Prayer Journal Entry

This is embarrassing. Maybe embarrassment is part of the reason I have not written in a couple of days. On the day when I wrote my last entry, I was doing what I said in the post before – I wrote a list of the questions I have about my life that I would like God to answer.

I reached on my bookshelf to find a journal to use. I found a journal with an entry related to what I had just written about in my blog post. That's great, right? Well, not so much because the date of the journal entry was July 25, 2005! How sad and embarrassing. My friend had sent me a little poster via email about a month ago. It said something like, " A year from now you will wish you had started today." So I could have written, "Six years from now . . . "

Let's hope I'm not in the same place next year. Meanwhile . . . I'm going to share my journal entry with you . . .

July 25, 2005

Last Wednesday Pastor Tony [associate pastor at my church] taught and there was one thing he said that especially stuck with me. He said instead of memorizing a chapter, we are better off doing one scripture. This is manageable – I can do that. I will do that.

So I mediated on it. Which Word should be the one that I should put into practice? I tried to avoid it, but the scripture that came to mind was Jeremiah 33:3: Call to me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things which you do not know.

I believe this is my "do" Word for starters. The funny thing is that it does not seem like a "do" Word compared to "love" or "give." But I feel that I am to call on God about the questions that I have. When I call to God, I will get to know Him and of course will be spending time with Him. So my plan is this time to write out my questions and the answers God gives me as I call to Him. As I was thinking about doing this, I was looking for a different scripture in Jeremiah when I came to chapter 30 verse 2:

Thus speaks the LORD God of Israel, saying: ‘Write in a book for yourself all the words that I have spoken to you. Jeremiah 30:2 NKJV

I'll take that as a confirmation.

I was also reminded of another scripture as I thought about the "call to me" verse. Proverbs 25:2 (Chapter 25 happens to be the chapter of the day). [By this I meant that if you read a chapter of Proverbs a day on July 25, you would read Proverbs 25]

It is the glory of God to conceal a matter,

But the glory of kings is to search out a matter. Proverbs 25:2 NKJV

This reminds me of what Neil Kennedy [a preacher who speaks at my church] says, "God is not keeping secrets from you, God is keeping secrets for you."

This challenges me to learn the secret things of God. Of course, He will only share secrets with close friends – those whom He trusts. [I might add: those who spend a lot of time with Him.]  In Isaiah 45:3, God tells King Cyrus

I will give you the treasures of darkness

And hidden riches of secret places,

That you may know that I, the LORD,

Who call you by your name,

Am the God of Israel. Isaiah 45:3 NKJV

Daniel put it like this:

²² He reveals deep and secret things;
He knows what is in the darkness,
And light dwells with Him.
²³ “ I thank You and praise You,
O God of my fathers;
You have given me wisdom and might,
And have now made known to me what we asked of You,
For You have made known to us the king’s demand.”        Daniel 2:22-23 NKJV

And again God shows that he shares with kings in verse 28

But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Daniel 2:28a NKJV

God does reveal secrets to kings and those who seek after Him – to those who are intimate with Him. It's as Juanita Bynum [a preacher] said, "There are some things that He shared with the multitudes, some with only His disciples, and some things He only shared with three—Peter, James, and John.

I want my motivation to be up to the point where I have to be one of the three—where I have to be part of the inner circle.

My new habit is to call to God and listen. I will learn to discern His voice. After all, I am His sheep. I know His voice and follow Him. I will not follow the voice of a stranger.

I am going to write the questions . . .  I will write what God gives me concerning those questions and do what He tells me to do concerning them.

So there you have it . . . six years later and God is still trying to teach me to DO that Jeremiah 33:3 and to be like a king and search out the things of God. And THAT'S why I'm embarrassed to share this. But I hope it helps someone and is a warning to others. God has been gracious to me, but I don't want to test Him. I have to be a doer of the Word and not a hearer only.

Pray with me (seriously):

God, You are a gracious, patient, loving Father. You have been teaching me how to pray for these last few months and even years. You have shown mercy to me. I don't want to test You, though. Please forgive me for disobeying You through procrastination. I don't know why I don't pray as much as I want to. If it's unbelief, I know that faith comes by hearing the Word. So thank You for the words of faith that I read and hear about prayer. Your Word is driving away doubt and unbelief. If fear keeps me from praying, I know You have said that Your perfect love casts out fear. I will rest in Your love and not fear seeking Your face. You have good plans for me—plans to prosper me and not to harm me. You have plans to give me a future and a hope. Why should I fear? If laziness keeps me from seeking Your face, You have promised in Your Word that the diligent hand shall prosper. So thank You that if I am diligent in prayer, I will prosper and be successful in my prayer life. You said that if I seek You I'll find You, if I search for You with all my heart. If there is anything beyond myself that stops me from praying, please remove it from me. I don't want anything to come between You and me. I don't want to look back a year now and wish that I had started today. A year from now, I want to look back and praise You for how close You and I have grown over the year. I want to look back and praise You for a successful year. I want to praise You that my prayer life has increased and that I've been a blessing to others. I believe in You Father. When I am not sure about my ability, I know that You are able to help me and strengthen me. I trust You and I trust Your Word. Thank You a good year. Thank You that I can pray to You in Jesus' name. So be it!

WWHIYP About Your Life

If I do say so myself, yesterday's post was interesting. The reason I say it was interesting is because it was a surprise. I had been thinking about writing on a different topic. When I heard the commercial about green energy, my thoughts went a different direction.

