I first met Brother Curington at the Spiritual Leadership Conference in Lancaster, California about seven years ago. And while I was blessed by his personal testimony and passion for the Lord, it was while he was talking about the curriculum men and women in his program go through that caught my ear. He talked about how the greatest thing needed in the lives of men and women to live victorious Christian lives was to have a personal, vibrant prayer life.
Sadly, I confess that up to that point, my prayer life was not very meaningful. Prayer was something I would do in spurts and starts, usually gaining momentum in time of crisis, or to grow into long cumbersome lists that sounded little like prayer, and more like reading names out of a phone book. Through the years I have read many books on prayer, tried many systems of lists and chart making to help in prayer, but ultimately, I felt that while some of my prayers were answered, it was mostly ineffective. My prayer life was primarily me telling God what I thought He should do on my behalf and for others, and in asking forgiveness for my failures.
Brother Curington and I ate lunch together that day, and I began asking him questions, not so much about his recovery program, but about his prayer life. Out of that conversation, he gave to me a copy of his message, It’s Personal. He challenged me to listen to it and to begin following the pattern of prayer that Jesus taught in Matthew 6. As I listened to that message, I began to weep. It resonated with my spirit like nothing I had ever heard on prayer. And I began to pray, following the pattern he had taught based on Jesus’ teaching in what we call The Lord’s Prayer.
Prayer has changed my life. Now, instead of being tied to a list (which for me becomes a dry recitation of names), or random thoughts in prayer that results in my mind wandering and not praying at all, I now pray regularly in praise, in lifting up of needs, in receiving forgiveness and seeking God’s protection, knowing that I am praying for what God wants for me to pray, and truly meeting with God in prayer. It is humbling to see when prayers are answered, and comforting to know my time in prayer has truly been a time to meet with God.
As I began to apply the principles I was learning in my own life, I then began to teach them in my Sunday School class. And, this coming Sunday, in the Connecting Pointe Sunday School class at Greater Portland Baptist Church, I plan again to teach the lesson How to Pray Effectively.
Thank you, Steve Curington, for your passion for the Lord, for your burden to help addicted men and women to find victory in Jesus Christ, and for helping me to learn how to pray. As my friend, Evangelist Kurt LaBouve, wrote in song, “He did run well!”
(If you would like to learn more about Reformers Unanimous or to get more information about the home-going of Steven Curington, go to http://www.reformu.com/ )
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