Love OCF

Greetings and salutations OCF WA,

How many of you have been on an OCF convention before? Even i haven't. Well, i've managed to obtain some pictures of our OCF friends that enjoyed themselves so much during the camp. Just look at our OCF AUST FAMILY. My challenge to all those whom have gone for OCF convention this year is to share their experiences of your trip to others.

Just look at how happy Lemuel is :)

Next year, OCF convention will be held at Adelaide. i'm not too sure of the details yet but please do consider being part of it!

Have you all been praying for each other lately? The Bible tells us to “pray without ceasing” and “in everything give thanks to the Lord.” I hope that you have been praying without ceasing and if you can't think of anything to pray about, pray that you would attend OCF convention next year! cause i will be praying that you would attend it too!

Oh yeah, on behalf of OCF Perth, we would like to wish OCF WA a Merry Christmas and a happy new year! I know not everyone of us would have celebrated christmas or new year together but i pray that we have remembered our brothers and sisters in christ during this festive season and have kept them in prayer.

The Right Way To Pray - Bob Wells

In Philippians 4:6 it says, Do not be anxious over anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication along with thanksgiving let your petitions be made known to God. Basically prayer is simply talking to God just like you would talk to your very best friend.

God cares deeply about each and every one of our problems and is just waiting for us to come to him with those problems. The Bible tells us over and over to constantly bring our problems to our Heavenly Father. Prayer is not to inform God of something which He may not be aware of or to try to convince Him to love us more. He already knows our needs and He has certainly shown his love. Prayer's purpose is to assist us in building our relationship with God.

Why should we pray?
Prayer unleashes Gods's power so that he is able to work in our behalf. Prayer opens the channels of God's blessing. Prayer is how God accomplishes the things that he wants to see happen in our lives. Prayer opens new doors of opportunity for God to move. In fact you can view prayer like a door. You are on one side of a closed door and on the other side is God. But standing with God is all this incredible and unimaginable power. When you pray, it is you turning that doorknob and swinging that door wide open. For it is at that moment when all that power can step through that doorway and work for God's good, and for your good.

Since he respects our freedom of choice and free will, prayer enables him to step into our lives. God has limited his powers in our lives to the importance that we place on prayer. Prayer gives God the permission to do what he has been longing to do all the time. Even when we do not see anything significant occurring, God is still at work solving the problem. When there are apparently no answers, God is still is waiting for the proper time to give us the solution.

Psalm 55:22 Throw every burden upon God.
Psalm 68:19 Blessed be Our God who daily carries the load for us.
Psalm 56:9 This I well know, that God is for me.

There are four basic steps involved in the proper way to pray.

1--Bring the problem to God's attention immediately. But always keep the problem God centered and not problem centered.
2--Supplication. The definition of supplication is---a very honest and clear confession that tells God that you need his help.
3--Then focus on God and not on the problem. Keep in mind that our prayers are always to be God centered.
4--Thanksgiving. You are thankful because you know the following about our great and mighty and glorious God.

• That you can come to the Father with your problems anytime
• That he is concerned about you
• That he loves you
• That he said that he would help you
• That he will see you through this problem
• That he has the power to solve this problem
• That you trust him 100%

Let OCF UWA teach you a thing or two about studying for exams :)

One day, as the Curtin and Murdoch OCFers were drinking Easy Way bbt AGAIN (as they always do) while they were studying for their exams, they had too much pearls and forgot everything they had already studied.

So they prayed to God, "If only God could teach us a thing or two...."

This is what Will thinks, "I always try my best, that's why I've been UWA for 100 YEARS".

And this is what Jon reckons, "Who says I don't study?! I study too.... BLINDLY".

Lenard the nerd thinks, "No guys... the secret is, I study with a TABLE."

James 5:11 As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

Are pearls a problem for you? Call 1800-PRAYER and ask for God! :)

P/s: Guess what we're reading?

What does prayer mean to you?

What does prayer mean to you? Is it just another conversation with God? Or is it something you do when you come for prayer meets and Sunday services?

The power of prayer has been looked down upon time and time again. I guess this is because not many of us see the "direct effects" of prayer. But to this, let me say, PRAYER WORKS!

I will not go into detail about the theological aspect of prayer. However, I would like to share with you something that has happen to my pastor some time ago.

I come from an independent non-denominational church back home. One of the ministries back in my church deals with drug rehabilitation. My pastor cares for the center and actually overlooks the whole center itself.

Now, it all started when my pastor was having his meal. Just a typical meal in a Chinese coffee shop along the road. He was happily munching his food and then he saw him! One of the inmates of the drug rehabilitation center. Now, from what I understand, no one is supposed to leave the center without his permission and obviously he was trying to escape from the center. Now, this fellow, lets call him Mr X., had made many pre-attemptive escapes before and this was not so much of a surpirse to my pastor. To give some history to this fellow, the family had begged my pastor to take him in as not many centers would want him for various reasons and for him to be escaping right now highlights why not many centers want him.

