Learning in Prayer

Prayer is something that I have done for decades. Even before I became a believer, my sister and I would say the Lord's Prayer together at night, each being in our own beds on opposite sides of a wall. From those early, innocent prayers, God has taught me much about conversing with Him. It seems like I fall asleep and wake up most days talking to Him.

However, I have known for a while that my prayer life has lots of room to grow. There always seems to be someone or something important or in need that I leave out with my fairly quick, if frequent, prayers. I also often fail to stop and listen. To really engage the Holy Spirit interactively. He is there. He has invited me. But I tend to move on too fast to the next thing.

The Lord graciously reminded me this past weekend of His invitation to sit with Him, dwell with Him, and rest in Him. My desire is to be faithful in accepting that invitation. I know the blessing in doing so is unimaginable and I commit to no longer be "too busy" or too distracted to spend that sweet time with the Lord - not just quantity, but quality.

In giving myself some accountability, and hopefully to be a blessing, I'm going to start regularly sharing my prayers here. Not all of them, some of them are just too private and personal. But when I sense it could draw someone other than me closer to the Lord.

I will also sometimes include or post the Lord's response back to me. It may be weird for some to consider the Holy, Mighty, Sovereign God of the Universe would talk to us, but it is scriptural and truth. He loves us enough to lead, guide, direct, and pour into us to make us more like Him.

I hope that you are blessed by my sharing of what God's teaching me about and in prayer. I also invite you to share your prayers and God's responses to you.

God uses Steadfast Obedience

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:58

Today's post is a blessing from our guest blogger, Angie Seal.

What an amazing God we serve. All throughout the bible God used obedience.

We forget these days that God cares more about obedience than perfection and think "I'm a good person" or "I''m a good church goer," but we aren't committed to being obedient. 

I learned about being committed to obedience about 4 years ago and it has changed my life forever. 

My mom and my mother in law both passed away within a 4 month span. I was devastated to say the least. My sister became very angry at everyone including God. Despite my own pain, or maybe because of it, God put it on my heart to start sending her encouraging text messages. So every night I sent her a text with a scripture, a thought on how to apply it in today's world, and a prayer. 

4 years later the nightly text to her has grown to 65 people, 1 email list, and 3 Facebook pages, EVERY NIGHT. It has also led to a daily devotional book. By the grace of God, I haven't missed one night. 

Through those text God has revealed to me soo many things, but one of the most important things I needed to learn was to be committed to obedience. I stand firm knowing that "today is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2) and my "Hope is in His word." (Psalm 130:5) 

I choose to seek Him on purpose in my daily life and I desire to live a life that glorifies God's holy name and I invite you to do the same. You'll be blessed more than you could ever imagine.

Angie Seal

https://www.facebook.com/Seekinggodonpurpose/

https://twitter.com/seeking_god_

https://www.instagram.com/patnangieseal/

Give Thanks

Oh give thanks to the LORD, call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!
This is a verse I've been meditating on this first week of the new year. It's such a simple verse, yet as I have worked on memorizing it, meditated on it, and prayed it, God has used it to do some amazing things.
The list could go on and on. The problem is, I don't always focus on the blessings in my life. God is teaching me to do so more often.
The next part of this verse reminds us to call on the Lord when we're in need. When we have struggles or challenges. When we simply need perseverance to do the same thing today that we did yesterday. When we need strength to make changes for the better. He is always there and always available for us to sit at His feet.
Lastly, because God is always good and providing for our needs, there is always something of His goodness we can share with others. First, how He saved us by His grace, bringing us from death to life. How He's provided time and time again in difficult situations and trials. If we are walking consistently with the Lord, He is always doing a new work in us we can share.
These are the lessons God's teaching me, along with a few others. All from focusing on one verse and listening to His voice through it. And I am so grateful for what He's doing in and leading me to through these lessons.

Psalm 105:1

Most of those things are within me. He is using the simple aspect of being obedient in reading His word and planting it in my heart to transform me and teach me to surrender some of the little things - specifically my thoughts.
There are always things to give thanks to God for. My short list for today is:
* A place to live
* Plenty of food to eat
* A walking buddy
* A Bible-teaching, -living pastor
* A house with heat
* The sun shining
* Friends who pray for me
* The opportunity to share what God's doing in my life
* My husband
* My children
* The ability to homeschool
* Our homeschool coop
* My laptop

The Journey of Surrender

It seems as if every time I reach a point of surrender, there is very little time to rest before God calls to my attention another area of my life that I'm clinging onto desperately. An area, item, relationship, dream, or goal that I would be better off laying at His feet.

