Women Praying Boldly Initiative: Will You Join Us?

I know we are in the midst of the Secrets of a Newlywed series. I also know that many of you who read my blog are not in that stage of life yet. While I firmly believe that you don’t have to be currently married to benefit from the insights in the series (and to treasure them in your hearts so that you start off your marriage stronger when it does happen!), I do know that many of you look forward to the day when you can apply these lessons to your own lives.

And I understand that longing, more than you know. When I was single, it became a very large burden on my heart to pray about finding a godly man. I truly believe that because I prayed so earnestly and brought that desire to the Lord, that he answered my prayers and wove my love story within months.

I also believe that we not only should pray these things (meaning, godly desires of any kind!) for ourselves but also for one another. Because I saw how that prayer worked so miraculously in my own life, I make it a point to continue to pray for women I know who have that same desire.

And I’d like to take this opportunity to reach out to any of the readers here who would like to share in that, as well.

Here’s what I propose: I would love to start a Women Praying Boldly initiative (taken from Candice Watter’s book Get Married) here on this blog. If you are interested in praying for a godly husband and want others to rally around you in prayer, then fill out this form here with your contact information.

Everyone who fills this form out will become a part of this initiative and then we’ll all start praying for each other. You don’t have to pray every day, but you do have to commit to intentionally praying for your fellow ladies a few times each month. I only want women who take this prayer seriously—those who really believe that it can impact lives and are willing to pray it boldly themselves—to sign up.

If you’re already married but still want to join along in praying for these ladies, then you can jump on board, too. Once I get everyone’s information, I’ll send an email out and include each woman’s first name only. Then, the praying begins.

I would love to be able to see how this commitment to prayer impacts women’s lives, so I hope that once this begins, I’ll have some testimonies to share with the rest of the group (and maybe here on this blog, as well!). We’ll just have to see what comes of it.

For now, we step out in faith and ask…

Will you ask with me?

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Embracing What My Prayer Time Looks Like in Different Seasons of Life

My prayer time goes through a lot of different iterations, almost one for every season it seems. For awhile I had a really in-depth prayer binder, but eventually the big rings got in the way of my writing and I looked for something different. Then I moved my prayer time onto a little throw rug that I put at the foot of my bed and sat on. Then I got tired of sitting on the floor and moved to a couch.

I've gone through lots of different notebooks, giving one up halfway through to try another one. I used to crank up soul-full music and have it playing during my times of prayer, but at some point I felt it was distracting rather than compelling. I used to keep a journal on my computer that I typed in nearly everyday, noting what I was learning and inspiring thoughts I'd come across in my readings. But after a couple of years, eventually that too fell by the wayside.

Sometimes I feel a little guilty about this stop-and-go approach. Guilty that I lack follow-through with my best-laid plans.

And its in those moments that I'm quietly reminded that that's not what this is about. This is simply about spending time with the Lord and getting to know who he is and what he says and what he wants. And how I do that, how my tastes and preferences change and warp, doesn't matter as much as the simple fact that I am doing this.

Change isn't a bad thing. Perhaps that's just how I'm wired, to switch things up again. If I take a step back, I can see that that's the case when it comes to many other things, whether it's switching up my decor, renewing my wardrobe or searching out new menu plans.

The perfectionist in me is always thinking about how I can make something function better, looking for areas to tweak or test out new options. I'm not afraid to stop something halfway through or admit defeat if it means I at least gave it a try.

It's this perspective that I accept and latch on to, not the one dripping with guilt.



Then, I look down at my Bible and the little leaflet that sticks from its pages. Dates are marked off, one after another. In spite of all those changes, I've still managed to use the same Bible plan that I started at the beginning of the year—even managing to get ahead a few days when I got to the parts about the wars and prophecies.

Right now, I have a small ringed notebook where I write out my prayer requests for certain topics and people. In the back, I am keeping lists of memorable Scripture verses I come across in my daily reading. And I sit on the couch or on the rug that is splayed before it, and I speak to my Lord—what it's all about in the first place.

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Learning to Give My Worries Over to God

I remember a sermon at my old church, a few years ago. Our pastor was preaching on worry and our need to give our anxieties over to God.

He used the example of an email. "It's like if you get an email, and instead of opening it up and reading it, you immediately forward it on to God. You don't even look at it, you just forward it on."

It sounds great. I loved the imagery it gave to the situation.

But I wrestled with it for weeks, months probably, as I asked again and again: "How do I not open it?! How do I forward it on and forget about it?!"

I remember the desire burning within me to not let worries and anxieties run my life as they had for more than two decades. I remember talking on the phone to a friend, beseeching them about this mystery of how to just "give it over" to God.

It was something I could not wrap my head around.

Finally, I determined to memorize Philippians 4:6-7, which counseled me: "Don't worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."

That was the key, for me, to understand this Christian catchphrase of "giving my worries over to God."

It isn't enough to just stuff them in an envelope and forget about them, because that's not the way worrying works. But praying about them—even if it just looks like telling God everything he already knows about what we're feeling and what we want—somehow ushers in his peace in quite a mysterious way while we wait on his answers.

In sharing these worries and anxieties with him in prayer, he gently reminds us that it's not all up to us, that he is guiding us, that he intervenes in even the most mundane of interactions, that he knows what he is doing and what he is allowing, that our character matters more to him than our convenience.

And we slip into that place of trust where we know that God is bigger than our circumstances and that it's all safely in his hands. We stop worrying because we know that we can trust God with whatever is happening and however it turns out.