Anyway, Mr. X suddenly looked up and spotted my pastor looking at him. He started to run. Now, having a meal and running is not a very good combination. And yes, my pastor felt that effect. He was much older and the young chap was much faster and agile.

Now here comes the power of prayer. My pastor just stopped chasing and prayed!

The guy suddenly froze!

My pastor just walked up to him and "carried" him back to his car and drove him back to the center.

As bizarre as this might sound, this is a real story.

I guess what we can pick up from this story is already found in the bible.

1 John 5:14.
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything accoarding to his will, he hears us.

Though most of the times we do not see prayers being answered quickly but this story goes to show that GOD DOES ANSWER PRAYERS!

So what does prayer mean to you?
I believe it means everything! The power of prayer under God's will shows no limits and no bounds and I guess the question that we should ask ourselves is....

Are we ourselves willing to take the first step and start praying regardless of the prospect of the answer being answer quickly or in time?

Prayers That Move the Heart of God

How to cultivate a meaningful conversation with the Lord.
by Nancy Guthrie

[A pretty long read, but I think it helps us think about how we pray. Especially helpful for those who struggle with finding a more meaningful prayer life, prayer that is more than just telling God what we want.]

My teenaged son, Matt, always has a great time when he visits my parents. And why shouldn't he? Matt gets out of bed whenever he wants, eats whatever he wants, and watches whatever he wants on TV. In fact, Matt made a grand discovery at Grandma's house during his last visit. My mother keeps a bucket of chocolate-chip cookie dough in her refrigerator that Matt enjoyed eating by the spoonful! When he returned from that visit, he began asking me to buy cookie dough from Sam's Club, just like my mom.

I know having cookie dough easily available isn't good for either of us, so I said "no" over and over … until last week. Matt's repeated requests finally wore me down.

That's one of the big differences between God's parenting and mine. God doesn't give me everything I repeatedly ask for when he knows it's not best for me. But a shallow reading of Luke 11:9-10 could lead me to think otherwise. There Jesus says, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."

Is the way to get what I want from God through wearing him down, or getting as many people as possible to ask God for it? What kinds of prayer really move the heart and hand of God?

Secret-Formula Prayer vs. Seeking Prayer

As his parent, I don't want Matt to try to get what he wants by constantly begging me for it or getting everyone he knows to gang up on me. I want to hear his heart on the matter, and I want him to hear mine. I want us to have a conversation. Isn't that how it is with our heavenly Father? Prayer is about a conversation with our loving God—not about wearing him down to get what we want.

There's so much to want—healed bodies, restored relationships, changed circumstances. But asking, seeking, and knocking aren't secret formulas for getting what we want from God; they're ways to get more of God. As I listen to God speak to me through his Word, he gives me more of himself in fuller, newer ways. Then, if healing doesn't come, if the relationship remains broken, or if the pressures increase, I have the opportunity to discover for myself he is enough. His presence is enough. His purpose is enough.

If you truly want to move God's heart, put aside secret-formula prayer and instead begin to practice prayer that seeks the Giver more than the gifts.
Prayer is changing me from someone who knew a lot about God into someone who's experiencing God in deep, though sometimes difficult, ways.

Superficial Prayer vs. Significant Prayer

Sometimes I catch myself "chatting" with God, limiting my prayers to superficial things and surface issues, never getting to the heart of the matter. And I've noticed that when others offer prayer requests, they're rarely about spiritual needs. We ask God to heal physical ailments, provide safe travel, and to "be with us."

Of course God cares about these things. But prayer is spiritual work toward a spiritual end. God wants to rub off our rough edges and clean up our character. So why do we settle for talking to him only about the superficial stuff? When our prayers move from the superficial to the significant, we invite God to do no less than a deep, transforming, igniting work in our life and in the lives of those for whom we're praying.

I've often found myself slipping into superficial mode in my prayers for Matt—asking God to keep him safe or to bless his day at school. But I really don't want to settle for those things. So my prayers have moved from the superficial to the significant. I'm asking God to shape Matt's character—even if it requires some struggle. I'm begging the Holy Spirit to ignite in Matt a passion for holiness and a love for God's Word. These are things that really matter. This is what significant prayer is all about.

Showy Prayer vs. Secret Prayer

Several years ago, at a friend's wedding, a college friend described me to her other friends as "a prayer warrior." Her comment surprised me because I knew it wasn't true. I guess I'd made a great impression with my public prayers at our weekly Bible study group in college. But the truth was, there wasn't much private prayer going on in my life.

If I'm not careful, I still can make prayer all about impressing others with my pseudo-spirituality. That's "showy prayer"—prayer that's more for others' ears than for God's. Jesus warned against this: "When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the doors and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you" (Matthew 6:5-6).

Showy prayer uses put-on voices, lofty words, and spiritual-sounding phrases; simple prayer is authentic and humble. I can perform public prayers or make claims of private prayer, and settle for the applause of people; or I can go to a secret place, shut the door, and commune with God. It's in that secret place with him you and I find our most blessed reward—not impressing others, but cultivating true intimacy with him.

