Beyond Contemplation

I hope by now that you're joining me in praying about everything. I'm doing much better because I have a plan. (By the way, I drank more water today, too.) When I tell you my plan, you'll probably think it's an obvious solution. You'd be right, but my brain doesn't always work like everyone else's. I'm special. :-)

My plan for praying more is *drum roll* that when I think about praying, I'm going to open my mouth and talk out my thoughts. In this way, my thoughts will be voiced as prayer. Go ahead and say "duh" if you want. I know it's not deep, but I have to do what works for me. And for me, simple is best. Prayer is not complicated. Prayer is talking to God.

A few minutes ago, I set the calendar on a different computer to remind me to pray for one minute, every hour at work. This calendar is not my main calendar, so it will be separate from my work calendar. I'll try it out tomorrow and let you know how it works.

My simple plan came as a result of prayer. I asked God how to do this. I was a "doer" of this verse:

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.     James 1:5 NKJV

I lacked wisdom on how to pray more than I think about praying and how to remind myself to pray throughout my workday. God gave me practical wisdom. He did not refuse me because I should know how to do this by now. Instead, He freely gave me a solution. I believed and was confident that He would respond. James goes on to say,

⁶ But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷ For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸ he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.                James 1:6-8 NKJV

Or as my friend would jokingly translate that last verse, "a double-minded man is CRAzy!"

God gives wisdom. You see, I had knowledge. I knew that I needed to pray instead of just thinking about prayer. I had understanding. I understood that if I only heard/read the Word instead of doing it, I was deceiving myself. But I didn't have wisdom—how to do what I know and understand. Wisdom is practical application of what you know. Alas, wisdom is a whole 'nother story – possibly another scripture booklet. :-)

Suffice it to say: Thank God for Wisdom on how to do the Word.

Pray with me:

God, You are a wise God. You are a giving Father. Thank you for being who You are. Thank You for having wisdom, practical application of knowledge, available for me. Walking Your path is not complicated and You help me at every step, if I ask. And when I ask, You don't reproach, refuse, or find fault with me. Instead, You give me wisdom freely. Please grant me the desire and the wisdom to do Your Word. Grant me wisdom on how to increase my prayer life and become a more effective pray-er. I do not doubt that You will do it. I refuse to waver; I ask in faith and in the precious name of Jesus. Thank You for wisdom. Amen.

My Food and My Water–The Word and Prayer

I tend to look at natural patterns in my life as having spiritual roots or at least a spiritual relationship. So if I do something naturally, I wonder how it pertains to my spiritual life.

I like to eat . . . a lot. My palate is eclectic—I enjoy a variety of cuisines. If it's well prepared and/or made with love, I'll probably try it. I rarely lose my appetite for food. Eating comes naturally for me and I've done it all my life. On the other hand, I have to force myself to drink. I learned to drink at a very early age. For some reason, I just don't care to drink as much as I need to. I try to drink water more than anything else, but it's difficult. I prefer eating.

This is not a healthy habit though. Our bodies are mostly water, or at least they should be. Our blood needs water. We need water to carry toxins out of our bodies. Water also carries nutrients from our food to all parts of the body. And we need water to maintain a normal body temperature. Many times I drink water because I know I should not because I want to.

Our need for water may increase at times: before and after exercising, in hot weather, if we're ill, and for women: when they're pregnant or nursing.

As I said at first, I wonder how natural patterns relate to spiritual patterns in my life. To me, and it's in scripture, the Word of God is for the soul/spirit as food is for the body.

But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. '" Matthew 4:4 NKJV

Eating spiritually is rather easy for me just as eating naturally is easy. I read or listen to the scriptures. I read books written about the Word. I listen to preaching of the Word. I can listen to different teachers of the Word as long as I can tell that it matches what's in scripture.

One day I realized that not only is the Word spiritual food, but for me, prayer is like water. I need to pray to maintain my communication with God—my life force. After reading the Word I need to pray to help my soul process and digest what I've read. I can pray a prayer of repentance to get rid of the toxins in my mind and emotions.  I need to pray to help me stay on the right track—normal body temperature.

There are occasions when I may need to pray more: before and after sharing the word or helping others; in hot/hectic/stressful times in life; if I'm ill in my body or in my soul; and if I am pregnant with a dream or if someone is depending on me to feed them spiritually. Even in the case of writing this blog to share with others, I have to pray about what I'm writing.

