Let us pray...

In the past couple of months, I've noticed that God has drawn me to a new level of prayer. The interesting thing that I have not necessarily started praying for longer times at one stretch, rather I have been praying more often within different stretches of time.

Thinking to the root of this, I can attribute this partially to the knowledge I gained from a a book: Prayer as a Way of Life - I read several decades ago. Although I don't remember who the author was, that book was definitely a seed which took root and is now ready to bear fruit. Addtionally, God has used several people to help me grow in this area of prayer. I have been blessed with a few ladies who have directly or indirectly watered and encouraged me. It is definitely a benefit to have others that you can partner with in prayer. My prayer partner and I pray together regularly and touch on the various dimensions of our lives - spiritual, emotional, marital, professional etc. 

Corrie Ten Boom articulated the place prayer should take in our lives when she said:

"Any concern too small to be turned into a prayer 

is too small to be made into a burden."

If you need to talk to someone about how to identify a suitable prayer partner, feel free to contact Beryl or I by email.

FYI

#JustSaying

“Will it help?”

A few months ago, I watched a few scenes of the “Bridge of Spies” movie. I didn’t watch it to the end but the first few scenes made an impression in my heart. One of the main characters was arrested and accused of being a spy. The attorney assigned to him couldn’t help but comment on how unperturbed his “client” was about the gravity of the case facing him. Each time the attorney mentioned that he didn’t look worried about the case against him, his calm response was

“Will it help?”

The way you respond to this simple 3-word question determines how complex your life is or not.

When you worry, at least 6 things happen to you:

• Wear yourself out - drain your energy
• Open yourself to Panic attacks
• React without thinking things through 
• Rob yourself of peace of mind
• You miss out on enjoying the moment

Think about it,

How will worrying about anything help?

Has worrying ever helped you in life?

Well it hasn’t helped me so far so I decided again that any time the “Worry-Bug” wants to bite and bug me, I’ll ask myself the same 3-word question. God knows that it’s not beneficial and has given us a “Release valve” when worry wants to trap us. It’s found in Philippians 4:6 -7:

⁶ Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. ⁷Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. (MSG)

⁶ Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. ⁷ Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. (NLT)

In other words, rather than worry, worship and then “war” in the Place of Prayer.

So the next time you feel the urge to worry ask yourself “Will it help?”


Addendum:
Believe it or not, the same day I finally wrote up this piece and set it up to be posted later, the Lord tested me. I misplaced a bracelet and only realized when I woke up at about 4am. I tossed and turned mentally retracing my steps the previous evening and thinking up a plan - I'm sure you know that I had to be awake to do that. Just then the Holy Spirit gently asked "Will it help?" Oops...of course, the answer was "No" so rather than lie there without peace or sleep, I got up and did some pending work. When I was exhausted, I went back to bed.


The next morning, by the time I asked the 3rd person if they had seen my bracelet someone was bringing out one "Lost and Found" item  - yes, it was my bracelet. So imagine if I denied myself sleep over a bracelet. In fact even if I didn't find it at all, it sure was not worth losing sleep over. Lord, thank You for the lesson and the blessing of recovery.

Universal talent

1 reason to pray...

Pray without ceasing?

Really? But how?

ASAP...asap

Just yesterday I shared on: "Pray without ceasing, in all seasons." Then this morning, one of the verses I read was:

Philippians 4:6 - Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. (NLT)

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, nothing in life beats praying. It's definitely less stressful than worrying. Let me explain my prespective on this. We're almost always in a hurry... well I am - sometimes. An example is when I send emails to people - personally and professionally - and ask them to respond to me asap (as soon as possible).

Pray...

...without ceasing, and may I add, in all seasons.

Just this morning, while I was laying in bed and rather reluctant to get out, I wondered...and then prayed that my family would think of treating me to breakfast in bed. So you see it from my viewpoint, Sunday was Mother's Day and we had to leave early for church so as usual, "breakfast is for children." Now here we were on a family day off and I wanted to sleep in and hopefully be pampered - even if a little...

Within minutes of that "prayer," my husband came into our bedroom tray in hand urging me to "Arise and Eat" - now what a treat that was... It's amazing how true the word of God is even in what you'd call "small things."

Thank God that my family never thought that I should have slept in our kitchen.

I couldn't go to bed tonight without sharing this testimony - hoping to encourage you to always take God at His Word and Pray without ceasing and in all seasons. God bless.

First port of call

15 days gone - 350 to go...

...thinking about (& preparing for) overcoming obstacles/challenges this year, I have a question for you: What or who is your first port of call when you are faced with a challenge or endued with a blessing?

