I didn’t make that up. It’s what my friend Terran says.
I went to the zoo yesterday and found myself thinking over and over again…
How could anyone
not believe
in God?
Praise be to God for His magnificent creation!
Update: I linked this post to Sweet Shot Tuesday.
When praying for God’s will, be ready for it.
Three years ago, I started to pray that God would give me direction as to whether I should pursue full-time employment and keep our kids in private school, or stay working at home a few hours a week and send them to public school. God completely and totally changed my heart and here we are in our second year of homeschooling.
Last year, in July, I applied for a paid blogger position with a shopping blog. I sent in two sample posts I thought were fantastic and awaited a response. Nothing. Meanwhile, the ministry in my own blog found direction and purpose. Four months later, I realized that one of my email accounts wasn’t even coming to my outlook inbox. It was an account I had set up for kind of extra emails. I had inadvertently sent the application from that account.
I don’t know why I was surprised to find that the very first email that had been sitting in my online account with seven hundred others was a reply from the company I applied to. They were very interested and wanted to speak with me by phone. That was the very day my emails stopped being delivered. I laughed. God had already completely and totally changed my heart to focus on a ministry through my own site. Had I gotten that position, my own blog and the blessing of ministry would have been abandoned.
A few months ago, I heard about a blogging conference for Christian women. Oh, I so wanted to go. I wanted to be encouraged and inspired, learn new things, and best of all… meet Sarah Mae, Jessica, Angie, Cheryl, Stef and countless other amazing ladies.
I prayed that God would send me. I sent out sponsorship letters. I prayed. I came up with an ebook to sell and earn my way. I prayed. I tweeted endlessly, following the conference hashtag and keeping up with the women going. Then I prayed some more.
Then I went on a vacation with my husband and was off Twitter for a week. My enthusiasm for the conference was waning. This morning, I prayed again to ask God to send me and I was overwhelmingly convinced that I no longer wanted to pursue going.
The conference is a day’s flight away and four days long. I have never been away from my family that long and I’m not sure I want to start doing that now. Bringing them with me would take an act of God. And God has completely and totally changed my heart. I will no longer pursue this conference. I told God that if He desires me there, He is going to have to bring it to my front door. I’m done chasing it.
The peace that settled in my heart at that second truly surpasses my own understanding.
Do you pray for what you want or for God’s will? Living in God’s will seems scary sometimes, but what we forget is His peace is part of the deal. How kind our God is to change our very heart’s desire instead of forcing His plan on us. Sometimes He gives us the desires we already have. Sometimes He gives us desires we didn’t even know we had. Sometimes, He changes our desires.
All we have to do is be open. Pray for His will. Mean it. Listen. Be still. Obey.
Some time ago, I got an email from a young woman I was mentoring who was going through a rough time in her life.
How come you’re always happy? I want to be happy like you are.
Firstly, I emailed her back and assured her that even I wasn’t happy all day every day. Sometimes I’m sad. Sometimes bitter. I get grumpy and listless, too. Sometimes there are circumstances that hurl me into these emotions, but sometimes it seems as if there’s no reason at all. In other words, she didn’t need to add feeling inferior to her growing list of issues.
This woman tended to dwell on and even look for the bad side, so I gave her some tools to help her begin to choose happiness. I wrote them down for myself, too, so that I could remember when I started feeling hopeless.
He is everything our earthly relationships are not. It’s hard to be negative when you meditate on who God is. When you begin to express those truths, joy begins to seep into your heart.
I praise you God, for you are mighty. You alone are God! You, God are my deliverer and my comforter, my shelter. You are awesome and just. You are the Creator and my salvation!
If you have a hard time with this, look up some verses that praise God and begin to pray those. Some of my favorites:
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8
A couple of years ago, I was leading a bible study group for young girls. I assigned them a Bible verse each week to memorize. We wrote them on index cards, recited them together, and learned the meaning. Without fail, every week the girls would return and say they just couldn’t remember it. It was too hard!
One evening, the girls arrived and I told them we were going to play a game. We all sat in a circle and each girl thought of a favorite song, and said just the first line. Anyone who knew it started singing along. Song after song, the girls chimed in. They knew them all! We laughed and sang, and remembered “old” songs from when they were younger.
Once everyone settled down, I kindly pointed out that they had memorized those songs without even trying. Why? Well, they answered, because they liked them and heard them all the time. Hmmn. Why is it you say it is impossible to memorize scripture, I asked. As they began to get what I was saying, one by one they began to bite their lips, avoid my eyes and thumb through their Bibles.
I didn’t mean to lay a guilt trip on them, yet that’s exactly what I had done. But you know what? It worked. We brainstormed ways to memorize scripture and I encouraged the girls to recite their verse at least once a day.
The next week, every single one of them had memorized a verse.
I cried, of course. But that’s beside the point.
The funny thing is, I had been in similar groups with some of these girl’s moms and many of them said the same thing about memorizing Bible verses. It’s just too hard! I have heard so many women say this, and I myself have been lax at times out of laziness.
