To Do-ers List: Back to School, Pack a Lunch

When my sisters and I were little girls, my mom taught us how to pack our lunch for school. With four daughters, a husband, and a full-time job, she needed to take a few tasks off of her to-do list! So every day I had to pack a lunch.  A honey-loaf sandwich, fruit, and a cookie went into my lunch box. Monday through Friday, the same thing. When lunch time would roll around, I’d look wistfully at the Fritos and Twinkies the other kids were snacking on and try to “trade up,” but I didn’t have much ammo to trade with!

“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.” Isaiah 55:1

Spiritual Nibbles or a Fortified Feast

As I was thinking about my uninspired lunch, it reminded me of the spiritual food I used to exist on. For years, I nourished myself with honey-loaf bites of the word of God. Day in and day out, I quickly nibbled on a verse or two as I rushed out the door for work. I dutifully drank my spiritual baby milk while God waited for me to “trade up” my milky sustenance for a meatier, stick-to-your ribs meal.

The wonderful thing about God is that I don’t have to beg Him for a treat. I don’t have to buy it. It is there for my taking. What I do have to do is decide that I am going to put in the time that it takes for me to eat a richer meal. Actually, God calls it a feast.

No wonder I was stuck in sin patterns in my life. I didn’t give God the time that the Holy Spirit needed to take my life and transform it into something beautiful. I was stuck in fear, in doubt, basically in a rut, living off leftovers. When I got serious about wanting to change, He began to move in my life. He didn’t force me. The Holy Spirit never does. It’s up to us to follow through.

For Today:

Resolve that you are ready to expand your spiritual diet. If you are a new Jesus-follower, then by all means, start at the beginning and get grounded in the basics of the faith. But if you have been a believer for a while and are still subsisting on baby food, move up to solid food.

What will that look like for you?

It may mean you sign up for a Bible study. Perhaps you’ve thought about taking a Bible class for credit  or personal study through a ministry or university (see the resource section below — several free classes!). God has His eye on someone whom He wants to start teaching a class. Perhaps you should be mentored or are ready to mentor someone else. Maybe studying a book about developing your prayer life is on your to do-ers list.

With unlimited possibilities before you, pray about it and ask the Holy Spirit to show you what your next step is. Write this down on your app or in your notes and tell someone else what you’re thinking. Accountability never hurts! If you’d like to, feel free to share in the comment section what your spiritual feast might look like. And post on Twitter if you’d like about what you’re doing using the hashtag #ToDoers.

School is in session. Remember to pack your lunch!

Previous Sessions of To Do-ers List, Back to School:

Day 1: New Clothes

Day 2: The Book

Welcome to our first podcast in the How To Pray series. Today we discuss the topic of how to go about praying God’s word. Jane VanOsdol and Mary Kane discuss several ideas that will help you to develop the powerful habit of incorporating God’s word into your daily prayers. Whether you’ve tried this before or you’re new to the idea, you’ll want to listen in for a few pointers on how to enrich your prayer life.

Thanks for joining us and please be sure to leave any ideas or suggestions you may have on praying God’s word in the comment section below.

Listen here for an older, mp3 version of Praying God’s Word:

Or watch the video below:

Jane and I welcome you to Lesson Seven of Wounded Lives. Healed Hearts. We are very excited to join you during this journey into encouragement  and healing. Jane and I are praying that this week you delve more deeply into your prayer life as we consider the issue of injustice.

Weekly Homework

Each week we will add your assignments to a password-protected post. Look for the password every Tuesday evening in your email. Below you will find homework for each level of study. Feel free to change from Level 1, Level 2, or Level 3  as your schedule allows! Remember, there is no pressure to complete every activity. These are just options for your growth. They can be accessed at any time, even after the study ends

Level 1, Study: Weekly Goals 

• For Lesson 7, watch the video posted below: The Priority of Prayer
  
• Complete pages 99-110 in Luke: Discovering Healing in Jesus’ Words to Women.
• Feel free to do any of the other activities from Levels 2 and 3 as your time allows.

Level 2, Community: Weekly Goals 

• For Lesson 7, watch the video posted below: The Priority of Prayer
  
• Complete pages 99-110 in Luke: Discovering Healing in Jesus’ Words to Women.
• Answer the question on the Speak Your Mind comment section at the bottom of this post.
• Don’t forget to check out our private Facebook page. Leave your comments about this week’s study, post your prayer requests, or share any insights/questions you may have. Only members of our Bible study group will see these posts.
• Join the Community Call, Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. EST on Talk Shoe (information on TalkShoe is in your weekly email.)

 Level 3, Opportunity: Weekly Goals

• For Lesson 7, watch the video posted below: The Priority of Prayer
  
• Complete pages 99-110 in Luke: Discovering Healing in Jesus’ Words to Women.
• Answer the question on the Speak Your Mind comment section at the bottom of this post,  and join the Community Call on Wednesday night on TalkShoe.
• Complete the Digging Deeper questions in the margins of each lesson.
• Don’t forget to check out our private Facebook page. Leave your comments about this week’s study, post your prayer requests, or share any insights/questions you may have. Only members of our Bible study group will see these posts.
• Take advantage of the Help for Healing resources by clicking on the links below:

Abiding with Jesus to Fuel Your Prayer Life

Butterfly Prayers

An Hour of Prayer Bible Study

 Video for Luke 7: The Priority of Prayer

Please take a few moments to worship and express your gratitude to God through music for His many blessing and gifts.