Let's take them one at a time...

Think on this...

Prayer is the sovereign remedy for every malady ~ Rev George Adegboye

50 Quotes on Prayer – culled from The Power Bible CD

1. Prayer is not merely an occasional impulse to which we respond when we are in trouble: prayer is a life attitude. -Mueller
2. The most important thing in any prayer is not what we say to God, but what God says to us. We are apt to pray and then hurry away without giving God a chance to answer. -North Carolina Christian Advocate
3. Prayer is the chief agency and activity whereby men align themselves with God's purpose. Prayer does not consist in battering the walls of heaven for personal benefits or the success of our plans. Rather it is the committing of ourselves for the carrying out of His purposes. It is a telephone call to headquarters for orders. It is not bending God's will to ours, but our will to God's. In prayer, we tap vast reservoirs of spiritual power whereby God can find fuller entrance into the hearts of men. -Oldham
4. Sometimes . . . God answers our prayers in the way our parents do, who reply to the pleas of their children with "Not just now" or "I'll have to think about that for a little while." -Pearson
5. Sometimes God delays the answer to our prayer in final form until we have time to build up the strength, accumulate the knowledge, or fashion the character that would make it possible for Him to say "yes" to what we ask. -Pearson
6. We must remember that "No" can be an answer to prayer. -Pinson
7. If Christians spent as much time praying as they do grumbling, they would soon have nothing to grumble about. -Anonymous
   

Persevering in Prayer

1. On persevering prayer: "I look at a stone cutter hammering away at a rock a hundred times without so much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the 101st blow it splits in two. I know it was not the one blow that did it, but all that had gone before." Author unknown
2. Prayer "is the root, the fountain, the mother of a thousand blessings." Chrysostom
3. "Prayer wonderfully clears the vision; steadies the nerves; defines duty; stiffens the purpose; sweetens and strengthens the spirit." S.D. Gordon
4. "The secret of all failure is our failure in secret prayer." The Kneeling Christian Put another way, he who fails to pray is praying to fail – ouch...that hurt me too.  

Prayer Practice

A wise person said: "Practice makes perfect"; indeed it does - and even if you do not become perfect, you sure become better at whatever you practise. This is true and applicable in every aspect of life and even with respect to Prayer. The only way to learn how to pray is to pray; the only way to get better at praying is to keep praying better prayers. The quality of our prayers improve with practice - at least mine have. In summary: "The only way to pray is to pray, and the way to pray well is to pray much." (Anonymous)

Taking on from this, there are at least 7 things I believe can make our prayers more effective...I pray you find it useful:

Watch it!

Those 2 words capture the "warning" I got from God this morning.

A few weeks ago, I shared how God used a shopping trip to teach me some spiritual tips on Prayer...please read them if you haven't (you can search the blog for topics on "shopping").

Well, let's go on...
In "planning" my next shopping trip, it just hit me that I am becoming "drawn" to shopping because I had a "good" experience. So while "hitting the brakes" I quickly asked the Lord what I can learn from this "attraction". God is always there to help us, if you ASK. This is what He shared this with me...

ASKing is easy...waiting is not

This thought just hit me while I was taking a shower...of a truth, ASKing is easy, at least easier than waiting to receive, find or have the door opened to you. As we draw closer to the end of the year, I look back to the different things I either worried about and/or wished for...and there are some I prayed about/for and I'm still waiting for the answers.

While pondering on this thought, I had a quick flashback to when I was praying for a husband...I wanted to get married really early and felt (and expected) God will make it happen. Well, I then had to wait...longer than some of my peers and at the same time not as long as some other peers. As God will have it, since He makes all things beautiful in His time, I was found - by the best man ever...yes he is! Let's get back to the subject...

The point here is that in order to truly win over worry i.e. worry about nothing and pray about everything, we need to "contend" with waiting and be contented while waiting. It's a definite part of life - look at your life: at one time or the other, you have waited (or are waiting) for something - a job, a new job, a husband/wife (just in case men read this blog), a car, a new car, a new outfit, a child, another child, a new home...the list is endless just as our needs are and our needs are as different & unique as we are.

I just feel we should encourage ourselves in the Lord with His Word - now is a good time as any. What verse comes to your mind when you hear the phrase "wait on the Lord"? For me, Isaiah 40:31 (which we'll discuss separately) comes to mind. There are a lot of other scriptures on that subject so I've chosen a few...

