rebelling against low expectations

My Prayer Problem

By Jaquelle Crowe Ferris
January 27, 2015
1,687 comments
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I have a problem with praying. It’s pretty simple: I don’t pray enough.

Remember, Paul’s command to “pray without ceasing”? Everyday I seem to keep failing. When good things happen to me, I just enjoy them. If I was worried, I enjoy the relief. If they were unexpected, I enjoy the surprise. And I forget each gift has a Giver.

But there is one thing that always draws me to prayer. It’s a tummy ache. When I feel immediate, annoying pain, I pray. And I usually pray until the tummy ache eases or I go to bed and fall asleep.

So why can I pray without ceasing when I’m in pain? Simply enough, it’s rooted in my own pride. I believe that I am strong enough, healthy enough, happy enough in my circumstances that I don’t need to go to God. But tummy aches show my weakness. And so I stumble back to God wearing my inability on my sleeve.

Tummy aches remind me that He is God, and I am not. He is strong, and I am weak. He is good, and I am proud. So I guess then that I’m thankful for them, because they draw me closer to God.

But there needs to be more. I can’t be content with half-hearted tummy ache prayers. That is not “praying without ceasing.” It is “praying when you darn well feel like it.”

That is not how a Christian should operate.

The Christian knows that prayer is a discipline to be cultivated, worked, and practiced. It is a tool of ministry, a conduit of communion with God. It is a beautiful, miraculous thing. Yet I “use” it like a telephone when I have a tummy ache.

Prayer is not meant to be “used.” It is a holy conversation. Your words go up to the King of the heavens, the Sovereign God, the divine, and He blesses you in a special way through that conversation.

I won’t continue to be content with tummy ache prayers, and if you’re like me in this sin, I pray you won’t either. Once Christians realize the blessing and beauty of true fellowship with God in prayer, how can we neglect it? It is a discipline of joy, meant to be fostered.

“Man is at his greatest and highest when upon his knees he comes face to face with God.” — Martyn Lloyd-Jones

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Photo courtesy of Lauren Rushing and Flickr Creative Commons.

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About the author

Jaquelle Crowe Ferris

is the former editor-in-chief of The Rebelution and author of This Changes Everything: How the Gospel Transforms the Teen Years (Crossway). She's the co-founder of The Young Writers Workshop and hosts a podcast for youth called Age of Minority. She's married to Joe and lives in Nova Scotia, Canada.

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1,687 comments

  • I think I’m like that too, I only pray when I need rescue. I treat of prayer as my personal 911. But in my prayers, I usually cry out to God and tell Him what I’m feeling.

  • I needed this! Prayer is so easy to cut out of my daily routine, and it shouldn’t be. If I am going to become the woman God wants me to be, I need to pray more and learn to savour that beautiful time spent with Him!

  • Good article Jaquelle! I struggle with this as well by only praying when I need something like strength or patience or courage. Now I know that I’m not the only one! 🙂 I agree that we all need to be more adamant about praying regularly, however, we don’t need get caught up in thinking that if we miss a day we are terrible people. Satan can use our desire to pray against us by making us feel terrible when we don’t pray. This is exactly what he wants us to feel: guilty. Just pray from your heart and God will appreciate that.

    Hope this helps.

  • This is just what I needed! It convicted as well as encouraged me. I want to have a sweet, consistent prayer life with the Savior. In a Bible study lesson, it was talking about how God delights in our prayers! They are like a sweet perfume drifting up to Him. He enjoyed that as much as/more than sacrifice.

    Thank you for refreshing my heart in Christ, sister! (Philemon 1:20).

  • You’re definitely not alone in this struggle, Martial Artist. And you’re right – getting discouraged by our failures and holding ourselves back from growth because of guilt is not glorifying to God. All of the Christian’s sin has been covered by the cross.

    But we need to be repentant and then let our failures motivate us to pray more. And the more that we do that, the more we cultivate prayer as a habit!

    Thanks for your comment! Blessings to you.

  • I definitely empathize with you, Rvy. It’s easy (and right) to call out to God in our times of distress; it’s just cultivating that constant prayer relationship that is so hard. But by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, we can persevere. I hope I could encourage you!

  • This is something God has really been teaching me lately. Prayer has to be continual and not just when we are in trouble. Christ says that “Without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5) and prayer is simply an outflow of that belief…it follows that the less we pray, the more we believe that we can do things on our own apart from God (ouch). Ironically, life seems to go much smoother when I pray than when I don’t. It’s something we all need to work on!

  • Wow, this (unfortunately) is exactly me… Even the “tummy ache” prayer thing! Thank you for the encouragement to truly “pray without ceasing”. God bless! 🙂

  • I also find myself not praying as much as I should, especially not thanking God or worshiping him. I’ll ask him for stuff, but I don’t just praise him out of the blue. Something that’s been helping with that though is setting a time to pray every morning with my dad. It’s great, but during the day (outside of my prayer time) I still don’t thank God a lot.

  • That’s a great idea to have that set-aside time for prayer. I’ve been trying to do that as well. The constant thankfulness is so much harder. I think it’s more about creating that attitude of thanksgiving, as opposed to just incorporating it into a single period of prayer. I know that I have trouble with that. But God is good and His grace is sufficient and the more that we pursue holiness, He will sanctify us. And praise Him for that!

  • When I read this, I have to admit I laughed at the half-hearted tummy ache prayers, because wow, that’s so me! I am so terrified of getting sick that I pray and pray and pray until it finally goes away. And while it isn’t a sin to pray about your tummy aches:) it is so true that a lot of us don’t turn to Him as often as we should, including me. And how often do we look in the mirror and find something wrong with us instead of praising God because we are fearfully and wonderfully made? Thank you for reminding me how important it is to pray in EVERYTHING, and like you said, when we realize the blessing and beauty of prayer, how can we neglect it?

  • Great reminder. I so know what you mean by the “tummy ache” prayers. Sometimes it takes a crisis for me to pray fervently. And even sometimes when my fervent prayers are answered and the “tummy ache” goes away, I still forget to thank God! One thing that has really helped me with thankfulness is keeping a “Gifts Journal”. It’s been an on and off thing for me, but I’m working on being consistent by writing down each little gift I noticed throughout my day before I go to bed. When I’m in this habit, I notice that I’m usually happier and more content, it’s even helped me get out of depression. The idea came largely from the book “One Thousand Gifts”, by Ann Voskamp. A couple of years ago it was my goal to reach one thousand gifts by the end of the year – it ended up being a fun challenge! I would encourage anyone to give the challenge a try.

  • @Rhanx97:disqus I LOVED One Thousand Gifts. I completed my list of 1,000 around Thanksgiving of 2013 after working on it for several months. It has been one of the most enriching things I have ever done in my Christian walk. It helped me to grow so much in the knowledge of just how much He loves me. Having your eyes opened to the simplest to the greatest gifts He gives in every moment of every day is a priceless treasure!! Have you read Ann Voskamp’s Advent devotional The Greatest Gift: Unwrapping the Full Love Story of Christmas? It was beautiful. We even did the video/study to go along with it at church in the weeks before Christmas.

  • Yes, my family read the Advent devotional three years ago (I think) at Christmas time. My mom told me about One Thousand Gifts after reading it herself. It changed her life! She encouraged me to start a journal when I was in a time of depression. Isn’t amazing how much God pours into our lives every day? It truly does dramatically change our perspective on things!

  • Also guilty. I usually pray at night, as if I want to make up for not learning how to pray when I was younger. I don’t want this awful excuse of giving half-love to God, when I would rather sleep, to go on forever! Aren’t we suppose to meditate and pary day and night (does anyone remember the verse this comes from? I don’t know 🙁 )?

  • That’s great! Ann Voskamp has touched thousands of lives with her testimony of a thousand ways He loves. It was opposite for me. I read One Thousand Gifts and in turn shared it with my mom. She was very blessed by it as well. Last Thanksgiving we had an “Eucharisteo” inspired Thanksgiving. I posted about it on my blog: http://uniquelyfashionedforhisglory.blogspot.com/2014/11/eucharisteo.html

    Yes it is amazing how He pours into our everyday lives. That the God of the universe would think about–care for me–and lavish gifts of His love is almost too beautiful to be true. But it IS!!

    Glad we can share our hearts about this together. 🙂

  • I think what you’re talking about is Psalm 1:2: “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.” Sound familiar?