Just as it is more difficult for me to drink than it is to eat for my physical body, at times it's more difficult for me to pray than it is to read the scripture. As I said before, prayer is active. It takes a little more effort for me to pray than to read scripture. Sometimes I just don't feel like opening my mouth to pray and that's how I end up thinking about prayer instead of praying.

Don't misunderstand. I pray. I like to pray. My goal, however, is to pray more and to pray about everything. I want my prayer life to be such that I'll be able to say that I obeyed this scripture:

Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. Colossians 4:2 NLT

Pray with me:

Gracious Father, I praise You because You are worthy to be praised. You are a patient, loving Father. Help me to realize the importance of prayer in my life. It is my communication with You. It helps me stay connected to You. It is the way I process the Word that I read and hear. It helps to cleanse me of anything that is not like You.  I want to devote myself to prayer. I know that I can because of what Jesus has done for me and through His name. So be it.

Thinking About Prayer

Prayer is active. Prayer is something we do. Throughout our 40 days of prayer, we're building a habit to pray about everything. There are times when I have to resist the deception of only thinking about praying and reading about praying and writing about praying. I have to pray.

I use the word "deception" because of this scripture:

²²But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth].

²³For if anyone only listens to the Word without obeying it and being a doer of it, he is like a man who looks carefully at his [own] natural face in a mirror;

 ²⁴For he thoughtfully observes himself, and then goes off and promptly forgets what he was like.

 ²⁵But he who looks carefully into the faultless law, the [law] of liberty, and is faithful to it and perseveres in looking into it, being not a heedless listener who forgets but an active doer [who obeys], he shall be blessed in his doing (his life of obedience).     James 1:22-25AMP

The New Living Translation is to the point:

But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. James 1:22-25 NLT

So if I am thinking, reading, and writing without actually doing the praying, I am only fooling myself. I might wonder why I am not seeing results. Hmmm, maybe it's because I'm not opening my mouth and praying. I'm not only deceiving myself, but I'm being a fraud and a hypocrite. I certainly don't want to do that, for your sake and for mine.

Sometimes I have to come up with plans to do the simplest things. I used to have my calendar on my computer at work set so that every hour I would be reminded to stop and pray for one minute. Then I would set the Internet timer for one minute. You might be surprised how difficult it is to pray quietly at work for one minute. Somehow my mind would start wandering in less than 60 seconds. I don't set the calendar anymore because I have a different one and it would just be a mess. I have to devise a new plan. If you can think of something, let me know.

Pray with me:

Lord God, You are the one who is teaching us to pray. Help me to not fool my own self by reading about prayer and thinking about prayer without opening my mouth to pray. I don't want to read Your word and then forget what it says because I don't put it into practice. I don't want to be a hypocrite. I want to do the Word that I read. I choose to be an active listener by obeying Your truth. I want to increase my prayer life and affect change in my life and the lives of people around me. I want to increase my prayer life to know You more. Thank You for giving me a desire to pray. Thank you miracles and other answers to my prayers. Amen.

Go To Your Room; Stay In the Closet

‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’                   Jeremiah 33:3 NKJV

Solutions are found in God's presence. He tells us to call to Him. This is more than an invitation. It's a summons to the throne of the King. Back in the day, you could only approach a king if he said you could. The King is compelling us to inquire of Him and call to Him.  The possibilities are limitless.

The question is how bad do we want to know those things that we cannot figure out on our own? More than that, how much do we want to know our Father, the King?

How do we approach Him? Jesus would be the one to answer that. This is what He said:

But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.               Matthew 6:6 NIV

We've heard the phrase "come out of the closet." But I like the way the KJV translates that verse.

But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. Matthew 6:6 KJV

Nah, let's not come out of the closet. We need to stay in the closet and not come out until we know that we've heard from Him. There is wisdom in the closet. There are solutions in the closet. There is love in the closet. There is a reality check in the closet—He reveals who He is and who we are and where we need be.

The closet can be any private place. Sometimes my closet is in the car on the highway. I'm relaxed and alone and not overly distracted. At home my closet is a quilt that a friend gave me when I moved to Alabama. I spread the quilt on the floor and that's my spot. Then I may put a blanket over me and kneel or lay facedown. It's my quiet, cozy prayer place. It's my altar.

The 40 days of prayer is not passive like the study of joy in which we were just reading scriptures. This one is very active—after reading about prayer, we pray. If you don't have a private place of prayer, do something about it. To quote Woody from Toy Story, " If you don't have one, GET one!" It may be a literal closet, or the bathroom, laundry room, or under a blanket.

Go to your room, my friend. Stay in the closet. There will be blessings waiting for you when you come out.

