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chrisaltrock

Chris Altrock is an author, spiritual director and preacher, serving as the Senior Minister at the Stamford Church of Christ. He and his wife Kendra are parents to Jordan and Jacob.

Learning to Pray His Way #7: Prayer and Pain

Days of Darkness

 Twenty-five days.  Two years.  Three countries.  Four states.  And darkness all around.

             As I often do, I spent the beginning of a New Year reflecting on recent and not-so-recent events.  In the quiet moments of early-morning meditation, I sensed a pattern.  A disturbing pattern.  I began jotting down dates and details to put words to my intuition.  It was the morning of January 19, 2010.  I sadly realized that for the past twenty-five days, I had witnessed too much pain in the lives of too many people.

            Read More »Learning to Pray His Way #7: Prayer and Pain

On Our Knees: Praying For All (Eph. 6:18-20) Jan. 17, 2010

I’ve decided to devote at least part of 2010 studying the prayers of Jesus.  I’ve already spent several weeks immersing myself in the prayer-life of Jesus.  And one thing I am struck by is the simple fact that Jesus prayed.  I often think of prayer as the pathway to two things: resources and relationships.  I pray in order to gain resources I cannot produce myself.  And I pray in order to gain a deeper relationship with God which I cannot deepen in any other way.  Yet on both of these counts, it would seem that Jesus would not need prayer.  Consider resources.  Jesus had the power to create most resources by himself.  He had the power to create food—multiplying fish and loaves.  He had the power to heal illness—from blindness to leprosy.  He could control the weather—stilling a storm with just a phrase.  Why would someone like that even need to pray?  What resources would Jesus require that he could not produce himself?  In addition, consider the issue of relationship.  Jesus is God.  He and the Father are one.  If one purpose of prayer is to cultivate intimacy with God, it would appear as if Jesus already has the deepest intimacy possible.  He is so intimate with God that he is God.

 Read More »On Our Knees: Praying For All (Eph. 6:18-20) Jan. 17, 2010