Ok, here's the scene. The year is 1972. The American troops were leaving Vietnam. Bellbottoms are in as well as flared collar silky shirts. You either had long hair with wings or a bowl cut...guess which one I had. We're sitting in our kindergarten class and the teacher, Ms. Asbury, is talking about how long a minute is. My mom had already taught me how to count seconds so I was ready. We were all asked to count 60 seconds. I began, in my head of course...one one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand, etc... Before I could reach 18, one of the other guys threw up his hand and yelled he was finished. The teacher smiled and said just as I thought, you all need practice. I immediately stood up and yelled I didn't need this lesson, I already knew how. To prove it I began to count out loud; so loud that I couldn't hear the teacher asking me to stop. Back in the early 70's the teachers had special ways to punish us, my teacher was no exception. While the other kids went outside to play I was left in the classroom. I was standing, arms straight out beside me with palms up and a school book balanced on each hand. All this while counting to 60. I had to do this 30 times...guess how long that recess was?
What in the world would make me remember that? I'll tell you. This past weekend I went to a men's retreat at Camp Allendale. The guest speaker was a slow southern talking minister from eastern Tennessee. His name was Tommy Oaks. Tommy told stories, he was very good at it, so good in fact that he has a Doctorate (PhD) in story telling. Dr Tommy introduced a concept that I think will revolutionize prayer. Here it is...pray for 60 seconds five times a day. Math was never my strong subject. That's 5 minutes a day, 35 minutes a week, 2 hours 20 minutes a month and finally...28 hours a year. That's more than having your own personal 24 hour prayer vigil. Pretty cool. One minute at a time. Dr Tommy was trying to get 1,000 people to sign up and take the committment to pray for one minute five times daily. That comes out to 28,000 hours a year. I don't know about you but I think 28,000 additional hours of prayer a year will make a huge difference in the world.
How do you start? Well, listen closely because here comes the tricky part. Last night I was at Wal-mart buying something to eat. It's 2am, remember I work a goofy schedule, and the only other people around are stocking shelves. I walk up to the checkout and there stands Edgar the Wal-mart night shift cash register guy. We'll call him Ed for short. Get your pen and paper ready because here it comes. I asked Ed how he was doing and he told me he would be alot better if his wive's knee would stop hurting. Inside I'm estatic, God just gave me something to pray about. On the outside I'm soaking up all I can. Ed and his wife had been married for 37 years, she has a bad knee and the surgery so far hadn't relieved any of her pain. All this started by asking "How are you?" Now...what do I do with this? As I turned to walk out I realized it would take at least a minute to walk to my truck. See where I'm going with this? One minute down, four to go, but don't stop there. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 "Pray without ceasing." Sometimes you can take that time just to thank God for what He's done for you. Sometimes you can sing to Him or simply just be quiet and listen and allow Him to speak to you.
Dr Tommy said to have a way to remind you. He and his family use an I-phone app that sounds an alarm 5 times a day. When the alarm sounds then it's time to pray. I haven't found a way to remind me yet. I don't have a fancy phone. Till I find a more fool proof method I'll rely on God to provide. The title of this weeks entry is "Sweet minute of prayer". Dr Tommy gave me permission to use and talk about this. They have a website I would encourage you to check out, sweetminuteofprayer.com. Kinda catchy.
In the immortal words of Ferris Bueller, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." Take a minute and talk to God or just let God talk to you. It's amazing, truly amazing.
Peace...
totalheel
What in the world would make me remember that? I'll tell you. This past weekend I went to a men's retreat at Camp Allendale. The guest speaker was a slow southern talking minister from eastern Tennessee. His name was Tommy Oaks. Tommy told stories, he was very good at it, so good in fact that he has a Doctorate (PhD) in story telling. Dr Tommy introduced a concept that I think will revolutionize prayer. Here it is...pray for 60 seconds five times a day. Math was never my strong subject. That's 5 minutes a day, 35 minutes a week, 2 hours 20 minutes a month and finally...28 hours a year. That's more than having your own personal 24 hour prayer vigil. Pretty cool. One minute at a time. Dr Tommy was trying to get 1,000 people to sign up and take the committment to pray for one minute five times daily. That comes out to 28,000 hours a year. I don't know about you but I think 28,000 additional hours of prayer a year will make a huge difference in the world.
How do you start? Well, listen closely because here comes the tricky part. Last night I was at Wal-mart buying something to eat. It's 2am, remember I work a goofy schedule, and the only other people around are stocking shelves. I walk up to the checkout and there stands Edgar the Wal-mart night shift cash register guy. We'll call him Ed for short. Get your pen and paper ready because here it comes. I asked Ed how he was doing and he told me he would be alot better if his wive's knee would stop hurting. Inside I'm estatic, God just gave me something to pray about. On the outside I'm soaking up all I can. Ed and his wife had been married for 37 years, she has a bad knee and the surgery so far hadn't relieved any of her pain. All this started by asking "How are you?" Now...what do I do with this? As I turned to walk out I realized it would take at least a minute to walk to my truck. See where I'm going with this? One minute down, four to go, but don't stop there. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 "Pray without ceasing." Sometimes you can take that time just to thank God for what He's done for you. Sometimes you can sing to Him or simply just be quiet and listen and allow Him to speak to you.
Dr Tommy said to have a way to remind you. He and his family use an I-phone app that sounds an alarm 5 times a day. When the alarm sounds then it's time to pray. I haven't found a way to remind me yet. I don't have a fancy phone. Till I find a more fool proof method I'll rely on God to provide. The title of this weeks entry is "Sweet minute of prayer". Dr Tommy gave me permission to use and talk about this. They have a website I would encourage you to check out, sweetminuteofprayer.com. Kinda catchy.
In the immortal words of Ferris Bueller, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." Take a minute and talk to God or just let God talk to you. It's amazing, truly amazing.
Peace...
totalheel
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