Prayer

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Sacred Pauses

How often do you think about God?

"Life is not a series of events to be controlled. Life is a way of walking through the universe whole and holy." - Joan Chittister

“Life is not a series of events to be controlled. Life is a way of walking through the universe whole and holy.” – Joan Chittister

Followers of Islam pray five times a day. Jews practice morning, afternoon, and evening prayers. Benedictine monks stop seven times every day for prayer and worship. What about us? I have my morning devotion time, to be sure, but the activity of the day can draw me away from connecting with God unless I intentionally bring myself back to awareness of Him. You, too? God deeply desires for us to be in continual unbroken relationship with Him. It seems He is just waiting for us to respond to His loving invitation.

I’d like to propose a “sacred pause challenge” today. Most likely our work days or our pace will not allow us to pause seven times, but maybe we could make a small adjustment to schedule and pause one time in the middle of things to acknowledge our Creator. We might need a trigger point so we don’t forget: Maybe when we stop for lunch or when we get in the car to go home after work, we can turn ourselves toward God. Here are some ideas of things we could do with a sacred pause:

• Choose a verse from our morning devotional time and reread it a few times aloud.
• Thank God for at least three things.
• Praise God for at least three of His attributes.
• Sing Him a song.
• Take a few deep breaths, quieting the body and mind, then just be still before Him.

It’s that simple. How about choosing one of these to practice at least once today then maybe tomorrow and the next day, too? Once we develop the habit of a midday sacred pause, we could add another and another until we are in touch with God throughout our day – every day. He will be pleased and we will be blessed!

“For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, ‘Do not fear; I will help you.'” – Isaiah 41:13

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When I am Afraid

I am afraid sometimes, actually more times than I like to admit. When I am willing to look for help for my fear, I often find the psalms provide comfort and direction. Psalm 16 is one of my favorites.

Psalm 16:1a: Keep me safe, O God . . .

The first part of this verse helps me to slow down and identify my specific fear. What do I want to be kept safe from?

“Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. – Psalm 23:4 NLT

Accident?
Physical pain?
Emotional stress?
Failure?
Mistakes?
Sin?
Evil powers?

Once I identify the fear I am dealing with, I can pray specifically for the protection I need. The fears that most often surface for me relate to things I can’t control. When I know I don’t have influence over what may be about to happen, fear can strike to my core.

Psalm 16:1b: . . . for in You I take refuge.

Refuge in God means I trust Him to take care of me. It means I give up control to Him. He is my safe place. He protects me even from myself, my weaknesses, flaws, and lack of judgment, as well as from other people’s mistakes or intentions. As I surrender my will and my specifically identified fear to Him, room is created in my soul for peace to seep in. Little by little, by the power of the Holy Spirit, peace conquers fear and I am at rest.

Until next time, that is. Then we do it again. But God is never impatient with my call to Him for help and my desire to take refuge in Him. He just seems pleased that I am learning to trust Him when I am afraid. He is ready to welcome you to His safe place, too. Just ask Him.

“Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid.” – Frederick Buechner

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Night School

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“On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.” – Psalm 63:5-8

When I was in college, I had a Christian professor who told us that when she went to bed at night, she prayed God would use the nighttime hours to speak to her. I thought that was a little “far out” at the time, but was intrigued because it seemed efficient –seriously! Over time, though, I realized that nighttime may be the only time when I have relinquished control of my brain. Maybe, it is the best time for God to be able to talk to me without my interference. Then I began to find Bible verses showing that God wants to relate to us even while we are in bed, sleeping or awake.

So, I have learned to fall asleep with a Bible verse, a prayer, or a hymn in my mind. That way, I feel I am leaving my subconscious self open to the Spirit of God as I rest. Then I say something like this to God: “I pray that my heart will be so fully yielded to You and my mind so saturated in Your Word that the nighttime processing will be instructive. I never want to be outside of Your teaching, correction, guidance, wisdom – even while my body sleeps”.

