Lots to Learn!

When do you Pray?  Is it just when you need something?  Maybe it's only after you make a mistake or have to ask God for forgiveness for something you did.  Maybe the only time you pray is during church when the congregation is praising God  and giving thanks to him for his provision in your life.  These are all great reasons to Pray, but someone who might be considered to have "A Praying Life" embraces all of these types/modes of prayer.  The Psalms are packed full of prayers!  They are demonstration to us of the many different types of prayers that we can engage in our daily walk with the Lord.  For example, Psalm 12 is a prayer for help.  Prayers for help are probably the most abundant type of prayer that God hears his people pray.  It is great to ask for help, but we shouldn't just stop there!  In fact, Psalm 13 is what I like to call a prayer of expression.  The psalmist doesn't just ask for something, but expresses his true feelings about the situation.  His heart is laid bare before the Lord.  When we start to express these true kind of prayers, then we are beginning to have "a praying life."

Sometimes we just jump right into asking for things and we forget that part of prayer is confession and Adoration.  We forget to speak of God's amazing grace and abundant provision in our lives.  We forget that he is the Almighty God of the universe.  God wants us to tell him how great he is because it shows our allegiance to him alone.  It is important to express our true feelings to our Father in heaven, but we must also realize that he is our King and Creator.  While we can talk to him like our friend, we should also humbly bow before him in adoration.  And that type of humility should lead us to confession.  When we see his perfection compared to our great imperfection we are brought to our knees.  Confession should be a daily part of our prayer life.  Psalm 51 is a prayer of David after he realized his sin with Bathsheba.  This prayer is a model of confession for us.  We too should come before the Lord crying out, "Be Gracious to me O God, according to your loving-kindness; according to the greatness of your compassion blot out my transgressions."

Finally, it is important to remember to give God thanks!  Psalm 100 is one of many thanksgiving prayers in the psalms.  "Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise!"  With all that God provides for us daily we have so many reasons to be thankful.  Not the least of which is our salvation through Jesus Christ!  Prayer should express all the aspects that we find throughout the Psalms.  Do prayer in all these ways?

Sunday Night

The principle scripture of the Refuge is Psalm 18:2.  It says, “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take REFUGE; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”  When the storms of life come, we often take refuge in other things.  We run to relationships, alcohol and drugs, status and popularity, or even video games and TV.  All of these things help us forget about our problems temporarily, but they never provide a solution.  The Lord is the only One who can provide safety in salvation for us from the storms and battles of this life.  Where do you run to when the storms come?

If your answer is God, then we also have a duty to provide a refuge for others.  We are the instruments that God uses to provide refuge for others.  In a sword fight, the sword is important to fight off the enemy.  However, without the fighter wielding the sword there would be no contest.  God uses us as his sword to provide salvation and safety for others!  It is our duty as ones who take refuge in His Kingdom.  We provide a refuge for others by carrying out the principles and values of The Refuge:   Requesting God’s Guidance,

Elevating God in Worship, Fortifying God’s Kingdom through evangelism; Understanding God’s Word to encourage ourselves and one another; Giving to the Community in Faith through service and finance; and Enjoying Fellowship with other believers.  These are the 6 Reinforcing principles of the Refuge that guide and direct us to providing a refuge for others.  

We also value certain things based on our beliefs about God's Word and Work in this world:  

            1.   By striving to study God’s Word more than (or at least in a proportional amount) as we send text messages.  The Bible is God’s revealed Word and if we want to hear his voice and be sure that the shooting star means what it really is then we have to take the time to read it and allow the God of the universe to speak to us.  The Bible is God’s inspired and inerrant revelation which teaches us what to believe concerning God and the world!
2.       We strive to turn our eyes to the worship of Jesus more than we turn on the TV, or video games or open our magazines.  We do this in quiet times, times of personal prayer, youth refuge meetings, and in corporate worship on Sundays.  Jesus Christ is the central focus of all scripture and therefore the central focus of our lives, our worship, and our teaching.
3.       We strive to go Deeper with God than we do in our normal “hey, how you doing relationships.”  Are you just casual friends with God?  Since the Bible is God’s Word we desire to learn how to apply it to our lives and make it real for middle school and high school students.  While many of our relationships with “friends” are just surface relationships that don’t go deep, we strive to have a deep relationship with the Lord.  One where we can be real and honest with him, all while showing Him how much we love Him.    
4.       We don’t make cliques, we make disciples.  Since we are called us ambassadors for Christ we realize that our lives are not our own, we are bought with a price.  Therefore we don’t just live for ourselves.  Cliques form when we just think about ourselves and a little bit about a few people.  At the refuge we enjoy a true fellowship.  A koinonia that stems from a common fellowship with the Holy Spirit.  It is the fellowship that attracts others to the Lord.  They see something different in us and so they listen to the message of the gospel when we share it with them.
5.       We skip the small talk in order to get into each other’s lives.  As children of the most high God and as the refuge we are a family of brothers and sisters.  Therefore we are committed to asking real questions about one another’s lives so that we can be accountable and hold other’s accountable to the truth.  

d Are we holding to our values and our principles??