  • “the only way we’ll ever stand is on our knees with lifted hands” -Casting Crowns
    “Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?” -Corrie Ten Boom
    I am certainly guilty of not praying enough. It is easy to schedule bible-reading/devotional time, but prayer really doesn’t have a fixed time in my day. Then again, the whole day should be prayer time (without ceasing), and then yet again, there are different types of prayer and certainly time should be set aside…
    This is not the first reminder of this I have had…
    “speak Lord, your servant listens”
    We are not the first ones to wonder about how to pray. Jesus’ disciples said “Lord, teach us to pray”… and that’s where the Lord’s prayer comes from

  • Sometimes I fill up my time so I “don’t have time” for devotionals and prayer. I feel guilty 24/7 and honestly praying and reading your Bible every day can be hard, but you just have to remind yourself that is will be worth it in the end!

  • I am also a PK and sometimes find it hard to admit that I have problems praying. It bothers me that in the good I just carry on but when time’s get bad, I remember that God is there. But He is always there. I’ve been trying to pray more and often I find myself praying at random moments through the day. When I try to purposefully pray each day, and not ask but praise, I find it is easier to talk. Some nights I’ll pray for such a long time. Then others it’s like 30 seconds. But I love those moments during the day where I just pray. It’s such a comfort to know that God is listening. I love that!

  • “Prayer is not meant to be “used”.”
    That stood out to me as so true! I often fall into the habit of using prayer as my hotline to healing instead of what it truly is- communication with Jesus Christ, our beloved, merciful Savior! What a comfort it is to know that God is always there for us to talk to, AND more importantly, always there to thank and praise, even on the days with tummy aches :). Thank you for this thought provoking article, Jaquelle!

  • I see your “tummy ache” prayers in my life both literally and figuratively – I sometimes do get tummy aches and I’ll ask God to take it away, and whenever I have a problem I’ll do the same. It’s so hard to pray when I don’t have a problem!
    Thanks for the article, Jaquelle!

  • How do you know so many quotes and who to attribute them to? I would probably quote Winston Churchill and attribute it to CS Lewis. (I’ve done it!)

  • I see them too, but in a different way I guess, I never get tummy aches, but I live on a farm and I only seem to pray when everything looks like chaos.

    But I also have another prayer problem; I don’t know what to pray for.

    Sure you can pray for your family and pray for your friends and pray for things that are going on in your life, but, I sort of feel like I’m praying to “the King of the heavens, the Sovereign God” about the same things every time.

    I would appreciate it if anyone could give me some pointers.

  • I know its been mentioned on here before (i think it was the New Year’s Resolution feed), but the app PrayerMate lets you sort out your list prayers, and you can also subscribe to prayer requests that are updated daily. I think it’s available on iOS, Kindle Fire, and Android.

  • Hi Dominic. Sometimes it is hard to think of things to pray for. Some people find making a list helpful, to remind you of things that you may forget when you sit down to pray. As Sam mentioned, a prayer app like PrayerMate has some neat ideas on different things to pray for.

    A few more things I think are modeled in Scripture to pray for include the church (both local and worldwide) and especially the persecuted Christians (Voice of the Martyrs is a great resource to find specific prayer requests from persecuted Christians). We can also pray for the salvation of those we know (and even those we don’t) that are not saved. We can pray for our government and authorities. We can pray about our future. We can also pray prayers from the Bible, for example, some of the Psalms. PrayerMate is fantastic for those Bible-based prayers.

    We have to strike the balance between those requests and then praying with thanksgiving and offering praise to God for His character and His glory. I know I have trouble with that balance.

    I hope that helps! Blessings to you. 🙂

  • Lily, I understand your discouragement. It’s hard not to beat ourselves up and grow down because of it. It’s just like you said – we have to focus on the end, i.e., growing in sanctification, becoming more holy, and growing so much closer to God. Knowing that God will help us with prayer and devotional reading is also encouraging.

    If you’re looking for a book on prayer, I’d definitely recommend “A Praying Life” by Paul Miller or “Praying Backwards” by Bryan Chapell. Both really encouraged me in my prayer life. Blessings to you!

  • Hey Dominic. I think I’ve mentioned this somewhere on the Reb already, but one thing that’s helped me when I don’t know how or what to pray for is to pray directly from Scripture. Instead of praying for “please heal so and so from this”, find a Psalm that talks about healing and restoration and pray those verses directly to God, inserting the person’s name where it uses first person pronouns like “I” and “me”. For example, here’s a prayer from Psalms that I’ve prayed for a friend when I didn’t know what to pray: “In times of trouble, may the Lord answer *insert name’s* cry. May the name of the God of Jacob keep *him/her* safe from all harm…May he grant *his/her* heart’s desires…May we shout for joy when we hear of *his/her* victory.” (Ps. 20) Or just take a passage from the New Testament, like one of Paul’s prayers, and pray it for your family or for someone needing strength. “I pray that from Your glorious, unlimited resources You will empower *insert name* with inner strength through Your Spirit…And may *he/she* have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep Your love is.” (Eph. 3:16-18). It might be kind of a flowery way to pray, but it’s always helpful for me when I need to change things up.

  • If I may jump in to the discussion…. I love Ann Voskamp! I regularly read her blog and am just beginning to read One Thousand Gifts. Her writing voice and combination of wisdom, humility, and determination are inspiring.
    (A very random, completely unrelated note: Moriah, my family has the exact same type of plates as the one in the photo! o.0)

  • Hey Dominic! Since you wrote, “I don’t know what to pray for,” I just thought I’d mention (and I’m being serious) you could pray that God will lead you as to what to pray. Paul (writing by the Holy Spirit) asked the Ephesian Christians to pray for all the Christians: “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints,” -Ephesians 6:18 KJV.

    And remember, this all-powerful Sovereign King of all Creation loves you and wants to spend time with you in prayer–despite our imperfections and comparably miniscule problems–He cares and wants to be an integral part of our lives. The Bible also says to pray for our government officials… you could pray for your pastor and — if you don’t pray for your family and for yourself, who will?

    I read today the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18:1-8, and it starts by saying, “Then Jesus told His disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.”

  • I’ve hit the same wall sometimes. If you look around on here, you can see places where people could use prayer; I’ve started praying for them. Some that come to mind are: Sam S was saying that Trent Blake could use prayer; there was a person calling himself/herself ‘P’ who has a difficult family situation.

  • Thank you so much Louis.

    And I like it how you said “if you don’t pray for your family and for yourself, who will?”. Your so right. Another question is, How do you remember to pray? I have just realized that I have heaps to pray for, but I keep forgetting to pray.

    Your brother in Christ,
    Dominic

  • Very good idea Riley.
    I really like the Ps. 20 prayer.
    If you look at the reply I wrote to mimeforJesus, I was thinking of starting a Rebelution prayer group.
    Thanks again,
    Dominic.

  • Thanks a lot Jaquelle.
    I think a list would help me.
    I just had a look of Voice of the Martyrs, lots of things to pray for on there.
    Ps. 20 is a very good prayer Psalm.

    Would you help me start a prayer group on the Rebelution?
    Look at the reply that i sent to mimeforJesus.
    I hope we can start one.

    From your brother in Christ,
    Dominic.

  • Hey Dom, I think that’s a great idea! I don’t know if it could work actually on the Rebelution site, but it would be really cool if it could happen somehow or somewhere. Just about all of us, including me, need prayer :).

  • I just had a look at the submission page. If one of us could post an article called “Rebelution Prayer Group” or something like that and in 3-4 weeks it was accepted then we could post prayer requests on that article. It would be hard to do but, “Do Hard Things”. 🙂
    I hope we can get this going.

    Dom.

  • Hey Dominic!

    What works for me is I have a list of goals that I write out each day, including prayer items. Because there are so many, I don’t get to them all, so I’m considering categorizing them into three lists, and praying for one category a day, and in that way I could pray for them all at least once every three days. But that’s because I try to pray for many of the people I know along with a number other prayer items. Because we can’t literally pray for everyone, what friends of mine do is they ask God to lead them as to who they should pray for.

    Your brother in Christ,
    Louis

  • Wow. My family has been doing an extensive Bible study on prayer since the beginning of the year, and your post reiterated a lot of what I’ve been learning lately. By the way, if you’re ever looking for a good book on prayer, I would suggest the “Kneeling Christian”. It’s probably one of the best prayer tool books I’ve ever read. Very deep, very thought provoking.