And, He answers that prayer. How?
• Sometimes I wake up with a solution to a problem that seemed unsolvable the night before.
• Or I will remember a dream that seems to give me direction or comfort.
• Or I will have a Bible verse come to mind that was just what I needed to hear.
• Or I simply feel His loving presence with me as I sleep.

You may want to ask Him to speak to you in the nighttime hours, too. He might just be waiting for your invitation.

“I will praise the Lord who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me.” (Psalm 16:7)

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Stressed or Blessed?

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“A perfect faith would lift us absolutely above fear.” – George MacDonald

The question haunted me: How could I say I was living a life of faith when I was anxious so much of the time?  I began to ask God to deliver me from worry and grow my faith in His character and His Word. As He answers my request, here is what I am learning:

• Listen first.
Before I pray, I listen to God in order to try to understand His will in the matter I am concerned about. Then I pray a prayer that, to the best of my ability, is in keeping with His will. Partnering with God this way engenders faith.

• Pray boldly.
I try to ask honestly and boldly for what I need from God and what I have discerned He wants to give me. No more wimpy prayers.

• Testify confidently.
When God answers my prayers, I share the good news with others. My faith nurtures theirs and their faith nurtures mine.

• Respond thankfully.
Whether my faith is big or small, I commit to giving God the all the credit and praise for what He does.

• Persevere patiently. 
My faith is growing, but I have far to go.  So, I remain committed to following God’s faith-building plan and am thrilled with every evidence of progress.

And, here’s the good news: I am finding that worry and faith cannot exist in my mind at the same time. If I worry, faith disappears. If I exercise faith, worry flees. I get to choose which of the two I want to live with. By God’s grace, I am learning to choose faith and my life is changing gradually from anxious to peaceful. Yours can, too. Ask Him to help you grow your faith in Him. That is a prayer He is eager to answer!

“So not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  (Philippians 4:6-7)

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Sh-h-h, My Child

One day, I was discouraged with my behavior and my attitude. I felt I was letting God down and needed to know that He wasn’t giving up on me. As I sat in His presence, I could almost hear Him say,

“I am not angry at you, not impatient with you, not disappointed in you. I love you. I am proud of you. I am pleased with the person you are becoming. Accept that.”

The deepest motive for believing is the awareness of being loved by God - Lewis Smedes

The deepest motive for believing is the awareness of being loved by God – Lewis Smedes

“Sit with Me, talk to Me.

I will show you things you have not seen, teach you things you want to know, give you My wisdom, and help you to understand Who I am.

Now, let Me love you. I am drawing you to Myself, closer and closer. The difficulties along the way are designed to show you how far you’ve come and how far you have to go.

• I am teaching you to trust Me.
• I am teaching you to focus on Me, not on yourself.
• I am teaching you that anything you accomplish of value is really done by Me, not you.

I am inviting you to an easy yoke, to walking with Me, to rest.

Everything in your life is under control. My control. Rest in Me.”

That message was for me – but it’s for you, too. He wants you to know, really know, how much He loves you. Sit with Him. Talk to Him. Let Him tell you Himself.

The Lord your God is with you; He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing. (Zephaniah 3:17)

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Obsession

. . . I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. (Philippians 3:8a)

I remember recognizing that there were obsessions in my life that should not be there. It became clear that I should not obsess about anyone or anything except Jesus – not family, not weight, not work, not world events, not health, not “to do” lists, not money, not clothes – just Jesus. I committed to making Him my magnificent obsession from that day forward. When I asked Him how to actually put that lofty ideal into practice, here are the things that came to mind:

The glory of God is a living man; and the life of man consists in beholding God. - Irenaeus

The glory of God is a living man; and the life of man consists in beholding God. – Irenaeus

• Pray without ceasing: Acknowledging God’s presence with me always. Not necessarily engaging in verbal communication all the time, but having heart talk that never ends.

• Always be thankful: Discovering the amazing power of gratefulness – the way it can turn me around from sad to glad in about 30 seconds, the way it takes my focus off the problems and onto Him.

