Eric Clapton And Prayer

Eric Claptonis best known for his guitar licks and blue hits. But, the past ten years, his days have begun and ended in prayer.
Clapton wasn't always a Believer. He spent many years running from God and the faith he knew as a young man. Failing through a month of rehab in 1987, Clapton fell to his knees and finally "surrendered" to God, dedicating his sobriety to his newborn son, Conor. Four years later, when Conor died in a fall from the window of a 53rd floor of a Park Avenue apartment, Clapton admitted, "There was a moment when I did lose faith." Still, he found the strength to present a session to his Alcoholics Anonymous meeting on "handing your will over to the care of God". Afterward, a woman confessed that he had taken away her "last excuse" for drinking, a confirmation to Clapton that "staying sober and helping others to achieve sobriety" is "the single most important proposition" in his life.

In his autobiography,Clapton elaborates on the beginnings of his prayer life — that 1987 rock-bottom moment at the rehab treatment center.

"I was in complete despair," Clapton wrote. "In the privacy of my room, I begged for help. I had no notion who I thought I was talking to, I just knew that I had come to the end of my tether … and, getting down on my knees, I surrendered. Within a few days I realized that … I had found a place to turn to, a place I'd always known was there but never really wanted, or needed, to believe in. From that day until this, I have never failed to pray in the morning, on my knees, asking for help, and at night, to express gratitude for my life and, most of all, for my sobriety. I choose to kneel because I feel I need to humble myself when I pray, and with my ego, this is the most I can do. If you are asking why I do all this, I will tell you … because it works, as simple as that."

Excerpt from ChristianityToday.com

TOPIC: Amish Struggle with Forgiveness as Reality of School Killings Sets In
The Amish community which suffered the tragic schoolhouse shooting earlier in the month is taking it day by day to forgive the killer in the face of overwhelming grief.
by Maria Mackay
It is a daily struggle to live Jesus’ message of forgiveness for the Amish community in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, which lost five girls at the start of the month in a schoolhouse shooting. This week the President of US ministry Faith and Action, the Rev. Rob Schenck, hand-delivered hundreds of prayers in binders for the victims of the massacre and their families, as well as for the family of the shooter, married father-of-three Charles Carl Roberts.
Reverend Schenck was one of very few outsiders to be given the privilege of personally visiting the families of the children in the days immediately following the tragedy. The families of the slain girls generously allowed Rev. Schenck to participate in and witness firsthand some of their most intimate and private moments of grief, which included the preparations of the girls for their funerals by their grieving mothers and relatives. Rev. Schenck spent time with the family of Charlie Roberts shortly after Amish representatives assured them that the community forgave Roberts and laid no charge against the Roberts family.
Rev. Schenck’s experience with both the families of the victims and of the perpetrator was one that profoundly touched him and the extent of their forgiveness challenged immensely his own witness to the gospel’s message to "love our enemies". He noted that at the time of his early pastoral visits, Amish church leaders explained that it would become progressively more difficult to sustain forgiveness as time passes. Mr. Schenck saw that in his most recent visits. In a statement released after this week’s visit to the Amish families, he said,

“The Amish will tell you they are far from perfect. They struggle just as all of us do. Some of the family members told me this week they are having a very difficult time with their feelings as the reality of their loss settles in. The grandfather of one girl told me in tears he must depend on God each and every day for the strength to continue forgiving the man who killed his granddaughter and wounded the other children so terribly. Once again, these people are living out the gospel in front of us. Our experience with God's forgiveness is a daily one. Forgiving others is a process. No one is perfect. The Amish, like any of us, are struggling with their humanity. That's why God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to us. And it's why we need His Spirit to help us. There are many dimensions to this terrible event. We are only now beginning to learn from it. The Amish say that's why God allowed it, to teach us something."

As someone who knows the loss of a brother, I can empathize and certainly understand the feelings these Amish families are facing. It is also with much sadness that I confess understanding for their struggle with forgiveness on a daily basis. Pray for the families, the community and our country. We ALL need to be more aware of and compassionate towards the people around us.

TOPIC: Life Is Short; P_ay Hard!

Devotion by Woodrow Kroll & Tony Beckett

Perhaps you have seen this slogan: "Life is short. Play hard." Perhaps you have also seen the rewritten version: "Life is short. Pray hard." One letter makes all the difference. It is the difference between a temporal mind-set and an eternal one.
A temporal mind-set thinks primarily about the things of now. It focuses on this world as if it is all there is. The time is now because there is no other time. It embraces an "eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die" philosophy of life.
The Christ follower, however, knows that this life is only temporary; the world to come is permanent. So, we have only this much time and we better make good use of it-good use not in the sense of getting maximum pleasure as we play hard, but as we make it count for all eternity.
It is foolish to waste time. Paul, the apostle, both warns and encourages us: the time we have is limited and the days are evil, so we need to make the best use of our time to impact this world for Jesus while we have opportunity.
Opportunity is originally a Latin word that means "toward the port." When the winds and tides were favorable, the sailing ship would take advantage of the "opportunity." The days are evil, Paul says, which sounds like unfavorable winds, not favorable. Still, this is our time, our opportunity. Life is short. Pray hard.