Insistent Prayer vs. Submissive Prayer

Nothing's taught me more about prayer than Jesus' prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. According to Hebrews 5:7-8, "during the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered."

This moves me, because I know what it's like to offer prayers with loud cries and tears, to come before God with a broken heart and a desperate need. Several years ago, physicians told my husband and me that because of a rare metabolic disorder, our newborn daughter, Hope, would live for only two or three months.

Time seemed to be slipping away so quickly when one day, as I rocked Hope in the nursery we'd prepared for her—tears spilling down my face—I thought, I'll ask God to give Hope more time. It seemed such a modest prayer; I'd already surrendered any insistence God heal her completely. But even as that prayer formed in my mind, I sensed God calling me to submit to his perfect timing. So my prayer instead became, Give me strength to make the most of every day you give me with Hope. Show me how to rest in your plan for her life and mine.

In Hope's life and death, I learned what it is to pray to a God who has the power to make another way … but chooses not to. It helps to know Jesus understands what this feels like. Like Jesus, I've wrestled with God's plan for my life even as I've sought to submit to it. But Jesus shows me how to obey when God's answer to my sincere, reverent prayer is "no." I also see Jesus' example of obedience.

I've learned that submissive prayer is prayer that welcomes God to work in and through my suffering rather than begs him to take it away. It's thanking God for what he gives me rather than resenting him for what I lose. Submissive prayer is changing me from someone who knew a lot about God into someone who's experiencing God in deep, though sometimes difficult, ways.

Too often I still find myself merely going through the motions of prayer, but I want to pray in a way that's authentic, sincere, and effective. I'm learning to go to my heavenly Father in the way I want my son to come to me. I want to hear what Matt wants and needs. I want to respond. I want to be active in his life, doing what I know is best for him.

Our heavenly Father's no different. He has no need for a show or secret formulas, and he's not interested in keeping things superficial. He loves it when we come to him—and he simply wants to talk with us.

Copyright © 2006 by the author or Christianity Today International/Today's Christian Woman magazine.

Continue in Prayer

by G.H. Spurgeon
"And there was Anna, a prophetess... which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day" (Luke 2:36,37)

No doubt by praying we learn to pray, and the more we pray the oftener we can pray, and the better we can pray. He who prays in fits and starts is never likely to attain to that effectual, fervent prayer which availeth much. Great power in prayer is within our reach, but we must go to work to obtain it. Let us never imagine that Abraham could have interceded so successfully for Sodom if he had not been all his lifetime in the practice of communion with God. Jacob's all-night at Peniel was not the first occasion upon which he had met his God. We may even look upon our Lord's most choice and wonderful prayer with his disciples before His Passion as the flower and fruit of His many nights of devotion, and of His often rising up a great while before day to pray.

If a man dreams that he can become mighty in prayer just as he pleases, he labors under a great mistake. The prayer of Elias which shut up heaven and afterwards opened its floodgates, was one of long series of mighty prevailings with God. Oh, that Christian men would remember this! Perseverance in prayer is necessary to prevalence in prayer.

Those great intercessors, who are not so often mentioned as they ought to be in connection with confessors and martyrs, were nevertheless the grandest benefactors of the Church; but it was only by abiding at the mercy-seat that they attained to be such channels of mercy to men. We must pray to pray, and continue in prayer that our prayers may continue.

Learning to Listen

by Max Lucado

Equipped with the right tools, we can learn to listen to God. What are those tools? Here are the ones I have found helpful.

A regular time and place. Select a slot on your schedule and a corner of your world, and claim it for God. For some it may be best to do this in the morning. Others prefer the evening. Others prefer many encounters during the day.

Some sit under a tree, others in the kitchen. Maybe your commute to work or your lunch break would be appropriate. Find a time and place that seems right for you.

How much time should you take? As much as you need. Value quality over length. Your time with God should last long enough for you to say what you want and for God to say what he wants. Which leads us to a second tool you need? An open Bible.

God speaks to us through his Word. The first step in reading the Bible is to ask God to help you understand it.

Before reading the Bible, pray. Don’t go to Scripture looking for your own idea; go searching for God’s. Read the Bible prayerfully. Also, read the Bible carefully.

Here is a practical point. Study the Bible a little at a time. God seems to send messages as he did his manna: one day’s portion at a time. Choose depth over quantity. Read until a verse “hits” you, then stop and meditate on it. Copy the verse onto a sheet of paper, or write it in your journal, and reflect on it several times.

Will I learn what God intends? If I listen, I will. Understanding comes a little at a time over a lifetime.

There is a third tool for having a productive time with God. Not only do we need a regular time and an open Bible, we also need a listening heart. Don’t forget the admonition from James: “The man who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and makes a habit of so doing, is not the man who hears and forgets. He puts that law into practice and he wins true happiness” (James 1:25).

We know we are listening to God when what we read in the Bible is what others see in our lives.
Paul urged his readers to put into practice what they had learned from him. “What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, do” (Phil 4:9 RSV).

If you want to be just like Jesus, let God have you. Spend time listening for him until you receive your lesson for the day, then apply it.