"Prayer is thinking God's thoughts after Him - thoughts that will always be heard and answered." (Thabiti)
The last chapter of Thabiti's book (What Is A Healthy Church Member?) calls a healthy church member a prayer warrior. It discusses what prayer is and what to pray for, etc... Prayer is hard. Some people will just throw out a cry for help "Pray for me!" when they didn't study or when they're on a fast ride at 6 flags (that's me). People who haven't necessarily put their faith in Christ pray when life gets hard.
I really liked the idea that prayer is thinking God's thoughts after him. God is sovereign, in control of all, and knows what we will pray about before we even think about it. And if we pray in the Spirit as we should, it's really God enabling us to pray to himself (which is awesome). But... if God knows everything, why pray?
God doesn't need your prayers to help him decide what He's gunna do in your life. However, we need God and prayer shows our dependence on God. Prayer isn't an avenue to make God change his mind or to help him make decisions. It is a privilege for God's children to have access to talk to our Father anytime!
"Christianity isn't a solo sport and prayer is not a trip through the Burger King drive-thru, where we shout into an inanimate receiver, wait and few moments, and then receive the bag of goodies we ordered to 'have it our way.'"
I think it's cool to find prayers in the Bible, particularly David's Psalms or Paul's letters. God tells us what to pray for! It's a different perspective to think of God being omniscient and instead of just knowing everything and letting us figure it out, he decided to give us an opportunity to talk to him. It's interesting that he knows what he's going to do, but he still tells us to talk to him about it. Then he answers! We can find the request and the answers in Scripture.
God knows what's going to happen, tells us to pray, tells us what to pray for, how to pray, and answers our prayers. It's all about Him really. Prayer changes us and our relationship to God.
I'm thankful God hasn't left us lost without any direction in His word or any comfort through prayer. He didn't leave us to figure out life on our own, but tells us to talk to him constantly about everything and everyone. It's comforting that He does know everything and when we're ready, He'll reveal himself.
"Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving." Colossians 4:2
Showing posts with label prayer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label prayer. Show all posts
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
a letter to me...
It is so cool to see God answering prayers in different ways. I've had prayers that it seems like there's no answer or that it's "no," but other answers to prayer are starting to be unveiled. I've always "known" that God answers prayer in His timing, but I'm starting to see how annoying that is for a selfish impatient daughter. In little ways, God answers me every day. When I feel so tired and unmotivated to do anything because my school is stupid and the people at my school are less than smart and I'd just rather be doing anything else... God gives me the encouragement and motivation I need. It seems like every Tuesday sucks for me until the last part of my day... so I thought last night "I need to write a letter to myself to read every Tuesday that will give me a little hope."
Dear me,
Let's face it. Tuesdays suck. It's not Monday, but it's not Friday. Even Mondays are better! You get pretty much no time to yourself. Your teachers are just annoyingly chipper and critical of everything you actually like. Chapel usually is overrated. You'll just eat lunch with the same people again and then try not to fall asleep in class....again. Then you'll go to work and your kids will decide to be extraordinarily inquisitive just because they can tell you have a headache from your lack of caffeine. Just be extra sweet to them. Because even if you're "extra sweet" today... it'll just be your normal patience level on a regular day that doesn't suck this bad. That one girl that's always super loud (what is she deaf in one ear or something?), she's gonna poke you over and over to get your attention, so just give her a hug instead of yelling at her to stop being a pest. Smile at all the parents, because hey! They're taking their kid with them! What more could you ask for? Okay... only a few more hours. I know you've been contemplating all day whether or not you really want to go to church tonight. You do. Just go. You never walk away thinking "dang it. why did I go? I could be asleep right now." And every time you skip? There's always those people who are like "You missed out last night." And you just regret it. So go. You get to sing songs that actually mean something, talk to people who have the same struggles you do, listen to music that is actually well done and it won't be those people from chapel that you're thinking "ugh...you again? just stop singing." - it's actually people who are good at what they do. You get to hear from someone about the best thing ever to talk about - your precious Savior who is always faithful and never runs out on you. Have you ever NOT learned something from whoever is preaching on a Tuesday night? Um... nope. So be excited! go! And be happy about it dang it! Then just go home and go to sleep.
You're welcome,
me.
Welcome to a little bit of my thoughts to myself....