  • Yes. I can relate to your kind words about her. She fills my week with much inspiration & edification.

    That’s neat you have the same plates! We girls notice details & decorations. 🙂

  • Hey Dom!
    I hope you don’t mind me answering, but I just really related when I read your comment because I forget EVERYTHING, and for a long time had difficulty in remembering to pray, especially. At night when I go to bed I want to pray but I’m so tired that I literally don’t remember a lot of the time.
    For me, and I don’t know if you are the same way, but when I put some reminder out where I would notice it, so I’m actually relying on the visual (does that make sense?) it makes it a lot easier. Sometimes I’ll put something (write something on a piece of paper?) on my wall or light switch so that whenever I see it, I remember. I know that probably seems kind of weird, but it helped me a lot.
    Do you have a set time to read your Bible, either? Because that’s a great time to pray, and if you already get into the habit of reading, it’s not that hard to pray after you read.
    And once you have a set time to do both of these things, they will eventually turn into habit and will be sooo much easier. The hardest part is first getting used to doing it, but habits are pretty easy to create (a lot easier than breaking them).
    Tell me if this helps:)

  • Hey of course I don’t mine Eva.
    Your so right, before bed is probably the hardest time for me. Either I’m falling asleep and I don’t even remember or I’m watching a movie fall asleep before the end of it.
    Putting a reminder by your light is a good idea, or if you need a stronger reminder, tie a rock on your pillow with the word PRAY on it. 🙂
    I don’t have a set time to read my bible but that’s another problem, I have trouble to remember reading my bible as well. I am trying to get into a habit of reading and praying.
    Thanks so much for replying, glad you could join our conversation.

    From your brother in Christ,
    Dominic.

  • Hey Louis,
    great idea. Three lists would be good because otherwise there are to many things to pray for in one prayer. (unless you pray for hours).
    I am trying to start a Rebelution Prayer Group, If you look at some of the other comments by me, you’ll see what I mean.
    Oh and have a look at the comment that Eva wrote. Same sort of idea I guess.

    From your brother in Christ,
    Dominic.

  • Yes! I was considering trying something like that myself, but didn’t know how much interest there would be. Go for it!

  • Hey, I like the “tie a rock on your pillow with the word PRAY on it” idea. That’s gotta work:)
    I completely relate to you on not being in the habit of reading the Bible either. Yeah, I’m still working on it, too. And It’s good to know I’m not alone in my forgetting stuff! Hey, but God can help us remember:)

  • While we’re brainstorming, and seeing as we have “friends in high places” (a.k.a. Brett Harris) why don’t we float the idea of starting a Prayer Group tab/section on therebelution.com website?

    People could voluntarily sign up for email updates on prayer requests, or perhaps only on the urgent/major prayer requests (as a separate email chain than the one that the articles and discussion questions are sent to) or those who want to can just check back regularly. I just think a different page setup would help, seeing as posting and replying on a single article over a long period of time could get cluttered and cause poor maneuverability.

    One hang up is that prayer requests tend to be personal, which is not a problem if you don’t mind everyone with internet being able to access your requests. But I think in essence a prayer group is an excellent idea. It could unite us in a new way. Paul commanded the Christians in Ephesus to pray for all the saints!

    But it’s something we can prayerfully consider (because you don’t want to launch projects on a whim without asking God first). Then we can wait and see. If worst comes to worst, we could start a facebook group =vD

  • “unless you pray for hours” … just a thought: most of the great men of God that we read about did just that! =v)

  • Hey, Jaquelle! This is a really good article. I learned the lesson of unceasing prayer from a story when I was a lot younger, and it’s been the guide of my prayer since then.

    “Several ministers had gathered to discuss difficult questions, and it was asked how the command to “pray without ceasing” (I Thessalonians 5:17)
    could be obeyed. Various suggestions were offered, and at last one of
    the ministers was appointed to write an essay on the subject for the
    next meeting. A young maidservant, who was serving in the room, heard the
    discussion and exclaimed: “What! A whole month to tell the meaning of
    this text? Why, it’s one of the easiest and best verses in the Bible.”

    “Well, well, Mary,” said an old minister. “What do you know about it? Can you pray all the time?”

    “Oh, yes sir!”

    “Really? How is that possible when you have so many things to do?”

    “Why, sir, the more I have to do, the more I pray.”

    “Indeed! Well, Mary, how do you do it? Most people wouldn’t agree with you.”

    “Well, sir,” said the girl, “when I first open my eyes in the morning, I pray, ‘Lord, open the eyes of my understanding,’ and while I am dressing, I pray that I may be clothed with the robe of righteousness. While I am washing, I ask to have my sins washed away. As I begin work, I pray that I may receive strength for all the work of the day. While I kindle the fire, I pray that revival may be kindled in me. While preparing and eating breakfast, I ask to be fed with the Bread of Life and the pure milk of the Word. As I sweep the house, I pray that my heart may be swept clean of all its impurities. As I am busy with the little children, I look up to God and pray that I may always have the trusting love of a little child,
    and as I….”

    “Enough, enough!” cried the minister. “These truths are often hid from
    the wise and prudent and revealed unto babes, as the Lord Himself said.
    Go on, Mary,” he continued, “pray without ceasing. As for us brothers,
    let us thank the Lord for this lesson.”

    [The story is from a book of devotional stories called “How God Used A Thunderstorm” by Joel R. Beeke & Diana Kleyn.] It’s so cool how we can just talk to God all the time. It’s like having a phone inside your head so that you can talk to your friend whenever you want and they’d respond immediately, except a whole lot cooler!!!!

  • Yes that’s a great idea. If we could make a tab section called Prayer Group or something.

    We could be moderators and ask for more mods on The Rebelution.
    I agree that we shouldn’t have it as an article or a project, even this comment page is full enough.

    Do you think that Brett would help us? He is trying to launch Do Hard Things University. And how do we contact him?

    Anyway, the hang up.
    We could have it that you set the request to ‘Moderators only’ or ‘Public’ or even ‘Followers’.

    I will pray about this matter. With Gods will, anything can happen.
    And I think a FB group is just to public for prayer requests. 😉

    P.S. Did you notice that we have the “Top comments on The Rebelution”?

    Dom.

  • Hey thanks for the encouragement Eva.
    I am praying way more now, and I am reading a Day by Day Bible study.
    Your a great friend.
    Dom.

  • Hey yea me and Louis Gervais have been talking heaps about the group, Do you know how we could contact Brett Harris? We might need his help on this matter.
    Oh and please pray that the group is in Gods will.

    Dom.

  • Hey Dom! Whatta ya mean “How do we contact Brett?” He reads every single comment on this site =vD (Don’t you, Brett?) Heh heh; Brett is the silence listener in every conversation on therebelution.com (^;

    “Will he help us?” Well, if “us” is the rebelution, then who better personifies the rebelution blog than Brett himself? So, you’re actually asking, “Will Brett help himself?” =vD

    Alright, sort of joking, but I love the picture you posted of the prayer tab idea, Dominic! And your right, we can pray about this more.

  • Hey @Brett Harris,
    Could you look at this thread of comments please? I think it’s a great idea!

  • Prayer is–after all–a “hard thing.” Especially at first, when you’re still getting into the habit of it.

  • I had the same concern as @louis_gervais:disqus, that prayer requests can get personal and essentially we would just be posting them out there for anyone to see. Yeah, I guess you could specify who you would want to see the requests. But I think facebook could actually be more private, because you don’t HAVE to make it available to the public, only to those you invite to the page.

  • Thanks for encouraging me too:) And I LOVE your prayer request idea!!! I really hope it works and that Brett reads these comments. It would connect all of us on here even more.
    I’m so glad that you’ve been able to stick to your prayer resolution so far! Not many people can just say that and do it. Keep it up!
    In Christ,
    Eva

  • So how are you doing with the resolution?
    If we can start a prayer group, please support us or join us!!

    Your brother in Christ,
    Dominic.

  • I’ve been doing pretty good:) sometimes I’m in bed with the light off and am just about to fall asleep….and then I remember, so I have to sit up and turn the light on, but it’s sooo worth it:)
    I will definitely support you and join you if I can! Can’t wait to see if it works out!

  • Well, I hope that he is reading these. Otherwise, is there a rebelution email or something? That was sort of what I mean’t.

    P.S. I would never be able to be a silence listener, It’s so hard not to comment on what other people say!!

