Praying through the...

"But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:31

Ok...those of you who read my blog often know that I use a part of speech called the ellipsis a lot in my writing. You may not know what it is called, but you probably noticed the dot, dot dot. My writing is very conversational, and the ... just helps me convey a pause. It is more effective than a comma or a period. I use it for dramatic effect. In the past year though, I learned that I may use it too much.

The book that I wrote with my two pastors this past year contained a lot of my blog posts. I compiled and organized them into chapters with themes that worked for the devotional book we were working on. We had a member of our congregation who is a retired teacher edit the book for us. He contacted me one day and asked me to fix something. He suggested that I used the ellipsis a bit too many times. It seemed to lose the dramatic effect I had in my daily blog posts. So, using the "find and replace" tool in Microsoft Word, I found that I DID use this grammatical tool a lot...419 times in 134 pages!

This morning, the book that I am reading, The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson, has a whole section devoted to the ellipsis! Since I am such a fan of the ... this caught my attention!

My prayer list is long. There are things that I have been praying about for years, with no real answer from God. There have been times in my life that I just stopped praying for certain things because, honestly, I guess I just believed they could and would not ever happen. There are things that I want for my life and have been waiting for that just never seem to happen, no matter how hard I wish for them or pray for them, but the WANT and the DESIRE for them are still there. I think I just assumed that if they haven't happened yet, they aren't going to happen. I think I give up too soon. There seems to be something hanging on in my heart...

It's that ...that is the hardest. The waiting. The wanting. The feeling that there is something missing or that there is more yet to come. Mark Batterson suggests that we DO give up too easily and that we should continue to circle those prayers AND those promises that God gives us about our prayers.

"And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." Matthew 21:22

"Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it." John 14:13-14

"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." John 15:7

While I don't think these promises give us the right to make a "Christmas wish list" of things we want, such as winning the lottery, being famous, or getting a new car, I do think that if we are asking God for things that are in line with his will for us, than he will give them to us...in His own time.

There it is again, that dot, dot, dot that makes us wait! We don't want to wait for the things we want, do we? His own time. God promises that he WILL answer our prayers, but HIS timing may be completely different than ours.

So what to do with that ... time? I am just trying to PRAY my way through it and LEAN on the promise that God WILL answer and I WILL see his glory when the promises come true!

You ARE special!

"However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and compete the task the Lord Jesus has given me - the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace." -- Acts 20:24

I read an interesting article yesterday about Generation Y, those people born from 1970-the early 90's. The article talks about how this group "the Yuppies" are unhappy. They are unfulfilled, bored, and unhappy with their lives. The author states that because of how their parents, "The Baby Boomers" brought them up, their expectations for their lives were unrealistic. Yuppies were brought up to think they are special. Yes, everyone may find a good career, but YOU, my child will outshine and stand high above everyone in your chosen career. The point of this being that because they ALL think they are special, and EVERYONE can't be special, they think they are not living up to their own expectations and they are disappointed and dissatisfied.

Well, I was born a couple of years before 1970, but I was raised by my Baby Boomer parents to believe that I could do anything I put my mind to...and I HAVE done many things! But, sometimes I do think that I get dissatisfied with my life because it isn't turning out exactly as I dreamed it would be. I work hard, I dream big, I am ambitious, and I want more. I think sometimes I do think I am special. If everyone thinks they are special, than nobody is special, right?

Nope! I believe that in God's eyes, each one of us IS special. He created each one of us for a reason...He knows how many hairs are on our heads and has each of our names written in the palm of his hand! He has a purpose for each of us, and when we give up our own selfish desires and start truly searching for what God wants for us and start working toward that, then we find we ARE special! In God's eyes, when we are following his lead then each one of us can be top achievers and stand at the top of our field!

Don't you want to be special? You ARE! Ask God to show you HIS plans for your life and then work hard on those plans. Finish HIS race and then complete the task Jesus gives you -- tell others about God's plan and how HE gave you the grace you needed!

Praying in Circles

"So do not throw away your confidence: it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised." -- Hebrews 10:35-36

My church is reading The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson and I have started to pray in circles. I am getting specific about my prayers and about what I am asking God for. I went through my Bible and looked for every promise and every God statement about being a good wife and having a good marriage. I circled all of those promises, (I found 12 -- there may be more). Then I wrote down those promises and what they mean for me. They were action steps for me. I circled all of those action steps on the paper and prayed that I would DO the things I need to do to be THAT Godly wife for my husband.

