All I Can Do Is Pray?

Excerpt from Hope for Each Day: Prayer Releases God's Power

Pray without ceasing. 1 Thessalonians 5:17

How many times have you heard someone say, "All I can do is pray"?

All I can do is pray? You might as well say to a starving man, "All I can do is offer you food," or to a sick person, "All I can do is give you medicine that will make you well," or to a poor child, "All I can do is buy the toy you most want for your birthday."

Praying unlocks the doors of Heaven and releases the power of God. James 4:2 says, "You do not have because you do not ask." The Bible says, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God" (Phil. 4:6).

This is true not only for our needs but the needs of others. So often our prayers focus only on ourselves. But God wants to use us, through our prayers, to touch the lives of other people as well. For whom should you be praying this day?

(Michele says) I really love this; I've thought about it often since last August 1st, the day it's from in the devotional. I do have one change and one addition, however. I know, this is Billy Graham we're talking about! Believe me, I have more respect for that man than I can possibly describe here and now. But for me, I would put that last question, "For whom could you be praying this day?" This opens up so many more possibilities, and sounds more like the joy I'm finding prayer to be rather just another item on my to-do list, which it certainly isn't!

The addition is just that I wanted to continue the thought of James 4:2. "You do not have because you do not ask. (v.3) You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives." So as not to think we can just ask God for anything and it's done!

As for whom I could be praying, there is a certain individual that keeps coming to mind in prayer. I'm not really sure if God's bringing her to my mind, or I'm "bringing" her to God's mind... or both! But that's a mere technicality. I love her and am concerned about her, though not for any particular reason I can put my finger on. I just am, and I'm telling the Lord about it, that's all.

Like a Child

The ladies I pray with have been talking and thinking and praying about childlike prayer. I think I'm going to be blogging about this idea a lot more in the future, but in the meantime, I would love to hear and share to the blog any stories you may have about prayers you prayed as a child, and how God answered them.

One word you never ever hear children use when they pray is "just." "Lord, 'just' do this and if You would 'just...'"

I'm not finding fault. I use that word in prayer all the time. I think we pretty much all do. It's become part of the lingo, a "Christianese" word we "just" use without really even thinking about it. But think about it. What are we saying? "Lord, I'm only asking for this much, because I don't really think You're big enough to do anything bigger than 'just' this." We pray for the possible. But our children pray amazing, "impossible" prayers. And God answers them!

By the way, this idea about the "just" word isn't mine. I read about it some time back in The Power of Simple Prayer by Joyce Meyer.

Yesterday I heard about a little boy named Clay who is seven. He is praying for his mommy to come back into his life. His buddy Wyatt is helping him with these prayers. His mother hasn't been a part of his life by her choice for pretty much as long as he can remember. He sees her maybe once a year, if that. How impossible a prayer is that? For him it's not a matter of "if," it's a matter of "when." I want to pray with Clay, too.

But more than that, I want to pray LIKE Clay.

Thy Kingdom Come

I have a couple of funny little habits. (Some might call them hang-ups, even borderline OCD.) I noticed one this morning getting my coffee. I use two Splendas, which of course have to be grabbed at one end and whipped back and forth to drive all the Splenda to the other end. The thing is they have to be lined up exactly the same for this process. It doesn’t matter which end I grab or which way they’re facing, as long as it’s the same. I’m the same way with money. All the Washingtons and Lincolns (I don’t see any of the others often enough to remember who they are) have to be facing the same way.

I got some cash out of my savings at the Credit Union some time back and the dead presidents faced every which way. “Aha!” I thought “This is WHY you can afford to pay higher interest rates. No one's taking the time to keep those guys in line!”

At the restroom at work after I’ve washed, I use the paper towels to tidy up excess water on the sink and faucet before throwing them away. An observer once noted, “I’ll bet your house is spotless!” Wrong. So wrong. My house is pretty much out of control most of the time. It’s just LITTLE things I CAN control that I’m strange about.

In the Lord’s Prayer, we pray “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” Just think about that. There is a battle raging in our world that’s already won in Heaven. Perfect order. And perfect freedom. I don’t think the Lord has everyone lined up with their heads facing the same way in heaven. Everyone’s facing any which way they want. That just happens to be towards the Lord. Looking deep in to the Face of perfect beauty, peace and harmony.

