shadow

listen

Is Prayer Your Steering Wheel or Spare Tire?

Posted on: by: Comments: Leave a comment
“Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.”
Jeremiah 29:12

Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. Jeremiah 29:12

Have you ever felt that God wasn’t hearing your prayers? Have you ever just felt far from God for no apparent reason?

The verse in Jeremiah tells us that God does hear us, and he is near (even when it doesn’t feel like it) But to get a better understanding of what he means when he says “then” we need look at little deeper to get the full picture.

This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. 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. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  Jeremiah 29:10-13

We notice that God tells us specifically of his promises (to prosper us and not to harm us) and the very next verse we are promised that when we call on him and pray to him we will listen to us.

Whenever someone listens (and not just hears) what I have to say it means alot to me. How does it make you feel when someone listens to you? When is the last time someone just listened to you?

Yeah that’s what I thought, usually when we go to people in hopes that they will just listen, we are met with unsolicited advice and several possible solutions thrown at us instead of just a listening ear.

Why do we keep going to other people to listen when it goes against their human nature, when we can go to God who infallibly listens to us?

We set ourselves up for failure when we look to man to fill a void that only God can.

Now think of who you know that is more likely to listen to you (and you are more likely to listen to them) Usually they have two traits in common:

  • We care we have a higher level of compassion and empathy.
  • We have a intimate relationship with the person.

Relate this to our heavenly father, He listens because he cares and because we have an intimate relationship with him. Here’s the deal though because He listens to us, He wants us to listen to Him. He longs to be our first thought instead of our last resort.

Blessings and Love,

Stephanie

 

 

 

Photo Credit: image created via wordswag

Perk Up Your Prayer Life

Posted on: by: Comments: Leave a comment

It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray. . . “  
Luke 11:1 NASB

As a follower of Christ, I have enjoyed fellowship with Him for over 50 years now. However, being a creature of habit, time with God can become just that – HABIT – if I’m not careful. To develop a growing, vibrant relationship requires time, effort, desire, and a whole lot of love. The same applies to our prayer life.

Let’s look at the discipline of praying. Simply stated, it’s being with God, talking to and communing with Him, which includes, but isn’t limited to, praise and adoration, confession, thanksgiving, requests, appeals, and complaints.

How do you spend time in prayer with God? Do you do the same thing every day? Do you feel that your prayers are just falling to the floor and going nowhere? Has it become just a ritual?

If so, check out these recommendations to help bring new life to your prayer time.

  • Stand with hands lifted and pray aloud to the Father.
  • Go for a walk in the woods or the neighborhood, praying as you go – aka prayer walking.
  • Literally make space in your closet to get alone with God. The times I’ve done this have proven to be very intimate times with Him. In fact, I think I need to try that again soon.
  • Conversation is a two-way street. Intentionally implement times of silence to listen to God.
  • If physically possible, lay prostrate on the floor before the Lord. Consider kneeling or simply covering your head with a cloth to shut out distractions.
  • Meet with a friend at the playground and spend time together conversing with God while the kids play. After all, whoever said you had to bow your head and close your eyes to pray?

What a blessing to know the Father longs to be with us. Seek Him for His input as you converse with Him. Think outside the box; don’t be afraid to try something new when it comes to being in His presence and sharing life with Him.                                                                                                     [Digging deeper – 1 Kings 8:54; Matthew 6:6, 26:39; Mark 1:35, 6:46; Luke 18:13]

Starting anew,

Beverly <><

RAINY DAYS AND MONDAY’S

Posted on: by: Comments: 1 Comment

“Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.”

Psalm 4:4, KJV
100_0220After trying everything to get into my car, the only thing to do was call our trusted AAA office. Again. And sit here under this cold and open portico, with winter monsoon rains crashing all around. And fret about my next appointment and how late I would be. And fret about the Daily Doses I needed to be home writing. And what a waste of precious time this was! So, I prayed.

“Lord, I’m sorry for wasting precious time. I know this is the second time in a just a few months I’ve let this happen and it’s not redeeming the time. I feel so stupid!”

“Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.” Psalm 4:4 KJV

I wasn’t hearing Him.

The AAA lady said it would only be a few minutes, but the phone ringing in my pocket put a knowing dread in my heart. The driver yawned while saying, “It’ll be at least an hour and fifteen minutes…” 

“But the AAA lady said…”

“I’m ten miles away. Sorry lady.”

Ten miles? An hour and fifteen minutes? I think I heard him grin.  

With hot tears of discouragement burning my eyes, I now felt stupid and defeated. And lower than a snail. “This is crazy,” I thought, redialing AAA. This time a sweet girl by the name of Sharon answered the phone. Feeling my own chin quiver as it touched the ground, I told her that this predicament was my own fault, but would it be possible for anyone to get there sooner than an hour and fifteen minutes.

With one of the kindest voices I’ve ever heard, she spoke as if she’s know me all my life, “I know you’re a very busy woman and don’t have time for this. But don’t let it discourage you. Just remember you can’t wear a big S on your t-shirt all the time. You don’t have to be Superwoman.”

So I cried. Her kindness and encouraging words hit me right between eyes. Then she really blew me away. “It’s going to be alright. We’ll have someone there in 15 minutes and I pray you’ll have a good day.”

It had been a long time since someone’s kindness brought me to tears and to my knees. She reminded me that He was with me through the struggle, even one as simple as keys locked in a car. She reminded me I don’t have to be Superwoman to please Him.

And neither do you. Let’s both learn a lesson from this week’s Dose. Ya hear? J

Until Next Time,

Your Traveling Companion,

Brenda