I am not done circling. I wrote down some things that seem impossible to me...things that I have been praying for for a long time, but things that I haven't seen happen yet. I circled those things over and over and will continue to circle them each day until they happen. That old acronym PUSH (Pray Until Something Happens) is true for me, but this time I am not just asking, I am BELIEVING that God will fulfill his promises.

Does that mean I think those things will happen tomorrow? Well, I would really LOVE that, but I know God has His own timing. So, I will just keep right on circling and believing. It might mean that my pencil circles so much it goes through the paper...I'll get more paper. It might mean that I grow weary of praying those circles...I'll buck up and keep circling. I am holding God accountable. He promised that if I ask, I will receive. He promised if I seek Him, I will find Him. A few of the things I am praying for are big, so big that if and when they do happen, it will be a MIRACLE! I believe in a God who can and does make miracles happen!

By circling my prayers, I am focusing on them and focusing on God and what he can do. I am not a pastor or a Biblical expert and I don't have all the answers, but I DO believe in God and crying out to Him in the name of Jesus. I believe because I have seen Him keep promises before. I have received answered prayers. I know in my heart that God is listening to my prayers. So I will keep circling, keep doing God's will and have confidence that God CAN make miracles happen in my life!

Laughing Jesus...

 

 

"I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete." -- John 15:11


There is no evidence in the Bible that Jesus laughed. I looked. However, in my heart, I know that Jesus must have had a good belly laugh from time to time, even if he is sometimes called "the man of sorrows."

Yes, He did carry the weight of the world on his shoulders in his 33 years here on earth, but he also lived as we live, and must have had some moments of pure joy as well. He loved to have children around him. Think about the smiles and laughter that must have brought! Children were sitting on his lap and standing around him, telling him things that were important to them. We all know the funny things kids can say.

I am thinking about this today because this picture of laughing Jesus was my friend Carol's favorite image of Jesus. She gave me a little card of the picture several years ago and I still carry it in my wallet. It is comforting to know that our loving Savior, who took on our sins so we could be free, found joy in this world.

Joy is sometimes very hard to find in our busy work-a-day lives. I think we think and feel that our joy comes from others...our spouse, our children, our coworkers, our friends. If people treat me right and do what I want, I will be happy, right? Well, I have discovered that my joy comes from my own beliefs and more importantly, my own attitude. If I WANT to be happy about my life and LIVE like I want to be happy, then I find reasons to be joyful. The opposite is true too, however. I can find plenty of reasons to be miserable in this world too...if WANT to be miserable and LIVE like a am miserable, then I certainly will be.

My friend Carol as been in my thoughts a lot lately, since she is no longer there for me to call and laugh with. She had plenty of reasons to be miserable in the last few years. Her sister died of cancer a year ago and her own cancer came on with a vengeance, stealing her ability to stand, and do the things she so wanted to do. But, the last visit I had with her in the hospital a week or so before her death was one of the best conversations we ever had. Yes, she was worried about things, but she also found plenty of reasons to laugh. We laughed A LOT in that hour-long visit. She even had her nurse laughing so hard she cried! Carol loved Jesus so much, and I am comforted in the belief that she is laughing WITH Jesus now and has eternity to be joyful with him in heaven!

I'm going to carry that picture of laughing Jesus with me today as I go out into the not-so-joyful world. I am going to look for reasons to be happy and laugh! Laughter IS infectious! I hope everyone around me gets it too!

Wake up! Pray!

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified. Do not be discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9

This morning I was part of a prayer vigil. Members of my church signed up to pray for 15 minute time slots over a period of 24 hours. I chose 5:00 am on Sunday morning. I am a morning person, so waking up at 5:00 am is nothing new or anything difficult for me. I USED to be in the habit of getting up every morning and having my quiet devotional, "God time," but in the past year, for some reason , I got out of the habit. I got busy...I wasn't sleeping enough...I can think of many reasons why I stopped. But I have missed it. This morning made me remember why I loved my "God time" so much and made me want to refresh that habit.

I wasn't sure exactly what we were supposed to pray for in my 15 minutes, so I improvised. I just started talking to God and asked him to bless our church and the pastors and leaders. I then listed every ministry I could think of within our church and asked God to bless those ministries, the people leading them and the people who might possibly be touched by them. My 15 minutes went by so quickly!

I then thought of the Bible verse that I will be teaching kids in KidsPraise today: Joshua 1:9. I believe God wants us to be bold and vigilant, but it takes courage to be bold for God in today's scary world. It is so very easy to become discouraged, frustrated and sad when looking at the pain, suffering and evil that appears before us every day we open our eyes. This verse is a reminder that we CAN be courageous and bold because God IS with us!