What does it look like in our world when Heaven moves in? I think there is perfect liberty and harmony. Not the harmony of sameness (which is an oxymoron anyway), but the harmony of diversity and freedom. And not the freedom to do whatever we think we want to do (from the world’s perspective), but sometimes freedom NOT to. Not to give in to that destructive habit. Not to lose my temper with my spouse. No road rage on the way to work. Not taking that shortcut at work at my employer’s expense that no one will ever know about. Little things. Big things. To be who we were meant to be.

What will it take for us to make God’s Kingdom a reality our lives? In our community? Will it take all of me? All of you? Define "all."

Might As Well Jump

Excerpt: “My home sits in a canyon in the shadow of a large mountain along a stream named Bear Creek. During the spring snowmelt and after heavy rains the stream swells, tumbles frothily over rocks, and acts more like a river than a creek. People have drowned in it. Once I traced the origin of Bear Creek to its very source, atop the mountain. I stool on a snowfield marked by ‘sun cups,’ the bowl-shaped indentations that form as snow melts. Underneath I could hear a soft gurgling sound, and at the edge of the snow, runnels of water leaked out. These collected into a pool, then a small alpine pond, then spilled over to begin the long journey down the mountain, joining other rivulets to take shape as the creek below my house.

“It occurs to me, thinking about prayer, that most of the time I get the direction wrong. I start downstream with my own concerns and bring them to God. I inform God, as if God did not already know. I plead with God, as if hoping to change God’s mind and overcome divine reluctance. Instead, I should start upstream where the flow begins.

“When I shift direction, I realize that God already cares about my concerns… more than I do. Grace, like water, descends to the lowest part. Streams of mercy flow. I begin with God, who bears primary responsibility for what happens on earth, and ask what part I can play in God’s work on earth. ‘Let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” cried the prophet, Will I stand by the bank or jump in the stream?”
(From Prayer, Does It Make Any Difference by Philip Yancey)

I sort of feel that’s what Pastor Dave is asking us as a church. Will we stand on the side or jump in? And while I’m way behind on Sandy’s blog, A Day in the Life (only up to December 22), I’m getting that this is sort of the challenge she’s sharing, as well, from An Unstoppable Force, by Erwin Raphael McManus. And by the way, if you weren’t there yesterday to hear Pastor Dave's message, you really need to get the CD or download it at the website (http://www.newlifecc.com/). It was really powerful! AND I hope many of us will be a part of “Prayer66,” Tuesday prayer from 6:00 to 6:00 at the Youth Center.

I’m not sure what jumping in is going to be for me, and maybe doing this blog is already part of it. (As much fun as this has been, I'm ready for more!) Whatever it takes, I’m going for it. Are you ready to jump?

Book-O-Rama II

A happy and blessed New Year to any and all!

Ours came in with a bang. Two, to be exact: A major computer crash on 12/31 as a result of a brief power outage on 12/30, and a major canine injury that saw us, our dog Greta and the good Dr. Craig Brooks on a New Year's Eve rendezvous at the Taylor Vet Hospital, from whence we got home at 1:00 a.m. and he probably got home at 4:00 a.m. Greta got home at 11:00 a.m.

But that's not what I really want to blog about today. I'm so excited about a book someone ELSE is reading. Sandy Hazenberg has been sharing on her blog, A Day in the Life, from the book An Unstoppable Force, and I encourage you to check it out! It's by Erwin Raphael McManus, an author I mentioned a few posts back. I just love the picture he presents of "church." Hey, any of you pray-ers out there, if you're so inclined, let's read this book with a prayerful heart for NLCC! I hope there's a section about prayer, but no matter. I think prayer can and needs to undergird everything we think, are, say and do, and not just be a "section" of our lives.

I think I'll be going by the bookstore today. I also want to read Messy Christianity. Pastor Dave has been quoting from that and I love it. I understand Miss Terry got the last one from the the FBC (Family Bible Center) so maybe I'll check out Borders for both of them. Plus Mike and I also need a new devotional for the New Year.

I also just got two new books in the mail from Crossings, the Christian book club I belong to: Your Whole Life and Creative Prayer.

I know, I said I was going to be sharing from Prayer, Does It Make Any Difference?, and that's still my plan. I'm just multitasking!

