Day 4: The Life Which I Now Live

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Galations 2:20

“Jane,” my husband said in a tone that got my attention. “Are you even listening to what I just said, because your answer didn’t make sense at all.”

I looked up guiltily knowing that I was caught trying to do two things at once — and not doing well at either of them. Too often I try to listen with one ear to my husband while my attention is wandering to something else.

A few days later, I read this verse in my Bible:

“I long, yes, I faint with longing to enter the courts of the LORD. With my whole being, body and soul, I will shout joyfully to the living God.” Psalm 84:2 NLT

Thinking about that verse and my inattention to my husband, I realized that I often do the same thing to God. “Do I ever do anything with my whole being?” I wondered.

Multitasking = Multifailures

I’ve fallen for the lie that multitasking is a good thing, when in reality it doesn’t play out that way in my life. Multitasking means that my focus is split between multiple things at the same time, so rarely do I ever give my best to any one thing — God, my family, my work, or myself. In Psalm 84, we see that the writer is solely focused on worshiping God: his whole being, body and soul, is consumed with joyfully praising God.

A complete package is what God wants us from us, fully engaged and focused on him. What that involves probably looks a little different for each one of us. For me, that means that I do the following:

• Shut off the notifications on my phone during devotions so I am not distracted by a new message waiting impatiently for me to read it
• Show up at my  volunteer job prepared and ready to work every Tuesday evening
• Look at my husband when he is talking to me
• Don’t check my email when I’m talking on the phone with family and friends so I can focus on what they’re saying

Healthy Body and Soul

With my whole being also requires taking care of my body and soul because if they’re not as healthy as I can make them, then I won’t be able to give my whole being.

Body

 A strong body makes a healthy place for the Holy Spirit to reside. It gives me energy and vitality to do the work God gives me. Believe me, I know how it is to feel weak and helpless.

• Food — Following a gluten-free diet is important to my health. It was one of the things that allowed me to recover from a several-year illness that had me sidelined and afraid to leave my house. I also  avoid most sugary foods and try to eat greens and other vegetables. The further away a food is from the state God made it in, the farther away I try to stay from it.
• Exercise — It has taken me most of my life to get some discipline where exercise is concerned. I still struggle with it, but now love walking, riding my bike, and paddle boarding when I get the chance. I feel better when I am active on a regular basis. It certainly makes it easier that I have a fit family, but you could be the one that starts this habit in your family.
• Sleep — I am alert and energized when I keep a consistent sleep schedule, and for me that means not staying up late.

Soul

• Devotion — Spending time with God keeps me connected and grounded. It gives me the strength, stamina, and joy to live a balanced life and to be a witness for Him. I’m not perfect at this, but I do aim for several days a week.
• Gifts — God has given each one of us gifts to use in His kingdom, so I need to budget and invest time and resources into developing and using those gifts. I’ve learned not to feel guilty about taking a class, attending a seminar, joining a group, or working on a certification. Granted, I take the time to pray about and seek what God has for me to do before just jumping in. Lest you feel like you’re too old and your best years are behind you,  I’ve found that God bestows new gifts on us during different phases of our lives. So, no excuses! Seek what He has for you now, whether you’re 18 or 88.
• Work — Whatever work God has given me to do, I need to make it a priority. Focusing and concentrating on the tasks at hand and organizing  my time wisely help me to be more productive.
• Rest — We all need times of rest and relaxation where we pull back to regroup and take a break. Schedule small breaks throughout the day. Get up and walk around. Take a 10-minute cat nap. Jog in place for a few minutes. Stretch. Go look out the window and take a short walk outside. As the budget allows, plan for longer times of rest, like a weekend retreat. A new perspective makes for a healthy body and soul.

Start Where You Are

Even if you are in a busy time of life, such as a parent of young children, a caregiver, or in a demanding career, look for small segments of time where you are solely focused on the task at hand. Connect with God by snatching 15 minutes of concentrated prayer before the kids get up; take a prayer walk on your lunch hour at work  (phone off); arrange for a family member to give you a break from caregiving and do something that refreshes you. Start small and as the ebb and flow of your life changes, learn how to grab those times of focus in other areas too.

Practical Tip:  Instead of trying to change everything at once, choose one new area of focus. Actually write it in your calendar or put a sticky note on your desk that says: Get up at 5:45 for devotions or whatever it is and then do it. Once you have established this habit, start another one.

I’m finding out that “with your whole being” is really a habit and a choice. Being aware of the tendency to be fragmented is the first step toward offering a focused body and soul to God, a spouse, and others.

How about you? Please share any tips that enable you to be a “with my whole being” person.

Pray on!