    P.P.S. I guess God’s a silence listener then. 😉

  • First of all, I don’t really go on FB.
    Second, we would have to invite a lot of people.
    And keep inviting new people.

    However we get this going, I hope it can be on The Rebelution.

  • First of all, I don’t really go on FB.

    Second, we would have to invite a lot of people.

    And keep inviting new people.

    However we get this going, I hope it can be on The Rebelution.

    Dom

  • Yeah, if possible, it would be great to have it on The Rebelution! It would be a big hassle to have it on FB.

  • Yeah, I don’t have a Facebook, and a couple of others have mentioned that they don’t either… And it’s likely that there’s more like me. But the Reb would be a great place to start it! Does anyone want to contact Brett? I have his email so I could if you want me to.

  • That’s just about the best way to fall asleep:) And I hope we can get it going too!! I’ll be praying about it!

  • I think it was @trent_blake:disqus who told me…or maybe it was Yoda?? 😉 What was the other project you did that was similar (if you don’t me asking)?

  • I saw the comment you sent Brett on another article – now we get to wait to see what he thinks? Waiting is one of my least favorite activities!

  • Yep. I’m pretty sure Sam isn’t a stalker ;). If I deduce correctly, he has a specific reason in mind.

  • Or he wondered if I really had his email. @programguy:disqus Which one was it? Or was it another reason entirely?

  • I don’t have FB either…
    I actually started thinking about a prayer tab on the Reb [is abbreviation ok?] within a couple weeks of finding it… a few months ago.
    I was thinking a tab to click on (like “blog” or “articles”) that would lead to a list of prayer requests.
    I think commenting on the requests could bog the page down…
    what about just people can post requests, and there could be a “I’m praying” button people could click (kinda like the “like” button)
    Prayer requests could be categorized for normal or urgent…
    as far as privacy goes… I don’t see a problem. If u r posting prayer requests for yourself, u can gage that. If the prayer request is for someone else, ask them first, don’t use their name, or change their name + age (I do that often :))
    I have no idea how hard it is to edit/add to a website… but this could be great… happily surprised that so many other people had the same idea…

  • *hahaha*
    to contact Brett…
    unless I miss my mark, isn’t that what the “contact us” button is for!?!?

  • God is not a silence listener. He is always speaking. The question is:
    Do we hear Him?

  • !!!
    Hooray! Someone replied instantly to a comment of mine!
    I see all these long conversations between people and wonder why I always seem to be on myself…
    hahaha… it’s the little things…

  • Instead of a Tummy ache making me think of praying
    it’s Clouds
    I don’t know why but there so Free, Light and always there, that they
    remind me of God.

  • I think your abbreviation is correct. And I like your ideas. I was surprised so many people had this idea, too!

  • But, Joyful joyful, it’s the “contact us” button! What if Alex gets it!? We need a “contact Brett” button! =vD

  • I have a hunch it would be something joint that they would both be able to check, but Brett would probably be the one to check… If Alex did get it, I think he would be able to tell Brett, seeing that they are brothers and probably have ways to communicate… 🙂
    [I wonder if Brett is reading all our comments about him and laughing as we try to figure him out…]

  • Brothers communicate? First I knew about that! Jk, I have lots of siblings and we all communicate.
    Yeah, that would be funny. And we’ll never know!

  • Hey, can I share an important prayer request? I know you’re talking about starting a prayer group sort of thing, but this really can’t wait…
    My aunt’s sister is 31 and in hospice right now with colon cancer. As far as I know at the moment, she hasn’t died yet but is probably in the last day or two of her life. She has NOT accepted Jesus, and seems to have no interest in doing so. Whenever you think of it, please join my family in prayer for her soul. Also that the people with her would be given the right words to say, and that all would feel God’s presence.

    Thanks.

  • Yes! Praying as I type! @disqus_ynAwM455oe:disqus @Rhanx97:disqus here’s our prayer group in action before it even starts!

  • Hey, I asked Christy a question a minute ago and included you in it. Could you please take a look and get back to me? Thanks.

  • I have it again!
    But actually, my parents don’t want me to email someone I met online 🙁 I guess I’ll have to see the end product — I’d love to do anything I can, but not emailing puts a crimp in communication.

  • I’ll be praying for all of you! May God give you all peace. <3<3 Keep us updated if you can!!!

  • haha
    not to show my text-message-lingo ignorance…
    but what does JK mean?
    new kind of smiley face?

  • I know computers are inanimate objects and are not inherently good or evil, but my usually fast computer is really slow when I am on the Reb… 😉

  • Yes; Alex and Brett have this amazing ability to communicate, seeing they… um… are twins, and always think the exact same thing?

  • Keep me posted as u work through the process…
    I would LOVE to be a part of this! 🙂
    [just figured out how to like/upvote a comment :)]

  • They were talking about starting some sort of a prayer group for sharing prayer requests, etc. on the Rebelution or somewhere else. Scroll wayy down to see the whole thing. 🙂

  • Ok then, I think we just decided that it wont be on the Rebelution.

    And congratulations!! Now you know how to like my comments! (It’s good for business)

    Also, if you hover over someones picture and click ‘Follow’ you can follow them

  • If it’s not on the Reb I probably won’t be able to be a part 🙁 And that would be really sad! So if it would work to be on the Reb, it would be really helpful.

  • My parents are careful what websites I’m on… And I got to be on here because it was put together by the Harris brothers. I doubt they’d let me be on a website by no one they know like that.

  • Mine to! I ask my Dad before I try anything new here… or pretty much anywhere else online
    #3cheersforcaringparents

  • haha, yes. I am currently enjoying myself reading profiles 🙂
    let me know where the prayer group will be. Even if I can’t comment on a different website, I don’t have to comment to pray 🙂 We’ll see…

  • They might let you if we can get Brett to write about it on the Rebelution or something.
    A bit like how he Introduced the book ‘Counted Worthy’ by Leah Good

    We’ll see what happens, but we can still post prayer requests on the Rebelution anyway.

  • Have you guys heard of a phone app called Instapray? It’s pretty much one giant prayer group across the world. Random topic switch, I know, but I was just reminded of it by your ideas. 😛 You should try it out sometime!!! http://www.instapray.com

  • @disqus_ynAwM455oe:disqus @Rhanx97:disqus Have you guys heard of a phone app called Instapray? It’s pretty much one giant prayer group across the world. Random topic switch, I know, but I was just reminded of it by your ideas. 😛 You should try it out sometime!!! http://www.instapray.com

  • She shows up as Guest on the website, but in the email it was @disqus_LfmccAZ3Zg:disqus Weird…

  • @trent_blake:disqus @madeleine_grace:disqus @thewriterchick:disqus what about you? Don’t have to, of course, just hadn’t seen you in this discussion yet, and thought you guys might like to be a part. 🙂 (Someone who knows how can tag others, too.)

  • A lot have people have been sharing prayer requests lately, and I’m going to be needing a bit of prayer these next couple of weeks. I go to a public high school and am taking biology a year early. On Wednesday, we are starting the evolution unit. Please pray that I would stay strong through it and be a (loving) witness to those around me. Thank you!!

  • Hey Sam, I would talk to Liam S. about apologetics. Pick his brain and write down the recourses as much as possible.

    I also recommend getting the textbook “Exploring Creation with Biology”. And read module 9. It refutes evolution with a passion and sure, hard evidence! Please actually consider this. I know it is tough to actually do it, but I promise you, if you do this, you will not have nearly as big problem in this evolution class.

    It is imperative that you know what you believe and why you believe it BEFORE you take this part of the class.

    Also, I recommend you watch the movie God’s Not Dead. Though some strong Christians disagree with some of what is said, the idea is EXACTLY what is important to keep in mind. I, personally, have no problem with it.

    God bless you,
    – Trent

  • Ok, I’ll be sure to get a conversation going with Liam about it, I just downloaded an audio version of the textbook (hard copy wouldn’t be here in time), and I have seen and enjoyed God’s Not Dead!
    Last year, I was at a parochial school and was taught some good stuff about evolution (especially theistic evolution) vs. creation. I’ve also been spending a bit of time on Answers in Genesis, preparing and cementing my beliefs. 🙂 Thanks!

  • Awesome sis! Just keep in mind, “There is a time to speak and a time to keep quiet.” Don’t compromise if you’re asker to. But don’t be disrespectful either if you can help it.

