Definition of litmus test
(n) Bing Dictionary
lit·mus
test
1. test determined by single factor: a
test in which a single factor determines the outcome
2. test to identify acid or base: a test
in which litmus is used to find out if something is an acid or a base
Synonyms: acid test, proof, confirmation, test, measure
Prayer is a kind of litmus test of our
relationship with God, and very often our prayers reveal who and what is most
important to us. They also expose our inner most feelings our thoughts about
ourselves and God. For example Psalm 35 is a plea for protection by David and
it is an appeal to God concerning his integrity and the justice of his cause. In
other words we can say prayer is raising
our mind and heart to God and the first part is generally easier for any one
than the second part. What I intended to say here is that prayer involves our whole person and that is mind,
heart and emotions, in a relationship with God.
Prayer is an invocation
or act that seeks to activate a rapport with a deity, an object of worship, or a spiritual entity through
deliberate communication. Prayer can be a form of religious practice, may be either individual or
communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of
words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of a hymn, incantation,
formal creed, or a
spontaneous utterance in the praying person. There are different forms of
prayer such as petitionary
prayer, prayers of supplication, thanksgiving, and worship/praise. Thus,
people pray for many reasons such as personal benefit or for the sake of others1.
Tefilah: Prayer
The Hebrew word for prayer is tefilah. It is derived from the root Pe-Lamed-Lamed and the word l'hitpalel, meaning to judge oneself. This surprising word origin provides insight into the purpose of Jewish prayer. The most important part of any Jewish prayer, whether it be a prayer of petition, of thanksgiving, of praise of G-d, or of confession, is the introspection it provides, the moment that we spend looking inside ourselves, seeing our role in the universe and our relationship to G-d2.
I want to take an earthly example to bring
my point regarding our relationship with God. Let us think of a very close
friendship or marriage and we know instinctively that a key relationship in our
life is a matter of the heart and the other person in marriage the spouse is
important to us. If this relationship is the one that is growing in love, the
other is one I want to serve and this comes naturally and I want to give myself
for. Relationships are hard to work with because it involves time and this will
fade if we have no continuing interest in spending time with and connect with
the other. In marriage, intimacy in the bedroom is an important, but a smaller
part of the relationship bond and if the hearts are not connecting in
relationship we fall apart and this intimacy in bedroom can be affected and
becomes problematic. We see that communication is the
mark of relationship and for husbands and wives it is recommended to stay
together on the earth in the natural sense and they are to exhibit the highest
level of relationship.
What do we understand by the following conversation? (Abraham
Intercedes for Sodom- Gen: 18:16-33)
16 Then the men rose from there and looked toward
22 Then the men turned away from there and went toward
So He said, “If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy it.” 29 And he spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose there should be forty found there?” So He said, “I will not do it for the sake of forty.”30 Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Suppose thirty should be found there?” So He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”31 And he said, “Indeed now, I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: Suppose twenty should be found there?” So He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty.”32 Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.” 33 So the Lord went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.
The above conversation definitely talks about Abraham’s deep relationship with God and Abraham considers God as his best friend and he keeps on talking and bargaining as if God is his friend. As Christians we are privileged people and we can pray to communicate with God and more we pray we are building relationship with God and we begin to understand Him. Apostle Paul mentions that praying consists of two components which is praying with understanding and praying with spirit; 1 Cori 14:2; 14-15, 18. This means our whole being is involved in prayer, which directly engages our renewed spirit from the Holy Spirit of God. This is not possible without our relationship with God, and there is a definite mind and heart connection while we pray.
How could prayer be a relationship with God, if it only remains a lifting of our minds to God? We need very special times of intimacy with God, but that time needs to be prepared for and built up to. To enrich our relationship with God, we have to engage our hearts and we have to learn to love Him with all of heart and mind, soul and strength. This does not come naturally to a fallen man, because we want to do it on our own, and this relationship of intimacy is a process and it is a life long journey. The more we talk to Him, depend on Him, and involve Him in our life, we begin to understand who He is and we will be able to trust Him despite our situations. That involves finding intimacy with God in the midst of our everyday busy lives, much like we do with the other important relationships of our lives.
If the above article stirs a desire for that kind of deep relationship with God, one place to begin is to let God tell us about how much He loves us. We will never know what God is telling us unless we read His Words and God says, "You are precious in my eyes and I love you." Isaiah 43:4. If we are open to God's expressions of affection towards us that can open our hearts to stir up affection in the form of grateful response. Remember it only takes a spark to get the fire going and we need to take ongoing care to keep the fire from going out if that relationship is to continue. The Word of God, Spirit of God, and people of God will help us to build that lasting relationship with God and help us improve our prayer life. Our journey is very personal to Jesus Christ and Prayer is indeed a litmus test which assesses our relationship with Him. With special care, it can become a long lasting, warm and comforting, life-long relationship.
End Notes:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayer
Prayer is an
invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with a deity, an object of
worship, or a spiritual entity through deliberate communication. Prayer
can ...