Dear me,
Let's face it. Tuesdays suck. It's not Monday, but it's not Friday. Even Mondays are better! You get pretty much no time to yourself. Your teachers are just annoyingly chipper and critical of everything you actually like. Chapel usually is overrated. You'll just eat lunch with the same people again and then try not to fall asleep in class....again. Then you'll go to work and your kids will decide to be extraordinarily inquisitive just because they can tell you have a headache from your lack of caffeine. Just be extra sweet to them. Because even if you're "extra sweet" today... it'll just be your normal patience level on a regular day that doesn't suck this bad. That one girl that's always super loud (what is she deaf in one ear or something?), she's gonna poke you over and over to get your attention, so just give her a hug instead of yelling at her to stop being a pest. Smile at all the parents, because hey! They're taking their kid with them! What more could you ask for? Okay... only a few more hours. I know you've been contemplating all day whether or not you really want to go to church tonight. You do. Just go. You never walk away thinking "dang it. why did I go? I could be asleep right now." And every time you skip? There's always those people who are like "You missed out last night." And you just regret it. So go. You get to sing songs that actually mean something, talk to people who have the same struggles you do, listen to music that is actually well done and it won't be those people from chapel that you're thinking "ugh...you again? just stop singing." - it's actually people who are good at what they do. You get to hear from someone about the best thing ever to talk about - your precious Savior who is always faithful and never runs out on you. Have you ever NOT learned something from whoever is preaching on a Tuesday night? Um... nope. So be excited! go! And be happy about it dang it! Then just go home and go to sleep.
You're welcome,
me.
Welcome to a little bit of my thoughts to myself....
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Don't worry, be happy.
This post is not my own words and that's the main reason I'm so urgent in posting it. I want to remember these words and I know by typing them and proofreading and rereading them that I will remember better. And I want to share... so I'll start with Jesus' words...
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? 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 like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
(Matthew 6:25-34 ESV)
James Bryan Smith wrote one of the books for my "psychology of caring for your soul" class called The Good and Beautiful Life. I do intend on keeping this one instead of selling it on amazon or to McKay's. It's definitely worth a close read. He exposes the false narratives many people live by and then gives Jesus' narratives that stand up against ours. At the end of each chapter is "soul training" and for worry, the soul training is to pray. (Forgive me for typos but I'll try to direct quote.)
"In this chapter is a verse in which Paul makes a direct connection between prayer and worry:
Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)
Once we have done all we can do in a given situation, we simply turn the matter over to God and thus prevent worry from taking over. For example, C. S. Lewis once said that a person who has weeds in his or her garden should not pray about the weeds but pull them up. But when we face situations we cannot change by direct effort, such as a loved one who is ill or a financial problem that extends beyond our resources, then we turn the matter over to God. Here are some practical guidelines to help you turn your cares into prayers this week:
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? 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 like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
(Matthew 6:25-34 ESV)
James Bryan Smith wrote one of the books for my "psychology of caring for your soul" class called The Good and Beautiful Life. I do intend on keeping this one instead of selling it on amazon or to McKay's. It's definitely worth a close read. He exposes the false narratives many people live by and then gives Jesus' narratives that stand up against ours. At the end of each chapter is "soul training" and for worry, the soul training is to pray. (Forgive me for typos but I'll try to direct quote.)
"In this chapter is a verse in which Paul makes a direct connection between prayer and worry:
Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)
Once we have done all we can do in a given situation, we simply turn the matter over to God and thus prevent worry from taking over. For example, C. S. Lewis once said that a person who has weeds in his or her garden should not pray about the weeds but pull them up. But when we face situations we cannot change by direct effort, such as a loved one who is ill or a financial problem that extends beyond our resources, then we turn the matter over to God. Here are some practical guidelines to help you turn your cares into prayers this week:
- Each morning set aside ten to fifteen minutes.
- Think about all of the things you might be anxious about.
- Write them down in your journal or a notebook.
- Ask what you can do to remedy each of these situations.
- Make a note to yourself to do the things you can do.
- Turn everything else over to God.
- Write your request to God, and be specific.
Be very specific in your prayers. Why? Most of our prayers are so vague that we would not even know if God had answered them. God can handle your specificity. If God has a better way of answering your prayers or dealing with your problems, you can be sure he will. Let him know what you need and desire. Cast your cares on God. Then wait and see what God does.
Prayer helps us deal with our worries in several ways. First, we realize that the provision of the kingdom of God is available to us in every circumstance, large or small. Second, we see things from God's perspective, which puts our problems and concerns in a new light. I find that the practice of writing my prayers forces me to think about my concerns: are they driven by false narrative or centered on the advancement of the kingdom?