Currently, that item is my living situation. Almost exactly a year ago, my husband and I had a contract accepted to purchase a piece of property. We put our house for sale and prayed it would sell quickly so we wouldn't be bogged down with two payments for long. God answered that prayer. A short two months after putting our house on the market, we moved out and closed on the sale. It had gone faster than we ever dreamed. And I thought this was a great start to the journey we were embarking on - the building of our forever house on the water where we'd desired to live for years. (For my husband, it's a life-long dream.)

Having things moves so fast, I was full of enthusiasm and optimism, hoping to have our new house ready to at least host our annual Christmas family dinner in December. But day by day, week by week, month by month, time slipped away without anything being done. Now here we are 9 months out of our own home and don't even have a building permit yet. There are various reasons, but at this point, the reasons don't matter. They don't change the fact that I've been without my own home, living at my in-laws house (8 people in less square footage than we had for just our family of 6 previously).

This is not where I wanted to be. Not even close. God and I have had some serious talks about this situation. While I have some legitimate complaints about people not doing what they need to do in a timely manner, making those complaints doesn't change anything. We still are where we are.

And through that, God is teaching me to surrender. Surrender my own timeline. Surrender the details of how I thought my dreams would be realized. Surrender my concept of control over anything. And surrender other people.

None of this is hard. There are days I'm very frustrated with the complete lack of progress and road blocks that keep cropping up. 

But God.

He is using even this to mold me, shape me, and grow me. His desire is that in everything I trust in Him, grow in Him, and glorify Him. He is working greatly in me and I know it will turn out for my good, as He promises.

That doesn't change reality, but prayerfully it will change my thoughts and heart and teach me to surrender even the most difficult things to Him.

Living Transformed

This year has been one of great transitions and transformations for me. So I shouldn't have been surprised that #transformed is the word that kept coming up (and eventually stuck) as I began mulling over, praying about, and working on my theme for my ministry.

The first major transition and transformation of this year was moving. My family and I sold our house (the house, my husband and I both figured out as we were getting ready to move, which was the one I (and he) had lived in the longest in our lives. This transformation is still in progress, as we (the whole 6 of us) are living with my in-laws as we head toward building our new home.

Some of the other transitions and transformations probably haven't been as obvious. At least not on the outside. But God has really been working on me this past year. He had me in quiet, still, and listening mode for about six months. I knew my plate was too full and that some things had to go, but since all I was doing seemed "good," I didn't easily give anything up. However, God made one thing clear, then another, then another. I carefully obeyed, in respectful ways stepping out of some positions and responsibilities.

That's not to say my schedule's not still abundant, but I feel like my focus is narrowing in a good way.

Most recently, I've been mulling over, praying about, and working on my ministry focus. My life focus, really. Why is it I do the things I do? Why should I choose one activity over another? What is my goal? What are my objectives? What outcome do I desire from all of the time, energy, and effort I put into the things I do?

The answer, which shouldn't have surprised me, was to help encourage people to live #transformed lives.

If we are Kingdom people, we should be transformed by the love of Christ. By the grace of Christ. By the mercy and holiness and sovereignty of Christ. He should make our lives radically different. However, this seldom happens spontaneously. There is work to be done. A refining process as we're #transformed from glory to glory to become more like Him.

That's what I desire to do with my time, energy, and efforts. I desire to become more and more like Jesus and help others on the same journey. For us all to live the outrageously abundant lives He came to give us. Not the mediocre, complacent, comfortable lives most of us live. There is so much more!

So, today (or yesterday, really) is the first day of everything coming into focus. That I desire to continue to move forward and offer support as others seek to "Live the best life where we are as we take the next step to becoming who we're meant to be."

Are you interested? Are you excited? I'd love to have you come along! Let's live #transformed together!

Dear Christian, Stop Shouting Persecution

*Ammended*

Sometimes passion, when relayed in black and white words, comes off not necessarily as it is intended. Passion can feel harsh and lacking of the heart and compassion that truly are meant to be conveyed. After re-reading my post, I realized that the first couple of paragraphs seem harsh. They were not meant to be that way. I considered just rewriting them, but felt the need to explain my heart.

It is for you. It is for all of my brothers and sisters who passionately want to live in a way that brings glory to Christ. I ask that you hear that part of my heart. I do not mean to be harsh, critical, or accusatory. My heart is to look at what we do and compare it to scripture. This is a place I see contradiction. I ask myself the same questions, step back and examine my own thoughts, words, and actions and see if they're truly biblical, truly glorifying to the Lord.

