Do you often feel overwhelmed  by all that you have to do during the course of a normal day? In order to get your life undercontrol you need to Take 5!and spend a little time with the Lord! To do the study “Pray Often” just click on the link!

Scripture:

“Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.” Luke 2:4,5 NKJV

Focus:

I will never forget the birth of my third child. It was early December, and I was 9 months pregnant with my baby. My second child had been born with a congenital heart defect and died shortly after birth. Although the doctors had assured us that everything was fine with this baby, we were all anxiously anticipating the birth. The baby was big, and I was so uncomfortable. I wasn’t able to relax in any position, sitting, standing or lying down. A few days before my due date, my husband and I were driving home. The road was full of potholes and ruts. Every jolt felt as if it were going to send me into labor on that excruciating ride. I couldn’t wait to get out of the car.

As I was complaining to my husband about the bumpy roads (and probably grumpily about his driving!), a vision of Mary, Jesus’ mother popped into my head. In my mind I transported myself back to her journey on a donkey, of all things, into Bethlehem. I imagined what it would be like to be her. She knew the birth of her baby was imminent, and yet she found herself leaving behind her home, her family, her mother–who would have helped her in the birthing process–to begin a long, tiresome journey to another city.

I could well imagine what it must have felt like to perch atop a donkey as it plodded along, step by jolting step. The dust the donkey kicked up surely wafted around them, clinging to her garments and  scratching at her dry, dusty throat. How her back must have ached from sitting slumped on a donkey for hours, that pain being overshadowed as the force of intensifying contractions gripped her weary body.

I at least knew I would have a birthing room and expert help for my baby. Mary had no such assurances. All the women who would have helped her were back home. She had no idea of where they would be stopping and what accommodations she would have. “How did she do it?” I found myself wondering. By all accounts, she was probably only 14 years old, and this was her first baby. I can only imagine what Joseph felt as he looked back at his young wife suffering on the donkey.

We have the advantage of knowing how this story ends. There was no room in any inn, so Joseph gently settled Mary in the stable with a clean pile of straw for her bedding and the cows and bleating sheep for roommates. They had each other and God and His promises to sustain them though the most holy of nights. Despite the odds against them, God’s plan was not to be denied, and Jesus entered this world with a herald of angels melodiously announcing His birth.

Since that time, I’ve never again glossed over Luke 2:7 as I’ve read through the Christmas story. I allow myself to think about the journey and suffering and sacrifice that went on that night, as the Word became flesh. Two young peasants with the love and courage to say yes to God’s miraculous plan found themselves as the earthly parents of the Messiah! And the world has not been the same since.

Prayer:  Lord, we are humbled by the birth of Your Son. We thank You for sending Him to earth so that we can be saved. We look to the example that Mary and Joseph set, and we can only pray for the same willingness to say yes to Your plans when you call on us. Amen.

Merry Christmas!

The time sandwiched between Thanksgiving and Christmas in modern times seems to have been taken over by the retail world. It starts off with a bang on Black Friday (the big shopping event the day after Thanksgiving) and is then measured by how many shopping days are left until Christmas. Newspapers often have the countdown on the front page of the paper—just to make sure you buy all your gifts in time.

I think it’s about time we redeem this time and use it as God intended us to. In the Christian calendar, this time is called Advent. Did you know that it is actually the start of the new calendar year for the Christian calendar? While I’m sure that many of us are familiar with Advent, I know in my life it has often been overshadowed by the busyness of December.

How can we recapture some of the purposes of Advent that God intended for this time?

First, let’s look at what Advent means. The word Advent comes from the Latin word adventus and it means “coming” or “arrival.” In Advent, we are to focus on the coming of Jesus as Messiah. Traditionally, the music, scripture readings and prayers of Advent have focused not only on Jesus’ coming to earth as a baby, but also includes a focus on Jesus’ eventual second coming.  That is why an Advent devotional includes scriptures from both the Old Testament about the birth of the Messiah and New Testament scriptures about Jesus’ second coming.

God designed this time of Advent for us to prepare our own hearts for our Savior. We can celebrate His birth, and we can look forward to His return to Earth. So, practically in the busyness of the season, how can we go about preparing our hearts?

• Introspection. Advent is a good time for introspection. Prayerfully ask God what needs to go—in your heart, in your life—so that you have room for the Savior. We don’t want to be like all the innkeepers in Bethlehem who had no room for the Savior. What do we need to weed out so that we have the time to spend with Jesus this Advent? Can you make room in your schedule so that each morning or evening you take some time to pray, read and prepare your heart for Jesus?
• Advent wreath. Can you do add some Advent activities to do with your family? One suggestion would be to have an Advent wreath on your kitchen table and light a candle on each of the Sundays of Advent and on Christmas Eve. Have a family member read a verse of scripture as the candle is being lit and then share a prayer together.
• Jesse tree. How about making a Jesse tree with your children? Click on this link for information on how to do this: Jesse Tree ideas on Pinterest
• Advent calendar. You could also purchase an Advent calendar in a Christian bookstore with scripture for each day. Children (and adults I admit!) love opening a door every day.
• Music. Play some of the beautiful music of Advent. I discovered this year that Advent music is different than Christmas music.

So this year, let’s have our focus be not on the number of shopping days left until Christmas, but on the moments we are able to spend with our Savior. It’s my prayer that this Advent season will be a blessed time of preparation for our hearts. Pray on!

