Prayer

As I listen to many spiritual people around me, one message that God seems to be speaking loud and clear is "Pray"! Everyone seems to be in agreement that prayer is of vital importance, but for me, prayer is a subject of constant education and continual enlightenment. I am convinced that there is no right or wrong way to pray, but that as we grow spiritually our prayer methods and dialog change. I have observed that prayer is a word that means many things to many people, but for the sake of this article, I want to define prayer as being in communication with God.

Listening
The most important part of communication with God is not what we say, but what He says. We really need to say nothing as He already knows our hearts, and our needs. He feels what we feel, and He has every hair on our head numbered. Yet, we feel compelled to bring forward our list of people, places, programs, provisions, and problems to Him for His careful sorting out and of course, reminding Him what His job is (with our suggestions of how He should go about it - so as to be most pleasing to us). Let's just start sitting silently in His presence – listening, just in case He wants to speak.

Controversial Prayer Methods
Some of you reading this don’t believe in praying in tongues. That is fine, but this may give you some insight into the hearts and minds of those that do. God has shown me some things about praying in tongues this year, and I would like to share that with you. He has also shown me some things about meditative prayer or “listening” prayer, often beginning with controlled breathing and chanting. Although these methods are not accepted by all Christians - and are even sometimes regarded as false doctrines, I am not trying to make any religious statements here. I am simply sharing some spiritual observations.

No matter where I go from here – I’m going to alienate some readers, because the mind can not hold two conflicting thoughts as truth, and I understand that we are constantly challenged with new conflicting thoughts. Both tongues, and meditation are ugly words in some Christian circles, and beautiful gifts in others.

Here it is.
I believe that as we are spiritually transformed to become an extension of God Himself, our body becomes His body, and our heart, our mind, and our will are also transformed by His spirit to become one with Him, as we yield to Him. It is in our yielding to His will, that we allow ourselves to be broken and stretched and then reshaped or transformed.

I have noticed that there are stages of spiritual growth, and that certain prayer methods become obsolete in the next stage, as freedom abounds and certain boundaries are no longer needed or are even valid. Here’s what I mean. If you drive to work and park your car in a designated parking area, observing the boundaries painted in the pavement, you are being obedient and loving. If you take the bus to work, you have no need to follow parking lot rules because they don't apply to passengers on the bus. You have chosen a different method of transportation that operates with different guidelines.

With tongues or with meditation, you have chosen a different method of communication with God (other than a spoken understandable language). The beauty of these methods are in their purpose, not in their function. Whether you are praying in tongues or chanting - these are not natural or normal behaviors for people in early stages of spiritual growth. These people would be so taken back by the behavior, that they couldn't begin to understand a deeper meaning of purpose.

Tongues
Prayer language that is gifted to us by God is a concept that is hard to grasp by anyone not aquainted with it. In a nutshell, it is speaking a language understood by the spirit and not the mind. Even more difficult to understand than that, is how God speaks to us as we are the one speaking. I have experienced this, but can't explain it. I gain understanding that surpasses knowledge. In other words, I begin to learn things and know things without reading a book or having any logical mindful input - by just practicing that heavenly language. In other words, we position ourselves to hear from God and to practice His presence within us.

Meditation
Meditation is being willfully silent and yielding to God's presence. To quiet one's self down and to become receptive and totally yielding to God, there are many pre-meditative exercises used to accomplish this state of consciousness. Breathing techniques and chanting are the most commonly used.

Christian meditation is a form of silent prayer that yields the same result as praying in tongues. To listen to Him and to behold Him is this result. For us, it is for one purpose, to love God - to yield ourselves to the power and presence and will of God for our lives.

I have observed the lives of many spiritual leaders that have healing ministries. They have one thing in common. They practice the presence of God for hours every day - usually through speaking in tongues or through meditative prayer - sometimes both.

My prayer for you is that you would take the time to practice the presence of God for hours every day. To listen and to yield to His love in all that you do. See Him in others, and in all of His creation. He is there. If you seek Him, you will find Him in the quietness of your own heart, for He is within you.

