Prayer: Fact or Fiction

The most recent SoulPerSuit was a study of Colossians using Sandra Glahn's book Cappuccino with Colossians. The one thing that the group agreed on was that this letter from Paul was a very tough to study. It isn't a peanut butter & jelly sandwich kind of book but more like a Toulouse Cassoulet with a list of ingredients as long as your arm taking days to make.

About half way through the study I stalled. Prayer is not a major or even minor theme in Colossians but this is the topic that shut me down. The times prayer is mentioned (from my quick review of the book), it's not to exhort or instruct but to encourage (Colossians 1: 3-4, 9, 12; 4:12).

The reason I stalled is probably because prayer had been a slow stew in the back of my mind for quite a while. It was even difficult to admit to the group, near the end of the study, that I was struggling with prayer - prayer in all its basic and not so basic aspects, the validity and effectiveness of it. I couldn't imagine starting a conversation with, "I don't think I believe in prayer" without getting, "Are you kidding me?" in return.

When I finally got brave enough to think about what my struggles were with prayer, I was able to nail down where it was at. I don't have a problem with prayer as worship, praise, mediation, or contemplation. Where I struggle is with the requests - asking God to do something.

I've heard a wide range of things asked of God in prayer: to "open a door" or "give direction", to heal someone sick or with cancer, to come through with needed funds, or even to raise the dead. But do these prayers really have an impact? My struggle is this: if I don't ask God to heal my mother-in-law of cancer, will He not do it? Is my prayer necessary for that healing? I don't believe it is. So why do we make these prayers to ask for healing? Doesn't God have a plan? Isn't He working all things together for good? Then what role does my prayer play?

Now I know simply saying this might cause some of you to drop to your knees with wailing and gnashing of teeth, praying for my doubt but I'm not doubting prayer; I'm questioning its use. I believe I'm experiencing a healthy journey into the character of God and the practice of prayer. I mean, we've all got questions about it. Do a search on Amazon for books on prayer and see how many come up. Those books are popular for some reason. Obviously I'm not the first.

No, I don't believe prayer is fiction but maybe some of our uses of it are. That's what I'd like to find out.

I'm going to do my own study on prayer and try to discover what it is really used for, what power it has, and how we are instructed to use it. Don't ask me next week for an answer! I won't have it. I don't know if I'll ever have it but maybe I'll know God a little better. It couldn't leave me anymore confused than those 327,671 books on Amazon.

What are your questions about prayer?

Colossians Resources

Perhaps you've joined the SPS Yahoo group that's been going through Colossians--and making some cool creations, as you can see. Or maybe you're doing a study on your own. Either way, here are some Colossians resources:

Bible.org has wonderful audio messages, articles, and textual notes on Colossians.

Dr. Tom Constable, a professor at Dallas Seminary, has compiled extensive notes on the Book of Colossians. He makes his notes available online for free. You can access the .pdf file by following this link: Constable notes

Go here for Matthew Henry's complete commentary on Colossians

For online searches of biblical art relating to Colossians, follow this link to biblical art

After the NET Bible notes, my favorite commentary on Colossians is by Kent Hughes.

SoulPerSuit Colossians Study

SoulPerSuit is presently hosting a group going through the book of Colossians.
Sandi shared this great clip with me last week and I think it's a great piece to share with the entire group. And the world, at large.
Be amazed by it. Be blessed by it.

Louie Giglio- Laminin (approx. 9 mins.)

Feed Your Artist Soul

If you want to know how to use the SoulPerSuit concept to interact with spiritual truth, go here.

We have lots of new photos of cards that people have created as they've interacted with biblical truth (like the one you see here). You can click on any of the pictures you find here to see more.

If you want to do some creative activities in preparation for studying the Book of Colossians, go here.

Our Yahoo group for Colossians is full, but don't let that keep you from doing your own creative study of the book solo. Or grab some friends and go through it together. For a calendar to give you some structure, go here.

Free Giveaway: Art Supplies

It seems that watercolor pencils have recently piqued the interest of several SoulPerSuiters so I scoured the art store for a beginner set to give away. This pack contains pencils in red, blue, green and black, and comes with a round tipped brush and a 4X6 " spiral bound pad of watercolor paper. It's the perfect size to travel to the park or stay home in the backyard on these nice spring days to experiment with paint.

Wondering what watercolor pencils can do? How they work? Here are a couple of in-house reports:
Graduate Level Coloring
Watercolor Greeting Cards

In this giveaway I'm also including a fresh deck of vintage-printed playing cards for your SoulPerSuit experience.

*This giveaway is open to everyone, even if you can't join us for Cappuccino with Colossians.

To enter, leave a comment on this post and tell me whether you're a traveler or a home-body. Will you be watercoloring in the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris, or right here in River City?

I'll post the winner's name on Friday, April 11th.

Announcement: Cappuccino with Colossians

Registration is now open for the next SoulPerSuit group going through Sandra Glahn's book, Cappuccino with Colossians

If you're interested in joining this study art group, here are some things you need to know:

- Contrary to what I wrote here before, we are NOT hosting the group on ShoutLife. Sorry to misinform you, but after examining the technical details, we decided to go back to the mostly-trustworthy but at least very-familiar Yahoo group. So, if you 'd like to join the discussion, click the purple button on the right.

- This SoulPerSuit group is limited to 10 participants, so if you'd like to join the discussion, click the purple button on the right.

-Our group discussion will begin on April 13 and run for 9 weeks. Get yourself a copy of Cappuccino with Colossians, break out your deck of playing cards, the scissors and glue sticks, and click the purple button on the right.

Announcement: The Next SoulPerSuit Group

The next on-line SoulPerSuit group is going through the book of Colossians, using Sandra Glahn's book, Cappuccino with Colossians.

We'll also be moving our discussion group over to ShoutLife, which has been compared to other social networks like MySpace and FaceBook. It's going to be a big experiment for all of us. We'll see how we like it for our SoulPerSuiting purposes.

If you are interested in joining the next SoulPerSuit group, keep your eyes right here for registration announcements.
The group is open to everyone, but in order to honor all the members of the study (and let them get a word in edge-wise), our group size is limited. So you gotta get in while the gettin's good.


Things you can do to do to gear up for the next SPS group:

- Open a ShoutLife account and familiarize yourself with it's ways.

- Check back here over the month of March for the details about how and when to register yourself for the next SoulPerSuit study group.


Until then... practice your split jumps like Mr. ShoutLife up there. Or not.