31/07/2026
5-MINUTE REFLECTION
*How to Kill a Cell Group (Part 4)*
*_CONNECTED! ...To Whom... or What?_*
sqsquirrel20260707
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_(Approx. 8–10 minutes reading time)_
*EVERYONE* was connecting.
But to whom?
Or to what?
Some were connecting with God.
Others with their phones.
Others with Facebook.
Others with work.
Others with their worries.
Others with themselves.
Jesus once said,
*"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."*
(Matthew 6:21)
Perhaps prayer is not first about closing our eyes.
It is about where our hearts are connecting.
Every year, during the 40.Days Prayer season, pastors across Singapore issue a clarion call for Christians to pray for our nation.
The invitation gradually filters down through the churches to the individual cell groups.
The CGL faithfully echoes the call.
He encourages the members to pray.
He sends reminders.
Some prepare prayer rosters.
Some check in with members.
Some gently ask how their prayer journey is going.
Others try to make the members *accountable*,
so that they themselves can _account_ to their supervisors,
who in turn _account_ to the pastors.
For a while, there is enthusiasm.
Then the sharing in the group chat becomes less frequent.
The reminders become fewer.
The silence becomes longer.
He becomes discouraged.
He began by _inspiring_.
Inspiring slowly became _striving_.
Striving slowly became _driving_.
The members were merely _trying_.
Trying slowly became _complying_.
All the while, the flame of prayer
was quietly _dying_.
And the CGL was left _wondering_... and quietly _sighing_. 😟
Until one day, he became _disillusioned_.
Then a question quietly surfaced.
*What exactly is a "season" of prayer?*
What happens _after_ the forty days?
Does prayer quietly return to the shelf until the next campaign?
Or is prayer something altogether different?
A way of life.
A relationship.
A continual returning to the Father.
Perhaps accountability is seldom the real issue.
More often, it is desire.
When desire is present,
accountability becomes a *servant*.
When desire is absent,
accountability easily becomes *another burden*.
Eventually, it becomes a *bit*. 🐴
It may restrain behaviour.
But it can never awaken desire.
Henri Nouwen observed that no one can be forced into the spiritual life.
Love invites.
It never coerces.
That is true of God.
Perhaps it should also be true of us.
This raises another question.
*How does a value become internalised?*
Knowledge informs.
Experience transforms.
Desire awakens.
A person may know that prayer is important.
He may sincerely agree with it.
He may even feel guilty for neglecting it.
Yet none of these necessarily produces a praying life.
Knowledge alone seldom changes a person.
Transformation usually begins with self-awareness.
This is where the CGL has a unique opportunity.
Rather than asking,
*"Did you pray today?"*
Perhaps he could gently ask,
*"What happened within you when you tried to pray?"*
*"I noticed I kept reaching for my phone."*
*"I became restless."*
*"I didn't know what to say."*
*"I realised I didn't really want to pray."*
*"I found myself enjoying being with God."*
Without self-awareness, there can be no transformation.
Jesus Himself encountered this tension.
The Pharisees were remarkably disciplined.
They prayed.
They fasted.
They tithed.
They knew the Scriptures.
Many genuinely desired to honour God.
Yet Jesus repeatedly drew attention to something deeper.
Their outward practices had gradually become disconnected from their inward life.
They honoured God with their lips.
Yet their hearts were often far from Him.
Some loved long public prayers.
Others carefully observed religious practices.
Yet somewhere along the way, the Father quietly disappeared behind the practices.
This was not true of every Pharisee.
Nicodemus came seeking Jesus.
Joseph of Arimathea courageously honoured Him after His death.
Jesus did not condemn prayer.
He did not condemn fasting.
He did not condemn spiritual disciplines.
He invited people beyond the disciplines...
..to the Father.
Eugene Peterson captures this beautifully:
*"The assumption of spirituality is that*
*God is doing something before I know it.*
*So the task is not to get God to do something*
*I think needs to be done*
*but to become aware of what God is doing*
*so that I can respond to it,*
*participate in it,*
*and*
*take delight in it."*
Prayer is no longer about persuading God to do something.
It is about becoming aware of what He is already doing.
Then responding.
Participating.
Taking delight in Him.
Perhaps that was the tragedy of the elder brother.
He participated in the work.
But not in the joy.
He fulfilled his duty.
Yet missed the delight of sharing in his father's heart.
Perhaps that is God's invitation to us as well.
Not merely to participate in a season of prayer.
But to share in the joy of the Father.
An old proverb says,
*"You can lead a horse to water.*
*But you cannot make it drink."*
Perhaps the same is true spiritually.
We can invite people to pray.
We can organise prayer meetings.
We can provide prayer guides.
We can send reminders.
We can encourage accountability.
Yet none of these can awaken desire.
*Only God can.*
Perhaps the deeper question has never been,
*"Did you pray?"*
Nor even,
*"How long did you pray?"*
Perhaps the deeper question is,
*"With whom were you connecting?"*
Or perhaps,
*"What captured your heart?"*
For where your treasure is...
There your heart will be also.
Perhaps our calling as shepherds is not to produce prayer.
Nor to measure prayer.
Nor even to motivate prayer.
Perhaps our calling is simply to help people reconnect with the Father.
For once the Father captures the heart...
Duty quietly gives way to delight.
Prayer ceases to be an obligation.
It becomes a joyful participation
in what God is already doing.🍓😃
*Prayer of the Heart ❤️*
Father,
Forgive me for the many times I have settled for _duty_
when You were inviting me into _delight_.
Awaken within me a deeper desire for You.
Teach me not merely to pray,
but to enjoy Your presence.
Help me become aware
of what You are already doing,
so that I may respond,
participate, and
delight in You.
Where I have tried to produce through pressure
what only You can awaken by grace,
forgive me.
As I journey with others,
may I never merely lead them to prayer.
*May I lead them to You.*
Amen.
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ENCOUNTERS OF 'A CERTAIN KIND' | How to Kill a Cell Group (Part 4) | sqsquirrel20260707