My hope and vision for 2008 is for our church, in all we do, to become an army of doers and pray-ers. An "unstoppable force" for God's Kingdom. How different will our community look by this time next year as a result of the Lord using us to reach out to the world around us?

New Year's Re-Solution

The New Year is upon us and I’ve been thinking about the whole New Year’s resolution thing. I’m really looking forward to our upcoming series at church, “New Year’s Revolution.” Note I said REVOLUTION not RESOLUTION. I don’t usually do too well with resolutions, either with making them or keeping them once made. How about you?

There was one point before I’d gotten a handle on my fibromyalgia, when I felt God told me just to make my bed. Every day, even if I couldn’t do anything else, just make my bed. I think the timing was around New Year's so it became a kind of New Year’s resolution. There were days when literally that was all I could do, and it might take me an hour, at that. But it was smart (yes, folks, God IS smart!), because at least I felt that I’d accomplished SOMETHING, and if all I could do then was climb back into bed, it was a made one. Plus, I used to be lazy about making the bed even on good days. It’s so much nicer to come home from work and find the bed is made.

And Michael likes to help. Which is always a timely reminder for me that everything doesn’t REALLY have to be perfectly straight!

Regarding the NYR thing I was thinking about my cat, Spike (who just jumped onto my lap). I took him in for his annual checkup a few weeks ago and got the usual lecture about brushing his teeth. Having no intention of actually doing so, I failed to ask how that might be accomplished, but really, how do you brush a cat’s teeth? Hey doc, there’s a reason his name is Spike, you know?

I picture getting him into a giant tube sock type-thing with just his head sticking out. Then sitting on him… gently… and wearing those thick leather welding gloves my husband uses, I could try prying his jaws apart, and then stick a little rubber ball in between his front sharp teeth and go for the back ones. With that tuna-flavored toothpaste they actually make. Is this what God had in mind when He made us stewards over the living creatures? I’m not so sure. Plus, after that, the cat would probably go into hiding for the rest of the year, so there’d go that resolution.

For me, the resolution thing is just kind of a set-up for failure. I think God has graced us with every new day being a NEW DAY! I don’t know about you, but I can’t really take life in year-size bites. Day-size ones are enough of a challenge, and I’m guessing God knows this about us. “THIS is the day that the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24, emphasis mine.) How about a New Day’s resolution? TODAY I will rejoice and be glad!

And NOT brush Spike’s teeth! (He made me add that last bit.)

Assassination

It has not been my intention to make this a political blog. At all. But neither am I unaware of what goes on in the world. How can I claim to pray about what's on God's heart if I bury my head in the sand? Well, I think I can't. If He cares about the world, so must I.

As most of you probably know by now, former Pakistani Prime Mister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated today. I've been hearing the spins all day, and I question everything, if you haven't noticed by now. What I think is this: What a challenge for the current Pakistani leader, President Pervez Musharraf. Please pray for him!

My prayer is that God will be glorified in this unforeseen (by us) turn of events. Whatever you may have thought of her politically (if you've thought of her at all), she was beautiful, full of life, full of dreams for her people. And I'm sad that she died.

Please pray. This is big, and its effects could reach far, into your life, into my life, into the lives of our children. Really.

Peace on Earth, or Confessions of a Mad Housewife

My children, Tess and Aron (now 30 and 27, respectively) will tell you: I'm a hummer. I constantly hear a song in my head, whether I want to or not, and it often manifests as humming. Often as not, I'm not even aware that I'm humming... until someone points it out.

It came in handy when they were small and got separated from me in a store. They just stopped and listened for the humming. As a precocious 5-year-old, my son once observed, "It's not the fact of your humming that's annoying. It's the fact that you don't know you're humming." Out of the mouths of babes.

This morning I awoke with the words in my head "peace on earth, goodwill to men" to the tune of "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day." As I lay there I was so thankful for the peace the Lord brings to me, especially in my times of "busy brain," as I ranted about a couple of posts ago (which, by the way, can occur in the daytime, as well... just so unmanageable at night!).

How many thousands of times have I heard in my head, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee" (Isaiah 26:3)?

The alternate title to this post also pertains to the fact that my house was in total chaos, and I confess I still tend to be so affected by my surroundings. Chaos without, chaos within. It wasn't just ordinary chaos, either. It was Christmas chaos. One of the things I dread most about the Holiday Season.

