Prayer

I am trying to figure out how to be Christ's. It used to be it was easy for me to get chatty in prayer, driving around the Baltimore beltway. Everyone prays on that thing.. Anyway, I tried the Christian Siruis channel today and SHOCK! that new safe for the whole family poorly-played-pop schlock just ain't getting me there.

~From the Imago Dei site~
The church of God is those called to be saints who call upon the name of Jesus Christ. (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:2)
{I "call upon the name" mostly when I am late, when the kid is fussing, when I'm tired and need to play a passage right before I quit, when I wanna finish a mile without wussing out. Whining at rather than calling upon.}

Prayer is essential to and inseparable from the new life brought by Jesus Christ. Without it, no one has ever placed a valid claim on the name Christian. The Bible tells us to, "Be constant in prayer." We understand this to be so fundamental that the church of God can be defined as those who "in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ." Imago Dei desires to cultivate a great understanding of the freedom prayer offers to every believer. This comes first by understanding what God's Word teaches us about prayer, for God is himself the designer of this wonderful communion with him and the one calling us to participate in it. "Seek the Lord," God invites. And again he says, "Call upon him." (Isaiah 55:6) Gathering for prayer together is how we as a community of believers can share in this communion with God. We get to develop relationships with one another at a very authentic level as we listen in on, agree with, and are encouraged by each other's prayers.

Psalm 32:8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.

{I would so totally get away with life as a Christian in name only if it weren't for prayer. No way to fake that.

This week at Imago this lithe chick (well she was.) spontaneously walked up to the front left of the stage while we played and started dancing. I could not stop staring at her. She looked pretty natural doing it, not Napoleon Happy Hands Clubesque or anything, but it made me SO UNCOMFORTABLE. I think I may prefer to see some one cry or writhe around (writhe, lithe, blithe). Anyway... she can dance her faith in front of hundreds of people and I can't even pray well alone in the shower.}

This isn't her. She looked way cooler, but this is generally the face of liturgical dance, right? Everyone church of a certain size seems to have one of these around Easter.