Sheep vs. Sleep

There is a common saying: “when you can’t sleep count sheep”…I don't know the origin of that saying. I'm guessing it was advice given to distract people from worrying. Belive it or not, I've found the solution to sleeplessness (& it was never a secret)...it's an amazingly simple solution too & one size fits all.

More Spiritual tips from Shopping trip

Two more similarities between shopping & praying and then on to some of the differences...

#6. People can shop and pray on your behalf; however, to get the "right fit" of some things e.g. shoes, when you go shopping yourself and try it on. I guess you know what I mean - especially if have that "right-foot-challenge" like I do (the lady in the picture seems to have the same challenge too). This is especially true with how much sizes vary from country to country and even from store to store in the same country. So, just as you sometimes need to go to the store to get the right fit, praying for yourself by yourself enables you tell God "where the shoe pinches" - just as you would at the store (if you're there in person). Irrespective of how well-intentioned others are, no one can pray for you better than you can pray for yourself.

#7. Shopping is available to all - indeed it's not the exclusive preserve of anyone. Anyone can pray...if they choose to. To be women of prayer (& power), we need to decide and do!

We could go on and on with the similarities; to balance this out, let's switch gears and discuss a few differences:

Keep A.S.K.-ing

Let me guess...you may be saying to yourself: "she sure does like acronyms"…pretty creative too huh? Well, what can I say, I’m just like my Heavenly Father – you’ll see how in a moment when I share what He told me A.S.K. means.

Some time ago, while reading Matthew 7:7 in the King James Version, it just “came to life”:

Ask, and it will be given to you;
Seek, and you will find;
Knock, and it will be opened to you.

You see what I mean? Acronyms are God’s idea for helping us commit things to memory – He started everything…

Answers to our prayers sometimes come swiftly or slowly. At yet other times…well it seems like it’s taking forever for the answers to come through. I’m convonced that’s why God gave us those 3 levels of “ASKing”.

I’ll share my understanding of these 3 levels…you may not agree and that’s fine. Please share your own understanding with us – let’s learn from each other.

Spiritual lessons from Shopping trip

It’s so amazing how God constantly uses physical things to teach us spiritual truths when we look, listen and learn. Shopping is not one of my favourite things...ask my husband and those who know me well. Grocery shopping is enough work as it is. In order to go shopping for clothes and other things, I need to really “prime” myself – so I have the stamina to stay the course; and this includes window-shopping.

Well this weekend, I needed to go shopping – possibly the first time I have really had to go shopping – yes I promised my husband I would so I did – the price of integrity.

The first thing that hit me when I was going through the racks is that: prayer and shopping are very similar. I’ll share some nuggets God shared with me...

# 1. Both of them have a window of opportunity...whereas, prayer has a constant window of opportunity (i.e. God is always available to us) we can’t say the same thing about shopping. Let me explain: before I embarked on my shopping trip (indeed it was a trip – it’s the first time in my life I’ve ever done something like that too), I prayed for favour and guidance. I also prayed that God will lead me to the right stores where I’ll get what I need at an acceptable price for the quality I want. The first store I entered had an amazing sale on, which I later found out was their “one-day spectacular sale”- no wonder there were so many people there – including me who was totally oblivious of this event. I went there just in time – it was my window of opportunity.

Purpose in Prayer

Although “Prayer can never be in excess” (C. H. Spurgeon), for our prayers to produce results, they must be "prefixed" by the Word of God...once we know Him & His will, we will pray accordingly.

We must pray on purpose and with purpose.

The first purpose of prayer is to know God. Charles L. Allen

1. 
   
   We look upon prayer as a means of getting things for ourselves; The Bible idea of prayer is that we may get to know God Himself. Oswald Chambers
   
   
   
2. 
   
   “Prayer is not monologue, but dialogue. God’s voice in response to mine is its most essential part." Andrew Murray
   
   
   
3. 
   
   Prayer honors God, acknowledges His being, exalts His power, adores His providence, secures His aid. E. M. Bounds
   
   
   
4. 
   
   The goal of prayer is the ear of God, a goal that can only be reached by patient and continued and continuous waiting upon Him, pouring out our heart to Him and permitting Him to speak to us. Only by so doing can we expect to know Him, and as we come to know Him better we shall spend more time in His presence and find that presence a constant and ever-increasing delight. E. M. Bounds
   
   
   
5. 
   
   "No learning can make up for the failure to pray. No earnestness, no diligence, no study, no gifts will supply its lack." E.M. Bounds
   
   
   
6. 
   
   "Prayer is not learned in a classroom but in the closet." E. M. Bounds