This is why I keep a prayer journal. I turn my cares into prayers on a regular basis, and I colabor with God in composing them. This helps my prayer life become a little less selfish. It is hard to write 'God, give me huge amount of money,' or 'God, can you make my enemies suffer.' In the middle of these sentences I would have to stop and laugh at myself. I may actually hope for those things, but they are not legitimate concerns or needs, and they are certainly not driven by seeking the kingdom first.
Prayer is a totally gratuitous gift. God is not obligated to give us this privilege. God gives us this gift to help us discover how loving and caring he is, and to help us grow and mature, which is evidenced by what we ask for. The deeper my heart is in the kingdom of God, the more my prayer life is focused on the well-being of others. This doesn't mean we shouldn't pray for our own needs, but even prayers for our own well-being will reflect the values of the kingdom more than the values of this world.
May you experience the present strength and power of God as you pray, and may your worries diminish with each prayer."
I'm not sure what I can add to that, but the part in purple is my absolute favorite. Now go buy the book.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
the inside of my twirling universe
These words can't accurately say what I mean, but it's the closest I can come. God is SO good. He is more than I deserve and blesses me in so many ways every single day. I am so thrilled by the fact I get to spend eternity with him forever. Let me tell you about him...
My God didn't make me perfect. He had a better plan. He loves me anyway, and decided to make a plan of redemption instead of a person of perfection... He hears me. He answers me even when I can't see the answers! Today I've recognized a couple more answers to prayer.
My day was incredibly busy (ihatethis) from school, to work, to church... and there's 13 hours of my life gone. With a life like that it's hard to find time to think about God, but he's made himself SO evident in my life. First... the sunrise was simply amazing and beautiful. He reminds me to work on my memory verses before my mind gets too overloaded. My God never gives up on me. I am blessed this semester to have a class (maybe I've talked about it), the psychology of caring for your soul. This class isn't just a class. It is providing me with the opportunity to read 2 books devoted to the idea of re-forming my character to be more like Christ. So even within my busy day, I have a class like this to help me slow down and think about my inner-self and not all that's spinning around me. I feel like it's just a bonus to get college credit for this "work."
After school I go work with my kiddos, who by the way are so impressive. I could brag about them for a while... They make me so proud and I smile constantly because of them. I got to play soccer with a couple boys today and that was the highlight of my day. ANOTHER blessing. I can't explain how I even got the job working with these little people, but God gave it to me.
After work I met with a friend and got to share a little of what's been happening with my life and some of my answers to prayer. She's an awesome listener... I feel like I talked the whole time, but she told me I was an encouragement to her and I thank God for that... I totally wasn't meeting up with her to think "I'm gunna ENCOURAGE her and be a blessing!" But God works things out beautifully.
After friend time, I went to the college service at church... blessing after blessing after blessing (I need a new word for blessing) has come to me through this church. Last summer that very friend I met with today prayed with me about finding a church I could get connected with where God wants me to be. 6 months later, I'm at Brainerd Baptist and am so much more engaged in my relationship with the Lord. Anyway, the Word preached was about building an authentic Biblical community. I prayed that God will help me to bear other people's burdens (not praying with any specific person in mind) and to reach out to others instead of thinking about myself all the time. I didn't realize it until I was driving home that within an hour God answered that.
I got to talk with a (new) friend and I was just saying hello but she opened up to me and let me share some of her burdens and also helped me bear some of mine. I am sooo moved by her heart for God and how brokenhearted she is when she knows something is not the way it should be with her Savior. We prayed together and the way she used Scripture and song lyrics throughout her prayer was beautiful. I love the fact that I can pray with a friend openly, not worrying about what people think but only focusing on possibly the only thing we have in common - our Lord.
God is working on me in many ways... so pray with me that I will be who he wants me to be as an individual but more as a part of a community, a family of believers. I want to find my place within this church (and by church I mean body of believers in Christ, not a building) to do the things God commands - to help people with their problems, to point out sin when it needs to be confronted, to encourage each other in the Word, to pray with people...and whatever else He has in mind.
I am blessed beyond what I can tell you in a blog... or in person. or anywhere.
I looked up "blessed" on thesaurus.com and the only synonym I like enough to mention is "redeemed" but even so, that's not what I mean.
Praise God with me... pray with me, tell me how I can pray for you.
My God didn't make me perfect. He had a better plan. He loves me anyway, and decided to make a plan of redemption instead of a person of perfection... He hears me. He answers me even when I can't see the answers! Today I've recognized a couple more answers to prayer.