So I took my own challenge and wrote a list of questions about my life. I also went back in my mind to things I liked to do as a child. I know that childhood inclinations are important because I was probably born with them. If I was born with them, they are probably God-given gifts that He wants me to use. I remember one thing that I like to do as a child was to write. It's possible that God wants to use me in writing as an adult. :-)

After writing the list, it is a good chance to be like a reporter/journalist and ask God questions about our lives. Why am I interested in the things that I'm interested in? Am I supposed to do anything with these interests? How can I use them to please You? Etc.

It's okay to ask God questions with reverence. We are asking because we want to know the next step in our lives. We are asking because we want to be in His will. We are asking because His Word says:

Call to Me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things, fenced in and hidden, which you do not know (do not distinguish and recognize, have knowledge of and understand). Jeremiah 33:3 AMP

What would happen if you prayed about your life? I believe God with you—that He is going to show you what to do next in your life. This is exciting. But hearing the answer to these questions will probably be a process for us. Maybe He will show you part of the answer. Maybe He will tell you part of the answer. I guess what I'm trying to say is that your answer will most likely come in bits and pieces.

Pray with me:

Father, I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. You saw me in my mother's womb. You gave me life and gave me the inclination to like certain things. Please help me to remember those things I liked to do as a child. It is very possible that You put those childhood inclinations in me. Show me what I am to do with them. As I learn more about You, help me to learn more about myself. Sovereign God, show me how I am to lead my life. I have no doubt that You have a purpose for me. I want to hear Your voice so I will know what to do next. I want to follow You every step, bit, and piece of the way and of course in Jesus' name. Amen.

WWHIYP For What You Want

Are you like me – thinking about something you want out of life?  I don't mean stuff. I mean dreams, goals, motivations. What would happen if you prayed for what you want?

Psalm 37:4 in the Amplified Bible says:

Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart.

God puts desires in our hearts when we put our faith, trust, and joy in Him—when we make Him our delight.

Here's a personal example that made me think about this subject. I was listening to the radio earlier today. There was a commercial about alternative energy or green power. As I listened, I thought, "I really want to learn about that." For some reason, I am fascinated by alternative energy. I have been for years. I don't know anything about alternative energy. Why am I so interested in that, I wondered.

God gives us our desires. He puts in us interests and dreams and goals. Have you ever wondered why some people are so interested in technology while others enjoy creating art with their hands? Why do some people always want to be in the background serving people while others want to be out front leading? Why are there doctors who study the human body when other doctors want to help animals? Some people can see the big picture but other people are detail-oriented. Did you ever think about how God made us different? I like thinking about matters such as this and learning what makes people tick. But somewhere in the world, there are people who'd rather study the economy.

Look at an instance where God gave Bezalel ability.

³ and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts— ⁴ to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, ⁵ to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of craftsmanship. Exodus 31:3-5 NIV

God put a gift in Bezalel. He put a gift in you. He put a gift in me. It's what makes us desire to do something with our minds and hands.

So as I was thinking about my fascination with green energy, it occurred to me that I had never prayed about it.

So the question is . . . what would happen if you prayed for what you want? What would happen if you wrote your desires that you have for your life (because some times we forget) and then prayed about it?

In my case, God can show me if this desire about studying energy is from Him and/or what I'm supposed to do with this desire.

CHALLENGE: write down what's in your heart for your life. Maybe you think often about traveling or learning a foreign language. It could be that you've considered going back to school – it's not too late today. How about that family reunion that's been on your heart? Write them all down. Pray about them. Seek God about them. He gave us a promise.

Call to Me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things, fenced in and hidden, which you do not know (do not distinguish and recognize, have knowledge of and understand). Jeremiah 33:3 AMP

Almighty God promises that if we call to Him (pray), He will answer. When He answers He will answer—our questions. He'll show us what we've not known before. Now this is a good time to say, "I dare you to pray."

I dare you to make a list about your life and pray about it. Ask God why you have desires for certain things. And I double dog dare you to read Psalm 139 about how God was there when you were formed in your mother's womb. And then go back and pray about your life some more. See what happens.

Pray with me (if you dare):

Wonderful, holy, awesome God You were there when I was created. You know what I think, You know how I feel, You know what I desire. You have put inherent desires in me that I cannot escape. I have wondered why there are certain things that I've always wanted to do with my life. Could it be that You were orchestrating my desires? Could it be that You have already planned for me to carryout certain tasks with my life? Thank You for the gifts You put in me before I was born. Help me to recognize and praise You for those gifts. Forgive me for overlooking and discounting my gifts. When You show me what they are, I will no longer neglect them. In the same way that You put skills in Bezalel so that he could build and create the Tabernacle and the items in it for Your glory and to please You, You have put skills and even the desire to learn skills in me. You've given me certain interests whether it is cooking, entertaining, writing, healing, nurturing, financing, engineering, dancing, designing, choreographing, selling, buying, advocating, swimming, climbing, digging, flying, drawing, building, wiring, planning, organizing, supervising, listening . . . whatever it is, I want to please You with it. It is important that I know why You've given me these gifts, abilities, and desires. I will take time to list what's on my heart. Then I will call to You until You answer and show me as You promised. Thank You for the answer. When You give me the answer, I will follow through by praying about my next steps. Thank You for my life. Thank You for helping me find my purpose. Thank You that my purpose is in You and in the name of my Lord, Jesus. So be it!

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!