  • Whew, knowing when to keep quiet is the hard part. It’d be so much easier if we just stuck with the first half of your quote, wouldn’t it?

  • That’s probably going to be my biggest struggle, honestly. Learning and knowing when to be quiet and not starting a huge debate is going to be crucial! 🙂

  • Yes mam. However, I suggest you think of it like this: do you want the other students to view Christ as the rude interrupter or the one who calmly replies with truth and evidence when teased about her faith?

    #reflectChrist

  • Ouch, that hurts… I’m more likely to represent Him as the rude interrupter.
    So, question for anyone stopping by, not just Trent (but I want your answer, too!) 🙂
    When is a good time to be the interrupter?

  • When the professor/teacher asked for an opinion or you hear a verbal (or SUPER CLEAR) voice from God saying to do it. Never interrupt. Stay calm and kill them with kindness. Take the high road.

  • So, what if you hear friends talking rudely about someone? I tend to take the side of the underdog, and I don’t know if it’s God telling me to ask/tell them to stop talking like that, or if it’s me. If I had “clearance,” I would do it in a heartbeat, but I don’t know if that’s sufficient reason. I’ve never heard a verbal voice, I don’t think God communicates with me that obviously (or I have no idea how to hear Him).

  • Ach! My problem is having too many words to say! Seriously, once my friend was getting bugged by this one guy, and finally I snapped; I turned around, and basically told him to beat it – full bossy tone, clean-but-forceful words, the works. Not surprisingly, he left my friend alone (and now gives me a wide berth). Now, in that case I firmly believe that he deserved no more respect than he got, but now I live in mortal fear of doing something like that again, over something less important.

  • Yeah, I’ll tell you, it felt great to see him recoil like he did, especially after all of the trouble he’d caused me and my friend.

  • Great! My best friend is studying evolution as well in the public school. Fortunately,she’s had numerous opportunities to correct the teacher, who was surprisingly enough, (after some persuasion) open to her logic. The book “When Science Fails” has been a great help to me as well. Pretty basic but good. May God be with you, and be bold for Christ. There’s a lot of good you can do in this situation. I pray that doors would open for you. It’s not unlikely that you may have an opportunity to witness as well. 🙂 Praying for you!

  • Thanks! I appreciate that 🙂 My teacher is fairly easy-going, but not a believer. I’m hoping and praying that she will be open to creation, or at least respectful of the differences. Even if I may not be able to witness to her, other classmates may be open to creation.

  • I second the “Exploring Creation with Biology” idea. I have it, and it has some excellent, strong points against evolution. Really, they’re throughout the book, but module 9 focuses on evolution.

  • No updates yet that I’ve heard. I don’t think the doctors were expecting her to live this long. Still praying!

  • You’re welcome! And that’s good. It seems like I haven’t met many strongly opinionated evolutionists, they just believe the only option they’ve ever been taught. Can’t really blame them. And exactly! I’m excited for you. There’s no greater joy that we can attain as humans than that of witnessing and disciplining. God bless. 🙂

  • Long, boring, and interesting. Hey, sometimes you just need to vent, you know?
    #lifedoesntworkthewaymostpeopleexpectitto

  • Hey @samwegner:disqus, I’ll be praying for you!
    I actually have a prayer request to. I have a friend at my church who knows the gospel,but she doesn’t want to live it at school. At school her actions make it clear to me that she doesn’t want to talk about the gospel, or Christ. Please pray that I will stay strong enough to talk about Christ and his word.

  • Okay guys, we have an update.
    We need names for the prayer group.
    Give us your ideas on names!!

    @mimeforjesus:disqus @samwegner:disqus @ruthie_c:disqus @joyfuljoyful:disqus @trent_blake:disqus @Renee1011:disqus @disqus_LfmccAZ3Zg:disqus @programguy:disqus @sarahp_413:disqus @disqus_LzTgmwudVU:disqus @Rhanx97:disqus @Kittenese:disqus @thewriterchick:disqus @disqus_yezUL85qzj:disqus and @everyone else

  • And @everyone else… I find that funny. Anyhow, I don’t have any great ideas yet, but I’ll think about it 🙂
    Keep me posted!

  • Okay, after much brainstorming, I have a suggestion…What about “Revive”? As in a sense that we revive each other through prayer and encouragement, and we are revived as God answers our prayers…?

    “The Lord heard Elisha’s prayer, and the life of the child returned, and he revived!” (1 Kings 17:22)

    “Your promise revives me: it comforts me in all my troubles.” (Psalm 119:25)

    “Revive us so we can call on your name…” (Psalm 80:19)

  • Do you?? Yay!! I was just using Bible Gateway… there are so many amazing verses in the Bible that contain the word “revive”. I feel so revived just reading them!

  • Actually, they switched some units around now, so we started something else and I don’t know when we will be doing evolution, but that just gives me more time to prepare 🙂

  • Whoa what have I been missing? Are you guys forming a prayer group (duh)? Where? How? Can I join? Will these annoying questions of mine ever end? Sorry I would look through the comments but there are 293 (make that 294)

  • Hey Dominic what kind of name do you think would describe the prayer group? if that question makes sense! 🙂

  • oh and Dominic i would love to help any way i can in getting the sight up and running so if you need any help or anything i’ll help just give me a ring! 😀

  • what do you mean? the two boys stranding beside me? those are my brothers and the girl is me! 😀
    God Bless!

  • I actually like Redeemed better but i like both of them. Maybe we could call it Redeemed and Revived or something. who originally came up with the idea of a prayer group?

  • before I came to the Rebelution, @mimeforjesus tried to start one.
    It didn’t work, but then I suggested the idea when I joined and here we are.

    So I guess you have to answers, @mimeforjesus and @Dominic

  • Even newer update.

    The name for the prayer group is going to be Revive.
    I will keep you all updated on Revive.

    P.S. Does this count as a hard thing?

  • Absolutley!! I think it’s amazing how you had this idea (I think it was you?), but you didn’t just leave it at the idea stage – you and @programguy:disqus are making it happen! I’m so excited to see what the end result will be :).

  • I didn’t try to start one, actually — I just thought that with all the prayer requests on here, it would be a good idea 🙂

  • Do Hard Things University. I just figured that out myself. I think sign ups ended like two days ago. It was like an online course Brett set up.

  • I was hoping for Revive but didn’t have time to come on here and vote just yet. 🙂 Yes this is a hard thing!

  • I would use ‘ring’ the same as I would use ‘yell.’ I’d say ‘give me a yell if you need a hand,’ or substitute ‘ring’ for ‘yell,’ or say something like ‘shoot me a line if you need a hand.’ I think she just means let her know. 🙂

  • 1) Totally a hard thing!
    2) Where where are we going to have Revive again? I heard not on here…

  • Thanks, I already signed up for the updates; I was wondering what I was signing up for updates on! What IS it?

  • hahaha i’m glad ya’ll thought of it!! it’s a great idea. it’s odd no one has thought of it before 😀

  • hahaha Sam nothing is to hard for us, nothing is impossible!! WE can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens us!! never say it’s to hard or i can’t do, cause Sam it’s not and we can totally do it we can do all things!!! Hey and don’t forget your a rebelutionary, this is who we are!!! 😀
    Love,
    Madeleine

  • Sam and @disqus_ynAwM455oe:disqus, there’s no pressure! Don’t feel like we’re all waiting on you to make it happen. If you need any help, just ask. Prayin’!

  • Praying for you and the site 🙂 Time is the most valuable commodity we have, it’s no surprise you don’t have much to spare.

  • If you didn’t, he said…

    I keep trying to reply to your comment, but it keeps disappearing. So I’ll just reply here and hope you see it.

    Revive will be a prayer group of rebelutionaries who meet on another site to share prayer requests. I’m supposed to be setting up the site, but I haven’t been very good at making time to do that. Pray for me! 😉 Please pray that God would use this group and that it would be honoring to Him.
    Did I miss anything?

  • Lucky you — are you into LOTR? (Cause it was filmed there…) Missing DHTU is a real bummer, though.

  • Thanks! I did see it, but could not reply or see my original post due to spam filters. Brett just let me through 🙂

    I think my reply to Sam S. just came through! (above)

  • 🙂 ok i was just wondering as well, it seemed like a random question. bu ti can see how why you would ask me, a girl posing with two guys that’s odd 😀 unless their your brothers 😀

  • @disqus_ynAwM455oe:disqus @programguy:disqus
    @Dominic @Sam S.
    I have 5-6 WP themes and I would be happy to give you one if you need them for the site. Just let me know either way.