It has been a learning process for me, this "giving it over to God," that has happened only gradually over the past few years. I'm not quite sure exactly how it happened or when. But God was gracious in leading me through this great mystery of learning how to let him have these things.

Of course, I still find myself running frantic with worries, even over the most trivial of things. Again and again, I have to admonish myself to give words to these worries, to whisper them to the heavens and let them soar up there to stay.

So I curl up and tell God what's worrying me. I ask him, sometimes over and over again, to take care of this for me. To settle my heart. To take this worry from my hands. I don't know how to do it on my own. I don't know if I even can do it on my own. But I know that he can—and he will—take and bear that burden for me.

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Asking for My Daily Bread: God’s Provision

Sometimes I feel guilty about how the fact that my husband and I both are still searching for full-time jobs always seems to creep into conversations. And that it's been creeping into conversations for over a year now. It must get awfully boring to hear me say, yet again, "I don't know where we'll be," or updates about how the latest job news is going.

But honestly that is what is at the forefront of our reality right now. And I think we all have those things; for me (and too many others) it's employment, perhaps for someone else it's relationships or infertility or moving or health. It seems that we're never given much of a reprieve before something "else" crops up to captivate our attention.

For now, in my life, it's a job, my daily bread.

But, surprisingly, I'm not discouraged by that, though. For some beautiful, merciful reason, the Lord has given me an incredible sense of peace regarding this season of our life when everything seems up in the air and we still seem to be fumbling through the fog. As each month passes, I continue (for the most part) to grow in my confidence that the Lord is at work here. I have a comforting sense of peace about the fact that he does indeed go before us and prepare the way for us. So, rather than worry, I continue to wait on him to answer.

It's an interesting thing that even though God tells us that he knows all our needs and will deliver us, he also commands us to ask him—persistently: "God will always give what is right to his people who cry to him night and day, and he will not be slow to answer them. I tell you, God will help his people quickly." (Luke 18:7)

In The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis, Digory has to go on a mission and finds that he needs food and complains about it, noting that Aslan must have known that he’d need to eat and get hungry on the trip. His companion speaks words of wisdom as he responds to the ilk of, “Yes, I’m sure he did know you'd get hungry and need food. But you didn’t ask. I have the feeling that sometimes he just likes to be asked, even if he knows you need it anyway.”

So, my prayers right now are for provision.

As the time ticks and my job draws closer to a close (nothing set in stone just yet) and no opportunities  arise, I wonder, "What will happen next?" for us. All I know to do is pray. Keep praying. Keep asking. Keep trusting.

But those who wait on the LORD will find new strength.
They will fly high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.

They will walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:31

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Praying for Other People

In Christian circles the words, "I'll be praying for you," usually seem more of a gesture than a reality. They're what you say to someone who's having a difficult time, but that it doesn't mean you'll really be praying for them. I caught myself falling into that trap of emptily saying those words to make someone else fell better and realized that that's unacceptable. Despite the good intentions lining the 5-word phrase, then it becomes a lie.

So now, I try to be really careful if I tell someone, "I'll be praying for you," because that means I really am going to commit to praying for them. Probably not everyday, but I take that prayer request seriously. Sometimes though, when I've got a list of people I want to pray for, it can get kind of boring (is that sacrilegious to say?) with the "Lord, please be with so-and-so as she tries to figure out such-and-such." I know God hears my prayers and appreciates them, but couldn't there be more to it than that kind of limp prayer?

So a few months ago I decided that when I had a new prayer request for someone, that I'd turn to Scripture for the words to pray over their situation or need. I locate a Bible verse that seems fitting and pray that verse specifically for that person. Sure I can pray more if I want to, but this makes praying for other people manageable and helps me know what to say for them that I know aligns with God's Word.

For instance, there is a high school girl that I'm close to who I will be praying Ephesians 3:17 for: "I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in [her] heart as [she] trusts in you. May [her] roots go down deep into the soil of your marvelous love." For my friends who are trying to sell their house, I pray that "...your blessing be on the home of the upright." (Proverbs 3:33)

I am the first to admit that prayer isn't always as easy as it seems like it should be, so that's why I think it's good to have these kinds of "techniques" in place to help guide our hearts when we don't really feel like it.

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Making the Psalms Your Own

I’ve heard various ways of relating to the Scripture and how to make it cling to our hearts and in our lives, from singing verses over ourselves to replacing the “you’s” with “me’s” and inserting your own name into the promises. Both of those examples are great ideas, but didn’t really seem to work for me–they didn’t seem to strike a nerve in my faith.

Last year, though, I joined a Beth Moore Bible study about the  “Psalms of Ascent,” where we’re studying Psalms 120-134. One of the things I especially like about this study is that upon studying each of these psalms and ruminating on them, she had us rewrite them in regards to what they mean to us and regarding the emotions and circumstances of our own life.

Though there are some Psalms that I definitely identify with and will pray, word-for-word, there are others that I just think, “This doesn’t apply to me, at all,” whether it’s times when David talks about his enemies hunting him down or fleeing and hiding and near-death misses or being righteous and without blame. I don’t ever really feel that way, so often I’d just breeze past and dismiss those sections. But as I started rewriting the Psalms in this study, I started seeing that if I truly took the time to reflect on them, there is a connection to my life. Oftentimes, I’m too impatient to discover it, though. There’s the beauty of this exercise–making the Bible more personal. Much of the Bible is God’s Word to us, but the Psalms reflect humans’ words to God. So it’s beautiful to take another person’s prayers, draw from them, and make them your own.