That is my heart. And that is where this post comes from.

Dear American Christians,

Please, my dear brother and sister, stop shouting, lamenting, and claiming persecution. Unless you have been beaten, shot, burned out, run out, or robbed of everything because of your faith and wholehearted love and walk with Jesus, stop it-be conscious of how these things reflect on the Lord.

We Christians in America - many, not all - seem to have become vigilant, edge of the seat sitters looking out for any sign that we're being mistreated due to our faith. Then we shout it from the rooftops and see how much press we can get because of any slight or offense at any perception of such sign.

First, let me acknowledge that the mood of America has been and is changing. Unlike many (not all) of our country's first immigrants and founding fathers, the majority of those in charge and with the loudest voices do not have a foundation of faith in God. Long gone is respect for persons of faith and in its place has come a hatred of and disdain for faith. This is very true.

But this is not a cause for us to be up in arms.

Instead, we should first recognize and pray for our brothers and sisters who face true persecution around the world. Then we should rejoice that our persecution is just around the corner. We should expect it and wait for it with eager anticipation.

Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers. Matthew 24:9

Around the world, our brothers and sisters are being tortured, kidnapped, chased out of their homes, arrested, beaten, and murdered. Let us have our eyes opened to their plight, pray for them, and do something for them. (http://www.persecution.com/)

There are things we can do every day.

And when persecution really comes to us - because dear brother and sister it is coming - let us behave as the early believers did: LET US REJOICE!

 “God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way." Matthew 5:11-12

The apostles left the high council rejoicing that God had counted them worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus. Acts 5:41

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.  James 1:2

We are not to spew hatred, take to court, or try to best verbally those who desire to put us down, take our rights, or damage us in any way. Instead, we are to BLESS THEM!

But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. Luke 6:27-28

Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Romans 12:14

So, my brothers and sisters, when persecution comes - in any form - let us follow the lead of those who walked with Jesus and counted it a privilege to suffer for His name. 

Let us not shout to the world that we're under attack, let us instead shout the name of Jesus for all the world to hear! 

Let us keep the focus on Him and proclaim to the world His saving grace, unending love, and unfailing mercy.

The Problem with Rules-Based Religion

Jesus never called us to be good people. When we attempt to live a life good enough to be worthy of the calling of Jesus (or, more detrimental, when we attempt to be good enough to earn our salvation) we are like the rich young man who was so close, but missed eternal life because he thought it depended on his actions.

We are also telling Jesus that He is not enough. His living a perfect life is not enough. His sacrificial death on the cross taking the full punishment for our sins is not enough. His resurrection revealing the power and glory of God is not enough. His free offering of grace, mercy, and forgiveness is not enough. His fulfilled promise of indwelling us with the very Spirit of the Lord, Creator, and Sustainer of the universe is not enough.

It sounds good to say that we are good. That we follow the rules. However, this causes some major problems (other than the main problem of essentially slapping Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection in the face).

One of those problems is rebellion. Remember, some people embrace rules. Others fight them with every ounce of energy they have. They rebel, run, and live reckless lives because rules are not enough. The church trying to be perceived as good and reigning down judgment on those perceived as bad have kept many, many people away from the kingdom.

Another problem that’s created is an atmosphere of “how much can I get away with.” When rules are clear and people believe they just have to follow the rules, there are going to be many who want to know how far they can go and still stay within the technicalities of the rule. They will push boundaries and limits just far enough to still be “good.” This mentality is dangerous because if something isn’t found on the list of rules, it must be okay. Or it’ll be okay until someone decides otherwise and I’ll still be “good” because I didn’t break a “rule.”

I’m reminded of when a certain artificial sweetener was released. This is the mentality I had. It was a great replacement for those other artificial sweeteners that studies had shown could have adverse effects. I’d use it until they found something wrong with it. And they eventually did. I’ll never know how much damage I did to my body by ingesting that substance for a period of years in ignorance.

A rules oriented way of thinking lead to the same problem. We will still be looking out for our own interests and changing our actions only, not our hearts.

So, if God’s desire isn’t for us to be good, as we’ve seen in scripture and other examples, then what does He want from us?

The answer is much, much more difficult than a black and white list of do’s and don’t.

What God wants is for us to be totally and completely surrender our very life and every aspect of it.

#transformed