Prayer and connecting with God
March 31, 2005 - We had 12 inmates in the group which is a bit larger turnout than average. It's hard to tell why the group sizes vary so much. Are there more inmates in the jail on this given day? Is there more stress in the facility? Is there a large court schedule for the upcoming days?
I had a cold, but went to prison anyway. It's tough to know when not to go. Medical help is much different in prison than out of prison. Men can't just walk to the medicine cabinet a get an aspirin. They have to wait for a medical person to be available, then in many cases they have to pay for the pills, but don't have money to do so. But in this case, I told the inmates I had a cold and tried not to shake hands with anyone who didn't want to.
Several of the guys said they had a cold in the past 2 weeks, implying I may have picked up the cold from them anyway. Interesting, huh?
One of the inmates prayed, asking God to come and join the group. We sang a couple of songs, including Amazing Grace. We have a new volunteer that played the piano and that really added a nice sound to the songs. Then we read Psalm 42 - where the writer describes wanting God so much, comparing his desire for God to that of a thirsty deer in a dry land.
We talked about what it is that each of us wants, really wants, in our lives right now.
Our main bible verse was Matthew chapter 6 - praying in your private place. I described how recently several people important to me have been wearing headphones or earphones while being with me and how I don't care for the practice because it cheapens the quality of the time they spend with me. Whether listing to books, music or a baseball game, it means they are not listening intently to me and our conversation.
We talked quite a bit about this practice and how we felt about it and if we were guilty of doing it. Then I asked the group about their typical prayer practices. Do they do anything else while trying to connect with God?
I had a cold, but went to prison anyway. It's tough to know when not to go. Medical help is much different in prison than out of prison. Men can't just walk to the medicine cabinet a get an aspirin. They have to wait for a medical person to be available, then in many cases they have to pay for the pills, but don't have money to do so. But in this case, I told the inmates I had a cold and tried not to shake hands with anyone who didn't want to.
Several of the guys said they had a cold in the past 2 weeks, implying I may have picked up the cold from them anyway. Interesting, huh?
One of the inmates prayed, asking God to come and join the group. We sang a couple of songs, including Amazing Grace. We have a new volunteer that played the piano and that really added a nice sound to the songs. Then we read Psalm 42 - where the writer describes wanting God so much, comparing his desire for God to that of a thirsty deer in a dry land.
We talked about what it is that each of us wants, really wants, in our lives right now.
Our main bible verse was Matthew chapter 6 - praying in your private place. I described how recently several people important to me have been wearing headphones or earphones while being with me and how I don't care for the practice because it cheapens the quality of the time they spend with me. Whether listing to books, music or a baseball game, it means they are not listening intently to me and our conversation.
We talked quite a bit about this practice and how we felt about it and if we were guilty of doing it. Then I asked the group about their typical prayer practices. Do they do anything else while trying to connect with God?
posted by Kathy Kolb | 9:31 AM
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