  • Cool! That looks like it will be perfect! I love open source programs, and web solutions, like Magento (for eCommerce).
    Keep it up, and don’t hesitate to ask for help!

  • Hey Ethan that’s really good!!! i like that a lot!! and it incorporates both names perfectly 😀 i like it!!
    ~Madeleine

  • Haha if you think that’s a lot check out “What do you like about these discussions?” There’s over a thousand on that one. 😛

  • Ooooh, @disqus_ynAwM455oe:disqus @programguy:disqus Is it too late to change the name? I love this one, and it combines the two names!

  • On a side note, I really like your short bio on your user info page on Disqus!
    My Cousins live in Columbus and in Carolton, GA. How close is that to you? (or far!)

  • Not sure whether to act nice-older-sibling/Down-Under-comrade or teasing-older-sibling/typical-Down-Under-rivral here…. I’m Aussie, man. 😛

  • And on my own side note it just started to snow here (*cue happy dance*), which like NEVER happens in GA. 😛

  • Quite honestly, I am sick of the snow! We have had it for a week here in SW Missouri, and it makes it quite hard to get up your 1/2 mile long driveway!
    And the second one is a 4WD stuck and slid of the road.
    I think we have 9 inches now, and it is falling again (wintery mix)!
    How much did you get?

  • You don’t know what you have until it’s gone! I used to live in Michigan, where we had snow all winter, and I didn’t really appreciate it. Now I’m where I don’t get snow, and I wish we had it! You’re making me homesick 🙂 Especially the car – we ahd friends who had a car like taht!

  • Well I would take a picture too but our snow from yesterday is already gone. 😛 I guess about a half-inch maybe? Maybe we could trade. 😉

  • I feel ya!! We just got over a foot of snow, and yeah it was close to -20 like two days ago!!! The fun of being a northerner. 🙂 @disqus_joshanderson:disqus I’d take GA weather anytime!

  • I would LOVE to trade! Swimming in December in the lake, shorts and short sleeves to family’s house on Christmas Day, etc for slipping and sliding up and down an ice coated driveway, week long power outages, and more. 🙂

    But not as bad as @steelersfan08:disqus and his weather. I’m not complaining; I have a lot to be thankful for! People in Missouri usually don’t evaporate when they step outside the front door in August!

  • We live in the North of the South, so we get some of both. I think our coldest this year was around -5, with a windchill.

  • That’s great… Bringing back memories…
    That’s funny about the car! It looked worse in real life than in the picture. Several flipped off the highway near us.

  • haha right now we have at least a foot of snow too and more is piling on thick. I don’t know how cold it is, but not quite that cold.

  • Drivers who don’t now how to drive in the snow, or you have a really bad spot near you?
    I used to live in between two steep hills. The people who didn’t know how to drive in the snow would slow down before they hit the hill going up…

  • North Georgia, hbu? Yeah we had a “heavy flurry” but it stuck for a while, just enough to make driving hard.

  • Hehehe, I got the snow you got flurries from 🙂 Probably two inches, on top of what we had from a few days ago. The most snow we’ve had while I lived here 🙂 Aren’t you jealous, @ilovetolaugh:disqus and @disqus_joshanderson:disqus?

  • This is a wonderful post. Thank you for writing it, Jaquelle. 🙂 I think that I have this problem of not praying as well. I sometimes forget how precious the gift of prayer is. I get to talk to the king of kings any time that I want! That is a huge honor in itself. But I do forget how truly amazing it is and how I have been abusing my prayer life. Thank you for the reminder of how special prayer is. A quote that I believe fits this very well is “Prayer is the ultimate act of humility; proud people don’t pray.” Pastor Jim Cymbala.

  • Ohhh does that pop up when you tag me….oops. 😉 That’s OK it’s a really common name, I’ve been introduced to another Josh A______ Let me test…..@disqus_joshanderson:disqus

  • Nope! Not even close. It is very easy, really. It is is a link in one of my posts. A top secret agent like you should have this covered!!!

  • Okay, I just wondered because I knew an Ethan Hart, and we kinda moved to different states three years ago. It would have been weird but great to find him on here 🙂

  • Hmmm, I don’t know what it is… I’ll see if I can figure it out later, when I have more time.

  • Yes, usernames are giveaways, but you know stuff about people (like me!) that no one else knows. e.g. you know my real first name, if you think about it. Don’t become a stalker, though – you’d be way too good at it!

  • It’s a Blimey-Cow-ism. In training, we were told that secret agents posing as homeschooled Rebelutionary teens had to know that channel. This one is from their video on Bad Words, or it’s from the one on modern music (I think).

  • 🙂 Wow, that was a great off-the-top-of-your-head reference. But then, that applies to all of us. Youch.

  • Aus… oh. Then let me tell you that New Zealand is a leader in lots of sports. Let the games begin…

  • Good work! You can report that to your superiors in the NSA! You might even get a promotion!
    Lets see if @mimeforjesus:disqus can do as well. 🙂
    Thanks!

  • Yep. They read every email and text message, and listen to every phone call. Just make sure you say things that you want them to hear!
    Trust me!

  • Have any of y’all heard the Britt Nicole/ Owl City song, “You’re Not Alone” ? It’s pretty sweet 🙂

  • Hey! How’d the move go? What kind of place do you live in now?(country,city,podunk etc.) And yes quite random but I’ve been wanting to ask you.

  • I’m one of them! Okay, not really. But I will be looking into your name; haven’t had time for the past couple of days, but I will discover your secret 🙂

  • Have you heard Mandisa’s song “Born for This”? It’s based off of the story of Esther; it’s not very popular, but it should be. One of my favorites!

  • OH WOW!!!! 😀 i sure your glad your the oldest 😀 how old are you?? and were do you live?? i’m sure you’ve told me before but i forget. I’m always curious were people from the rebelution live 🙂
    God Bless,
    ~Madeleine

  • YES! I was almost shocked the first time I heard it… Listen to it with good quality speakers. 🙂
    I don’t know why the album is not popular. It is called Music Inspired by The Story.

  • so your a freshmen in high school? oh nice that’s cool!!

    Question does it ever get cold in New Zealand?

  • You have already done way more than I could ever do or know how to do, so don’t get discouraged! Yeah, I have no idea what Yii framework even is, so I can’t help you there 🙂
    I saw in an earlier comment that you asked for people to pray. I’ll be praying that you don’t get too overwhelmed with all this. Thanks for putting the time and effort you have put into this, it means a lot!

  • I have no idea what a Yii Framework is either but there are heaps of video tutorials on Youtube.
    Anything you need me to do?

  • lol 🙂 The secret organization Ethan H thought we were part of, but it’s a secret so I suppose we can’t talk about it. But wait — we’re talking about it on a public forum… Well, my cover’s been blown again.

  • No… you, @nathantasker:disqus and i were talking about my name… can’t tell you more 🙂

  • Man, you need some work! Obviously, you forgot everything about online posting that you learned in Langley, Virginia while you were there!

  • Hey @disqus_yezUL85qzj:disqus, @samwegner:disqus, @MyNameIsAnigoMontoya:disqus, @alliehaylie:disqus @Rhanx97:disqus, @nathanaelbarker:disqus, @disqus_joshwhatshislastname:disqus, @disqus_rHUVb4P7uQ:disqus, @programguy:disqus – my dad’s doing much better 🙂 Looks like it was just a hard-hitting flu, but he passed out (never happened before) and then I freaked out. Thank you for the support! 😀

  • My move is still up in the air. If I end up moving, I might find out definitively this next week.

  • Oh no, actually my non-adult friends (who I really like being around and whose company I seek out) are younger than me, with only one exception. Just curious, Sam – how old are you? I know you’re a *whispered so people don’t hear* sophomore, now I want to know if you’re older or younger than me 🙂

  • Never been in Langley, Virginia… You’re obviously not well-connected 🙂 If you were, you’d know that 😛

  • No, I don’t think so. You met me? What was my name, and what did I look like? If your guess is too similar to reality, this could get really weird!

  • I’ll humor you, though you sound like you should know it already 😉 I’m January 19999.

  • Okay… that makes sense. And I don’t work for the CIA – the CIA and my branch compete for funds so we don’t like each other. (It’s fun to make up stories!)