Questions of the Week (Please respond in the Speak Your Mind section at the very bottom of this page).

Who or what is Jesus calling you to intercede for?

 

 

“He that dwells with God in Christ Jesus is the man whose steps are enlarged in intercession.” Charles H. Spurgeon.

I came across this sentence in the book A 12-Month Guide to Better Prayer. I’ve started working through this book/study, and am currently in Chapter 2, which emphasizes how important it is to your prayer life to abide or remain in Christ. I’m intrigued by that term and have been praying about how I might do this. The term abiding comes from the Greek word meno, which can mean “to sojourn, tarry, not to depart, to continue, to be present.” All of these things take time, don’t they?

Now, I’m a big believer in “arrow” prayers. I generally pray throughout my day as the Holy Spirit brings people and causes to my heart. But I’m being convicted of the importance of spending time with Jesus each day whenI am silent, just listening to Him and waiting on Him. This takes time—time that I don’t always get up early enough to spend.

I usually read my Bible and pray from my prayer list in the morning, but contemplative waiting and listening often get short shrift in my rush to get out the door to work. But if I want to be effective in my prayers, then I need to take the time to hear from the heart of the One who answers prayers. After all, bearing fruit—including fruitful prayers—involves being grafted into the vine.

So, one of my resolutions this year is to take at least 10 minutes each day before I begin praying to be quiet before the Lord and then see how that affects my prayers. Maybe I’ll be directed to pray in a certain way. Perhaps He’ll bring people to mind that hadn’t been on my radar. Or maybe, I’ll just be mindful of the silence. Either way, I’m looking forward to seeing how this time will change my prayers and me. I’ll keep you updated.

How about you? How are you going to “enlarge your steps in intercession” this year? Are you going to change anything related to your prayer life in 2013? If you’d like, you can share your ideas below.

Blessings for the New Year and pray on!

A 12-Month Guide to Better Prayer, published by Barbour Publishing, Inc. Used by permission.

Image courtesy of [David Castillo Dominici] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. 2 Corinthians 3:18

Are you frustrated with the progress you’re making in your prayer life? Or just in your spiritual life in general?

You know, I’ve found that being conformed to the image of Christ is rarely a fast process. It often involves times of struggle, pushing ahead, falling back and eventually making slow, steady progress. Sometimes change can happen quickly, but most often, I am in it for the long haul. And at times, it can seem that I’m not making much progress.

A few days ago, I discovered some fun caterpillars in my garden, and I’ve been keeping tabs on them. I discovered they’re Monarch butterfly caterpillars. It’s been exciting watching them. Now, exciting may seem like a oxymoron when used to describe a caterpillar, especially after you look at the short video clip I have of them here. Take a few seconds to look at the video, if you can.

You may think that outwardly nothing exciting was happening at all, but on the contrary, much is going on.

What tips can we learn from my friend the caterpillar to help us in our struggles?

1. Be focused. The caterpillar has one thing in mind—and that’s eating. That is his sole purpose at the moment. What is your focus right now? Identify the change you want or need to make. Do you want to grow or mature in your prayer life? Do you have a fruit of the spirit you need to cultivate? Write it down—make it official. Confess any sin that may be entangled in this change and then ask God to equip you through the Holy Spirit to make the change.
2. Choose your source of nourishment carefully. The Monarch caterpillar loves the milkweed plant as his host plant and will slowly eat his way through the leaves. But, I learned that the Indian hemp dogbane plant resembles the milkweed—it even has a milky substance; one major difference is that it is poisonous to the caterpillars and will kill them if they keep eating the dogbane. Think about what you’re taking in as your source of nourishment during this time of change or struggle in your life. Are you surrounding yourself with scripture, good music, prayer, biblical teaching, books and wise counsel? Or are you feeding on a diet of questionable TV, movies, music and activities that are slowly poisoning you?
3. Be diligent. Just like the caterpillar eats a bite at a time, keep plugging away, doing what you know is right. We can only break a sinful pattern or cultivate a new habit one decision at a time. As Christians, we have the wonderful resource of the Holy Spirit to help us.
4. Look to the inside. Realize when it seems  from all outward appearances that everything has ground to a halt, profound changes are happening on the inside. The Holy Spirit changes us from the inside out into Christ’s image.
5. Rest when you need to. The caterpillar sometimes takes breaks from his eating to just rest. At times, we need to do that too. It’s hard work changing. Do something fun. Read a good book, go for a walk, sit on the beach or take a nap. Recharge yourself for the next phase.
6. Submit to God. When the caterpillar is inside the chrysalis, he is submitted to the creator who is changing Him. We also need to allow God access to all areas of our lives as we are in the chrysalis of change so that He can slough off the dead and replace it with life.
7. Spread your wings. In the fullness of time, dare to fly into what God has for you now.

What  habit have you now attained? Is there a new ministry opening up for you? As you celebrate what God has accomplished in your life, be open to what God has for you next.

As you feel led, leave a comment on a struggle that God has brought you through. Your struggle may encourage someone else to keep on.

Pray on!