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When We Try to Make God Choose (A) or (B)

Here's a confession for you: Often when I go to God about decisions I’m making, I come to him with my proposal typed out and neat and tidy in a folder. I lay it all out on the table and show him how I’ve narrowed it down to two choices, A and B, and which would he like to choose?

The reality of this astounds me. That I have the audacity to take the God of the Universe, the Creator of everything complex and incomprehensible who wrote this great story that we call Life and Eternity, who is bigger than anything I can imagine and who understands it all and somehow stitches this huge tapestry together into one great, intricate and beautiful masterpiece; and I give him a multiple-choice quiz with two possible answers: A or B.

Of course I don't realize I'm doing it at the time; I simply fail to see beyond my human eyes and perspective of what the possibilities are. It's only later or even in hindsight, that I realize how greatly narrowed my convention of "answers" are. And it's not just me; people did that to Jesus back when he was alive, too: taking to him these questions or demands and presenting them to him as having only two options. But time and time again, He would break that mold and show them how close-minded their thinking truly was, instead showing them (and us) another route or another question that never crossed their mind.

I realize that what is better, what is more fruitful, is to focus simply on just asking God the question and leave it at that; stop it with the “I’ve already analyzed the situation, so choose between these two.” Go to him from the beginning with the raw question and leave it open-ended. “What do you want? What do you want me to do with this?” and then…wait and listen.

This acknowledges that he knows better than we do and that his answers are so much better than the lousy and limiting–and un-interesting!–A and B choices I often give him. Even more than that, it's his desire to want the best for me even more than I do. There are so many other options; I need not strip him of his creativity and his power. Option C can be so much greater than I ever could have imagined!

I will bring you gold in place of bronze,
silver in place of iron, bronze in place of wood,
iron in place of stones.
Isaiah 60:17

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What will you ask, today?: Thoughts for Lent

photo by Hamed Saber

For Lent, our church created a devotional of short readings to walk us through the 40 days as we count down to Easter. I normally don't enjoy devotionals because I have a hard time finding ones that are truly thought-provoking and impact my heart. This one, however, has been totally different.

Take this reading:

"Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear." - Isaiah 65:24 

What can this mean? 

Our prayers are anticipated, almost like the picture of an eager person in conversation, rushing to finish your sentence. Here is the image of the Father always ready to answer--the desires of your heart near to His own heart. What can it mean except that our prayers are already on His mind? He only waits to hear us ask. 

What will you pray today, knowing this? 

Someone will say, why should I pray if my God knows what I will ask? What can this verse mean but something even more glorious? Our God is our Father, and He wants to hear our desires, despite His absolute knowledge of all our needs and circumstances. He knows there is so much more. 

Like a loving Father who loves to hear from His children, He wants to hear form us. What will you ask today?

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A Prayer for Joy

original photo by frialove

There are times when I feel really discouraged or a sense of hopelessness looms like a black cloud over my head, in regards to a multitude of things. It can be hard to keep a heart of joy when circumstances point to otherwise. And yet, Scripture reminds us that we’re to praise God regardless of our situation and to be content with and thankful for our lot.

From many of these Scriptural truths, I pulled together a prayer for an unconditional heart of joy and praise toward God:

Dear Lord,

I commit even now to sing to you a new song of thanks and rejoice in You in my heart as I trust in Your holy name. Bring joy to your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.  Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you--I, whom you have redeemed. I will rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: I rejoice!

You tend to me like my shepherd, letting me rest in green pastures and renewing my strength and guiding me and comforting me. You hold me like a lamb in your arms, carrying me close to your heart. I sing for joy at the works of your hands, my LORD. You have done great things for [me] and [I am] filled with joy. So I will go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, knowing that I will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves of harvest and blessing with me. I will forget about what’s happened and stop going over old history. I know that joy comes in the morning. I am alert and present to what God is doing now. He is about to do something brand new; it’s bursting out and I’m about to see it!

I rest in You and wait patiently for You. Lord, You are my strength and your joy strengthens my spirit. Lord, with a song of thanksgiving on my lips, I praise you and release everything I have as an offering to you—my life is yours to control, to guide, to redeem. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord alone.

I come to you in praise and joy and in submission to Your will and Your ways. I love you. Amen.

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The faces of those in Haiti: Memories from my trip there

the Caribbean where we went swimming in Haiti

We woke up yesterday to news that yet another earthquake had rocked the land of Haiti. Another.

The thing is that I really struggle with these kinds of things. Not because people have lost lives and loved ones and everything they once held dear. I struggle because, in spite of those truths, I still continue to be moved more by friends who have lost jobs, by my own problems, even by movies, than by the devastation that has ripped through this country. It honestly makes me ashamed.

It’s so hard for me to pray for an entire “people” and to put myself in their shoes, to feel with them—whether it's the homeless of Atlanta, the nation of Israel, or all 10 million of the Haitians. It’s much easier for me to connect with a face, a name, a life.

When I was in Haiti, I got to know a boy named Johnny. He was probably twelve or thirteen at the time. I remember hanging out with some of the Haitian kids as they let out of school and trying to communicate with them. I had taken French in high school and much of the Haitian Creole that they speak there has its roots in French, so I discovered that there was a lot of overlap in words and phrases. Johnny, this young lanky kid, walks up and I’m trying to talk to him in my broken French. When I couldn’t understand what he was trying to say, he finally translated it in English—much to my surprise. Only the translators could speak English, much less a 12 year old! It was not long before we learned how smart this young kid was, with a mind and wit that could do incredible things in the years to come.