• Confess sin: Learning that confession is a privilege. It is a way of making sure there is nothing between me and God and that surety allows me to live constantly in a state of forgiving and being forgiven. I love it when He reminds me that I have something to confess; it is His way of showing me how much He values the relationship that we have developed together.

• Don’t run ahead of God: Taking my time, slowing down. This is a command designed especially for me and people like me who want to take charge. God reminds me that my “taking charge” sometimes interferes with His bigger plan. So I have to stop to listen and to make sure I move forward when, and only when, He says to do so.

These healthy habits are helping me remain connected to my true Obsession, the only safe one I can have. Maybe they will help you, too.

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Crumbs

Looking beyond the here and now

Looking beyond the here and now

What is the biggest thing you have asked God to do for you? Sometimes our focus is on the here and now, so we ask for things that we think will satisfy us. Maybe they do, for awhile at least.

The gospel writers tell the story of the Canaanite woman who came to Jesus (Matthew 15) asking Him to cast a demon out of her daughter. Remember that? He told her that He came for the Jews, not the Gentiles and it was not right to take the bread meant for the children and give it to dogs. Her answer is bold, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Her request was immediate and desperate but, in light of the power and magnitude of Jesus, it was just a crumb. He gave it to her because of her faith.

When it comes to situations with family, demons, finances, health, and so on, I will take crumbs, too. Those are important and often heart-wrenching requests. But internally, Jesus reminds me, “Don’t be satisfied with crumbs. Pursue Me until you have full revelation of who I am. Don’t be satisfied with anything less.” I need Jesus more than I need quick answers to my desperate prayers. I need Him, not just the gifts He gives. I don’t want to be satisfied with crumbs when Jesus gives me Himself in full as the living bread!

“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” – C. S. Lewis in The Weight of Glory

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Who are you without . . .?

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

I Featured imagehave been experimenting with centering prayer – the kind of prayer where I simply sit in the presence of God and just be with Him and invite Him to be with me. If you have ever tried this, you know it is hard. Hard to let the mind be quiet. Hard to let the worry list go. Hard to not bring kids, husband, or responsibilities into the mental space. But when we learn to do it, we begin to discover who we are without all the entanglements and responsibilities of life.

What began to tug at me were these questions: Who am I without ties to children, parents, husband, work, friends, and the tug of the world around me? Who am I without responsibilities, schedules, titles, goals, and “to do” lists?

The answer to those questions is the person who will stand alone before God when there is nothing left on earth for me to do. My only responsibility then will be to be. Centering prayer is a way for me to prepare for that day. I don’t want to be in God’s presence and be surprised by how shriveled my soul is because I spent my entire earthly life in doing and not in being.

Thank You, Father in Heaven, for inviting me to be still and to know You by simply putting myself in Your presence with no distractions. The growing soul that comes from knowing You and inviting You to be with me is a blessing beyond my ability to measure or express. Thank you!

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God’s Communication Tools

In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe. (Hebrews 1:1-2)

God speaks. Sometimes we don’t hear very well, but we have to acknowledge that God tries to let us know who He is, what He wants, and how the world should work. I recently read Acts 11 and found five different means God used to communicate to two men in this one chapter

  • A vision (v.4)Featured image
  • A voice from heaven (v. 7)
  • The Holy Spirit’s direction (v. 12)
  • An angel’s instruction (v. 13)
  • The teaching of Jesus (v. 16)

I haven’t had visions, seen angels, or heard an audible voice from heaven, but

  • I have sensed the Holy Spirit’s direction, sometimes as a nudge, often as a thought He brings to my mind or a Scripture He highlights as I read.
  • I have learned much about life, values, commitment, and obedience from the life and teaching of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit seems to bring the right teaching to my mind just when I need it.
  • I believe the angels are ministering to me even though I can’t see them (Hebrews 1:14).

God is way beyond our ability to comprehend, but He continues to communicate with us to reveal His will and His love. I am so thankful for His desire to reach out to us and to help us learn to be aware, to listen carefully, to respond with faith, and to obey immediately. When we do, we find more and more communication flowing from the heart and mind of God to ours. There is nothing more precious in life than that. We were created to respond to our speaking God.