Before you jump headlong into the New Year, it’s always prudent to take an honest look at the past year. What did you do right over the last 365 days? What changes do you need to make? With some soul searching and prayer, God will give you a plan for what lies ahead. Take a few hours or, if you can spare the time, a mini-retreat to shore up your soul and plan and prepare for the next 12 months.

Join Mary Kane and me (Jane VanOsdol) of Only By Prayer as we share some suggested areas of focus for this next year. Our topics touch on spiritual, physical, and personal goals.

Looking forward to the New Year with you!

Click the sideways triangle directly below to listen to the podcast:

Resources from the Podcast

1. OnlyByPrayer Facebook page
2. Private prayer request page. Contact us and let us know if you’d like to join this page.
3. Erin Leigh’s 31 Days of Scripture Art Journaling
4. How To Pray blog post
5. How To Pray: Praying God’s Word podcast
6. I Pray Journal-graphics
7. One Word podcast
8. One Word website
9. Free Faith & Fit Workout
10. Sit and Be Fit
11. T-Tapp More Workout (includes a chair workout)
12. Update: Since this podcast was recorded, Jane has become a certified aromatherapist. You can find her website at JanesAromaScents.com and can order essential oils from her as well.
13. Shannon Buck’s Organic Olive Oil Hand Salve

The best gifts that people can give are those that involve some type of sacrifice — of time, money, or creativity. While you may have never thought of it like this before, prayer is a gift to others and like any gift, it extracts something from the giver.

Those who regularly intercede are constantly standing in the gap between man and God, holding up people, events, and circumstances to His notice. It’s exhilarating and exhausting all at the same time.

Pulse of the Prayer Team

At a recent prayer meeting, my pastor did something a bit unusual. He took the pulse of the prayer team to see what kind of shape the pray-ers were in. We split into small groups and honestly shared what was on our hearts. Many of us were feeling beat up. It was a comfort to admit it and realize we weren’t alone. Right or wrong, some of our struggles revolved around these issues:

1. Low-grade fever. One intercessor said he felt like he had a constant fever of needs going on in his spirit. Not enough to sideline him, but enough to wear on him. Similarly, a woman said she felt like the petitions were hovering around her like a cloud all day.
2. Guilt. Some intercessors were dealing with guilt because they felt inadequate to meet the heavy needs that were presented to them.
3. Spiritually drained. Some people admitted to being drained. Frequent intercession had extracted a toll on them that they weren’t recovering from.
4. Overwhelmed. A few confessed to feeling overwhelmed by a prayer list that had grown to huge proportions.

Sharing these struggles with each other exposed the wounds to God so that he could start the healing process. It was clear that we pray-ers needed some TLC ourselves.

Soul Care for Intercessors

Some guidelines to soul care for intercessors emerged from our meeting:

1. Intercessors need a time of rest and retreat to recharge spirits and souls. When possible, periodically attend a weekend or daylong retreat for some TLC.
2. Pray for intercessors. We were so busy praying for others, that we were neglecting to pray for those who were interceding. Remembering to cover each other in prayer can supply a needed boost to a battle-weary pray-er.
3. Periodically debrief with other intercessors. Sharing each other’s burdens can be a help. This is not meant to be a gripe session but a place to air any concerns or stress you may be carrying.
4. Pray with a partner. For protection, when possible intercessors should pray deliverance type prayers over others in the safety of a small group of other pray-ers.
5. The most important point to remember is that prayer time needs to be built on the strong foundation of personal time spent with God. We can’t be effective intercessors if we aren’t grafted on to the vine. In John 15:4 Jesus says “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”

Several times a week, I have added quiet listening to my devotional time with God, and I journal what God brings to my mind. It keeps me connected to Him and opens me up to His plans. No matter how long your prayer list may be, don’t neglect sitting at Jesus’ feet. That takes priority over prayer requests and actually feeds into the ability to be directed by the Holy Spirit in knowing how to pray and which requests to pray for. You do not have to pray for every request every single day. Let God direct to what is most important for that day.

Remember that God is calling you to Him first and to pray for others second.

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5 Tips for Intercessors

 At the end of our prayer meeting, some common helpful tips emerged.

1. We are standing on holy ground. Offering ministering prayer or intercessory prayer for others is a privilege, and we are treading on holy ground by letting the Lord use us to bring his healing and comfort to others. We are ushering the person into His presence.
2. God knows even more than the “prayee” about the situation. Sometimes the people we’re praying for have a hard time articulating their need. God knows what is going on, and we can pray in confidence that He understands, even when we don’t.
3. The Holy Spirit is interceding with us. We’re not by ourselves in this prayer venture. Romans 8:26 tells us that “The Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.”
4. Praying for others can give us a “prayer shot.” Although this doesn’t always happen, sometimes God lets us see comfort or healing delivered and received. How wonderful!
5. Remember, the results are not up to us. We need to take the pressure off of ourselves. God promises us that He is working. How he does this is up to Him. Our calling is to pray.

