Prayer

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Distracted

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“Consider the lilies of the field how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed as one of these.” – Matthew 6:28b-29

Lord, what is it that distracts me when I sit in silence before You? Today it is what I am going to wear and, for later, what am I going to serve for our guests. Can you believe it? I am in Your presence at Your gracious invitation. I want to be with You and, yet, I am thinking of food and clothing, things that don’t matter at all.

So now, in Your presence, I take off my sandals for I am on holy ground. I remove that which attaches me to earth – thoughts about the daily stresses and concerns. Instead, I stand with bare feet and open heart waiting for You to fill my deepest needs.

  • Make me like a lily of the field who displays beauty that only You can give.
  • Make me like a bird of the air who gratefully receives the food You provide.
  • Make me, as Your daughter, totally dependent on You for every detail of my life.

Then I can look to You alone and not be distracted by the superficial, the earthly, the transient. I yield to Your transformation in my life. Amen.

“Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength.” – Charles Spurgeon

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God Started It

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“Keep your eyes on Jesus who both began and finished this race we are in.” – Hebrews 12:2a (MSG)

Nothing significant in our lives is started by us. Everything of value is initiated by God. He initiated salvation by sending Jesus. It is our role to respond by accepting the payment He made for us on the cross.

The Holy Spirit initiates our service by giving various spiritual gifts. Our job is to respond to His gifts and use them for building up the church.

See the pattern? He initiates, we respond. When we start projects or ministries or relationships on our own, we will fail. If we wait for God to start what He wants to grow, it will succeed. So how does that look in our daily lives?

  • We ask what His will is before we pray. Then we pray His will back to Him.
  • We ask Him before we put an event on our calendar. That way, our days will be ordered by Him.
  • We pray throughout the day for direction, so our individual steps, too, can be directed by Him.

Result: Success. We will never fail in a plan that God initiates. What He begins, He completes and we can share joy in accomplishing His will on our patch of the earth.

What to do next? Wait for it. . . He will show you!

“Each time, before you intercede, be quiet first, and worship God in His glory. Think of what He can do, and how He delights to hear the prayers of His redeemed people. Think of your place and privilege in Christ, and expect great things!” – Andrew Murray

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Feeling Guilty?

“. . . return to your God!  You’re down but you’re not out.  Prepare your confession and come back to God. . . I will heal their waywardness.  I will love them lavishly.” (Hosea 14:1-2;4 The Message)

“Prepare your confession and come back to God. . . I will heal their waywardness.  I will love them lavishly.” (Hosea 14:2;4 MSG)

Years ago, a father went to Madrid searching for his son from whom he had been estranged since Paco left their quiet home for the allure of the big city. Discouraged in his unsuccessful search, the father placed a short ad in the city paper: “Paco, meet me at the Hotel Montana. Noon Tuesday. All is forgiven. Papa.” When the father arrived at the hotel that day, he was greeted by a waiting crowd of young men, all named Paco, all looking for forgiveness.*

We need it, too, don’t we? And we can have it. We don’t have to live with guilt any longer. We can be freed from our past and forgiven completely. Here’s how:

  1. In a quiet time before God, we take full responsibility for what we have done. No excuses. We allow the Spirit to show us our faults and we experience true sorrow for our actions and the pain they have caused God and others.
  2. We confess our actions or attitudes as sinful and we ask God’s forgiveness. He may or may not direct us to seek the forgiveness of another person as well. If He does, we obey.
  3. We celebrate. At that point, we are free, happy, and beginning to experience the wholeness God has promised those who stay near His heart, living in forgiveness.

Like Paco, forgiveness is already ours. We just have to show up before our Father and receive it. Today would be a good day to do just that.

“My deepest awareness of myself is that I am deeply loved by Jesus Christ and I have done nothing to earn it or deserve it.”  – Brennan Manning

 

 

*Story attributed to Ernest Hemingway; I’ve not been able to verify.

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What Kind of God is He?

"Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning." - Psalm 30:5b

“Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.” – Psalm 30:5b

You know that God is able to solve the problem you face, don’t you? Then why doesn’t He? What kind of God could answer your prayers if He wanted to, but just doesn’t do it?