God bless you,
David R. Thayer
Net2Church Global Ministries

Phase ll Net2Church Web Communities

Phase l was to build an interactive Christian community for the Monadnock region, http://www.themonadnock.org in southern New Hampshire, providing pastors with a means to communicate online in one location, where their voice to the community would be heard, and their website could be linked. This Phase began in September of 2004 and was ended in July of 2006.

Phase ll launched on November 1st of 2006, was to build an all new robust dynamic content management system for all of the businesses and organizations in the Monadnock region with the intention of placing the Christian community neatly inside of it - somewhat already established.

Because of the costs, including time and expertise involved, Phase ll was created to operate as an enterprise, not as a ministry. TalkRite Communications is the enterprise hosting the commercial side of this venture with the ministry of Net2Church continuing in the hosting of the Christian community that will be re-launching by January 1st as a free service.

The all new system now being operated by the business community brings many new easy-to-use systems to the local church community. Churches will be able to create a web page right inside the community. They will also have an internal email system that can be used online without the downside of exposing an email address to the spammers. The greatest advantage though, is the ability to be tied into the commercial side http://themonadnock.com and still be able to operate serarately as a stand-alone Net2Church region.

Net2Church is looking to expand this regional ministry concept all over the world. It is the http://TheMonadnock.com regional communities that is currently serving as the model for expansion and possibly franchise opportunities for Christian entrepreneurs to provide these same commercial services with TalkRite Communications and the expansion of the Christian communities through the associated ministry of Net2Church Global Ministries.

Phase lll? Absolutely. We will be folding in consumer benefits inside of a consumer based community, to interact with the other two. Stay tuned. It's getting better all the time.

God bless!
David R. Thayer

New England Home Fellowship Group Pastors' Retreat

Net2Church Global Ministries is sponsoring the first Home Fellowship Groups of New England conference and retreat. This retreat is for all who are engaged in leading home fellowship ministries of any type, but is particularly for those acting as home fellowship pastors and their spouses and for those that they invite, as well as for those seeking to minister with these groups.

The purpose of this gathering is to help these pastors to develop relationships throughout New England with other home fellowship pastors, and to share their vision and testimonies with others for home fellowship ministry in general.

Spring of 2007 (Exact date yet to be determined)
Intervarsity's Toah Nipi Christian Retreat Center in Rindge, NH is the location for this extraordinary event. Come and take part in this gathering as we address the question; What is God saying to the home fellowship pastors, and why is it time to enable them to build a network and encourage itinerant activities throughout this network?

The setting for this retreat is a wilderness setting with a pond, miles of hiking trails, and plenty of area to find quiet and solitude to practice the presence of God, either alone or perhaps with a spouse.There are rooms available for this overnight retreat on a pre-registration basis, provided without cost through the generosity of Gregg Hodgson, Director of Toah Nipi, who's only request is that we pay for meals ($20/ea) and take a love offering instead of the normal $50 overnight fee. WOW!

We will gather on Sunday afternoon for introductions beginning at 1:00PM as people begin to arrive throughout the afternoon, and break bread together for an evening meal and time of sharing between 5:00 PM and 6:00 PM. Following dinner, we will have a time of quiet gathering campfire-style with acoustic instruments and open discussion, as well as worship and prayer, all mixed in as the Lord leads.

Monday morning is a time of solitude and a time to seek God in all of His creation in this beautiful New England nature setting before gathering to break bread again (breakfast). Following breakfast we will gather for corporate prayer and discussion of any prophetic word that might be shared for everyone's benefit before breaking bread (lunch) one last time. The afternoon will be a time of "raising a joyful noise-style" worship and "free time" to network or enjoy the surroundings again before departing.

Please come, take part, and let us get to know you.
Let us know soon for the planning of food and rooms!

In His love,
David R. Thayer, Director of Ministries
Net2Church Global Ministries