Walking through the land of Israel, walking with His Apostles, or walking the road to the cross… Jesus walked out His life upon this earth. He invites us to walk with Him. To Pray Specifically about walking with Jesus, please click on the link.
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Lent is a time of preparation for Easter. It is a reflective time, where we focus on getting our “spiritual houses” in order. This year of 2012, Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, February 22 and goes through Holy Saturday, April 7. Mary and I would like to invite you to join us each day with a scripture reading and a focus for that day. Just click on the tab Devotions and then Lenten Devotions for that day’s reading.
We will be exploring these themes during Lent this year:
We are praying that all of our hearts will be changed as we embark on this journey together.
Won’t you join us?
“Jesus calls us to live a simple life also. Please unplug, detach and spend a few quiet moments at the feet of Jesus simply resting. ” To pray specifically for Rest, please click on the link.
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“That you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;” Colossians 1:10In the last blog post, we discussed four ways you could do this in 2012. After having some time to mull these over and maybe try a few of the suggestions, let’s look at the next four items on the list.
5. Choose a non-fiction Christian book to read that challenges you. Before you start reading this book, pray and ask that God will change you in the process. Ask Him to show you what you need to learn from this book, and pray that you would be open to making the changes God wants you to make. Stick with it, even if it’s slow going. Actively read the book. If the book is your own copy, this means you should write in the margins, highlight sections you want to remember, and make notes in the text. The more you interact with the text, the more of it you will take in. Try to repeat this process a few times this year. If you’d like a few book suggestions, you could start with one of these:
6. Schedule a retreat at a retreat center. Do this with a group from your church, some of your friends, or take a night or two or three by yourself at a retreat center and spend some time with God in prayer. I know you spend time in prayer at your own home, too, but there’s just something different about getting away to a retreat center that you can’t duplicate elsewhere. First of all, when you’re away from home, you can’t be distracted by all the work you think you should be doing at your house. You’ll be able to use the time to completely disengage from the responsibilities of child care, cleaning the house, or doing the laundry–guilt free.
Secondly, retreat centers have resources for you to take advantage of like prayer labyrinths, chapels, libraries and even classes for you to take. Try it. You’ll love it. Ask God to show you what He wants you to learn from the weekend. Be sure you write down what you are learning and where you go from here. You can use the following link to help you find a retreat center near you, searching by your state: Retreat Finder. Keep in mind that not all of the sites listed are Christian, so research the listings before you make a reservation. I even found a site close to my house that does not charge a set fee–it’s on a donation basis!
7. Begin a new spiritual discipline in your life. Have you ever wanted to explore fasting? Or perhaps you have an interest in journaling, or maybe the discipline of self-examen has piqued your interest. Spend some time learning about a discipline and then begin to incorporate it into your life. Both Dallas Willard and Richard Foster have classic books available on the disciplines, and either book would be a good place for you to start learning.
8. Begin praying through the World Watch List of the 50 most hostile, restrictive countries in the world (to Christianity). Open Doors USA compiles this annual list. Click for the 2014 version.
I’m excited about living a life of purpose in 2012. I wonder how God will change me through this process. Have you tried any of the suggestions yet, or are you planning on doing one soon? If so, we’d love for you to leave a comment and tell us about it.We’ve got four more suggestions to go, and Mary is going to cover those in the next blog post.
Until then, pray on!
Happy New Year!
The start of a new year is always exciting, because I feel like I’ve got a clean slate ahead of me with lots of possibilities. One theme that has been running through my mind is that I want to live a life of purpose in 2012. Mary and I have jotted down some ways we’re going to try to do that this year, and we wanted to share those with you.
So, here’s the first four items on our list:
1. Get involved in something bigger than yourself. It’s easy to get so caught up in our own lives so that all we think about is ourselves and our situations. When we are going though a difficult time, we tend to think the world revolves around us and our situation because we are so inner focused. Having a cause that is outside of yourself is one of the best ways to maintain your stability and a healthy spiritual and mental outlook. It’s a wonderful antidote to depression.
Even if you are physically incapacitated, you can still be involved in world matters simply by praying. I know two women who are just about housebound because of health problems. One of them is actively involved in placing at-risk children in temporary housing, and the other one has a vibrant prayer ministry for people all around the world. Both of them do these activities from their homes.