Taking the time to care for yourself and other intercessors will strengthen you and fill your prayer tank back up, allowing you to continue to bless others with the powerful gift of intercession.

Pray on!

Day 4: God’s Word

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1

God’s word [wurd] noun

1. the Bible.

We would not get very far without God’s Word.

In Genesis 1:3 God speaks creation into being. The whole universe comes together at His words. Sun, moon, stars, seas, plants, animals, people. Everything. Without God’s Word nothing would be here. Fast forward many years to the birth of Jesus. John 1:14 tells us that Jesus not only speaks God’s Word, He is God’s Word. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” God sent Jesus to earth to fix the break in the relationship between man and God brought about by sin. God’s Word gives us new life when we accept Jesus as our Savior.

After salvation, God’s Word continues to play a most important role in our lives. Through it God instructs and encourages us. He molds us and disciplines us. He shapes us into His image through our obedience to His Word and the Holy Spirit’s work in each believer. It’s important to grasp the power of His Word. Hebrews 4:12 tells us “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

Pray God’s Word

I am so thankful for scripture and it’s power in my life. If you’ve not yet begun praying it, this is a perfect time to begin.

1. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you a scripture for your prayer requests.
2. Begin praying God’s Word over people and into situations.
3. Memorize scripture. The more verses you know by heart, the more effectively you can pray.

More of God’s Word

If you’d like to explore this theme further, please listen to  How to Pray God’s Word.

Also, you must check out this beautiful Pinterest pin I found highlighting some of God’s Words.

Comment

Please leave a comment below in the Speak Your Mind section on what God teaches you today about His Word.

Previous Links

• Introduction
• Day 1: Light
• Day 2: Cleansing
• Day 3: Sacrifice

By Mary Kane

All rights reserved.

copyright 2016

god’s word. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/god’s word (accessed: November 18, 2014).

“Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: ‘Look! I am placing a foundation stone in Jerusalem, a firm and tested stone. It is a precious cornerstone that is safe to build on. Whoever believes need never be shaken. I will test you with the measuring line of justice and the plumb line of righteousness.” (Isaiah 28:16-17a NLT)

In Part 1 of this post, we left Israel in limbo waiting through 400 years of silence from God. I can’t imagine living my whole life without any sign or word from God. Finally, God breaks His silence, and He does it through a series of spectacular angelic visitations.

• The angel Gabriel appears to Zacharias the priest when Zacharias is burning incense in the temple of the Lord. Gabriel explains that Zacharias and Elizabeth (who are elderly and childless) will be blessed with a baby who will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. ( Luke 1:5-25)
• Appearing with even more astounding news, Gabriel also visits a virgin Mary to tell her that she is blessed among women because she has found favor with God and will bear the Son of the Highest. (Luke 1: 26-38)
• An angel of the Lord appears to Mary’s fiancé, Joseph, in a dream and tells him to not be afraid to take Mary as his wife, because the child she carries is conceived by the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18-25)
• An angel of the Lord appears to shepherds in a field to tell them of the Savior’s birth, and then a whole host of angels lights up the sky before them rejoicing. (Luke 2:8-20)
• Three wise men from the East are divinely warned in a dream not to return to Herod after they have seen the baby Jesus. (Matthew 2:12)

Exit Law Enter the Grace of the Cross

To our eternal benefit, God sends a heavenly baby to earth and in that action He does away with the law as a means of forgiving sin. No one had been able to keep the law until, that is, Jesus came to earth and lived a sinless life. Jesus did what no one before Him was able to do and no one after Him will ever be able to do. God put the penalty of the world’s sin on Jesus. His death on the cross included payment for my sin and your sin. God then forever broke the power of sin and death with Jesus’s spectacular Resurrection three days after His death.

We now have a new plumb line: the cross.

When we confess our sins and accept Jesus’ payment for them on the cross, we are forever in true with God because of the plumb line of the cross! And each day, we can align ourselves with Jesus and the Holy Spirit to make sure we are continually transformed into the image of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18).

God has always provided a plumb line for us. For the rest of history, that plumb line is Jesus and the cross.

No matter how crooked your life may look right now, the plumb line of the cross can straighten you out with God. You can start your journey with God by praying this simple prayer:

Dear God,

I admit that I am a sinner. I ask that you forgive me for my sins. I realize on my own I can do nothing to make up for them. I accept Jesus’ death on the cross as payment for my sins, and I ask Him to take charge of my life. Amen.

If you just prayed that prayer and you are able to do so, please leave us a message below in the comments. God bless you.

Pray on!