Often our first thought is that He must not want to help. The problem with that answer is that it is not consistent with what we read about God in the Bible. We are told that He created us for His pleasure, He loves us, and He wants only the best for us. When Jesus was on earth, He faithfully showed His compassion and mercy.

The best answer? He has a God-sized purpose for us – one that cannot become reality if He answers our prayers the way we pray them. Instead, He envisions a weaving together of our lives and others, of today’s circumstances and future good, of His mercy and our dependence.

The best path? Keep praying and believe that His plans are always for our good.

The best part? As we pray, He assures and reassures us that He’s with us in the middle of the sickness, the pain, the storm of life – right beside us, arms around us, whispering words of love into our ear. I have found that whatever I am going through, there is nothing more satisfying than sensing at my deepest core that He is there. As I think about that, I realize that He is answering my prayers in the best way possible. So thankful . . .

“To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.” – Thomas Aquinas

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Becoming Prayer

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“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” – Colossians 4:2

When I am rightly tuned in to God, I find myself praying all day long. I ask Him for direction, thank Him for the wonders I see in His world, ask Him to bless the person ahead of me in line at the bank, pray for the people involved in the situation wherever the ambulance is going, receive everything as a gift from Him, and talk to Him as I would a friend if there is something troubling me.

It doesn’t happen every day, but I wish it would. Those days have a sweetness and satisfaction that can’t be rivaled by anything else I know.

When I found this ancient prayer, I realized it expressed my heart’s desire. Praying it seems to reconnect me to my Creator. Maybe it will help you, too.

“Holy Spirit dwell in me,
that I may become prayer.
Whether I sleep or wake,
eat or drink
labor or rest,
may the fragrance of prayer
rise, without effort, in my heart.
Purify my soul and never leave me,
so that the movements of my heart and mind
may, with voices full of sweetness,
sing in secret to God.” – St. Isaac the Syrian

 

 

 

Prayer from The Book of a Thousand Prayers, compiled byAngela Ashwin, Zondervan, 1966, p. 19.

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He Chose the Cross

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus . . . who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame . . . ” – from Hebrews 12:2

As Jesus contemplated the cross while praying in Gethsemane, I sometimes wonder if He was thinking about the people He loved and the pain they endured because of Satan’s cruel power. Most recently, the sorrow of Mary and Martha at the loss of Lazarus – the pain so bad it caused Him to weep for them. But there were many others, too:

  • Demoniacs
  • Outcast women
  • Lepers
  • Blind and lame men
  • Widows and orphans

By helping those in most need, He had given a taste of life as it was meant to be – no sickness, sadness, pain, rejection. He was doing so much good. Why stop now? Why the cross? It had to do with the spiritual battle we cannot see, but of which He was keenly aware. He knew that doing good and teaching truth would not be enough to take the world back from Satan’s power. The only way to win was to die.

Maybe, as He prayed “not my will, but Yours be done”, He was remembering those He had helped in His few years on earth. Then He thought of the broken world still full of pain and suffering.  He thought of us – you and me – and wanted us to have the same opportunity of new life and joy Lazarus, lepers, and the Samaritan Woman had.

So, He chose the cross. For us. Offering forgiveness and relationship to all who would see and believe. The cross – His blood-stained invitation to life as it was meant to be.

“There is no sin, no weakness of soul or mind for which You do not have an adequate remedy, purchased by Your death.” – Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen

 

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A No-Hurry Day

I’m having a “no-hurry” day today. That means I didn’t jump out of bed the minute I woke up. I stayed still for ten minutes saying good morning to God.

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“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty.” – Psalm 91:1

Then, as I begin my day, I resolve to

  • Drive in the right-hand lane.
  • Walk at a relaxed pace.
  • Read instead of scan.
  • Speak more slowly.
  • Taste my food.
  • Wait in line without fidgeting.
  • Avoid multi-tasking.

A no-hurry day allows God to speak peace to my soul. It’s OK to slow down sometimes, to not take control of every situation, to let others lead, and to yield every moment, every task, and every relationship to God’s oversight. Try it. You may be surprised at how little time you lose by not hurrying and at how much more fun you have along the way.