Father, thank You for meeting us in the secret place. Help me and my friends to find our special place with You. I go to my closet and pray for them. Bless each one of us to recognize the importance of time alone with You. I ask that You will open our ears to hear You say, "call to me." Thank You for building our faith and an excitement about prayer so that we won't just read about prayer, but we will pray. Oh, and thank You that when we pray in private, the results of our prayer will be seen in public. Thank You that I can request all of this in Jesus' name. You are a kind and gracious God. Amen!  

What Would Happen If You Prayed?

A couple of years ago, this thought kept passing through my mind: what would happen if you prayed?

I believe it was a challenge from my loving Father to expand my prayer life and to open doors to see His work in my life more. That question is fully loaded. There are so many ways that we can add to that question to show its many facets. Finally, after much nudging from Him, I am going to answer that question. I am happy to have my friends along for the ride to answer that question in their lives, too.

Let's think about the possibilities. I have taken the liberty of completing the question to stir up our curiosity. Maybe one or two would be something you can ask yourself. We have a booklet of scriptures of God promising to answer when we pray. If we believe God will respond, let's imagine as we ask ourselves . . .

What would happen if I prayed. . .

·      for my family, friends, neighbors?

·      with my family, friends, neighbors?

·      to start my day?

·      to end my day?

·      about my job/work environment?

·      for my physical/emotional/mental health?

·      for the physical/emotional/mental health of others?

·      for my spouse?

·      with my spouse?

·      five minutes longer?

·      the will of God?

·      for God's best in my life?

·      about my purpose in life?

·      to understand who God is?

·      for wisdom and understanding?

·      without doubt or fear?

·      without giving up?

·      for local/state/national leaders?

·      instead of complained?

·      for my church?

·      for my supervisors/employer/company?

·      for my employees/coworkers/repairman?

·      with thanksgiving in my heart?

·      about my business/business idea?

·      for my enemy?

·      about my finances or lack there of?

·      about the big things in my life?

·      about the little things in my life?

·      to break a bad habit?

·      to begin a good habit?

·      before I make a decision?

·      about some problem I think I can never overcome?

·      for the success of an event/speech/presentation/project?

·      to rid myself of fear/doubt/worry/anxiety/grief/depression?

·      and then listened?

·      until i see the answer?

Lord, I pray that we will be filled with excitement as we consider the possibilities of how our lives and the lives of people around us can be blessed as we pray about everything.

 ¹ Praise awaits you, our God, in Zion;
   to you our vows will be fulfilled.
² You who answer prayer,
   to you all people will come.
³ When we were overwhelmed by sins,
   you forgave our transgressions.
⁴ Blessed are those you choose
   and bring near to live in your courts!
We are filled with the good things of your house,
   of your holy temple.

 ⁵ You answer us with awesome and righteous deeds,
   God our Savior,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
   and of the farthest seas,
⁶ who formed the mountains by your power,
   having armed yourself with strength,
⁷ who stilled the roaring of the seas,
   the roaring of their waves,
   and the turmoil of the nations.
⁸ The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders;
   where morning dawns, where evening fades,
   you call forth songs of joy. Psalm 65:1-8 NIV

Amen.

40 Days of Prayer

My challenge question for the next 40 days is "what would happen if you prayed"? I will answer this question by praying like I've never prayed before. It's more than reading the scriptures of Faith to Pray. It's about praying as a result of those scriptures. Every day for the next 40 days, I will read the scriptures in the Faith to Pray booklet. I will then apply the scriptures as I learn to pray about everything.

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17 NKJV

As we continually read the word about prayer, especially when we read it out loud, our faith will grow concerning prayer. We will have confidence that we can and should pray to God the Father in the name of the Son, Jesus.

As we pray together for the next 40 days, we hope that prayer will become a lifestyle and part of our culture. We also have great expectations for answered prayer. After 40 days, we should have established a habit.

So what will you pray about that you've not prayed about before? Who can you help by praying for them? How will your world change as you pray about everything and worry about nothing? How much more peace will you have as your dependence on God increases? How will your knowledge of God increase as you spend more time with Him in prayer?

I anticipate great things. I look forward to hearing your answers to those questions.

Father God, thank You that because of Jesus, we can ask anything of You in prayer. I ask that you will bless my friends and me to learn about you during the next 40 days. Let each of us experience You in a life-altering way as we make the effort to read the scriptures and seek You in prayer. Please fill us with Your peace as we pray about everything. Bless us to dare to trust You with every circumstance of our lives—from the great to the small. Thank You for blessing us to support one another and do this together. Please teach us how to communicate with You – to talk to You and to listen to You. Father please bless my wonderful friends in wonderful ways. You are awesome and I love You! Amen!

