Birthday:
December 15
About
I’m an action-oriented person. I like to make things happen and get things done.
God knows this about me, of course. But it doesn’t seem to influence Him much in the way He orders my life. For instance, God currently has me in another season of transition. He’s moving me out of one thing and into another—but the problem is, He hasn’t let me know yet into what! I am eager to know “the next thing.” I’m ready for Him to give me my marching orders. I want to get started already! Time’s a…
Actually, my title is misleading. When it comes to prayer, children much more often seem to “get it” better than adults do. When it comes to prayer, we would probably be more accurate to say, “So easy, an adult can do it.” But I’m only a few sentences in and I’m swerving off topic already. Let me get to my point.
This summer my church’s prayer ministry is teaching a series on prayer in children’s church. We’re teaching the kids everything from the basics (prayer equals relationship…
The enemy plays unfair. He tempts you with a thought, and then condemns you for having it! I’ve been the target of that cruel strategy far too often—as most of us probably have. We know that God says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” But somehow it’s seems easier to believe Satan’s accusation, “You are nothing but a sinner. Always have been always will be. You’ll never change, you’ll never overcome your sin. So why bother trying?”
When…
While fires raged in my beautiful city of Colorado Springs yesterday, I was at my late husband’s mother’s funeral in New York State. In the Orthodox tradition, the 90-minute service included many chanted prayers and Scripture readings. By far the most frequently sung words were, “Lord, have mercy.” They were chanted in hauntingly beautiful tones that resonated in my heart for the rest of the day and into the night.
Late last night I watched in disbelief as Internet media sources showed…
I visited a friend’s church this past weekend and was blessed. Literally. What I mean is, my friend wanted me to meet her pastor and his wife, so she introduced me after the service. After the usual exchange of greetings, Pastor Mike asked if he, Cindy his wife, and my friend could bless me. Well, I’m never one to pass up an opportunity to be blessed, so of course I said yes.
The three of them laid hands on me then Mike began. “Lord, we’d like to bless Cynthia today. Is there anything…
I often hear folks asking God for the things He promises—provision, peace, health, and safety, and the like. I do it myself, and why not? I’m His child, and He is a good Father, so He gladly concerns Himself with the things that concern me. So if the issue on my heart is something I know that He does and wants to do, then I generally ask Him to do it.
But there is another side to praying according to God’s will: As much as God loves to take care of us, it’s not all about us.…
It’s relatively easy for me to begin praying with faith and gusto for something huge, even something “impossible.” It’s not so easy for me, however, to maintain that faith and gusto when God doesn’t seem to be doing anything in response to my prayers.
I have several requests that have been on my prayer list for years. Rather, I should say they have been on and off my prayer list for years because, honestly, my enthusiasm for praying about them ebbs and flows.
A…
A friend emailed me recently, concerned because she wonders if she heard God wrong. I won’t go into specifics because hers is a very common concern among people learning to listen to God. It’s one I also experienced when I was first starting out in my two-way conversations with God. The dangers of hearing wrong seem huge:
- We could fool ourselves into hearing what we want to hear, which sets us up for disappointment or confusion
- We could hear something that leads us down a…
Some time ago, I heard someone describe a deeply painful personal situation. He shared his story in matter-of-fact tones, describing what was, what is, and, what in his mind, always will be. Day after painful day, nothing changed. Experts had weighed in: improvement is out of the question; to hope for it is a set-up for disappointment. It will never get better, it will always be like this. So in his discouraged thinking, coping and surviving are the best he can hope for.
My heart has…
Sometimes I seem to have more faith to pray for other people’s situations than I do for my own. Their “giants” seem smaller than mine. I can pray for their needs longer without being tempted to give up. I can envision miracles more easily in their circumstances than in mine. I know it doesn’t make much sense, but that’s just how it is.
A while ago, God put it on my heart to pray with unusual (for me, it was unusual) faith for a friend’s rather large burden. I am pretty sure this…
What prayer topics/groups would get "regular folk" praying at your church?
If you wanted to help get everyday folks at your church praying together in a group about topics important to them, what topics would they be most likely to respond to? Possible topics Prodigals Family members in the military Marriages Your Neighborhood or City Grown Children Serious Illness Financial needs/ unemployment singleness the lost/evangelism your church other (please make suggestions) Thanks in advance for your input.
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Comments
Cynthia,
I trust your thinking and know God guides you, I loved your writings in the Mag.and the blogs
I wondered if you could comment on something? Our music and the order of service is taking up so much time we don't have much time for prayer, except a prayer from our pastor. Quick and short. The woman who is now doing our music comes from the philosophy of the Purpose Driven Church, which I am aware is not really based Biblical, (no mention of the cross and redemption etc) I have mentioned to the pastor but no change. I just keep praying God opens eyes. Thank you Sherry
Thank you for referring me back to Tricia's article, really enjoyed reading it.
I found another article called Revelation of God's Glory by Prof Finney, as I was reading about Moses and he his face was shining after being with God. I thought how fun to give everyone at that prayer station a glow in the dark cross to remind them when we spend time with our Lord we shine His Glory into our world...and that we need to keep spending time with Him so we keep glowing :)
Cynthia,
In the Pray! March/April 2003 issue you wrote on "God's Glory". I really appreciated the intro and how you described God's Glory......"When He reveals His manifest presence to us, we are so overwhelmed by ..........God........
I wondered if you have come across books or Bible studies or anything else that you thought was good. We are doing what we call a prayer summit, with about 6 stations and our theme is God's Glory. God's glory: in the fruit we bear; in the prayers we pray;in the way we serve, etc.....
Any suggustions?
Thank you,
Sherry
Hi Cynthia,
I'm leading a small group that just began your book "Prayer Begins With Relationship", and I wanted to thank you for writing it. We just finished the 2nd week, and we are just completely blown away already at how it is completely changing our relationship with the Lord! It is a very powerful book and God is using it mightily already in our little group. We read in there that you are planning on continuing the series. We certainly hope so, and we can't wait for the next one - even though we haven't finished the first one yet. : )
Thank you for letting God use your journey and for writing this book. God bless you!
Thank you, Cynthia for your kind words and support. I am excited to begin to explore this website, for I do know without prayer, I don't do well!
May God bless you abundantly!
Yes, this coming fall we will celebrate 25 years in international student ministry at the University of Missouri-Columbia. We are now with InterFACE Ministries (www.iface.org) which is based in Atlanta, GA with Bob Culver. I've appreciated your good work with Pray over the years and have benefitted much from the magazine.
We attended the City Lights Urban Project (IVCF) in St. Louis over this Spring Break and met three international students who were sons or daughters of grad students we knew 20 years ago (2 from China, 1 from Mongolia). Their sons and daughters are now seekers looking into the life of Jesus and pursuing Him. It made us feel so old, Shirley remembered holding one of the girl's when she was a baby. Now she's a freshman in college. But it also caused us to rejoice to see the transgenerational impact of our ministry in their lives.
Our website is http://www.ifcolumbia.org Check out the prayer requests page and pray for us if the Lord leads. Praying for you and your ministry as I close.
In Christ,
Craig Colbert
could you join me in praying for a young adult who just got slammed three times in a row. He was well on his journey of new beginnings with the Lord and his new faith is being shaken.
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