I’m reading a good book by Henry and Norman Blackaby called Experiencing Prayer with Jesus:  The Power of His Presence and Example. I came across this quote that really made me stop and think .

Prayer is not for the purpose of getting God to help us … but for getting us in line with what God is about to do. Prayer is God’s invitation to enter His throne room so He can lay His agenda over our hearts.

I haven’t ever looked at prayer in quite this way before. It really is a training and molding ground for our hearts. It’s more about God preparing us so that He can start using us by working through us. I began to think about how much of my time I spend on asking God for things versus how much time I am in prayer for the Spirit to use me. Now I still think we need to bring our requests before God, but I also see how we need to be quiet so that the Spirit can start to do the work in our lives that God wants to do.

What do you think? What does this look like for your prayer time? Does it change anything?  

Feel free to share your thoughts by leaving a comment and pray on!

Have you ever received a piece of news that just about knocked you off your feet?

It may be that everyone else around you could see it coming, but for whatever reason, you were blindsided by the revelation. That happened to me a few years ago. It was a challenging situation to handle, and I knew I needed to pray about it. Honestly, the situation was so overwhelming and foreign to me that I didn’t know where to begin.

Then I heard about the idea of prayer strategies.

While this is not a new concept, it was new to me. Basically the idea is to ask the Lord to reveal how you should pray about a difficult situation. I found the basis for this in Romans 8:26, 27.

Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

I also like Psalm 119:169.

“Let my cry come before You, O Lord; give me understanding according to Your Word.”

So I set aside some time to pray and seek the insight of the Holy Spirit as to how I could attack this situation with prayer. I wanted specific guidelines. I grabbed my journal and then I waited.

While I was praying, the Holy Spirit began to give me phrases to pray, and many of them had to do with being set free. At the end of that time, I actually had a list of 12 things to pray about. I ran through my list and made sure that none of the ways I was going to pray conflicted with scripture. And they didn’t. Always make sure that your prayer strategy aligns with scripture, because the Holy Spirit will not ask you to pray for things that are contrary to scripture.

Specific Scripture

Since I could see the theme of freedom in these prayer requests, I then looked up some specific scriptures dealing with freedom that I could pray into this situation. I simply turned to my concordance, looked up the word freedom, and read through the scriptures. I asked the Holy Spirit to quicken my heart to the ones I should pray, and then chose the ones I felt led to.

You see, praying scripture is like throwing spiritual dynamite into the situation because God tells us in Hebrews 4:12 that His word is “alive 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.” It is the most powerful weapon in our arsenal.

I was so relieved to go from not knowing how to pray to having a very detailed prayer strategy in place. Each day I prayed using my strategy and trusted God with the results. This is important. Let go of any pressure. The results are up to God—your job is to pray.

“How long do I keep doing this?” you might be wondering.

Well, every situation is different. Often times we don’t get to see the results of our prayers. Some requests may need years of intercession; others only a short time. Basically, as long as God still puts the request on your heart or until you see victory in the area is how long you should keep praying. God will release you from the prayer burden when it is time.
I would encourage you that if you are feeling overwhelmed with a situation to ask God for a prayer strategy.You will go from feeling helpless to being powerfully equipped to pray your way through.
Drop me a comment or question and let me know if you use prayer strategies.
Pray on!

Jane VanOsdol

Listening to God has always been a practice that has intrigued me–and scared me. I am intrigued by the whole practice of contemplative prayer where I learn to listen to God’s voice while trying to silence my own voice and the other distractions around me. What scares me about it is the fear that if I do manage to quiet my own thoughts and requests that I won’t hear ANYTHING. What if God doesn’t respond to me at all? Sitting in silence seems kind of uncomfortable and … risky.

Well, the  secular world has embraced the whole practice of quietness through the use of meditation. Many studies show the benefit of this practice from lowered blood pressure to stress relief–and that’s because God designed it to work that way. But, there’s a big difference between secular meditation or the New Age way and the Christian practice of contemplative prayer. God didn’t ever mean for us to pursue just the practice of meditiation; He meant for us to pursue HIM while we meditate on His word. And that’s a BIG difference.

A few years ago I became familiar with the practice of Lectio Divina, which is a form of contemplative prayer. This was introduced during a sermon one Sunday. A few months after that, I took a spiritual disciplines class at church and learned more about it. Then a few weeks ago, I purchased a book I’ve been looking at for awhile called BE STILL by Amy and Judge Reinhold. It’s a beautiful, little book that teaches the whole practice of Lectio Divina. Lectio Divina, I learned, is a Latin phrase and means divine or sacred reading, and this practice has been a part of church life for centuries.

This little book takes you through 31 days of learning how to incorporate meditative prayer into your prayer life. Basically, on each day you meditate on a new portion of scripture, rereading the same passage four times, as you let the Holy Spirit quicken God’s word to your heart. Then you record what God is impressing upon you–how it applies to you.

I have to say that my early fears have been unfounded. Each day I am learning new things and becoming aware of areas in my life that need some work! As I am halfway through the book, I am learning to appreciate the still time of waiting on God and what He has to teach me, instead of always being the one doing the talking. I still pray through my requests, but I just make sure to have listening and meditating time on His word as well.

And with the Holy Spirit as a teacher, there will always be a unlimited supply of exciting things to learn!

Have you ever tried this practice? I’d love to hear your experience on this journey of prayer.

Pray on!

Be Still  By Judge Reinhold & Amy Reinhold

Be Still and Know That I Am God, DVD