Later in the week, we took a holiday to the Haitian beach for a day. We climbed into a hand-carved canoe and a local paddled us to a tiny little island off the shore, just yards away from a coral reef. We splashed in the bright blue waters, ahhed over all the sea shells dotting the sand and the vista of pure sea and sky. I remember a couple of locals came over to our group, where we were suited up with our swimming suits, our snorkels, our goggles. These guys, probably in their late teens, had never seen anything like it and I don’t think they even knew how to swim. At one point, someone handed them their goggles to try. They poked their faces beneath the water and were given new eyes to see the waters of their backyard: Like little children, they began jumping and pointing at the things they could now see in the salty waters. I was amazed…and humbled.

I remember our translator who could tell the time of day just by looking at the sun and never had the need to wear a watch. I remember the little child who was naked and covered in dirt and ran up to hold my hand as I walked through the village and who dragged a plastic bottle on a string behind her as a toy. I remember the teen girls from a local orphanage who taught me some hand-clap songs and a hip-hop dance and we laughed our heads off about it.

I remember these faces, these stories, these people who call Haiti home and have had to experience the events of the last week. I remember them--though I have no idea how they've been affected by all this--and I am encouraged to pray. No longer is it 10 million people, an overwhelming amount for me to wrap my head around. But it is these people who I once met, I once laughed with, I once knew, I once prayed with. Now, I continue to pray.

Some more photos from my trip:

a main street in the town of Grand Goave where we stayed

fetching clean water (and they carry those buckets on their heads back home)

worship at church. tell me if that isn't inspiring?

some girls in the open-room schoolhouse

a cutie-patootie teaching me how to dance

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Are your prayers big enough?: The 'whys' and 'hows' of "praying big"

original photo by ecstaticist

One of my favorite subjects to read about is prayer. I'm not sure exactly why; perhaps because it's one of the subjects of faith that I can implement so directly into my life and that has had such  a profound impact.

Regardless, I was staring at our expanse of IKEA bookshelves and the treasure trove of resources Michael and I have accumulated. I decided to pick a few of the books that have touched me the most and share some of my favorite insights from them.

As the first from my collection, I pulled out Pray Big by Will Davis, Jr. He's a pastor out of Austin, and has written a whole series on the concept of "praying big"--there's a book about praying big for your marriage, for your child and for yourself. This book, though, is the keystone for all the others.

Davis describes this concept of "praying big": "Prayer should be as big as God's promises and as full as God's resources. Your requests should require the full power and provision of God." These are the prayers that depend fully on God--only he can make them happen. And when he does--then your faith grows by leaps and bounds and our relationship with him becomes stronger.

How can you discover these kinds of "big" prayers for your own life? Davis suggests:

• Examine your concerns. "Are you worried about your marriage, your career, a friend's salvation?" Davis asks. Those are perfect things to put into prayer and ask God for. Also, consider your passions and the things you love to do or would like to do more of. Finally, is there anything you're afraid to ask God about? I've definitely had those kinds of prayers that are hard to give over, but that's exactly what we must do.
• Find verses in the Bible that state what you want God to do--in your life, in a specific situation, etc.
• Finally, get specific in what you're asking him. Have you ever heard anyone talk about make things measurable when it comes to setting goals? It's kind of the same thing here--when prayers are general, we can tend to wax over them and shrug the answers off. But when we pray as specifically as needed, we become more aware of the ways God answers us.

For me, I've got a binder full of these kinds of "big prayers." But here are just a few to give you an idea of how this has inspired my prayer life:

• For my marriage: I pray to be a Proverbs 31 kind of wife, that God would make me a woman Michael trusts, that I would greatly enrich his life, and do him good and not harm all of my life.
• For my job: I pray that God will provide an income for us and a job that I enjoy. This is one instance where my prayers may not seem all that specific, after all--but they're open-ended for a reason: When I was moving to Grand Rapids, I knew I wanted to work in Christian publishing, so I prayed accordingly so. Now, I'm not sure what I want to do. So I have turned the specific element on its head and am asking God to pick the job for me that will meet these two essential needs and leaving the details up to him.
• For my future: I'm praying about us being able to save up money for a future home purchase, that I will continue growing in my homemaking (ahem, culinary) duties, and that God will begin paving the way for Michael's career so that we can be prepared when we start our family.
• For my spirit: One thing I ask is that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life and gaze upon his beauty (from Psalm 27).

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The encouraging testimonies of answered prayers

photo by Hamed Saber

One of the greatest blessings during my 11-month stint living in Grand Rapids was the weekly prayer group I attended at Mars Hill. I got to see firsthand--in my own life and in others’--the power that prayer can have, from the mundane (like the fact that I had a good hair on my interview day) to the miraculous (people being healed from diseases, incredible financial provision, etc). Hearing the stories of what God was doing in other people’s lives still awes me, time after time, and encourages me to pray more fervently and expectantly with my prayers.

So it’s that idea of encouraging your faith through the power of prayer that I’m turning to now, and sharing just a sampling of these testimonies, which I receive in a monthly email update from that prayer group, lovingly known as The W. (If you want to find out more about The W, or to sign up to receive these updates, visit HearingGod.org.)