My day was incredibly busy (ihatethis) from school, to work, to church... and there's 13 hours of my life gone. With a life like that it's hard to find time to think about God, but he's made himself SO evident in my life. First... the sunrise was simply amazing and beautiful. He reminds me to work on my memory verses before my mind gets too overloaded. My God never gives up on me. I am blessed this semester to have a class (maybe I've talked about it), the psychology of caring for your soul. This class isn't just a class. It is providing me with the opportunity to read 2 books devoted to the idea of re-forming my character to be more like Christ. So even within my busy day, I have a class like this to help me slow down and think about my inner-self and not all that's spinning around me. I feel like it's just a bonus to get college credit for this "work."
After school I go work with my kiddos, who by the way are so impressive. I could brag about them for a while... They make me so proud and I smile constantly because of them. I got to play soccer with a couple boys today and that was the highlight of my day. ANOTHER blessing. I can't explain how I even got the job working with these little people, but God gave it to me.
After work I met with a friend and got to share a little of what's been happening with my life and some of my answers to prayer. She's an awesome listener... I feel like I talked the whole time, but she told me I was an encouragement to her and I thank God for that... I totally wasn't meeting up with her to think "I'm gunna ENCOURAGE her and be a blessing!" But God works things out beautifully.
After friend time, I went to the college service at church... blessing after blessing after blessing (I need a new word for blessing) has come to me through this church. Last summer that very friend I met with today prayed with me about finding a church I could get connected with where God wants me to be. 6 months later, I'm at Brainerd Baptist and am so much more engaged in my relationship with the Lord. Anyway, the Word preached was about building an authentic Biblical community. I prayed that God will help me to bear other people's burdens (not praying with any specific person in mind) and to reach out to others instead of thinking about myself all the time. I didn't realize it until I was driving home that within an hour God answered that.
I got to talk with a (new) friend and I was just saying hello but she opened up to me and let me share some of her burdens and also helped me bear some of mine. I am sooo moved by her heart for God and how brokenhearted she is when she knows something is not the way it should be with her Savior. We prayed together and the way she used Scripture and song lyrics throughout her prayer was beautiful. I love the fact that I can pray with a friend openly, not worrying about what people think but only focusing on possibly the only thing we have in common - our Lord.
God is working on me in many ways... so pray with me that I will be who he wants me to be as an individual but more as a part of a community, a family of believers. I want to find my place within this church (and by church I mean body of believers in Christ, not a building) to do the things God commands - to help people with their problems, to point out sin when it needs to be confronted, to encourage each other in the Word, to pray with people...and whatever else He has in mind.
I am blessed beyond what I can tell you in a blog... or in person. or anywhere.
I looked up "blessed" on thesaurus.com and the only synonym I like enough to mention is "redeemed" but even so, that's not what I mean.
Praise God with me... pray with me, tell me how I can pray for you.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
what God said
Around Saturday afternoon I always start to wonder what I should blog about and think... ugh do I have to do it again? But, it's more exciting than the homework I'm procrastinating not to mention this is something I want to remember a year from now... It's my blog so I can write about pretty much anything. I'm not sure why I get anxious about the topic of my blog...
3 weeks ago I wrote my spiritual goals for the year down and marked on my calendar every other Sunday to review my goals. So last week I reviewed them and the one that didn't measure up or really show any progress was the goal to pray more intimately. I asked my discipleship group to pray for me in that area and ... touche... the sermon this week is on prayer. Not to be depressing, but I feel like everytime someone talks about prayer in church, they say the same thing. It always comes around to praying for every single person you know or have ever heard of which just seems impossible to me. The one thing I liked most from the sermon today though was this: You can't really learn to pray by reading books (I've tried), or talking about it in a classroom. You learn by doing it, by practicing.
With that, I'll share some recent answers to prayers. If I talk to you regularly, you probably have already heard this. :P
I mentioned my discipleship group is praying with me... The fact that I have a set of friends I refer to as my discipleship group is an answer to prayer. About 4 weeks before we met together for the first time, I started praying for a group. I didn't know where to find one or who I wanted to be with. My schedule with school and work and church from 8am Monday til 5pm Friday is way too crazy for my taste... but somehow among all that, the 4 of us have the same empty spaces in our schedules. We've only met twice so I don't really know them that well but I am so blessed to have a group for this purpose, to help me grow spiritually and stay accountable, and to have a new set of friends - people I probably wouldn't have chosen to hang out with if God hadn't brought us together.
Before the new year I was asked to be a nanny over the summer for one of my girls at school and her sister. I started praying about it and 2 weeks later met with the mom. I had my expectations coming into the "meeting" and she had hers for their family. So over coffee she told me what she was willing to offer and I wasn't really sure so I didn't give her a definite answer. The week before I was also asked to work at a summer camp. (It is against my nature to think about summer plans in JANUARY but... such is life.) When it came down to the details of which job I wanted (5 months ahead of time), summer camp is less work for about the same money. Being a nanny and investing in 2 little lives for 3 months to me sounds priceless. When I wrote out the pro's and con's of each... the only thing stopping me from saying yes to the mom of those girls was money.
