Doris,

I tried answering your skype call last night but I had a lap full of 
miniature dachshunds.  You probably have never heard of a dachshund being a 
German and all, haha.  Anyhow, both times you called, I got my phone out and 
was trying to answer but the dogs were rolling all around and playing in my 
lap and wrestling with each other.  They nearly made me drop the phone.  I 
answered your text with text because I could quickly dictate my reply to you 
instead of calling back.  We'll get connected one of these days but my voice 
makes me sound 90 years old some times since I have been having trouble now 
with my vocal cords for over two years.  Concerning prayer, read Vicki's 
post and then my 2 cents worth when I replied and you will gain a great deal 
of insight to just how easy it can become in learning how to pray without 
ceasing.

Phil.





----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Doris and Chris" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, August 04, 2013 5:37 PM
Subject: Re: Pray Without Ceasing


> I'm afraid I have no formula or direction about feeling or knowing the 
> presence of God. This is why I wanted to actually talk rather than type in 
> skype last  night and attempted to contact you that way.
>
> Being with God or in God is not about feeling or knowing. It is about 
> being. "God is in the middle". he is. it is where he belongs. he is in and 
> around within and without. it is like with air. You can breathe it. it 
> sustains you. you know it is there but you cannot touch it or feel it or 
> rationalize it. it just is.
>
> I am not a very religious nor a very pious person. I am not a strong 
> believer at all. I get frightened easily. I like to have t hings planned 
> and set out and controllable. More often than not, God says "no" to that 
> sort of thing. And, yes, I can choose to trust him, but I do not do that 
> often, not consciously. and not even when I accepted Christ, I never did 
> formally in some 4-step prayer. My journey of faith is a process. AS a 
> very little girl, I read the Bible stories along with fairy tales and folk 
> tales. My parents are/were nominal church tax paying members of Germany's 
> Protestant Established Church. "Religion" in Protestant and Catholic 
> flavors is taught in school here and I pparticipated until sleeping in an 
> hour longer twice a week was more appealing to me. My folks did not care.
>
> I graduated to a "real" Bible from my children's Bible in 2nd grade and 
> plodded along till the stories started to repeat in Chronicles and I 
> decided I probably had a misprint of the Bible that had stuff double.Later 
> as a teen, I read some of of Revelation because I had seen some horror 
> movies that had Revelation as the background.
>
> As a young adult, finally, I began reading the Bible for language 
> enjoyment because my 9th grade English teacher had mentioned that the KJV 
> Bible's language was very similar to that of Shakespeare's who I loved. It 
> was there in passages from the Psalms and the Prophet Isaiah that I had my 
> first glances of the Messiah that touched my middle and had me seek more.
>
> Add to that a car accident that I was involved in at age 18, being out of 
> work after graduating high school, and I was looking for my purpose in 
> life and my place in the world and I was getting about ready to harvest. 
> Yet it wasn't for another several years until I actually committed to the 
> Lord , not in a one-time decision but over a period of time. And my 
> background is as colorful here as all the rest of my walk with the Lord. 
> The resources I had was a pre-Vatican II Catholic Cathetcism, the Lutheran 
> (ELCA) supported American International church I attended, , friends from 
> all kinds of different backgrounds.
>
> The color in my llife and walk with the Lord extends to this day. During 
> our first time in the U.S., Chris and I managed to run into a group of 
> Christians blacklisted with the leadership at the college we were staying 
> at because they did not confirm to that denomination's background.
>
> It's not how we do it nor always why we do it though our motivation should 
> be to place God first. It is just us being really, me being.
>
> A book Chris and I are currently reading together hits upon this subject 
> but I'll post about that separately.
>
> In His Loving grip!
>
> Doris
>
> s
>
>
> At 02:03 PM 8/3/2013 -0600, you wrote:
>>Doris, I like hearing about how people feel concerning the experience of 
>>being present with God at all times and in every are of their lives.  I 
>>ask you the same question I asked Rhonda; how do you know this is 
>>happening and how would you explain to others just exactly how this works 
>>in a practical way.  In other words, how do you get to that point you 
>>describe?  Is it how long you have been born again, how much you read the 
>>Bible, how long you pray, is it going to church, just what allows this 
>>awareness to be active?
>>
>>Phil.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>----- Original Message ----- From: "Doris and Chris" <[log in to unmask]>
>>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>>Sent: Saturday, August 03, 2013 1:00 PM
>>Subject: Re: Pray Without Ceasing
>>
>>
>>>I'd agree with this. The longer I know the Lord, the more I become aware 
>>>of him and hope his presence to permeate every moment and area of my life 
>>>and as long as I let him have control of my life, I should be in him and 
>>>living for him and have my thoughts directed towards him and controlled 
>>>by him.
>>>
>>>Doris
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>At 02:25 PM 8/3/2013 -0400, you wrote:
>>>>Isn't praying without ceasing more an attitude of  experiencing God's 
>>>>presence in every moment, not just the action of saying a ver or 
>>>>unspoken prayer?
>>>>
>>>>Rhonda
>