Prayer is powerful: Testimonies of God answering the prayers of his people

• A woman testified about her dire financial situation and how she had received $15 in the mail. Her response was to thank God for gas money to get her to work. …. She had a big rent payment coming due and she did not know how she was going to pay it. She was praying fervently. She went to the bank with the idea to ask the teller to bring up her account information so she would know for sure, what she had. She approached the teller and told her what she wanted and the teller said ‘sure, no problem, I’ll bring up your information on the screen’.  Suddenly, the screen went black, and the computer shut down. The teller apologized and said she would have to reboot. Julie is praying while the computer comes back on.  The teller gets her account up and says: “you have -------- in your account” Julie looks stunned, and says, can you repeat that?  She repeated the amount and Julie again asks, “what did you say?” Finally the teller wrote it on a sticky note. Julie was in awe because she did not know where the money came from. Julie came away from the bank having enough money to pay her rent, utilities, gas for car and food. You are Jehovah Jireh!
  
  
• A woman was praying for her daughter who had been molested as a young girl and was now giving them fits as a young teenager.  Within a week the daughter approached her Mom wanting to talk and opened up confessing sin in her life and asking for prayer and the Holy Spirit melted her heart and began the healing process.  We do bless you Healing Lord.
   
• A woman asked her Dad to come over and fix her toilet.  That night while at the “W” a young woman prayed for her toilet that it would be fixed and running fine.  When her Dad got there he came out and asked what he was supposed to fix since it was “running fine”.  God, You act even on the mundane details of our life.
   
• A man was prayed for because of an abrasion on his eye which was healed instantly.  He also was suffering from a degenerative condition in his eye that was causing great concern.  We found out this past week that he went back to the doctor and his eye and his vision is completely normal.  Way cool. 

• An intercessor couple that is a part of the “W” saw their grandkids pray for people’s healing.  Two people were healed instantly.  Thank You Lord for allowing us to pass these truths to the coming generations.
  
  
• A woman was at the “W” and still suffering foot pain after the ministry time.  She heard the Holy Spirit say “stop praying for the pain to go away and pray for new arches in your feet”.  She asked another woman to pray with her and as they prayed they both felt her foot move and an arch appeared where there was none before.  They kept praying and the other foot moved as well.  Father, You indeed guide us into all truth including the truth of how to pray. 

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Six months of marriage: One more answered prayer

one of our wedding photos by fyrefly photography

Today, Michael and I celebrate six months of being married.

Though it admittedly isn’t all that long in the grand scheme of things, it is pretty incredible to look back and see how far we’ve come: A year and a half ago, I was single and living in Cincinnati. At the time, there were two prayers on my heart: 1. To meet the godly man I would marry, and 2. Find a job in Grand Rapids and start the next chapter of my life.

I had only been praying adamantly and intentionally about both of those for a few months when I penned this journal entry titled, "things are happening… i can see it," that reflects on God working in these two prayers:

July 15, 2008

All I can say is that I feel like I’m at a point where I’m really able to watch God work. It used to be that God would do stuff without me realizing it and I wasn’t aware that the steps I was taking would lead here or there. But now, I feel like I’m finally able to see it and perceive in, in real, live time.

It kind of reminds me of the part in Fantasia where the magic just starts to kick in, and it’s happening little by little. But after awhile it swells into this huge symphony of magic coming together. Right now, it’s that beginning. Where the buckets are teetering and brooms are waking up and they’re starting that little dance, just now stirring. And to think i’m able to watch it as it happens to me and those around me. It’s so awesome.

“If you want to view paradise, simply look around and view it…”

It’s interesting to note that when I wrote that, I had no word about a job in Grand Rapids and no men on the horizon. I knew Michael, but was convinced he had no interest in me so I had no expectation that anything would happen there at all.

Yet, there was a feeling in my bones that God was at work with these prayers. What do you know? Within weeks, I had my first date with Michael and a job offer in a city with one of the country's most depressed employment rates. A year later,  I was already a married woman and planning my next cross-country move. Miracles wrought, revealing that God can make the impossible possible, the loftiest of prayers come true, faster than we ever anticipated.

It has been so amazing to look back and see how God laid those prayers so heavily on my heart and then--why am I surprised?--answered them in such an incredible and powerful manner. A year and a half later, I'm still in awe and ever-so thankful, as both of them have indelibly changed my life and my heart!

Happy anniversary, Michael. I love you!

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A Morning Prayer to Start Today

photo by frialove

Last year, I picked up a copy of John Eldredge's "Walking With God." In it, he shares daily prayers that he recites upon waking up in the morning and before going to bed at night. (Awhile ago, I posted his evening prayer.)

While I don't pray them everyday, I've found them to be good reminders as a way to offer a spiritual blank slate to my day. Here's the prayer for starting your day:

My dear Lord Jesus I come to you now to be restored in you, to be renewed in you, to receive your love and your life, and all the grace and mercy I so desperately need this day. I honor you as my Sovereign, and I surrender every aspect of my life totally and completely to you. I give you my spirit, soul and body, my heart, mind, and will. I cover myself with your blood—my spirit, soul, and body, my heart, mind and will. I ask your Holy Spirit to restore me in you, renew me in you, and to lead me in this time of prayer. In all that I now pray, I stand in total agreement with your Spirit, and with my intercessors and allies, by your Spirit alone.

Dear God, holy and victorious Trinity, you alone are worthy of all my worship, my heart’s devotion, all my praise, all my trust and all the glory of my life. I love you, I worship you, I trust you. I give myself over to you in my heart’s search for life. You alone are Life, and you have become my life. I renounce all other gods, all idols, and I give you the place in my heart and in my life that you truly deserve. I confess here and now that this is all about you, God, and not about me. You are the Hero of this story, and I belong to you. Forgive me for my every sin. Search me and know me and reveal to me where you are working in my life, and grant to me the grace of your healing and deliverance, and a deep and true repentance.