There are so many reasons to practice memorizing God’s Word. I will share just a few today. But first, abolish all excuses.
Think about all we’ve memorized in our lifetime:
• Songs
• Speeches from history
• Poems
• Excerpts from plays
• Funny lines from movies
• Pledge of Allegiance
• Bank account numbers
• Social security and driver’s license numbers
• Important dates
• …and so on.
Now that we’re biting our lips and looking shiftily around the room, read on for some reasons to inspire you.
Yep. Just look:
Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:17, when he is talking about standing firm against the devil that the Word of God is the Sword of the Spirit. Use it!
One mom I know asked me how she could be more creative with her prayers. What did that mean? After more conversation, she admitted that she felt like she was saying the same “good luck chant” every day before her kids went to school. I encouraged her to just speak from her heart, and over time she began to understand what that meant.
I don’t think God expects us to be creative with our prayers. I think He expects us to be transparent, submissive, and utterly honest. When it’s time to pray with your family, sometimes it’s the kids who are reluctant to pray. Sometimes it’s Mom or Dad. Either way, small steps with an encouraging attitude can set your kids on the path to being comfortable in their own (praying) skin.
Start young
If at all possible, start praying aloud with your kids when they are babies. By the time they are older, it will be part of your everyday life. My girls have been praying since they could speak. But what if your kids are already older and you don’t know where to start? If you or they are uncomfortable, awkwardness can overwhelm you just enough to make you give up. I know this from working with kids of all ages over the years.
Start small
At dinnertime, have everyone in the family go around and have everyone say thank you to God for one thing. Start and set an example like, “Thank you God for my family.” Sometimes reluctant pray-ers feel intimidated and don’t know how to start. This is an easy thing to expand on. Once you’ve done this for a few days and everyone is comfortable with the routine, add a sentence on. By starting with thanksgiving, you are teaching your kids to thank God before presenting requests.
Next, Add a praise
Once you are all comfortable thanking God for things, you can suggest that you each praise God for who He is. Again, start off with an example. I praise you God, for being loving and merciful. And I thank you for my family and this good dinner.
Keep it simple! While you can certainly show an example of more heartfelt prayers at other times of the day, remember this is to encourage reluctant pray-ers. During this group prayer time keeping it simple means your kids will be less intimidated.
Then, add requests
Once you’ve gotten thanksgiving and praise down, start your prayer time and ask if anyone has a request you can pray for. Again, model a simple prayer and go on with your thanks and praises. The next night, ask again for requests and this time ask if anyone else would like to pray for whatever request was given.
This might all seem ridiculously drawn out, but it’s worth it. These tips also work well when it’s the parents who are uncomfortable praying. Learn as a family!
Things to keep in mind:
Do you have any tips for prayer time with kids? I’d love to hear them!
photo from photoxpress
It had been an annoying morning. Nothing earth shattering, just a few people in a row that happened to be a little on the insulting side. I reminded myself that I am not going to let things get me down anymore. No more sweet, sensitive soul, ‘cause that’s been looking too much like a doormat lately.
I am womaaaan! I hummed. Hear me roar! I don’t know the rest of the song, so I stopped there, but I continued my little pep talk. I don’t need those people to validate me! I’m strong, I’m invincible…I am woman!
Then it happened. Mid-roar. You are my strong tower. Another song, this one by Kutless. Hmm. I switched songs and began to smile.
You are my strong tower
Shelter over me, beautiful and mighty, everlasting king
You are my strong tower
Fortress when I’m weak
Your name is true and holy
And your face all I see
This song reminded me of Psalm 61:3: For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe.
Probably a better message to send myself. God’s strength, not mine. Yeah, definitely.
Have you ever had an epiphany and wondered how you possibly lived your whole life without knowing what you just realized?
I have always chosen music based on my mood. I have a CD mix entitled “Sad Songs” for when I need a good cry. I have pensive music, angry-girl music from the 90’s, and love songs for when I’m feeling mushy. I felt pretty safe about my choices. I mean, there’s no gangsta rap in my playlist.
One little whisper from the Holy Spirit and I realized that I have been so, so wrong. All those times I spent sobbing with Celine in the background could have been spent with my God, in His comforting presence.
Instead, I bought into the lie perpetuated by girl magazines and chick flicks…that a pint of ice cream and a sad CD is a perfectly normal ritual that we all need once in a while. That a strong woman has all the strength she needs…right inside herself.
Not so. I don’t believe life is hopeless. I don’t believe that we are to be self-sufficient. I don’t believe many of the messages that the songs I love are sending my brain, and ultimately, my heart.
Music affects my soul. A simple song on the radio can catapult me back fifteen years or more to a happy, sad, or confusing experience. The right song can list my mood as easily as the wrong one can send me into a downward spiral.
Why not, then, turn to music that points back to the truth, God’s Word? I’m not saying I’ll never again be moved by a secular song…and probably some Ben and Jerry’s too.
I’m just going to be more careful about the songs I listen to, because—like it or not—they eventually move from my brain to my heart.
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
Proverbs 4:23
Got any good song recommendations for my new mix?
photo by pshan427
