You are constantly in my prayers. May God bless the work of The Prayer Foundation. Please subscribe me to the monthly newsletter. Yours in Christ, Monk Gerrit
11/7/08_________________________________
Dear
brothers and sisters,
Not so long ago I
discovered your site - and I'm enjoying it!
I'm thrilled to find
something that's on the one hand so clearly Protestant, yet
at the very same time so broad in choosing resources to draw from
for our spiritual growth!
As I put my name down for a
prayer slot, I was wondering about this prayer chain.
From a very early age
I've been intrigued by the hymn that says:
"The sun that bids us rest is waking our brethren 'neath the Western sky, and hour by hour fresh lips are making Thy wond'rous doings heard on high." As a result I'm always curious about the workings of a prayer chain. For instance, I'd love to know whether most of the slots are filled, whether we overlap with other prayer warriors, etc.
Questions like these made
me wonder if it would be possible to make some details of this
prayer chain public to all those who pray.
The simplest option
would be to have a different colour for a block of time for which
someone has put down his/her name. When we fill in the form
for this, we could even be given the choice whether or not we want any
of our details to be shown (name, country, etc.) and/or whether
we'd like to hear from others who pray at the same time.
Another option could be to shade the blocks in a way that shows the
continent where the prayer warrior lives.
With my prayers for God's
richest blessings on your ministry,
Jorine B.
Comment
from The Prayer Foundation ™:
Thank
you for your encouraging words. We started our 24
Hr. Prayerchain on Nov. 8, 2000, and colored the boxes in
black when that time was taken by someone. We thought it would
take two months to fill in all of the spaces, but it actually took
nearly two years. We were surprised to find that half of all the
volunteers wanted to pray between one and three p.m. on Sunday
afternoons (which was fine!). So all of the spaces have been
colored in black for about six years now (we currently have nearly
1,700 Prayer Warriors in 34 Countries, so they are all covered pretty
well).
Yes, anyone
praying "overlaps" with, at the very least, hundreds of
other Prayer Warriors.
Your ideas
are very good nice ones---we had actually not thought of them.
Regrettably, we have been running behind ever since the Boston
Globe articles mentioning us came out last February.
We liked your
Hymn stanza and have posted it on our Prayer
Requests page.
Thank you so
much for praying for us!
11/7/08_________________________________ Survey:
How Found: Google -
researching Christian prayer groups. 11/7/08_________________________________
I've
been praying for the prayer requests for awhile now, and I know its a
privilege to do so. I've been praying for you also, increasingly....
Your welfare
is extremely important to me...I've recently signed up for the
newsletter...
Thank you!
With love in
Jesus,
Kathie
(California)
P.S.:
I just found my input on here for 5/7/08, from California!
Thank you so much for allowing me to be part of your life and hopes.
Your ministry has
changed my
life.
11/6/08_________________________________
I thank the Lord for the ministry of your web pages which are a
tremendous encouragement.
I have been a daily visitor to your website for about 3 months now. I have applied to support the prayerchain a couple of times but not heard any response. The Prayer Foundation's website is a tremendous encouragement. After prayer, tangible support is vital. To this end a commitment is going to be made in the next week as per conviction received in prayer. Apart from the commitment made to the prayer chain, the Foundation's ministry is on my prayer list. I give thanks to the Lord for His ministry through The Prayer Foundation. Yours in His service, Brother Bruce (England)
Comment
from The Prayer Foundation ™:
Thank you for your greatly appreciated
concern. Please keep praying for us---we are still struggling to catch
up to date with a vast backlog of interest/emails/mailings that has
occurred ever since last Feb. when the Boston
Globe articles came out. We have finally gotten the
website back to daily updates for the first time since June and
will continue this, as we continue working to catch up the mailings,
which are still several months behind. We have only a very small
volunteer staff who receives no compensation for what they do.
As soon as we catch up, we will be moving in some additional new areas
of ministry that we are very excited about.
To put it all in perspective, recently the Billionaire Oilman, T. Boone Pickens, spent 18 million dollars (over a 3 month period) for television ads to receive 3 million "hits" per month to his website over the same period. We are currently receiving over 1 million "hits" per month (one-third of his) on a budget of approximately $200.00 USD per month, with no advertising ever having been done. Praise God! We receive over 200 emails per day from around the world and are regrettably unable to respond to most of them. 11/5/08_________________________________ I went to a Night to Honor Israel
in Albany last 10/10/08_________________________________ Survey:
How Found: Google
search on Celtic Christianity. 9/24/08__________________________________
Brothers and Sisters,
My name is John and I am a Lutheran
and I am looking into what is
required to become a monk. It has been my lifetime
search to really know Christ
and what God's will is for me without much success. I have a
very good knowledge of the Bible,
but have never been good at verse
memorization. I want to serve God. I am looking
for answers in my life.
