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

Hurting Heart

 To give some background, my heart has been hurting for so many of my friends lately. So one night, I couldn't sleep and I wrote this. They don't know it's to them, but it is. This is my heart for them.



I wish you could understand how much He loves you. I pray that you see that all the things you want in life are meaningless without Him. I wish you could be content and not have to go doing things you might regret. I pray that you'll fall flat on your face with nothing. And crawl to Him on your hands and knees knowing you don't deserve it. I pray God grabs a hold of you by the shoulders. I pray for your heart, mind and purpose to change. I pray that God will show me how to be a better witness of His kingdom to you. I want you to see that all you need is Jesus. That He's all you'll ever need. But it's not now. It won't be soon. I know this, because I know you. How many times have I wanted to get your attention fro Him. How I have failed you, my friend. I'm truly sorry. Please know that more than anything, I want you to know Him like I do. He is my world. He can be yours too.



I know that most of us have friends that we feel this for; keep praying for them.
Love never fails.
God is love.

Truth, Justice and the American Way

How unjust is this world? How often do we actually live in truth? The American way is just another way of saying that we want to be rich.

I can't help but think this world is nothing but unjust. People thrive in their lies, but they remain dead inside. I don't know how it is possible for the authorities in this world to not be overwhelmed with guilt. Yes, we are all fallen. No one is perfect. But how are people okay with watching the injustice, allowing the lies to become truth, and only be concerned with their status.

Sometimes this world just makes my heart sad. I have to admit, there are days that I just want to be with Jesus. Heaven sounds mighty fine.

I was talking to one of my pastors today and he told me that people are messy. It's just as painful walking through and carrying the burden of someone else's pain as it is for the person dealing with it. Welcome to my life. I get the privilege of hearing other people's stories. More than anything, I just want to live life with people. That's my heart. But man, I'm not gonna lie, it's hard. Watching someone you know and love make decisions that you don't agree with. Giving advice that is never heard. Understanding that it's not my responsibility, but His.



My heart has been so burdened for the souls of many.



What do I do? Pray. Pray a lot. And cry. Cry for those people who need Him more than anything. They don't see it. One day they will.

Saying No

Apparently, I have this problem saying no. I think what it comes down to is the fact that I'm a busy person. Most of the pastors at my church say that busy people can always make time for more. That is so me. Everyone knows it. Usually, I have at least one person tell me that I need to say no to things. I don't want to. I really like getting to have a hand in things, being responsible for stuff, and making time for new things. Yeah, that's me. But seriously, it can be unhealthy sometimes. Okay, most of the time.
Because when you say yes to most everything, you hardly get any rest time. Today, I got called a ray of sunshine. Hearing those things helps me know that what I'm doing and who I am is not of myself. There is no possible way that I could be the way that I am without God. Which means, the answer to saying no, is asking God for the ability to do so.

For I am the LORD your God
   who takes hold of your right hand
and says to you, Do not fear;
   I will help you. 
Isaiah 41:13

Responsibility, Change, Truth

Let me take a minute and talk about the burden of responsibility.

Responsibility is something that I was given long before I knew the concept of it. I'm a first born :) You probably already know that by now. Anyways, even as a younger child, I knew that I was responsible for a lot more things that any of my friends. Granted, there were people who understand, like other first borns, but at the time, we didn't know. As I've grown up, I have seen other people come in and out of my life who were amazingly awesome people but they sucked at responsibility.

The textbook definition of responsible is:

"liable to be called on to answer."


My definition:


"the person who gets in trouble if something goes wrong."


I'm not at all trying to be cynical. It's the truth though. When you are asked to do something, you are not being asked to do it half-way. You are being asked to do it, and as Christians, we should be going the extra mile for it.

The other night I was getting told that I need to not be stressed so much and just don't worry about it. The problem was that I was responsible for something. And it wasn't so much stressing me out as it would be nice for the 3 people still standing in the room to help. You're right, it's not their responsibility to do so. As I have learned, you can't depend on people. My expectations were too high.

When the pastor comes back to me and asks why the room wasn't cleaned, it's on me. It doesn't matter what my friends told me about the room. They don't have to answer for it; I do. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not standing on my soap box or having a pity party for myself. I'm simply trying to illustrate to you what responsibility looks like.

Then there is also a balance of knowing what you need to take responsibility for and when you need to let go. Most of the time, I end up holding on to responsibility that isn't mine. It's not our job to make sure everything is okay with the people we love and care about. It's not our responsibility to help people change. Cause the reality is that people won't change because of you. It's because of Him.
God is the only reason why people change. One of my friends used to tell me that people don't change. He said that a lot. And for a while, I started to believe him. Then I realized that everyone around me had changed. Their values, their lives, their friends, their ideals, they morals and ethics. People change. Maybe not for the good, maybe for the bad. Regardless, they change.

Don't be afraid of change. 
Embrace it.
God will work through the situation and in you as life changes.

Truth

I know I've talked about truth before. So I'm sure you're all wondering why I'm talking about it again. But it's because it is so prevalent in our lives. Every day we deal with our mind battle. We push out the lies and try to live in truth. 

Truth lies in the promises that Christ made us. The promises that WILL be fulfilled. 

Go doesn't try to trick us by dangling lies in front of our faces. 

NO! 

Our God is bigger than that. 

He promises us so much and has fulfilled or WILL fulfill each of those promises. 

Live in his truth. 

Be willing to listen to his promises.

Don't give into the lies. 

His TRUTH will set you free. 

Let truth be your soul armor.