Don't be terrified! Wherever you go, whatever you do, God is with you! So, be bold! Pray! Pray for God's will in your life and then start praying for others. If each one of us that believes in the awesome power of God and the life-saving power of Jesus Christ will pray boldly, there is no telling what amazing blessings will happen!

Dear God, I thank you for my 15 minutes of prayer this morning! It has refreshed my soul! I ask that you bless me today so that I can be a blessing to others. Help me to live boldly today and give me the courage that comes from knowing that you are with me wherever I go. Amen

Love calling...

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God." -- 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Okay, I have to tell you about my experience this morning. All week I have been feeling... frustrated, worried, not good enough, unworthy...just plain out of sorts. Rationally, I know none of these feelings are warranted, but nonetheless, those feelings have been plaguing my heart. I woke up feeling worn out and not ready to face the morning. I though a bath might relax and rejuvenate me and I thought some music might help as well. I often listen to Pandora, and have a contemporary Christian channel that plays familiar worship songs.

As I slipped my tired body into the water, the first song that came on was "Worn" by a group called Tenth Avenue West. Let me tell you, those words spoke exactly what I have been feeling like lately...I am worn. Then the next song was another song that I knew, loved and spoke exactly what I needed to hear. During my morning bath, each of the songs that played spoke to my heart and encouraged me.

As I slipped out of the water and began drying off, I felt better. Then the next song was "Love Calling" by Toby Mac, that talks about getting back up when you feel knocked down. It was that moment that I felt like God had just given me a loving "mix tape." He WAS calling out to me and comforting and loving me through the music on my phone. I felt loved and encouraged and can move on with my day, letting go of some of those "out of sorts" feelings.

Doubters may scoff at that, but I don't care. Who cares if I feel better believing that my Father God loves me enough to listen to my prayers and cries and send me a "mix tape?" It gives me hope.

I share this story with you so maybe you can open your heart and your mind enough to believe that God loves you enough to reach out to you too! God IS love and love will call you and encourage you as well.

A morning meditation

"My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you. When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness." -- Isaiah 26:9

When I am dealing with any situation, especially a difficult one, I get stressed out. My stomach gets upset, my head hurts and I feel like running away. When I am in the middle of something, trying to resolve something, my brain seems to override my heart and God is not the first thing I think of. After the situation has calmed down some and I am evaluating the situation, THEN I think about what I should have done and how I should have prayed DURING the situation instead of after.

At least in my life, emotions have a way of taking over my body. I get angry, hurt, frustrated and my rational mind seems to go out the window. It is then that I say and do things that I regret after. I often wonder why that is. Why can we think of things we SHOULD have said and done well when we are thinking about something after the fact?

After just such an emotional "discussion" with my daughter last night, I woke up this morning still feeling a little raw and out of sorts, still going over things that were said in the heat of the discussion. I needed to put it behind me and stop letting my emotions upset me so, so I turned to my Bible. I opened to the Isaiah verse above.

I do long for God. The spirit that is inside me longs for my Heavenly Father to wrap his loving arms around me and tell me everything is going to me alright. When I am worried about how I am raising my daughter or concerned about choices I am making, I long for God to tell me I am doing the right things or tell me what to do if I am not. I long for a world without conflicts and "discussions." They are hard and upsetting, but unfortunately, they are part of life.

Somehow, just reading that passage from Isaiah did comfort me a little bit. Someone else in this world longed for God. I am not alone in my feelings of worry and concern. Even the last part of the verse, that talks about God's judgment and righteousness was comforting to me. Throughout trials, God is trying to teach us the right way. I don't believe that the reason I am feeling out of sorts and upset about things is a coincidence. God WANTS us to learn from our mistakes and from our situations and puts that desire for Him in our hearts so we DO long for Him and search for Him. God WANTED me to pick up my Bible and look for His wisdom this morning. Did He want to comfort me and teach me something? It is my belief and my hope that He did. He is God. He is powerful enough to do anything. He is my Father...why wouldn't He want to reach out to me and wrap his arms around me and tell me everything is going to be alright?

Father God, I thank you for your comforting words this morning. Thank you for placing people in my life last night who helped me with my situation. I may not have said and done all the right things last night, but I feel you teaching me through it. I long for you every day. Thank you for seeing that longing and reaching out to me today. Amen.