Heavenly Father, thank you for loving me and choosing me before you made the world. You are my true Father—my Creator, my Redeemer, my Sustainer, and the true end of all things, including my life. I love you, I trust you, I worship you. I give myself over to you to be one with you in all things, as Jesus is one with you. Thank you for proving your love by sending Jesus. I receive him and all his life and all his work, which you ordained for me. Thank you for including me in Christ, for forgiving me my sins, for granting me his righteousness, for making me complete in him. Thank you for making me alive with Christ, raising me with him, seating me with him at your right hand, establishing me in his authority, and anointing me with your Holy Spirit, your love and your favor. I receive it all with thanks and give it total claim to my life—my spirit, soul, and body, my heart, mind and will. I bring the life and the work of Jesus over my home, my household, my vehicles, finances, all my kingdom and domain.

Jesus, thank you for coming to ransom me with your own life. I love you, I worship you, I trust you. I give myself over to you, to be one with you in all things. And I receive all the work and all of the triumph of your cross, death, blood and sacrifice for me, through which I am atoned for, I am ransomed and transferred to your kingdom, my sin nature is removed, my heart is circumcised unto God, and every claim made against me is disarmed this day. I now take my place in your cross and death, through which I have died with you to sin, to my flesh, to the world, and to the evil one. I take up the cross and crucify my flesh with all its pride, arrogance, unbelief, and idolatry. I put off the old man. I ask you to apply to me the fullness of your cross, death, blood and sacrifice. I receive it with thanks and give it total claim to my spirit, soul and body, my heart, mind and will.

Jesus, I also sincerely receive you as my life, my holiness and strength, and I receive all the work and triumph of your resurrection, through which you have conquered sin and death and judgment. Death has no mastery over you, nor does any foul thing. And I have been raised with you to a new life, to live your life – dead to sin and alive to God. I now take my place in your resurrection and in your life, through which I am saved by your life. I reign in life through your life. I receive your life – your humility, love and forgiveness, your integrity in all things, your wisdom, discernment and cunning, your strength, your joy, your union with the Father.

Apply to me the fullness of your resurrection. I receive it with thanks and give it total claim to my spirit, soul and body, my heart, mind and will.

Jesus, I also sincerely receive you as my authority, rule, and dominion, my everlasting victory against Satan and his kingdom, and my ability to bring your Kingdom at all times and in every way. I receive all the work and triumph of your ascension, through which you have judged Satan and cast him down, you have disarmed his kingdom. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to you, Jesus. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to you, and you are worthy to receive all glory and honor, power and dominion, now and forevermore. And I have been given fullness in you, in your authority. I now take my place in your ascension, and in your throne, through which I have been raised with you to the right hand of the Father and established in your authority. I now bring the kingdom of God, and the authority, rule and dominion of Jesus Christ over my life today, over my home, my household, my vehicles and finances, over all my kingdom and domain.

I now bring the authority, rule and dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the fullness of the work of Christ, against Satan, against his kingdom, against every foul and unclean spirit come against me. I bring the full work of Jesus Christ against every foul power and black art, against every human being and their warfare. I bind it all from me in the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ and in his Name.

Holy Spirit, thank you for coming. I love you, I worship you, I trust you. I sincerely receive you and all the work and victory in Pentecost, through which you have come, you have clothed me with power from on high, sealed me in Christ. You have become my union with the Father and the Son, become the Spirit of truth in me, the life of God in me, my Counselor, Comforter, Strength, and Guide. I honor you as my Sovereign, and I yield every dimension of my spirit, soul and body, my heart, mind and will to you and you alone, to be filled with you, to walk in step with you in all things. Fill me afresh. Restore my union with the Father and the Son. Lead me in all truth, anoint me for all of my life and walk and calling, and lead me deeper into Jesus today. I receive you with thanks, and I give you total claim to my life.

Heavenly Father, thank you for granting to me every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. I claim the riches in Christ Jesus over my life today, my home, my kingdom and domain. I bring the blood of Christ over my spirit, soul, and body, my heart, mind and will. I put on the full armor of God – the belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, shoes of the gospel, helmet of salvation. I take up the shield of faith and sword of the Spirit, and I choose to wield these weapons at all times in the power of God. I choose to pray at all times in the Spirit.

Thank you for your angels. I summon them in the authority of Jesus Christ and command them to destroy the kingdom of darkness throughout my kingdom and domain, destroy all that is raised against me, and to establish your Kingdom throughout my kingdom and domain. I ask you to send forth your Spirit to raise up prayer and intercession for me this day. I now call forth the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ throughout my home, my family, my kingdom and my domain, in the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, with all glory and honor and thanks to him.

(For other prayers, see his website.)

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How a 3-ring binder has changed the way I pray and spend time with God

{a photo of my prayer binder}

I recently mentioned that I had finished reading Becky Tirabassi's book "Let God Talk to You." In it, she encourages readers to devote a significant chunk of time to God each day: a complete hour. For anyone who has struggled to stay focused through even a short time of prayer or remember what you just read, the idea of spending an hour alone in prayer and reading seems intimidating and almost unrealistic. I wondered, what do you do?

Fortunately, the reader is not left in the dark: She shares the template she's developed over the years for structuring her daily, hour-long quiet times. It starts with an ordinary, three-ring binder and a handful of dividers.

Her binder is like a guided tour through prayer and reflection: a section devoted to praise, another to confession and repentence, another to prayer requests, another to reflections on her daily Bible reading, etc. Through the hour, she works through each section.