  • I know those names. Can you tell me where you do live? (If it’s Alto I’ll be so surprised!)

  • Alright. I’ll be praying. I don’t remember if you told me before…where will you (maybe) be moving to?

  • Okay. I don’t think I’ve ever actually met you. Therefore this information is completely humorus and I do not give any credit to it as far as reality.

    You had blonde hair, glasses, your name was Deirdre, and you played basketball. I’m Pretty sure my imagination made all that up.

  • Well, neither do I. I have a younger sister who’s nice, though. I’ll be like her 🙂
    If you don’t mind telling me, what month are you? If you don’t want to tell everyone and their brother, that’s all right. I’m just curious 🙂

  • Be careful, @programguy:disqus ! she is trying to worm information out of you!!!!!
    The “I’m just curious” gives it right away!!

  • No, I don’t think we’ve ever met. It would be fun if we did met sometime, though 🙂

    Okay, that’s just about the opposite of me. I wondered what I was like!
    In real life, I have brown hair, no glasses, and basketball is one of the sports I’m worst at. (Coming from me, that means I’m really bad at it!)

  • Well, it’s still up in the air. I haven’t moved yet; we’re still waiting for some pieces to fall into place so that we know if we’re moving or not. My dad says we might know this next week. I hope so! Not knowing where I’ll be next Fall isn’t easy to make plans around.
    We’re moving to the Midwest – about two hours away from Ottawa, actually. (That’s why I was wondering when you were talking to Nathan Tasker about PA…)

  • I love that whole album 🙂 Especially “I Am” and “Good” and… well, all of the songs 😉

  • Yes, but I won’t try, in deference to your wishes 🙂
    In all honesty, I don’t know much about computers — except that I don’t know much about them.

  • *hint, hint*? I don’t know many of the names for that part of MI, I’m from the Traverse City area. I only know the three names you said because my brother, sister, and their families live in that area.

  • I know that… I meant, wait until I start worming information out of you!

  • No I homeschool, and yes it does get cold in NZ, but I am living higher up in the North Island so its not so cold here.

  • It’s a whole-family move. I’m 16 – moving out on my own is a scary notion.

  • No… I used to live in KY, though. I’m going to be further northwest than than… I think. My geography’s terrible! I know I’ll be further West, not so sure about North.

  • Hey guys, I just found out a friend of mine friend lost her dad this morning. It was totally unexpected. Could you pray for their family in this heart-breaking time? (Her name is Elise)

  • No… Wait a minute, what town are you in? I have many friends who are from there/live there.

  • It all depends on your vantage point. More West than North if North is north of KY? Or more North than West if West is west of Indy?? Jk 😉

  • I was just asking because I didn’t know how old you were.
    I’m 15 so I understand. 😉

  • No, I don’t think so… is it near Ann Arbor? I was seven when we moved away from TC, so if it’s near there I probably know it as “that camp we always drove by on the way to church” or something like that 🙂
    So it’s got a special place in your heart, does it?

  • Aw, I didn’t want to have to look for new employment…

    I wonder if there are actually teens who work for DHS! That’d be funny, if they were watching this conversation 🙂

  • I know what you mean…
    Sorry to have to ask this, but would you mind editing my name out? I’d rather just have you folks know, not anyone who comes across this page five years in the future. Kinda like your email address (which I still know, by the way!)

  • If you’re right, I’m gonna feel so silly… my brother and sister-in-law lived there for two or three years, but I didn’t think of that town.

  • Okay, gotcha. And yeah totally understand that! And yes! Understandable. 🙂 Okay. It’s like this: Grew up in Northern, PA in Uniondale, lived there until I was 9, then moved to Penns Creek, PA and resided there until 2013. In 2013 I decided it would be best for me spiritually and academically to go to Ottawa, KS to live with my sister and brother-in-law. But most of my family is still in Penns Creek and that’s where I call home and spend the summer and Christmas break until I graduate out of high-school.

  • Hey guys, I need some advice. I made a post about a friend. Well this same friend was walking home with me one day and she said that she had a problem. She wouldn’t tell me what the problem was, but she said that every person she told the problem to, they would always say the same thing. Pray. Then she said I am praying but its not working. How should I reaspond to that?

  • We are working on getting the bugs worked out and modifying some thing to fit our needs. Be sure to thank @Sam S.; he is working hard on it!

  • Hmmm…maybe pray yourself and ask God to help you tell your friend the right things. Without knowing her problem there’s really not much else you can do…anyone got anything better?

  • Hey Sam random question have you ever had a comment say “Hold, on this is waiting to be approved by the Rebelution”? If so, do you know how to fix it?

  • Hey ignore my next few posts please I’ve narrowed the “naughty” word down to one of 5 I’m testing to see which one it is…

  • AHAHAHAHAHA I figured out the word its he*l which I guess can be used as a curse word…thanks a lot!

  • So why were you using that word…?
    I had a comment like that too; now I figured out why 🙂

  • I was talking about heaven and h*ll on the latest discussion question. Don’t worry, I wasn’t cursing, I promise. 🙂

  • Well, you can’t really say anything to her if she’s not willing to listen, which I don’t know if that’s the case. Otherwise, all you can really do is continue to love her and build her up. I know she probably knows this, but our prayers always “work” if we ask with right motives. Sometimes it takes awhile, and I know from experience, but God will answer. I’ll be praying too!

  • I’m *removed*. Now, because you should be getting an email because I’m replying to you, I”ll edit it out right away.

  • No problem, I believe it is our duty as Christians to help pray over someone. Glad he getting better!

  • Revive is going to be a website that you can share your prayer requests on for other people to pray for. It is still in the making. Is this accurate, @programguy:disqus ?

  • Thanks @programguy:disqus, @disqus_rHUVb4P7uQ:disqus, @disqus_ynAwM455oe:disqus and @everyoneelsewhohelped too! Can’t wait for the site to be up and running!

  • Oh yeah. So I realized this a few days ago…that’s actually the description of a book character I read about a few months ago, but her name is Desiree (which is actually kinda kinda close to Deirdre). So…yeah, it’s all made up. Lol.

  • Are you asking what it was? I just remove it after I say it because while I don’t mind people in on the discussion knowing, I don’t want any random person (stalker perhaps?) seeing my name months or years later, ya know?

  • Naw I caught it. 😉 It’s funny though, I had a next door neighbor with that name who was about my age that moved to Texas when I was like 2. 😛 #whatarethechancesitwasyou

  • No, it wasn’t me; I never moved to Texas. It would be really cool-but-weird if I met one of my childhood friends on here, though…

  • Am I supposed to understand this, @Rhanx97:disqus and @disqus_ynAwM455oe:disqus?

  • Wow, that means a lot to me. Thank you!
    BTW, I’ve still been praying for you about something (at church, I think?) where you’d done one step but you still needed to do step two. You know what I’m talking about? You talked about it on a DQ a couple months ago… Anyway, how’s it going?

  • Hehe, you sound like me. Someone mentions [big city near me] and I’m like, “Where is that?”

  • You’re right… I forgot I was conversing with people who know theology and doctrine inside and out. 🙂
    But you messed up there: Now you’re not evil to the core.

  • Oh, really? Well, now that you’re not going to carry it out, what was it?

  • Rrrgh, I’m talking with someone from my home state, and I don’t even know what part he’s from! Sounds like he might be from my area!

  • Grab your IP when you visit Revive, and then tell you where you live. Wait a second, I can’t share all of my secrets!!

  • I’m evil to the core; it is in Christ that makes us holy before God! That’s the doctrine of Imputed Righteousness…
    🙂

  • Why would you tell me? I already know where I live 🙂
    But if you knew where I live, you could get me with your top-secret diabolical plan that only you know about!

  • Okay, I should stop; I don’t know the terminology, and evidently you do 🙂
    So what denomination are you affiliated with?

  • The only castle doctrine I know is in Chess… (castling). You want to enlighten me?

  • It is the best (or worst) way to get to heaven! Break into someones home… What, if i’m doing that, am I a Christian?!?

  • I am a Christian. Mostly southern Baptist. 🙂
    What about you?
    I like to listen to sermons… and Way of the Master Radio.

  • Oh no, I don’t see how it would be considered criminal, except — it would.

  • Wait a minute! What’s right for me is right for me, and what’s right for you is right for you, RIGHT?

    Wrong. That is a trend called relativity.