Tefilah: Prayer. The Hebrew word
for prayer is tefilah. It is derived from the root
Pe-Lamed-Lamed and the word l'hitpalel, meaning to judge
oneself.
Website References:
dailymedit.wordpress.com/2013/06/11/prayer-and-relationship-with...
2013-06-11 · Genesis 18:33: And the LORD went his way, when he had finished
speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place. Communication is the
mark of ...
Prayer as
communication within a living relationship with God.
Praying for enemies. Praying amiss. What God is listening for,
and what you might discover.
Although not part of the model prayer, when God
does ... these examples show a belief system that does not allow a personal relationship
with God. From Part ...
5. Prayer Secret #1 Your Personal Relationship
With God. This, in my opinion, is the #1 secret for being able
to get more of your personal prayers answered by God
the ...
Bibliography:
1. Millard J. Erickson. Christian Theology. Grand Rapids
2. R.T. Kendall. Understanding Theology, Developing a Healthy
Church in the 21st Century, 1996, p. 357-364.
3. Jay E. Adams. A
Theology of Christian Counseling, More than Redemption. Grand Rapids
4. Louis Berkhof. Systematic
Theology. Grand Rapids
5. Robert P Lightner.
Handbook of Evangelical Theology, Historical, Biblical, and Contemporary Survey
and Review. Grand
Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1986, p.527-544.
6. Charles Ryrie.
Basic Theology. Chicago
7. A. H. Strong. Systematic Theology. New Jersey
8. Wayne Grudem. Systematic Theology, An Introduction to
Biblical Doctrine. Grand
Rapids
9. Steven W. Waterhouse. Not By Bread Alone, An Outlined Guide To
Bible Doctrine. Amarillo: Westcliffe Press, 2007, p.188-191.
10. John Theodore Muller, Th.D. Christian Dogmatics, A handbook of Doctrinal
Theology for Pastors, Teachers, and Laymen. St. Louis, Mo: Concordia
Publishing House, 1934, p.384-386.
11.
ESV Study Bible. English Standard Version. Crossway Bibles, Wheaton Illinois
12.
The Matthew Henry Study Bible. King James Version. Iowa falls: World Bible
Publishers, Inc.
One of my personal testimonies on the power of
prayer.
(This article was published in Bay
View Glen
alliance Church ,
Toronto , Anglican Orthodox Church, North Carolina
The
Howrah
|
On February, I
fell very ill in Andhra Pradesh ,
India
It was 2:30pm in the afternoon when Bishop
John got back to me. He asked if I was all packed and ready to go, because the Howrah Express was leaving at 5:30pm . There were many people in
the room when he asked me this, and there was an indirect pressure for me to
go. Since much effort was yielded, and higher connections were sought in order
to get the confirmed ticket so quickly, I was greatly pressured into agreeing.
However, I paused and said, “Cancel the ticket, somehow I will pull along and
finish this with God’s strength.” Almost instantly, I felt a great peace within
myself. However, the people around me stared with great surprise, and it was
evident that they were puzzled. I was physically a mess; I couldn’t eat
anything, I was nauseated, and I was literally surviving on bottled water!
After a long,
sleepless night, the morning came as bright as ever. Shaking with a bottle of
water in my hands, I picked up the telephone, only to hear my mom’s voice on
the other end. A little surprised, she asked me why I wasn’t back at home.
Without much thought, I explained the previous night’s events, starting from
the Howrah Express ticket to the
troubling vision. After a long, albeit hesitant pause, my mother sighed
heavily. She finally said, “Today’s newspaper has an article about the Howrah Express. That same train
derailed, 15 coaches collapsed, 53 people died, and 50 more were injured. The
rescue team is still on the process of pulling out dead bodies, and the train
service has been suspended!” There was a deep quietness from both ends, for
what could only have been hours on end. As if finally waking up from the
world’s worst dream, my mom said, “You
are precious and God knows how to protect His own; what a miraculous way of
protection He’s thrown your way.”
Later
that same day, I called Bishop John and his family in Andhra. Thanks to the
papers and the morning news, they had already been aware of the whole situation
without me uttering a single word. We prayed together and shortly after, Bishop
John shared this testimony with more that 500 people in a prayer service. In
their language, Telungu, the people
rejoiced to the Lord, singing “Hallelujah, Praise the Lord! God is mighty, and
He is powerful. God chooses to speak to His people in His own way, and no man
can limit His ways. “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, nor the mind perceived,
what the Lord has prepared for His chosen.”
With great thanks to the Lord Almighty,
~ Dr. Elizabeth Thambiraj
Websites below show pictures of derailed train:
Howrah-Madras Express
derails. Chennai. Howrah West Bengal . Indian Railways.
Thread Tools Display Modes. ... #5 Feb 15th, 2009,
10:48. bobby2003; View ...
Train services resumed in Howrah-Chennai route February
15th, 2009 - 6:26 pm ... High-level inquiry
to probe Coromandel Express derailment - Feb
14, 2009; Jat ...
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