 

A Culture of Prayer

I was thinking a couple of weeks ago that in many eastern countries, religion is ingrained in the culture. As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, prayer should be more a part of my culture than it is. If this is something that I believe in then it should show. So this is my goal: to make prayer my culture. For me this means praying about everything in my life and everything I do.

That is just a glimpse of what this 40-day prayer challenge is about. Beginning today, I hope to answer the "what would happen if I prayed."

If you asked for a scripture booklet, you should have received it by now. Check you mailbox and check back to the blog later today.

Blessings!

God Speaks: Now One Way, Now Another

 

On May 11, I received a pleasant surprise – a phone call from a friend that I had not spoken with in five years. It was exciting to hear from her. We emailed each other afterwards and I shared information about the blog, etc.

She sent me a question regarding "It's Time to Pray." She asked me is the Lord continuing to deal with me using signs. Well, it's funny that she should ask that. I had just told someone recently that I try to hear the "wake-up" calls of others. For example, it used to be that when I would go to a hotel they might ask if I wanted a wake-up call. I always said "no" because I know how to set the alarm myself. But in the mornings, I could hear wake-up calls in adjacent rooms. So I decided that I am the same way spiritually speaking -- I can hear other people's wake-up calls.

Well here's the thing about me and alarm clocks and other people's calls . . . just because I hear them doesn't mean that I am going to get up.

God was already dealing with me about writing about prayer and increasing my prayer life. But I didn't "get up" until the alarm rang personally for me and said "pray." (See May 12, 2011 – Time to Pray)

So my answer to my friend is "yes." The Lord deals with me that way when I won't do what I need to do--when I need to do it. This "dealing" reminds me of these scriptures:

¹⁴ For God does speak—now one way, now another—
   though no one perceives it.
¹⁵ In a dream, in a vision of the night,
   when deep sleep falls on people
   as they slumber in their beds,
¹⁶ he may speak in their ears
   and terrify them with warnings,
¹⁷ to turn them from wrongdoing
   and keep them from pride,
¹⁸ to preserve them from the pit,
   their lives from perishing by the sword. Job 33:14-18

God spoke to me one way and then through an iPad. I'm thankful that He gives me another chance. I repent for being slow to respond. I pray that you and I will perceive His speaking to us and then respond instead of hitting the snooze button. Blessings.

May 12, 2011 – Time to Pray

4:44 pm – The alarm rang on the iPad. I opened it. It said "Pray." 

I don't know why it said that, but I prayed. It kind of shook me up because I don't recall setting my alarm to "pray." I don't recall that I knew I could do that on the clock.

4:47 pm – My phone rang. My daughter called.

She: Why didn't you tell me you were going to get a package?

I: I didn't know. What is it?

She: Books.

I: From Amazon? I just ordered them yesterday.

   (If you know me a little bit, you know I would NOT pay for overnight shipping.)

I: What book is it?

She: Torrey (R.A.Torrey)

I: In English or in Spanish?

She: Spanish.

I had ordered some books with free super saver shipping. This title apparently shipped from Nashville so they arrived overnight. I'm not sure where the others are shipping from, but the ones that came today were two copies of Como Orar (How to Pray).

7:47 pm – New message on the sign outside the church down near my home: Prayer-the ultimate wireless connection.

I had been procrastinating beginning my next scripture booklet and blog theme—Prayer. The events of that afternoon were a giant nudge (wake-up call) to GET MOVING!

I will be ready to take the booklet entitled Faith to Pray to be printed tomorrow. I first made this booklet a year or two ago. I have reworked it so that it can be read in its entirety in less than 10 minutes a day. The theme on prayer will go through the end of June. We will officially begin on May 22 so we'll make it a "biblical" 40 days. :-)

Please let me know if you would like a scripture booklet. It's cool if you read what I write about the scriptures in the blog, but there's nothing like reading what God says about the subject.

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. Luke 18:1 NIV

Porta-potty Prayer - God Is a Prayer Answerer Part 2

With my church, I've been able to help victims of the recent tornadoes that hit Alabama. The day before yesterday, I talked with a woman and her mom whose trailer had been damaged. They still did not have electricity after two weeks. They asked me to pray for them. I prayed that God would bless them with sleep and peace – they had mentioned that they did not feel safe. I also asked God to help rebuild their lives with the things they need.