As I've been reading through Proverbs this month, over and over again God has showed me how unimportant money is. Taking this job as a nanny will pay my bills plus some... that's more than I need regardless of how it compares to other jobs. Here's what God said... (The mom and I met on January 16th... and this is from Proverbs 16... not an accident)
Proverbs 16:3 - Commit your work to the LORD and your plans will be established.
Proverbs 16:16 - How much better to get wisdom than gold! To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.
Proverbs 16:20 - Whoever gives thought to the word (or to a matter) will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD.
I felt peace in making this decision and after talking to a few people about what they think I should do, my
decision was made. These verses confirmed for me what I was specifically praying to God about.
What really gets under my skin are those people who will say "yeah pray about it. God will tell you what to do. You just listen to him." Then... when I make my decision based on God's guidance, if it's not the choice that falls in their favor they have a bad attitude towards me. They hold a grudge against me for doing the very thing they told me to do... Can't it be enough that I'm doing this because God told me to?
I was going to add more about what God's been speaking to me about but... I think this is long enough. :) Please share with me what God's been saying to you. It excites me to hear about what He's doing other places too. :)
3 weeks ago I wrote my spiritual goals for the year down and marked on my calendar every other Sunday to review my goals. So last week I reviewed them and the one that didn't measure up or really show any progress was the goal to pray more intimately. I asked my discipleship group to pray for me in that area and ... touche... the sermon this week is on prayer. Not to be depressing, but I feel like everytime someone talks about prayer in church, they say the same thing. It always comes around to praying for every single person you know or have ever heard of which just seems impossible to me. The one thing I liked most from the sermon today though was this: You can't really learn to pray by reading books (I've tried), or talking about it in a classroom. You learn by doing it, by practicing.
With that, I'll share some recent answers to prayers. If I talk to you regularly, you probably have already heard this. :P
I mentioned my discipleship group is praying with me... The fact that I have a set of friends I refer to as my discipleship group is an answer to prayer. About 4 weeks before we met together for the first time, I started praying for a group. I didn't know where to find one or who I wanted to be with. My schedule with school and work and church from 8am Monday til 5pm Friday is way too crazy for my taste... but somehow among all that, the 4 of us have the same empty spaces in our schedules. We've only met twice so I don't really know them that well but I am so blessed to have a group for this purpose, to help me grow spiritually and stay accountable, and to have a new set of friends - people I probably wouldn't have chosen to hang out with if God hadn't brought us together.
Before the new year I was asked to be a nanny over the summer for one of my girls at school and her sister. I started praying about it and 2 weeks later met with the mom. I had my expectations coming into the "meeting" and she had hers for their family. So over coffee she told me what she was willing to offer and I wasn't really sure so I didn't give her a definite answer. The week before I was also asked to work at a summer camp. (It is against my nature to think about summer plans in JANUARY but... such is life.) When it came down to the details of which job I wanted (5 months ahead of time), summer camp is less work for about the same money. Being a nanny and investing in 2 little lives for 3 months to me sounds priceless. When I wrote out the pro's and con's of each... the only thing stopping me from saying yes to the mom of those girls was money.
As I've been reading through Proverbs this month, over and over again God has showed me how unimportant money is. Taking this job as a nanny will pay my bills plus some... that's more than I need regardless of how it compares to other jobs. Here's what God said... (The mom and I met on January 16th... and this is from Proverbs 16... not an accident)
Proverbs 16:3 - Commit your work to the LORD and your plans will be established.
Proverbs 16:16 - How much better to get wisdom than gold! To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.
Proverbs 16:20 - Whoever gives thought to the word (or to a matter) will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD.
I felt peace in making this decision and after talking to a few people about what they think I should do, my
decision was made. These verses confirmed for me what I was specifically praying to God about.
What really gets under my skin are those people who will say "yeah pray about it. God will tell you what to do. You just listen to him." Then... when I make my decision based on God's guidance, if it's not the choice that falls in their favor they have a bad attitude towards me. They hold a grudge against me for doing the very thing they told me to do... Can't it be enough that I'm doing this because God told me to?
I was going to add more about what God's been speaking to me about but... I think this is long enough. :) Please share with me what God's been saying to you. It excites me to hear about what He's doing other places too. :)
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