Yours in Christ,
John
9/24/08__________________________________ Dear
friends, Our
publishing house is preparing book about European monuments on the UNESCO
World Heritage List and we cannot find photos regarding Skellig
Michael. Would it be possible for you to advise us of a
photographer who offers pictures of this site of the quality suitable
for printing? Thank
you, Lenka
Moravcová Otto
Publishing House (Prague,
Czech Republic) 9/3/08__________________________________ Hi Monk Preston,A few years ago, I dialogued with you via email, and it was very helpful. It also planted a seed I didn't expect. The vision God had given me, for somewhat of a Renaissance type of a movement in the Arts (I have been an Artist-Missionary for 25 years now), suddenly began to take the shape of a Monastery for the arts, after dialoguing with you and discovering The Prayer Foundation via the internet. And now, four years after the initial vision, I am finally free to begin talking about it (I was to keep silent before now, as things slowly took shape). Amazingly, our Board of Directors has approved of the idea! And now we make our steps forward. I am also free to discuss it with people, and yes, they really get startled when I say we are going to start a monastery, but after I explain it, it makes sense to them. However, because South Florida is not very progressive, forward-thinking or adept to "radical Christianity", we are praying about whether we should wait another year or so, and just start with our existing Gallery and Gift Shop. God will let us know. We would appreciate your prayers toward this! It would be wonderful if your collective prayers could assist in giving birth to a new monastery here in South Florida. I've attached my initial thoughts on what this monastery will be framed around. We are not residential like a typical monastery, but devotional nonetheless. Your thoughts, prayers, and feedback are greatly appreciated!! With God, nothing is impossible. He has given me the faith to believe. Much love,
(Mrs.) Robin M.
Christian Cultural Development Foundation (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) 8/30/08__________________________________ Thank you for your Site and direction. Kathleen D. (Ireland) 8/5/08___________________________________ I read with interest your observations about the early forms of the cross on stone in Ireland and Scotland, especially the free standing gray stone cross with the circle around the cross. There is one of those free standing crosses in the sanctuary of the Church of Scotland in Kirkinner, Galloway, between Wigton and Whithorn. I saw it there while we were on pilgrimage, and worshipped with the congregation on a Sunday morning back in 2004. We had located that church as a possible "thin place" because my great grandparents, Peter and Jessie McDowall McK., had been married in that church in 1854, just before then emigrated to Elgin, Illinois. Also, Peter's mother, Janet Hawthorn, had been sprinkled with water as on infant in 1800, when the present church house was quite new. Anyway, there is the stone cross, apparently turned up in some farmer's field, cleaned up, and set in a concrete base as a reminder of the great host of witnesses who have gone before us. I had thought that it was an English cross, possibly of a monk, who was part of a band fleeing from the Norse invasions. I know that Cuthbert's followers had finally left Lindisfarne about 890 and wandered in what is today northwest England and SW Scotland (Kirkcudbright being marked by Cuthbert's name). But I guess you are saying that these freestanding crosses with knotwork on the slab were Celtic in origin, and the predecessors of the massive Scripture crosses that can be seen in Ireland. I appreciate and praise God for your website. We are praying at fixed hours in a prayer garden behind our house that used to be a 24 foot in-ground swimming pool. Now in our late 70s, we are finally retiring from pastoral ministry at the end of this calendar year, to give fuller attention to our relationship with God in Christ, while remaining active in the church apart from professional pastoral or clerical concerns. In the words of our denomination's (Church of the Brethren) 300th anniversary slogan, we are yours, Surrendered to God, Transformed in Christ and Empowered by the Spirit. Jim and Letha McK. (Virginia) 6/12/08__________________________________
Dear All,
I am from Brazil.
Nowadays I am part of Catholic
Charismatic Renewal. A famous priest here always prays the Saint
Patrick Breastplate Prayer.
Due to this, every morning, I
have prayed this prayer and I am spreading this so beautifully written
God poetry.
I have a great admiration for
Saint Patrick, his
life and mission.
I am asking God to bless your
Monks Monastery with His Holy Spirit. For me was a surprise to
know a non-Catholic Monastery.
