Prayer time

I often find it hard to keep a regular prayer time going. My intentions are good but my results are not. What results? Not God's results - He has moved in some mighty and amazing ways and I am awed on those times when my prayers have been part of the process. No, the result I most often miss is the part where I listen to hear back from God. It's so easy to go to him with my list of requests and problems and even the occasional demands but how often do I wait to hear what the answer might be?

Not as often as I should. If I talked to my family the way I talk to God sometimes, there's be major trouble at my house. Those relationships would eventually just fall apart.

So it's refresher time.

What is prayer? Prayer is just talking to God. But it's not supposed to be just talking AT God. It's a conversation. A favorite verse of mine is found in Jeremiah:

"Pray to me and I will answer you..." (Jeremiah 33:3a)

Pray to me? Got it. There will be an answer? Oh. So if I don't hear an answer, maybe it's because I didn't take the time to listen.

Sometimes, when people pray, the answer to prayer comes before the prayer is finished:

"Before I finished praying in my heart, Rebekah came out..." (Genesis 24:45)

Of course, I know that God's answer may take time to come. Or I may not recognize it as an answer - particularly if it isn't what I wanted. But how often do we miss the answer because we've just rushed our Amens and walked away? Take some time to wait for an answer. Or at least to give God some space in the conversation.

What else can I expect from prayer? How about knowledge? The verse from Jeremiah above goes on:

'Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.' (Jeremiah 33:3, emphasis mine)

Maybe a miracle?

"Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife and his slave girls..."
(Genesis 20:17)

"About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!" The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household." (Acts 16:25-31 - two miracles!)

"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." James 5:16

Maybe the assurance that God is listening:

"Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray." (James 5:13)

"He will respond to the prayer of the destitute; he will not despise their plea." (Psalm 102:17)

Maybe it's just about obedience.

"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints." (Ephesians 6:18, emphasis mine)

"... in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." (Philippians 4:6b)

There are so many reasons to pray. So let's make our conversation with God just that - two way communication - and see what He will do with, for, in and through us.

Martin Luther said, "As it is the business of tailors to make clothes, and of cobblers to mend shoes, so it is the business of Christians to pray."

Let's get to work.

Knowledge & belief

"Human knowledge must be understood to be believed.

Divine knowledge must be believed to be understood."
- Unknown

For a change of pace ...

Psalm 150 as a word cloud

Gone fishing?

Have you ever been on a beautiful beach but as you get closer to the waterline you see that what's washing up isn't shells and natural wonders, it's dead fish and garbage? Or watched a deep sea diving show only to see boat ruins and trash littering the ocean floor? Or seen the cliche of the fisherman that pulls up an old boot or a tire instead of fish?

Today, those images were brought home to me through Mary Southerland's devotional when she mentioned this verse:

"Once again you will have compassion on us. You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean" (Micah 7:19, NLT)

Are you a "fisher"? Do you go trolling in your past for the sins you've committed or the regrets that you have, constantly bringing them to the surface again? It's a problem many of us face. And it's a powerful tool that Satan can use. We know that God has forgiven all our sins when we confess them to him but we still let them bog us down, snag our joy and tangle our todays. Instead of sailing ahead into God's plan for us, we're snarled in the "swill" behind us.

Today, will you take this challenge with me? Will you meet those sins with the truth of God's word? Instead of revisiting old sins that cannot be changed except through the blood of Christ, turn them over to God and then take Him at His word. Meet Satan with the truth of God's promises. Then sail on.

^"... but in love you have delivered my life from the pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back." Isaiah 38:17b


"I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins." Isaiah 43:25

"...as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us." Psalm 103:12

Why Did God Give Us Emotions? (a book review)

In reading through Why Did God Give Us Emotions?: A biblical perspective on what science has discovered about emotionsI have found it to be a much deeper book that originally expected. Author Reneau Peurifoy gives a complete overview of the different aspects of emotions - physical, spiritual, etc - while also putting them in the context of Christian beliefs (or misconceptions).

It is this combination that makes this book stand out from the rest. There are many resources that deal with happiness or anxiety or small slices of the emotional spectrum but few of them are written to address such a complete and balanced view of the role God gave emotions to play in our lives, and do so with a balance of medical knowledge and Biblical insight. Peurifoy also provides some good cautions about relying too much on emotions while giving some very practical exercises and examples of where our emotions can be trusted and where they can become a false guide.

I would not say this book is light reading, if you plan to use it the way Peurifoy intends it with a journal and exercises to put each chapter into a working and potentially life-balancing practice. But as someone that has struggled with an anxiety disorder in the past, I can only say I wish I'd found this book years ago.

Highly recommend.

Review copies provided by The B&B Media Group.

Crucified with Christ (by Rick Green)

Thanks to Rick at Organized Doodles for sharing this.