Inspired, I created my own prayer-time binder. I didn't follow her exact set-up, but personalized it for one that worked better for my thought-process and preferences. I used a small binder I already owned, created divider tabs from pieces of on-hand construction paper cut in half, and ordered lined, 3-hole punched paper that fit the binder. (In case you're interested, the only place I could find with reasonably priced paper this size was Buy.com.)

Here's an overview of how I've set my binder up and how I use it:

• The first section is devoted to journaling. It's a place for me to reflect on what has been happening today and put some of my emotions on paper. It's not in-depth journaling, but a string of ideas and feelings and thoughts. I've found that even a sentence or two can really help me release anxieties or worries that have bottled up inside me. I also come back to this section when I'm doing my Bible reading to record certain verses that really stuck out to me or to journal how they might apply to my life. (Each day, I usually only journal a page or two, total, so it doesn't have to be extensive.)
• The second section is where I list out my daily confessions and thankgivings. For this, I divide each section in half and on the left side, list my confessions and on the right, I list the blessings I'm thankful for that day. At the beginning of this section, I have a page of "praises" pulled from the Psalms that I'll pray over before jumping to my confessions and thanksgiving prayers. As Tirabassi explains, it's a good idea to start your time of prayer off by worshipping God for who he is and his infinite goodness, power, mercy and beauty.
• The third section is for intercessory prayer. As I mentioned before, I try to base as many of my prayers of request on Scriptural truths as possible; this holds true for prayers I pray for other as well as for myself. The first page of this section is devoted to prayers I'm praying for Michael. After that, I have biblically-based prayers for specific people: friends, family, my church, etc.
• The fourth section is dedicated to my personal prayers, whether it's regarding my character, circumstances or needs (and of course, wants).
• The final section is one I've labeled "Archives," where I can move older material and keep each front tab as "fresh" and uncluttered as possible. I do enjoy reading back over this older material, though, so it's nice to have it easily within reach for later reflection.

I use this to help me move through my time of prayer and to reflect while doing my daily Bible reading and reflection. Whether you're trying or not, you'll be surprised at how easily it does fill up the complete hour. Now that I've been doing it awhile, I've stopped watching the clock and when I'm done, I'm done. Sometimes it might be 45 minutes long but other times it might take an hour and a half. Either way, it's not about being legalistic about the passage of time, but merely about setting aside time for God time during your day. Knowing that my binder and an empty page is waiting for me has helped me commit to this practice, especially during the times that I don't feel like it--of course, those are usually the times when I need to sit down with God the most .

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Learning to embrace where God was calling me--even when it was the last thing I wanted to do

photo by manunited 

Two winters ago, I was chaperoning our youth group to a teen conference in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. I remember we were in the auditorium and as the band was playing a song, one line stuck out to me: “Where you lead me, I will follow….Even if I walk alone, Lord, this I choose to do,” As I sang along, the reality of that lyric hit me. And I prayed, God I love you, but please don’t make me go anywhere by myself. Please don’t make me have to do it alone. Please don’t…

Six months later, I was packing my belongings in boxes, preparing to move to a new city, for a new job…by myself. And yet, now, I was now doing it willingly, even enthusiastically. God had changed my heart: He made me excited about this change and impressed upon me, time and time again, that this was what I needed to do. Even though it was scary, he equipped me with all the courage I needed to overcome this fear.

I learned a lot from that experienced, but what I especially learned was how good God is. I think many of us are afraid that God is going to make us do things we don’t want to do--he’s going to call the person who loves small, hometown life and send her off to be a missionary in Africa. Or he’s going to make someone else who loves to dance, stop dancing. This is a grave misunderstanding of who God is. God loves us. He does not delight in making us miserable. And that’s the fear many of us hold in our hearts.

As I learned from my experience, even when God does call you to do that which is completely unnatural to you, he helps you reach the point to where you can embrace it--where you know it’s good for you. God even says that he will give us the desires of our heart. He is good. And anything that he is calling us to is for our own good.  I truly believe that, if we trust him and an idea of what he’s calling us toward, that he will fill in the gap of fear we might have and he’ll make the path straight.

For me, my journey to doing the unthinkable and moving to Michigan by myself was a long road: First I got the idea of finding a job in the Christian publishing world. Then I made a new friend who was talking about moving to Grand Rapids with another friend. Lo and behold, there are three Christian publishers in the little town of Grand Rapids. As it turns out, one of those publishers is the only company who asked to interview me and then give me a job. But around this time, my friend found another opportunity in another city to explore and though I was scared of being on my own, God had given me a heart of courage and a deep sense of peace regarding this decision. I encouraged her to go to Kansas City instead, and suddenly found myself living out the lyrics I had once prayed so adamantly against.

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A Bedtime Prayer to Restore Your Soul Tonight

bed from Shawn Lovell Metalworks

Last year, I picked up a copy of John Eldredge's "Walking With God." If you've ever wondered about things like spiritual warfare, our authority in Christ, the power of prayer and deliverance, this is a great resource, from an author I very much respect.

In it, he shares daily prayers that he recites upon waking up in the morning and before going to bed at night. With both of them, they are declarations to be a servant to Christ alone and find refuge in him and resist any lies or attacks from the devil. I believe spiritual warfare is real and that we can fight it by pursuing God, obeying him and praying against any of the evil one's schemes.

