Prayer

In case you don't know, I'm a big fan of prayer. I just can't get over the whole, I get to talk to the Creator of the Universe whenever the heck I want to thing. Call me crazy, but I think it's freakin RAD!

Prayer has always been something that I love to do. At college group on Thursday we were talking about it and like usual, we had a great controversial discussion on the subject. We were talking about the Lord's Prayer found in Matthew.

This, then, is how you should pray:
"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heave. Give us today our daily bread. and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."
Matthew 6:9-13

Notice all the "our's, we's, and us's" in the prayer? Prayer is something that we need to do together. Most of the time, we listen to other people's problems and tell them we'll pray for them. When, in reality, we won't really pray for them later unless we remember, which is very unlikely. Be honest, how many times have you told some random person that you would pray for them and didn't? A few years back, a pastor said the same thing to me in church and challenged me to take time right then to say a prayer for them. But then he also encouraged me to stop and pray with people in that moment that they're spilling their guts to you.

Christian's are funny, though. When you take the time to ask them if they need prayer right then they give you this funny look that says, "pray for me later, I just needed someone to talk to." I think this is a common understanding between Christians. We ask about problems, then pray later. It just makes sense in our minds. Unfortunately, though, there are so many times that God calls us to do more than possibly remember to pray for someone later.

Some of the best times of prayer that I've had are when I get to pray with someone right in that moment. You just get to sit with them and pray together. Everything is fresh in your mind and you've taken time to help that person know that you care enough to pray right then. I encourage you to do that. Try it with close friends at first, then slowly you'll be comfortable to pray with a not so close friend which will eventually lead you to praying for a random stranger...that you will never see again. But you took that moment to pray with them, simply because you let the Lord lead you.

So, I told you we talked about prayer on Thursday, but then at church today, we talked about prayer AGAIN. Talk about a God thing :)

Prayer is about relationship. When we pray, it is not to just tell God our problems and walk away, it's about building and maintaining a relationship with our Father. He is with us all the time, but how close can we truly be to God if we don't have relationship with him. And that relationship is built not on just talking to him, but listening to him as well. That's what God intended prayer to be. In church, the pastor told us that we were going to take a minute to meditate on a question that we had for him. So for about 60 seconds, the entire congregation was silent and we listened for God to speak to us. The question that we asked him was...

Lord, what do you see when you look at me?

I don't know about you, but I always have a billion and one questions for God. That has never been one of them. It made me a little uncomfortable to ask him that at first, then I just got super curious. I love hearing God speak to me, so I was super excited to hear what he had to say. Now, we were at church which means we didn't have much time to hear what he had to say. BUT, I am definitely going to ask him this question again in my own quiet time. 

Prayer is relationship building. It's also a two way street. You talk, he listens. He talks, you listen. Practice it. Practice listening to God. Ask him that question. He may something that you never expected. :)

Joshua

Joshua 1:1-11


After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelite's.  I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses.  Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.  No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.  Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.
 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.  Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.  Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”
  So Joshua ordered the officers of the people: “Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get your provisions ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the LORD your God is giving you for your own.’” 

This is a passage that God spoke to me through these past couple of weeks.
The first few verses go through God's promises to Joshua. He tells him all of the things that he is going to do. Then he encourages Joshua; strengthening his spirit. And the last part is Joshua ACTING on what God has told him. How awesome is that?! I absolutely love that concept.
My heart was drawn into this story because of the faith that Joshua has that God WILL fulfill his promises. This is exactly what God has done for us, but we choose not to see it. We choose to ignore the fact that he is with us and he will NEVER LEAVE US. Ever. Because in the darkest of times, he's not just with us, he's carrying us. He holds us near his heart. 

Seasons

I live in Arizona. We don't have seasons. Real weather seasons, that is; but there are definitely seasons in life. Seasons of different people, different perspectives, different lessons learned, different clothes, different jobs.

Change is good. Changing seasons is good, as well. But for some reason, I have a hard time during the change. I love when things change, but saying goodbye is hard. My philosophy is to just say farewell. Farewell to what was, and hello to what is to come.

God works in mysterious ways.
He is faithful, just and true.
He is trustworthy, loving, magnificent.

Seriously though, when we talk about seasons everyone is usually positive and excited about the next season. Blah blah blah. I don't think I've ever heard someone talk about how sad they are to leave a season. Maybe it's just me. It seems like season always bring something new...which is good. But it's never easy. I was talking to one of my regulars today and he told me that it doesn't get any easier.

I was talking to God yesterday and I asked him if he could just show me one thing that was easy. If I could see that one thing, maybe it'd be easier to breathe. Oh yeah, did I mention that? I can't breathe again...oh yes, life keeps getting better and better.

But honestly, it's not that bad. Not when I look at it from God's perspective. There are millions of people who have it worse off then I do. I'm trying to discredit how I feel, but really, that conversation was what I needed with God. I needed to voice what was going on in my head that I hadn't gotten out yet. Now it's out. The injustice of the world, the sadness that is so prevalent, and the new season that God has brought me into. It's a good one. I can already tell. It won't be easy though.

Satan is waiting to ambush us at the precise moment that we're not ready for it; I wasn't. I encourage you to be. Don't let your guard down, don't turn a blind eye. Seek out what God is calling you to do. Be someone who embraces the new season of life, and when sadness comes knocking on your door, FIGHT!

We are in this battle with the only one that can win.
Jesus.
Let him lead.
He will fight by your side.



Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. 
Romans 5:1-5