  • Good question… At first I was in a Southern Baptist church, then for a year we were between churches, then my family found a nondenominational one we agreed with. Now we’re with a very non-Mennonite-but-still-officially-Mennonite church.
    I don’t really know who we agree with most; we considered going to a Presbyterian church, a 1st-Day Adventist church, and many others of numerous denominations 🙂 So, in the end, I have no idea what I am, aside from being a child of God 🙂

  • I do know that one 🙂 My family is very conservative/Republican, so I know how wrong that idea and other similar ones are.

    Do you like debating from the opposite point of view than the one you really believe? I love playing Devil’s Advocate!

  • YOU KNOW TC?! I lived near there… You know the town Williamsburg? It’s near Acme Township 🙂

  • Oh, okay… now I understand 🙂
    On a different note… how do I stop my printer from printing? I was printing out a 15-page story I’ve been working on, and it’s now on its third time through printing (which means I devoted 45+ pages to my story… my mom’s not going to like that)! Which means I’ve got near 50 pages sitting next to me…

  • What’s right for you is right for you and what’s right for me is right for me is wrong for me because what’s right for me says that what’s right for me must be right for you and what’s right for you is WRONG!! 😉 JK

  • Two homes… and I thought my move was a big deal! That’s got to make it hard to make good friends in either place.
    So how spiritually better? If you ever don’t want to answer me that’s okay; I just like to know people, especially if I’m praying for them 🙂

  • Ok, that’s really amazing.
    I literally could say the exact same thing about me! We moved churches last August, and at the new one, I really don’t fit in with anyone, mostly because I’m homeschooled. And no one at the old church won’t miss me, but i’ll miss them. I really only have one friend that I see maybe every other month at most. It’s hard. But I really think God is using this for my good, and growing me closer to Him. I defiantly have grown spiritually. You really can’t relate to the feelings unless you’ve been there. I know how you feel!

  • Hey can you guys pray for me. This week, at school we have to make timelines about how old the earth is. My school is a public school, so my teacher says that the earth is billions od years old. I have really struggled with keeping calm. Please pray that I would stay calm, and keep true thoughts in my mind.

  • Hey guys, I just found out that a girl I knew died last night. Please pray for her family.

  • Haha yep, and no, not really, in both places I’ve found teens who are focused on becoming desciples and soldiers for Christ, so in KS I’ve got two great teen friends who have their focused on what’s important, and in PA I have one. 🙂 So I get along pretty well. Okay, so at home, (PA), there’s a very bad spiritual environment. Like, smoking, drinking, bad songs, etc in the house. And all this is behind the back of my Christian mother who doesn’t have a husband or older Christian children at the house any more. And at KS, I”m living with my pastor-teacher brother in law, and my sister where there isn’t dark temptations within the very walls of the house. And going to a Christian school and a good Church. So there yahh have it.

  • I’ll keep you guys posted! I’m on my weekend right now, so I don’t have to worry about it until Monday. Do you know some verses that I could look for, so that I can keep true thoughts in my mind?

  • Ecclesiastes 3:7 comes to mind. There is a time to speak up, and a time to remain quiet. It’s important to know the difference. (And if you’re anything like me, it can be a struggle to keep calm and not start an argument at times!) Be the one who reflects Christ with respect, truth, and evidence. I’ll be praying for you!! May God use you in mighty ways! 😀

    Also it wouldn’t hurt to brush up the evidence supporting a young earth. Creation.com and Answers in Genesis are both really good sites. I ran across this article in my research: http://www.earthage.org/youngearthev/evidence_for_a_young_earth.htm
    The site’s graphic design could use a little work, but it’s got tons of evidence. 🙂

    I’m actually in a similar situation. The evolution unit my biology class was supposed to do weeks ago got pushed back and starts Monday. Please be praying that I stand strong and keep my head throughout it. : ) God bless you!

  • Thank you so much @samwegner:disqus! I have looked at Answers in Genesis before. I’ll have to check out these other sites. I’ll be praying for you! It is hard for me to keep quiet at times when I know that I should.

  • Thank you! I found a few more Bible verses on remaining silent:
    -Psalm 39:1
    -Psalm 141:3
    -Proverbs 10:19
    -Proverbs 15:1
    Proverbs 21:23
    -James 1:19-20
    Hope this helps! 😀

  • Whenever I come on here, I can expect to laugh 🙂
    You guys are hilarious!!! @programguy:disqus, @disqus_rHUVb4P7uQ:disqus and @alliehaylie:disqus

  • Right? For me it’s hard to think of @programguy:disqus as more than Candy Corn 🙂 I mean, that’s the image that pops into my head, not some guy who actually looks like a person…

  • Yeah, I think we’ve only left a church of our own will once; that was because the pastor basically said my parents could either put us kids in Sunday School or leave. My parents decided to leave.
    The rest of the time we moved to a different state, so we had to find a new church.

  • Wow! This is so amazing! Okay, so… do you remember any names from the camp? Were most of the attenders from the immediate area? Cause if so, we probably have some mutual friends!

  • Thank you 🙂 I really should find this information myself, but I don’t want to do anything irreparable to my parents’ computer, if you know what I mean, and stuff on the Net isn’t always safe/reputable.

  • Hold on, “to protect the guilty”?! And of what exactly am I guilty, Sir Sam?

  • Ouch, I know your pain. (Is there a sadder emoticon than :(? Cause I’d use it right now!)
    I’ll definitely be praying for both you and @disqus_rHUVb4P7uQ:disqus!

  • Haha that was that weird blob of candy corn I saw walking around the other day. 😛 And people think a guitar walking around is weird. 😉

  • You’re very welcome. I’ve moved two times that I can remember, so I’ve lost more friends than I want to count.
    If you ever just want to talk to someone (vent, chat, commiserate, whatever), I’m available. Same goes for you, @disqus_rHUVb4P7uQ:disqus 🙂

  • Sure, makes sense. Wish I could give you my email, but my parents don’t want me to…

  • Uh-huh. What is mlive.com, exactly?
    And you will never find me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Yes! I Think that if I saw Sam on the street I would expect him to be wearing a candy corn outfit (or be a living breathing piece of candy corn) and if I saw you on the street I’d expect you to look like a mime, so if I do run into you someday, pardon me if I call you mimeforJesus not *your real top secret spy name*.

  • Perhaps. When I heard your voice on DHTU two sessions ago, I was surprised that your voice didn’t sound all high pitched and candy corn like. (No joke.)

  • I recently found out that the mission trip I’m going on this summer is in Indy, and my first thought when I saw the sheet was Hey, that’s where Riley lives… 🙂

  • Yes! I wrote out a reply, but it got caught in spam.
    Let’s try it! What is your counter to this?

    I’m an atheist. I don’t believe a good god would be so cruel to send people to he||. That’s just unfair! And besides, why would you want to believe in an old book full of contradictions?

  • Lol. Yep, I’m Indy!! That’s kind of a weird thought…you’re taking a mission trip to Indianapolis? And I’m the one who feels like I need to go out into all the world…:)

  • 🙂 Yeah, it’s kind of an intesting idea. We do a lot of community service work on the trip, but the sad thing is because it’s closer to home and not that expensive a lot of kids treat it like a vacation or road trip 🙁

  • Well, if I look out my window and see a bunch of kids picking up trash out on the streets and handing packages out to homeless people, and one of the girls has a t-shirt that says, “Hi, My Name is Sam Wegner!” in big letters…then I’ll wave at you :).

  • Waaaait a minute….
    @MyNameIsAnigoMontoya:disqus
    @Rhanx97:disqus
    @disqus_rHUVb4P7uQ:disqus
    Are the aforementioned people related???? This secret agent thinks so but what do the accused have to say…. *dramatic music* 😉

  • Mmm wise you are @programguy:disqus but much you have to learn still hehehehehe. Stand for “happy,” H could, but stand for something else, it does mmmm yessss. Know @disqus_rHUVb4P7uQ:disqus’s last name I do hehehe, “Happy” it is not.

  • Yes we’re related. Hmm, has to be closer than Noah!
    No, actually, I’ve never met them! They just liked the way people do their names here…

  • I’ll alert my agency to pull me out!

    Yes, knows @programguy:disqus much more about me than will he ever share on here. And about him I.

  • BUT! We still have not heard from the other two defendants yet…perhaps they are related…*Yoda voice* “use the force you must…”