Category: Prayer

It’s Time to Wake Up!

08/12/2014Prayer, The Furrowed Brow, 16 Comments

  for blog 8.12.14
The link to the photos was all over social media. I didn’t want to look. I knew my soul would be shocked. I knew my heart would be broken. My finger hovered while I debated, and then I did it; I clicked on the link.

Never in a million years could I have imagined such brutality of man against man. Surely, I thought, the photos are not real. But it appears this is true. This is happening. This is the world we are living in. I wanted to throw up. What did I see? (I must warn you, the following descriptions are graphic.) Continue here

Taggies, Blankies and Bed-Buddies: It’s a Sleep-Over!

02/07/2014Prayer, Spiritual Walk, , , , 4 Comments

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Jake and Matt are sleeping over tonight! As excited as they are, about 8pm their joy will turn to sorrow, and perhaps a few tears, if their taggies, blankies and bed-buddies aren’t here.

As soon as a sleepover is mentioned, Matty grabs his taggies and stuffs them in his back pack. He’s ready to go if his tags are packed, but he won’t leave home without them. The tags are precious to Matthew.

When Matty wakes up, he looks for his tags. When he gets out of bed, the tags are in his hand. He plays with them. He puts them in his trucks. He shares them – sometimes – for a moment. He carries them every place he goes. We often search for them. He definitely won’t go to sleep without his taggies.

Moses was a bit like that. He wasn’t worried about taggies, blankies and bed-buddies, but he wouldn’t go anywhere without God! When God told Moses to lead the Israelites into the wilderness, Moses said:

“If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here… What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” – Exodus 33:15-16 NIV

Moses knew God must be with them every step of the way. God must lead. God must be present. God was Moses’ security, comfort and protection. God made a difference in Moses’ life and the lives of the Israelites.

Without God’s presence, the Israelites were no different than any other group of travelers in the desert. Only the Israelites had a God who led them, spoke to them, and protected them. Nothing distinguishes our lives from the millions of other lives on the planet if God is not with us. If God isn’t leading us, we are lost. If God isn’t protecting us, we’re doomed.

As a believer, God, in the Person of the Holy Spirit, lives within you and is with you everywhere you go:

“For this is what the high and exalted One says – he who lives forever, whose name is holy: ‘I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit.’” – Isaiah 57:15 NIV

Yet, how often are we willing to leave home without a thought of God? How often do we run off to work, school, the grocery, the neighbors, church, or even to Bible study, without asking Him to lead? God is with us, but do we allow His presence to mark us and distinguish us from the world?

Is God your comfort, guide, protection and security? Would you think of getting out of bed without first being comforted by God’s abiding presence? Do you consciously hold on to Him throughout the day? Do you talk about Him? Do you talk with Him? Do you share Him? Do you take Him every place you go? Does your relationship cause others to want to seek God?

One day the boys will give up their taggies, blankies and bed-buddies. Our prayer is that they will always hold tight to the God who loves them.

Eating Peas

11/12/2013Prayer, Spiritual Growth, , , , , 11 Comments

This is a picture of our grandson Jake when he first started eating solid food. He’s about to get a bite of peas.

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He quickly learned that he doesn’t like peas!

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However, he opened his mouth again! He trusted the person feeding him. He knew we loved him, and we would never ever hurt him.

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Today, Jake is four. If I were to put peas on his plate for dinner, the conversation would probably go something like this:

Jake: Yaya, I don’t want peas.
Yaya (me): Jake, you have to eat them, they are good for you.
Jake: No, I don’t like them.
Yaya: Don’t you want to grow up to be big and strong like your daddy?
Jake: Yes, but I can do that if I eat cookies!
Yaya: No you can’t Jake, you need your peas.
Jake: Yaya, I’m not hungry!

We give our children healthy food, even if they only want candy, because we know that candy won’t produce a strong, healthy body.

We are a lot like Jake when it comes to eating our ‘spiritual peas’. What are spiritual peas? That would be the hard things in life that the Lord puts on our plate. I don’t have to imagine what that conversation would sound like, I’ve had it…

God: Marcia, you have to go through this difficult thing.
Marcia: God, I don’t want to.
God: You have to, it is good for you.
Marcia: No. I don’t like this.
God: Don’t you want to grow up to be like Jesus?
Marcia: Yes, but I can do that without having to endure this.|
God: No, you can’t, Marcia, you need to walk this path.
Marcia: God, I’m ok where I am.

God knows the future. He knows what I need to experience now in order to be prepared for what the future holds. He knows where I will need to be strong. He knows where the Evil One is going to come against me. He knows where I need to grow. Therefore, God very carefully prepares my plate with just the right amount of peas.

Romans 5:3-5 because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame…”

God will not overload me with suffering. I know that there will also be sweet desserts – times of celebration and rejoicing. And, there will be some really nice steaks because he knows how much I love to study the meat of doctrine.

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Just as Jake’s peas produce a healthy body, so our suffering produces a healthy spirit: a spirit that hopes, even when things appear hopeless.

What difficult thing has God put on your plate? Do you believe that He has your best interest at heart, because he knows what you will need in the future?

What Did You Ask For?

10/22/2013Prayer, The Furrowed Brow, , 14 Comments

When our grandson, Jacob, was two he went to see Santa. The ‘elves’ took his picture, gave him an ornament, and he walked back toward his parents. My son lifted him up and asked him, “What did you ask for?”

Jake got a puzzled look on his face, looked at his ornament, and replied, “I don’t know. I guess an ornament.”

While we laugh at this memory, I wonder what Jake was thinking. Did he know he was supposed to give Santa a list of things he wanted? Did he ask for anything? Was he too intimidated?  Did he think Santa would already know what he wanted? Did he assume Santa would just give him whatever Santa wanted him to have? Did he expect anything? He seemed OK with the ornament.

It’s interesting how many conversations I’ve had with people about prayer that sound really similar to this. We often wonder: if God knows everything, doesn’t he know what I need? Why should I ask? Shouldn’t I just be content with what he gives me? Prayer intimidates me. I don’t know what to ask for.

We are to pray because God ordained prayer as one of the means to accomplish his ends. Jesus prayed. The disciples wanted to know how to pray. And the Bible tells us to pray for everything.

Philippians 4:6 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

We can ask God for everything we need! It’s interesting that the verse says ‘with thanksgiving’. When we go to God with our list of needs and wants, but begin with thanksgiving for all that we have, all that he has done, and will do, our list of requests often seems to become unimportant. When we start with thanksgiving, we see things more clearly from God’s perspective, and we see that he is already about the business of answering our prayers even before we pray them. But that doesn’t mean we don’t pray, or that we don’t give requests. The verse says, “present your requests to God.”

Unfortunately, sometimes we pray such non-specific prayers, that we aren’t sure if, or when, God does answer. For example, do we even know what we’re asking for if our prayer is just that we want to be a better Christian? What would that look like for you? What one thing do you need from God, this week, which would make you a better Christian? Have you thought to ask for ‘that thing’ specifically? Would you ask for it today?

However, there can be times when we’re so overwhelmed with the events of life that we can’t formulate a prayer. That’s when the Holy Spirit prays for us:

Romans 8:26 “…the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.”

God wants us to ask, so that when he gives, we see the wonderful gift he’s given. What are you specifically asking for today so that you can tell others exactly what God has given you!