Here’s a few ideas to get you started on finding a cause to be involved with:
2. Pray faithfully for your family. Sometimes we forget to pray for our families because we are busy praying for other people. Or, we may get discouraged if we don’t quickly see the changes we want to see. Make it a priority to pray for your family. Write down in a safe place detailed requests and perhaps some scripture that relates to the situation and then pray for them several times a week. Remember to record any changes you see in your family–and you– so that you have a record of God working in your lives.
3. Pick a Bible study and see it through to the end. I know I often start a new Bible study with enthusiasm, but half way through it, it can become hard to maintain that motivation. I’ve found that if I stick with it and finish the study, God always does a work in my life. Check out some studies from Beth Moore and Kay Arthur (Precepts) just to name a few to get you started.
4. Take a few minutes each day to connect with God through His creation. Have you ever tried keeping a nature journal? I’m not particularly artistic, but I really enjoyed this activity when I tried it a few years ago. It forces you to slow down and really see things. Study a snow flake. Set up a bird feeder and watch the birds for a few minutes each day. In the warmer months, grow some flower and vegetables. Learn the names of the different trees in your area.
You can keep a traditional nature journal by purchasing a blank artist’s notebook and colored pencils. Sketch as best you can what you see. Or maybe you want to try an online version. Take pictures with your digital camera and upload your pictures to an online gallery, such as Picasa Web Albums or Flickr. You can also use Mixbook, Walmart, Meijer, or any of the other myriad photo applications to make an actual printable book with your photos.
As you begin to observe the world around you, God’s hand prints become so much more noticeable, as does the verse from Ecclesiastes 3:1 “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.”
I’ll continue this series in the next blog post. If you have any of your own ideas to add, please leave us a message. Until then, pray on!
Or perhaps you hear about a situation on the radio that you want to pray for, or you want to add a particular country to your prayer list. It’s easy for these random thoughts and requests to fall into the black hole in our minds.
Part of the problem is that we often think of these requests or someone shares them with us when we’re out and about in the midst of a busy day or maybe when we’re at church. We’re usually distracted by what we’re already doing, so it’s easy for the request to get lost in the multitude of other things that are already going on.
Well, I’ve stumbled upon a few ways to deal with this situation.
One solution is an idea my sister Mary shared with me. When she fears she may forget to pray as promised later because of all the distractions of the here and now, she stops and says, “Sure, I’ll pray for you. Let’s do it right now.” And then she stops and prays with the person right then, trusting that the Holy Spirit will bring that request to mind later when she needs to pray again.
Just lately, I’ve decided to try another tactic to capture these type of what I call “butterfly prayers” that flutter at me through my day. I decided to make a prayer board and hang it on the wall in my home office. I chose my office, because that is where I spend most of my time during the day. I’ve started carrying a small notebook in my purse, and as I hear of requests I need to remember, I write them in my notebook and then add my butterfly prayers to my board to help me remember them. What’s different about these prayers is that often times they’re for people or things not on my usual prayer lists–which makes me prone to forgetting them. And they’re often requests that are time sensitive; they need intensive prayer for a set amount of time. Well, now every time I glance at the board, I see them.
I’ve also added a few other things to the prayer board that I want to be reminded of frequently. Let’s look at a some ways to use this prayer board and brainstorm what you may want to add to it.
First of all, to make the board, I just purchased a bulletin board. You can stop there if you want and be ready to go, but I also covered mine with colorful paper. I added a few sparkly stickers to the top and purchased some fun tacks. That’s certainly not necessary, but it spiffs it up a bit. Then I hung it right where I would see it frequently. (Just a home improvement hint: my husband recommends using Velcro strips. They’re fast, forgiving, and don’t leave holes in the walls!) Now for a few ideas on how to use the board.
Be sure you change out the information on your board as you’re done praying for past requests and new ones come along. You may even want to change the decor on the board to match the seasons and spiritual holidays to help you focus on them as we celebrate them throughout the year.
These are just some ideas to get you started. I’m sure you can think of others, and I’d love it if you’d share those in the comments section below.
Enjoy your prayer board and …
Pray on!