Here is a copy of the bedtime prayer from John Eldredge to consider praying tonight for a little spiritual cleansing before entering never neverland. (He also shares other prayers on his website):


A Bedtime Prayer to Restore Your Soul
My dear Lord Jesus, I come to you now to be restored in you, to be renewed in you, to receive your love and life, to take refuge in you. I honor you as my Sovereign, and I surrender every aspect of my life totally and completely to you. I give you my body, soul and spirit; my heart, mind, and will. I cover myself with your blood, and I ask your Holy Spirit to restore my union with you, renew me in you, and lead me in this time of prayer. [At this point, consider whether there is anything I need to repent of or consecrate to God and present it before him?]
 
I bring the kingdom of God and the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ over my home, my bedroom, my sleeping—all through the hours of this night and the new day. I bring the full work of the Lord Jesus Christ throughout my home tonight—the atmosphere in every room, over every object and furnishing, all media, throughout the ceilings, walls, and floors and all places in them, from the land beneath to the roof above and to the borders of my domain.
 
And in the authority of Jesus Christ I bring the full work of Jesus between me and all people now—their spirits, souls, and bodies, their sin and warfare. [Here, name anyone that comes to mind.] I command the judgment of the Lord Jesus Christ on every foul power and black art. I bring the cross and the blood of Christ, I bring his resurrection and life, his authority and rule and dominion against every hex, vex, and incantation. Against every spell, all rituals, and all ritual devices, all satanic rituals and satanic ritual devices. Against every vow, dedication, and sacrifice. Against every word, every judgment, and every curse. I send it all to the abyss in the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ and in his name.
 
I now bring the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ and the fullness of his work against Satan and his kingdom. I bring the cross, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ against every foul and unclean spirit—every ruler, power, authority, and spiritual force of wickedness [Ephesians 6:12]. I command all foul and unclean spirits bound from my home and from my household, together with all their underlings, backups, and replacements, in the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ and in his name.

I announce the kingdom of God over my home and my house this night. I summon the angels of the Lord Jesus Christ and ask them to build a shield of protection around me and my home [Hebrews 1:14]. I ask your Spirit to fill my home with your presence and to go forth and raise up prayer and intercession for me this night. All this I pray in the mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to his glory. Amen.

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Ever wonder how God “talks” or how to “hear” him?

photo by elizabeth carmen

In the past, I’ve struggled to understand this concept of “God talking.” Like, when people say that, do they mean an out-loud kind of talking? (Because I’ve never heard a booming voice…Am I doing something wrong?)

I just finished reading "Let God Talk to You" by Becky Tirabassi last week and have to say, if you've ever wondered whether God "speaks" or how that happens, this is the best book on the subject I've ever read. (And I am an avid reader of books on prayer and such--l-o-v-e this kind of stuff.)

The thing I love about this book is that “God speaking” isn’t left as some illusive idea that leaves you guessing. She walks the reader through, step by step, what this has looked like in her life. How God--his still, small voice--will nudge you. Will plant ideas in your head. Will put people in your life who speak advice or encouragement to you. Will make a Bible verse stand out to you and resonate in your heart. Will remind you of other verses or truths.

She makes no qualms about the fact that God speaks to her daily, and through the book guides the reader through how she’s cultivated this kind of relationship with God and--the key--allowed him to speak to her. I believe this is something we all desire, to have the omnipotent, omniscient Lord speak into our lives, but few of us truly feel that it has ever happened.

As Tirabassi lays out in the book, the most important key in cultivating hearing God was a commitment she began years ago: to spend 1 hour each day with God--reading, praying and listening. (She shares in the book how she approaches this hour-long commitment and what she does during this time, which is really helpful and makes it very do-able.)

The funny thing is, that the Sunday after I read her encouragement to make that kind of daily commitment the pastor at church made a similar encouragement. In that moment, as I heard, for the second time this encouragement to pursue dedicated time alone with God, I felt that this was in fact God speaking to me. No, there was no audible voice. But the realization that this idea (one that would undoubtedly draw me closer to God) had crossed my path multiple times in just a couple days' time and that I felt it was strongly aimed toward me--that was enough to convince me. I decided to step out in faith and obedience and have been trying since to pursue an hour a day with the Lord. Some days it's easy, some days I have to force myself through it and acknowledge that it is a discipline that must be trained into desire.

Related Posts
How a 3-ring binder has changed the way I pray and spend time with God
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How I’ve learned to deal with my anxieties

Are you ever going about your day, whether it’s at home or at work, and all of a sudden you get really anxious? For no apparent reason, or sometimes for a teensy reason that you know doesn’t merit any anxiety?

Over the years, I’ve started to realize when this is happening to me, and I’ve learned to take control of the anxiety by sitting down and journaling and praying. (I’ve found that writing or typing out these prayers is most effective, because it keeps my mind from wandering and on-task.)

I sit down and begin pouring out what’s going on in my life--even the littlest things that might be upsetting me, like the fact that I need to go to the FedEx office today after dinner to pick up a package or that we have to figure out our finances with the bank. I start laying them down and acknowledging that they’re bothering me and then offering them up to God, asking him to come alongside me with them. And as I talk about it with him, as I share what’s bottling up inside of me or that I’ve been ignoring or trying to deny, slowly the anxiety melts.

It’s in these moments that I remember the wisdom of Philippians 4:6-7: “Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 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.”

And it’s true--after sitting down and intentionally looking at these things fretting me and praying about them, his peace does descend and calm my heart. I think it’s his way of getting me to remember that all these things are not in my control, but they’re in his control and to remember to trust him with all of it--even the itty bitty things I don’t at first think to hand over to him.

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