When I returned yesterday, they said, "Your prayers worked." They pointed to the new blue porta-potty near their trailer. I did NOT pray for a porta-potty. It had not occurred to me that they still didn't have water. And when I thought about not having water, I only considered that they would not be able to cook and bathe. I totally forgot about the other things that couldn't do. I prayed that God would supply their needs.

Matthew 6:7-8 NKJV says:

⁷ And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.
⁸ “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him

God knows; He hears; and He answers. Thank God for His mercy and grace. I think it's funny that they think the porta-potty came as a result of my prayer. Maybe it did; I just didn't know that was what I was praying for. But it gave us another reason to tell Him "Thank You."

God Is a Prayer Answerer

When I was teaching 8th grade, I divided my class into groups to work on a project. That year, I had a class that wasn't . . . shall we say . . . as agreeable as some classes I've had. For the project they were beginning, I tried to divide the groups by talents/skills that the students said they had. My goal was to have a researcher, writer, artist, etc in each group. (a heterogeneous group as we teachers say)

One of my students refused to work with her group. She felt like the others would not do their parts. She had a reason to be concerned. She wasn't at the top of the class herself, but she wanted to work with those who would try to create a good project.

I understood how she felt, but I did not want to change the groups and open that can of worms. I felt that she could work with them and do the best she could. There's no way I would penalize her for what her group wouldn't do. My main concern was that I could not have rebellion in my class.

At the time, I was keeping a prayer journal. I wrote about what I prayed and when God answered. I prayed about this situation. I asked for wisdom. I prayed that God would work it out. I had to be careful how I prayed. I couldn't ask God to make her think like I thought. That's not cool. That would be controlling. God gives us a will and He gives us choices. I couldn't try to take her choice away with my prayer; still I needed peace in my classroom. God would have to do this because I certainly could not.

Within a few days, my student came to me and said she would work with her group. I thanked her; I thanked God more.

For some reason as I thought about God answering prayer, this incident came to mind. It may not seem like a big deal to some, but it was important to me.

God wants to answer us.

¹ Praise awaits you, O God, in Zion;
   to you our vows will be fulfilled.
² O you who hear prayer,
   to you all men will come.

⁵ You answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness,
   O God our Savior,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
   and of the farthest seas, Psalm 65:1-2, 5 NIV

The Bible is full of examples of God answering the prayers of His people. He answers great and small requests. He is our hope from the ends of the earth and across the seas.

He gives us promises to stand on to know that He will answer. One such promise Jesus left is found in John 15:7 NKJV

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

He promises that if we do our part, He will do His. That sounds like an open invitation to me.

God is Great; God Is Good!

After the tornadoes that hit Alabama on April 27, life is finally back to somewhat normal where I live. Many people lost homes and properties. Even worse, some lost their lives. But God is faithful. Storms are a part of life; they occur naturally. But supernaturally, God protects those who call on Him.

For the last few days, I've had the privilege of helping people affected by the storms. I've seen the destroyed homes, but I've also seen the work of God's hand of protection. In the midst of broken tree limbs, downed power lines, and overturned trailer homes, I saw a mobile home with two tall trees standing beside and a yard that didn't even seem to have a fallen leaf in it. I was told that in that house lives an elderly couple. The husband is bedridden so they could not go to storm shelter built for their mobile home community. The couple prayed and asked God to protect them. He did! Wow! How great is our God?!

Across the four-lane highway was a community of fairly new brick homes. In one of the houses a woman and two teens huddled in the utility room and cried out to God. That room was the only thing left of the house. Some might call it coincidence. Maybe it is a coincidence that when godly people call on The Good Shepherd, He protects them. But I call it answered prayer.

I don't understand it all, but I understand that the scripture says:

Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!
      For His mercy endures forever. 1 Chronicles 16:34 NKJV

Not only is He good, He is great beyond measure.

Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
   his greatness no one can fathom. Psalm 145:3 NIV

 I pray that through all of our storms, we endure and say like the psalmist:

I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the LORD
In the land of the living. Psalm 27:13 NKJV

Update

I'm writing from Atlanta this morning. Because of all of the storm damage that hit Alabama, my electricity was off for several days. That is the worst of my problems from the storm. Thank God! We lift up prayers for those who lost homes, property, and business. More than that, we ask God's strength for those who lost family members, friends, and coworkers as a result of one of the worst storms in history. 

It's a new month, so we'll start a new subject soon. More . . . later.

Thank You Lord for all the lives you preserved. We know that storms are a natural part of life, so we thank You for your SUPERnatural intervention. You are awesome!