Peace and All Good,
Paulo
(Brazil)
5/28/08__________________________________ Survey: 5/7/08___________________________________ Survey: 4/21/08__________________________________ Informative, interesting, inspiring. 4/19/08__________________________________ Interesting...loved the green. (Colorado) 4/12/08__________________________________
First of all, congratulations on combining the Protestant
commitment to the sole authority of the Scriptures with a respect for
the Godly men and women the Catholic
Church reveres. Furthermore, adopting the Monastic
traditions into a Protestant belief system in today's
society was long overdue.
Please include me in your newsletters
and emails. I look forward to becoming
a lay Monk and being a part of The Prayer Foundation ™.
Based on your website, I'm truly excited about the Evangelical
void your ministry is filling. As a former Catholic,
it is welcoming to see traditions and heroes of Christianity
acknowledged in an Evangelical outreach.
God bless you and your Ministry.
Joe S. 4/10/08__________________________________ Finally, someone who shares my beliefs. Your Plan of Salvation and Statement of Faith are Biblically based and reflect the teachings of the Father. For several years I have been disillusioned with the contemporary church and have been seeking a more traditional non-secular foundation that believes in the Word of God and the importance of prayer. Please accept the enclosed donation as I am requesting a Monk Certificate and Card. I had begun praying the hours last year... The three daily times of prayer during the day provide time for reflection, praise, and ease the daily stress of the work-a-day world. God be praised and may he bring joy to you and yours. Being of Scot-Irish descent, I find your web pages heartening and wonderfully inspiring. Together in Christ, John F. (North Carolina) 4/9/08___________________________________ My name is Brian and I happened upon The Prayer Foundation ™ website several months ago. I really feel that finding you was a direct response from God to my prayers. For a long time, I have felt a strong tug at my heart to be a part of a Christian order, but until now have not been able to find an order in which I could place my heart. I have been following the daily prayer outlines you have provided within the site for some time now and have been wonderfully delighted with how they have helped me connect to the Father more and more intensely each day, but even more by having structure in my prayer. I have been connecting with those around me more deeply and have felt like a more effective witness to the Peace and Joy that the Father promises. Please accept my check in support of all you are doing, and also for a Monk Certificate & Card so that I may join you in your endeavors. Thank you so much for your time and I look forward to sharing in God's promises with you. Your brother in Christ, Brian S. (Michigan) 4/8/08___________________________________ Survey: 4/7/08___________________________________ Survey: 3/8/08___________________________________
I wanted to tell you all how much I love your
website. I came across it when I was looking for the Saint
Patrick's Breastplate prayer. Your prayer
page is excellent and it gave me some great ideas for my
prayer times. The Lord's been working on me about praying more
and I'm excited to try some of your
suggestions.
God bless you!
Tracy W. (Missouri)
2/13/08__________________________________
Dear Monk Linda,
Do consider Elizabeth
Elliot for a write up...I believe there is a movie about her
now.
Love your website.
Blessings,
Georgia S.
(Tallahassee, Florida)
2/6/08__________________________________ Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, I am writing to tell you that your website is helping to change my life. I was raised in the church and have been a Christian for many years, but I was a lazy Christian. I rarely read the Bible, quit going to church because it became too political, and generally only prayed when I wanted something. Several months ago, however, I found your website and made a promise to myself, and God, that I would start the New Year by "Praying the Hours" daily. I've stuck with it and can honestly say, I'm starting to see a change in myself. And I know I'm doing something right because I'm now being attacked on all sides by the enemy. Even more recently, I've started praying for the prayer requests that come in on the prayer chain page and I feel that my prayers are being heard and making a difference. My prayer has become so much more than it was before and I feel like I'm actually making a connection with God now. I've read more of the Bible in the last four weeks than I've read in the last four years, and I truly believe the Holy Spirit is guiding me. My main purpose in writing is to ask to become a monk in The Prayer Foundation ™ with Postulant status. I want to thank you for such a great ministry. I have found so many resources via your website and I really feel like I'm growing in my walk with Christ. I'm going to start directing others to your Site and I'm also going to start listening to Dr. McGee's radio program in the coming weeks. Thank you again for all that you do. In Christ, James G. (Florida) _________________________________________________________________ Next Previous Page of Letters (Page 78) Copyright © 2008 S.G.P. All rights reserved. Next Topic Past "Your Comments" Index
|
"So we pray because we were made for prayer, and God draws us out by breathing Himself in." -P. T. Forsyth, "The Soul of Prayer"
|
|||
Your
Comments:
™
