Great to have this

[tropicalsun]

I am excited about this new forum and will be checking it daily!

God bless,
Tropicalsun

[Bay Gal]

I'm excited too, and glad to have you with us!

[seawings]

I was raised in Catholic schools, raised our children in the Methodist Church (even taught Sunday school for many years) however, it wasn't until we returned to my wife's Baptist upbringing did I ever know how to pray extemporaneously…and I am still not good or comfortable in a group. Here’s were the 2Cool group has been a great value to me…I started putting prayers together for those in need. They are not graceful and crafted like Mrs. B’s but they have been a stretch for me and a great help in my public prayer life. For allowing my first steps I thank everyone for their patience. I love this new site!

[activescrape]

That's great to hear seawings. It is definately a journey and it consists of endless steps, some big and some small. You can rest assured that your creator is pleased at your willingness to pray on this forum. But more for your sake than his. He knows your heart and that is what he is so happy about. Sorry for preaching, I'm just happy too.

[Mrs Backlasher]

Welcome, tropicalsun!

I think I'll probably come here first thing when I check in on 2Cool, and the last thing before I turn it off.

Seawings, thank you for your testimony about growing in your prayer life. It's an adventure, isn't it?

The first time I ever prayed out loud I was in my 20's and I was scared to death. I was at a house prayer meeting leading up to a revival week at our church. My pastor was there, and someone said, "Let's just pray around in a circle." Oh, NO! I'll make a fool of myself right here in front of my pastor. I figured when it got to me I'd just say "Pass" and let them go by me.

But by the time it was my turn to pray, I had thought of one sentence to pray. When I finished that sentence, something else had come to me. When I prayed that, I thought of something else, and so on.

That was a startling experience for me. I had always thought that everybody knew everything they would say before they started to pray. And I found out, all you have to do is START praying! Then the Spirit of God will lead you in what to pray for. Amazing!

Another learning experience for me was "sentence prayer." In a group, you can either go around in order, or just be spontaneous as to who prays next. But each person is allowed to pray only one sentence. You can do this by topic, so that everyone prays their sentence on the same subject, then start over with another subject. Or the subject matter can be spontaneous as well. This is a way to include folks who are unaccustomed to praying out loud, as they feel more comfortable knowing they only have to pray one sentence.

Baby steps. I think God loves watching us grow.

[luv2fish]

The Lord works us in the most interesting places, does't HE?
GOD is just 2cool