I got home from work last night a little after 10:00 to find that my beloved, who knows me so well, had straightened up the house. I mean STRAIGHTENED it! It was so nice to come home and be able to breathe a calm sigh of relief instead of the hyperventilation of rising panic.

Thank you, husband! Thank you, Lord, for Your peace, constantly available no matter what my earthly surroundings!

4:00 AM Revelation

"I know that You can do all things, And that no purpose of Yours can be
thwarted." Job 42:2

And in the comfort of those words I slept.

3:00 AM Busy Brain

This happens. I wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep. Ever happen to you? I don't panic. I tell myself, God wants me awake for a reason. Do you want me to pray, Lord? What about? Just praise you? Think about stuff?

Oh, here we go. The STUFF. At my house we call it "busy brain." I know it's just a matter of time before the unfortunate syndrome of Busy Brain (or "BB" as it's sometimes referred to) is featured on "Sixty Minutes." Or maybe SNL.

It comes in waves. I'm hungry. Ideas for the next blog entry. Ideas for the office Christmas party on Friday (I'm in charge of the games. I volunteered. If you know me at all, you know how out of character that is!) I'm hungry. I should let the puppy in. She's currently trying to open the back door. I hear her jabbing at the knob with her snout. But that would disturb the cat who's condescended to spend a rare night curled up at the foot of the bed, where I currently am writing this on my laptop. The cat on the bed is one of my best sleep aids.

Maybe I should read the Bible. I'm hungry. I wonder what time it is. Holy smoke, it's LATE!

Maybe I should post to my blog about Busy Brain. I don't know. I might wake up Michael at this ungodly hour. How can it be an "ungodly hour" when it's a godly hour somewhere else in the world. Where? Where IS it a godly hour right now?

Michael is snoring to my left. Another dog is snoring to my right. Do I snore? I'm hungry.

What if the ladies at the cookie exchange I'm going to tomorrow night -- check that, TONIGHT -- hate me for bringing Save Mart bakery baked cookies? Or worse, shower me with recipes? And how is it I agreed to go to a cookie exchange, anyway? At an Italian restaurant?

I think the dog's trying to use a tooth as a lock pick. Probably her canine. Is that funny or am I just too tired to know it's not? (Don't answer that.)

Maybe I should take something to help me sleep? No, maybe God wants me awake. Maybe I should have a little wine. That's natural. No, I'd probably smell like a wino tomorrow -- check that -- later this morning.

What do I have to do before Christmas? What DON'T I have to do? I'm hungry. Maybe I should have some milk and cookies. Maybe I should figure out a way to wrap this up before my battery runs out. I wish I had a battery that would run out.

And so it continues. I think I'll get up, have a bite to eat, a little juice, read the Bible and try to find out why I'm awake. I'll let you know if anything profound comes to light. Thanks for listening. Or rather reading. At such a godly hour. I'm jealous!

Ah, Christmas? Again?

A prayer request came in to our little prayer group yesterday (shameless promotional insert: We now have two meeting times, Monday and Thursday at 8:30 a.m. Let me know if you need directions!!). It was for those who have lost a loved one or are newly separated/divorced and struggling with loneliness and depression this time of year. Wow, isn't that a tough one? Do we all know someone like that? Have we been someone like that?

I must confess to being a bit of a scrinch myself (you got it, that's a Scrooge/Grinch), and several of you heard me whine my baloney sandwich story yesterday. Then I heard about some situations that made my baloney sandwich story sound like chestnuts roasting on an open fire!

In our celebration, I think it's not a bad idea to remember to pray for those with little to celebrate right now. Life can be hard anytime, as we all know, but when you have everyone asking if you're ready for Christmas, and Burl Ives blasting you to "have a holly jolly" one it can get even harder.

But I was urged, "Do not let this Christmas season overwhelm you... Focus on Jesus. Take time every day to read the prophecies of His coming, and the wonderful story of His birth. Make this Christmas one of 'excedingly great joy'!" (I quote Billy Graham who quotes Matthew 2:10.)

I'm really gonna try to do that this year, as I pray for my friends S., T., and K. You know who you are. I love you all and you know it!

When they saw the star they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. Matt 2:10