Sometimes you read something that makes you pause and examine your assumptions about spiritual experience. I had one of these moments yesterday when I read this quote by Oswald Chambers:If God is taking us into the understanding that prayer is for the glorifying of His Father, He will give us the first sign of His intimacy—silence. The devil calls it unanswered prayer.
My initial reaction was direct and visceral. Chambers was giving in to a penchant for overstatement—and he was wrong. To say that “silence” is a reasonable answer to prayer seems to come dangerously close to incoherency. But for some reason, however, Chambers' assertion stuck with me.
That’s why I’m offering the above quote as a Blogger Limelight topic. (If you’re wondering how Blogger Limelight works to provoke thought, discussion, and extra blog traffic, read the Blogger Limelight explanation.)
What do you make of Chambers' statement? Do you violently disagree? Or does his assertion contain some truth? If so, how much—a few grains, or a whole sackful? At the bottom of this is the question of what we actually should expect, experientially, when we pray to God the Father.
Any thoughts? Mine are percolating…
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Wondering how this works?
1. Write a post on the above topic.
2. Link back (see code below) with the button.
3. Leave a comment so others can read your take.
Voila, instant Limelight.
Here's the code you'll need to link back.
<a href="http://bittersweetblue.blogspot.com/2005/12/inaudible-answers-to-prayer-blogger.html"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/63/438/400/Blogger%20Limelight%20copy.1.jpg" border="0" alt="Are you in the Blogger Limelight?" title="Are you in the Blogger Limelight?"/></a>
Friday, December 16, 2005
Inaudible Answers to Prayer? (Blogger Limelight)
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16 comments:
Okay, I like this one. I'm in. But it'll have to wait until tonight or tomorrow.
Technical advice
To write code that can be copied and pasted, use < and > to enclose the tags. The correct characters will be displayed on the page. They correspond to the "less than" and "greater than" signs.
<a href="http://bittersweetblue.blogspot.com/2005/12/inaudible-answers-to-prayer-blogger.html"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/63/438/400/Blogger%20Limelight%20copy.1.jpg" border="0" alt="Are you in the Blogger Limelight?" title="Are you in the Blogger Limelight?"/></a>
You shouldn't require your readers to waste time replacing brackets when they could be writing their posts :).
Hey Grace, keep in mind, there is no length requirement for posts. An extremely lucid person might be able to treat this topic in a couple paragraphs. :)
Thanks for the tech help, Bagel. I've been waiting for the day when I'd discover how to post code accurately... The code has been fixed up accordingly!
I don't have enough for a whole post, but it puts me in mind of God's directive, "Be still and know I am God." Very difficult for some of us sometimes.
this is one to mull ovre... both personally and as a challenge to get out there and write...for "real"
hi ariel,
two thoughts:
1. you are such a tech nerd. i have no idea about half of what you have on your sight. the right side of it is like yiddish to me.
2. thanks for blogrolling me and listing me as "an articulate voice from seattle" made my day
Okay, here's my take:
A Mile from the Beach...: Inaudible Answers to Prayer?
Just a note to say I blogged this:
silence?
And here's my post: Mysterious Answers to Prayer.
It's good to see some new participants this time around! (And the question is still open.)
Will's joined the party, too over at iconnoone.blogspot.com.
I don't know if the moment has passed, but here is my post.
Merry Christmas.
John, it's not too late. This post is still getting traffic. In fact, it won't be officially "closed" until the next Limelight post appears (if then).
However, I need to find a way to keep the current Limelight topic more visible. Maybe a button at the top of the sidebar? I'm open to suggestions.
Ariel,
In the sidebar, you might consider setting up a link list of the Limelight topics so that they all are ALWAYS visible (assuming, of course, you're pleased with the topics and would like visitors to know about them)
Dig that alliteration!
I like your idea, John, maybe as much as you liked that alliteration. ;) If I could save space by making the Limelight topic list appear as a pop-up menu, I'd be really inclined to do it.
I may have to tinker with this...unless one of this blogs resident tech genuises volunteers to help out.
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