It Works!

I say it all the time about prayer. "It works!" Maybe you say it, too.

I don't know, something about that just bothers me. Like we're talking about some kind of kitchen appliance that's not on the fritz at the moment.

"Is your refrigerator running?"

"Do you have Prince Albert in a can?"

"Do you have your God in a box?"

Maybe from now on I'll try to say, "Prayer is amazing!"

Prayer IS a amazing. Because GOD is amazing.

So maybe by that line of reasoning, it's okay to say "prayer works." Because GOD works! "But Jesus replied, 'My Father never stops working, so why should I?" (See John 5:17)

What I know? It's that prayer "availeth much!!"

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.

Taxes, Kings and God's

Thinking/praying about what/if to post this morning I got a picture of a penny. Maybe that was just coming off yesterday's post, where I shared how I like my bills to line up. It's a darn good thing I don't have the same fetish about my coinage, or I'd constantly be at the 5-gallon bottle we throw our spare change into.

The above, by the way, is a now somewhat rare wheatback penny, and if you find any and don't save them yourself, you can send them my way.

Anyway, I got to thinking about the time the Pharisees and Herodians got together to trap Jesus with words by asking Him if it was lawful to pay taxes to Caeser. It occurs to me that this was a lot bigger question than just whether or not to pay taxes. (And wouldn't it have been nice if He'd said, "Nope, don't pay 'em!"?) But it likely was asked in light of the First Commandment and the dilemma for God-fearing Jews of whether it was idolatry to pay such homage to a King who also claimed to be a god.

Jesus in return asks, "Whose likeness and inscription is this?" When they reply "Caesar's," His answer, of course, is "Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's." (See Matthew 22:15-22).

It feels like in my "New Year's Revolution" the Lord is asking me, "Whose likeness and inscription do YOU bear, my child?" If my answer is His, then what am I to render unto Him? All of me? And again I say, define "all."

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?

Of Plant Seeds and Petri Dishes

What do petri dishes, plant seeds and high blood pressure have in common? If you said "science," or "scientific studies," you'd be correct. If you said "prayer" you'd ALSO be correct.

We've probably all heard of scientific studies showing that prayer lowers blood pressure and results in better outcomes for intensive care patients. But of course some still raise doubts. "They were unconsciously influenced by other factors!" Even though these experiments have been repeated over and over with the strictest scientific practices to ensure complete objectivity. Even those conducting the experiment and the subjects were not told what the study was about, or who were the controls!

But prayer has even been shown to affect the growth of fungus in petri dishes and the germination of plant seeds... positively or negatively, from a distance! Hey, I'm not making this stuff up. You can Google it and find tons of information yourself.

How do you feel about this? I have mixed feelings. Part of me goes, "Ya, right on! I KNEW it!" But another part of me cringes at the fact that we've taken our infinitely holy and sovereign God of inapproachable light and turned Him into just one more banal headline for the tabloids. "I Found Jesus Under My Wallpaper" or "What Would Jesus Buy/Drive/Play/Wear?" Consider this actual survey served up on The Huffington Post:

What would Jesus do?
Rummage through Britney's trash?
Wait outside of Nicole's house for a shot of her baby bump?
Do lines with Lindsay and then tell all the next day? (pre-"rehab", of course)
Appear on "The 700 Club" to plug his latest project?
None of the above.

Please forgive me if this offends any of you. IT OFFENDS ME!! My point is: THAT is almost how these studies on prayer affect me. How dare anyone demean our God in this way? How dare they trivialize Him like this? Reduce the awesome privilege of prayer into a double-blind study?!!

Picture this tabloid headline: King of Ages Just a Baby in a Feed Trough Wrapped in Dirty Rags!

Oh come ON! Have they no sense of dignity whatsoever?

Scraps

Our dog Greta is a whore for food. There's just no other way to put it. We've had her on the rapid weight-loss dog food formula for months and she's still going to earn me a lecture on our next trip to the vet. She begs. She sneaks. We literally have found nothing she won't eat. Except for snap peas. Go figure. I'm convinced that she would sell her soul if she had one for a morsel of ____ (imagine the most disgusting thing you can, the things I'm imaging aren't fit to print).

Our dog Audrey is the same way, except that she loves love. She will follow us around, lie at our feet, move her head just to be a centimeter closer to a hand that may at any moment scratch her ears or chin. Food? She can take it or leave it. And she often leaves it. Which is part of why Greta is such a porker.