“When the soul is understood and attended to, we can be liberated from hurry, preoccupation, unsatisfied desires, and chronic discontent”.  – John Ortberg

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Overwhelmed?

"But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me." - Micah 7:7

“But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.” – Micah 7:7

“They do not cry to Me from their hearts, but they wail upon their beds.” (Hosea 7:14)

Can we relate to God’s people in this verse? They had allowed their desperation to throw them into a downward emotional spiral and there seemed no way out. It happens to all of us at times. But we don’t have to stay there.

Do you see the alternative God gives? He invites us to cry to Him from our hearts. How do we do that? We get out of our beds, move intentionally into His presence, look at Him, pause, and realize who He is. Then, we are ready for heartfelt prayer. When the focus is on Him and not on us, we turn our situation over to the One who loves us completely and the only One who can actually do something about the problems we face.

Then, over time, we find the Holy Spirit makes a great exchange for us.

  • He takes our anxiety and gives us peace.
  • He takes our self-pity and gives us trust.
  • He takes our desperation and gives us hope.

We get to choose: Wailing? Or honest prayer? God is waiting at this very moment to hear the cries of our heart.

“God wants to completely fill you and unite Himself to you. Let the vain, complaining babble of self-love be silenced so that in the stillness of the heart you may listen to the love of God.” – Francois de Fenelon

 

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Being Still

"Do everything with the awareness that you are acting before God and for His sake. At the sight of God's majesty, calmness and well-being should fill your spirit." - Fenelon

“At the sight of God’s majesty, calmness and well-being should fill your spirit.” -Francois de Fenelon

“Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)

Have you ever tried being still? It’s hard to do! When I was talking to God about that one day, it felt like He was telling me that I was going at it backwards: I was trying to be still so I could know Him. He wants me to know Him so I can be still.

“When you know that I am God, you will be still.

Behold Me. Look at Me. See Me for who I am.

You will find I am much, infinitely much, bigger than finances, accidents, cancer, relationships with toxic people, or any other problem you face.

I am God. Just stop for a few minutes and think about who I am. Being still is the only possible response to My glory.”

It seems that the secret of being still in God’s presence is beginning to understand who He really is. When we stop to view Him with amazement and wonder; when we accept the mystery of what we do not know of Him; and when we begin to glimpse His holiness, power, and love, the issues of our lives fade away and awed stillness is our only possible reaction.

Try changing your focus from your restlessness to God’s greatness and see what happens. It helps me a lot!

“Collect yourself in His presence with the one purpose and intent of loving Him.” – Michael Molinos

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Feed Me.

My husband had a cocker spaniel who would come running every time he entered the front door. Why? Because Lady knew he would have treats for her in his coat pocket. He earned her devotion with Milk Bones!

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“Give us this day our daily bread.” – Matthew 6:11

Where do you get the nourishment for your soul? It may be from another’s approval, mind-numbing habits, enjoyment of creation, art, or music, or new accomplishments. These may not be bad things in themselves, but are they meeting your deepest hungers? Probably not.

Maybe more importantly, we must realize that the source of our nourishment will have control over us.

While the people of Israel were totally dependent on God for manna, staying close to Him was fairly easy. But He warned that the danger would come when they entered the land, grew their own wheat, and made their own bread. Self-sufficiency breeds independence. I dare say that if Lady had her own Milk Bone supply, she would have been less attentive when the door opened!

If we see God as the only One who can satisfy our souls’ true hunger, we will never want to give up control to another’s approval or our own attempts at satisfaction. Instead, when we find that God’s Spirit ministers to our spirits, our souls are nourished and at rest.  Maybe that’s why He wants us to ask for our bread every day – so we remember that only He can fill our deepest hunger.

I hunger and I thirst;
Jesus, my manna be;
Ye living waters, burst
Out of the rock for me.

Thou bruised and broken Bread,
My lifelong wants supply;
As living souls are fed,
O feed me, or I die.*

*John S. B. Monsell, 1866