My friend Joanne recently noted her penchant for turning everyday things into spiritual truths, which is just one reason I love her blog, "At His Feet." (I highly recommend her blog if you're not already onboard with it, and someday I'll post a link to it when I figure out how to do all that fancy stuff). Well, you don't get much more "everyday" or more earthy than dogginess... And there's even a biblical basis for this one (see Matthew 15:21-28).

One thing I'm learning on this prayer journey is that in the moments when I've found that sweet spot, when I truly feel His presence no matter what I'm doing or where I am, I am open to every scrumptious morsel that falls from His table and every touch of His hand as I sit at His glorious feet.

But is it only "scraps" and "morsels" that I receive from His hand? A thousand times NO! There are riches and blessings beyond measure. Living life in His presence is the most transforming thing in all of creation.

I know I'm not telling anyone anything new who has already stepped through that veil and into the light of His presence. I'm just staggered, staggered by the height and depth and breadth of His love for me.

If, as we sing, "one day in His courts is better than thousands elsewhere," then one scrap from His table is better than a thousand banquets at Buckingham Palace. With Queen Elizabeth in all her regalia.

Lion Chaser's Manifesto

Pastor Dave shared this with us one Sunday. It's from a book he was reading which I think was based on the brief Old Testament story of a guy named Benaiah, one of King David's mighty men. I found it in 2 Samuel 23:20 and

1 Chronicles 11:22. He chased a lion into a pit on a snowy day and killed it. Wow. I really want to read the book.

Anyway, I LOVED this!!

Why am I posting this to a blog about prayer? It's one of the reasons I got busy and started a blog, even though it seemed impossible. And it also speaks to everything about why I pray!

Lion Chaser’s Manifesto

Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death.
Set God-sized goals.
Pursue God-ordained passions.
Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention.
Keep asking questions.
Keep making mistakes.
Keep seeking God.
Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution.
Stop repeating the past and start creating the future.
Stop playing it safe and start taking risks.
Expand your horizons.
Accumulate experiences.
Consider the lilies.
Enjoy the journey.
Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can.
Live like today is the first and the last day of your life.
Don’t let what’s wrong with you keep you from worshipping what’s right with God.
Burn sinful bridges.
Blaze a new trail.
Criticize by creating.
Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks.
Don’t try to be who you’re not. Be yourself.
Laugh at yourself.
Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away.

Chase the lion!

My Vision

Well, here I am starting a blog. Something I never thought I'd be caught doing. Of course, it's comforting that at this point no one else in the universe (other than the Lord) knows it exists. Not even my beloved husband who still snoozes away next to me on this rare Saturday morning he's not bustling about the shop.

I'd like to start (as I almost always do when explaining why I pray) with the vision I had that started my journey into prayer. It's not really a vison, but I don't quite know what else to call it. I was just on my morning walk a few years ago. I didn't go into a trance or anything like that. I just kind of pictured a little scene where I was meeting the Lord for the first time in heaven. (A LITTLE scene? That'e like calling the movie The Ten Commandments the newsreel before the feature film! But I date myself!)

Anyway, the Lord was showing me all the lives and situations that had been affected for the good by my mediocre little prayers over the years (actually by His answers to them). At the end I was totally amazed and said to the Lord, "If I'd known prayer did THAT much, I'd never have STOPPED praying!" Then my focus returned to the present moment, as I heard Him say (none of this was in an audible voice, mind you), "Well, here you go. Here's your chance."

Have I prayed without ceasing since then? i must confess I haven't. But I have prayed far more than I would have, and have learned and am learning many wonderful lessons along the way, meeting and partnering with some awesome folks and fellow adventurers on this journey.

So here's my first post. If you're reading this I want to invite you to join me, a far-from-seasoned prayer warrior on a true mission from God here on the battle lines of eternity. That may sound a bit presumptuous, but that's exactly what The Word says we're in: A Battle. And if you're already on that battlefield, I invite you to share your valuable knowledge and experience with those of us who are just beginning, as we report for duty to our Commanding Officer, The Annointed One, the Endless of Days, and join in the cosmic war to take back the World in His Holy Name. Every one of us who is called by His name has been commissioned to take part, even if, like me, only in a minor role. It all makes a difference! That's what I learned that day on my walk, and that's what I bring to the table. The Battle Cry has been made. Will you answer?