A friend of mine and I have decided to spend every (or as many as possible) night of Lent praying for one specific thing. That one thing is a relationship. A relationship that has been torn, but that we are longing for restoration for. So, we spend some time throughout the day and pray about what we're going to pray about that night...
It's been really cool to see what God has impressed upon each of our hearts to pray for that specific night. Some things are specific to that relationship, and some things are more general and are for all relationships, but nonetheless we're praying. One night we might pray to see fruit in that person, another night we might pray for their protection. And another night we might pray for that person's future. It has been really cool to see where God is working in me just because I'm devoting some time to praying for someone else.
Job 42:10 says: "After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before."
Job went to hell and back again and would not deny the Lord. He lost everything he had... his family, his friends, his livelihood, his wealth, and in the midst of it all praised God.
So, I can pray. I can spend a few minutes each night in agreement with another person and pray. To pray for my friends.
Interestingly enough, one night we prayed for conviction. We prayed that God would convict our hearts in the places we needed to right wrongs, and we prayed the same thing for this other relationship. But praying for conviction can, at times, feel like an attack.
I know we have all felt like we are under attack at times. I am starting to learn that being "under spiritual attack" is a good thing. Please don't hear me say that everything should be one challenge after another, or that I welcome said attacks, but that if Satan is willing to attack me, I must be doing something to advance the Kingdom of God that he does not like. Right? If I am no threat at all, why would he waste his time on me? But if I am a threat to the kingdom of darkness because a Kingdom of Light lives in me, then I open myself up for spiritual attack.
The good news is that we have all the things we need for any type of attack. We have a full armor of God that we should put on everyday. It will shield us from whatever the devil throws at us. (see Ephesians 6). I forget on a regular basis that I will need the shoes of peace, helmet of salvation, breastplate of righteousness, shield of faith and the sword of the spirit.
A world of chaos and calamity awaits us every day. I get out of the bed because I am already equipped to face it, and win.
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (Jesus) John 16:33.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
2 in one day?! ... LENT.
Our church has never really observed Lent as a whole. So I don't really know a ton about it, but I do know that Jesus gave up his everything and over these 40ish days, I can give up something. But Jesus also took on everyone of our sins. So I will take on something. My challenge is a bit obscure.
So here's what I decided. I decided, that in spite of the past year of my life where I became a worrier, that I would give up WORRYING. Haha, you might say. But here's a scripture I heard read 3 times the week of Ash Wednesday.
"They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works." - Psalm 145:5
Dictionary.com defines worry as: to torment oneself with or suffer from disturbing thoughts; fret.
Torment oneself? Yep. I've done a lot of that. I've spent way too many hours not sleeping because of worry. I've spent way too many hours having arguments in my head that either will never happen or happened way better than I imagined. Maybe we worry because we want to come up with the worst possible scenario, so when whatever we're worrying about does happen, it's not as bad as we imagined it. I would call that torment.
I've never been a worrier in my life before. I've prided myself on having really big faith. I've learned how to pray, worship, give things over, and walk away. So where did this come from? That's what I'm trying to figure out. I'm trying to figure where, in me, did worry begin. Where did a seed get planted? I don't know. But what I do know is that putting anything in the light makes it not look as scary as we once thought it was.
So, instead of worrying, I will do my best to spend my time thinking of the WONDERFUL works of the Lord. I will spend my time thinking of the WONDERFUL things He had done for me, in me, and through me. Those things are WORTH dwelling on.
"They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works." - Psalm 145:5
Side note: I wrote "worrier" and realized how close that word is to "warrior". I want to be a WARRIOR, not a WORRIER. Dwelling on His wonderful works will produce that in me :)
So here's what I decided. I decided, that in spite of the past year of my life where I became a worrier, that I would give up WORRYING. Haha, you might say. But here's a scripture I heard read 3 times the week of Ash Wednesday.
"They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works." - Psalm 145:5
Dictionary.com defines worry as: to torment oneself with or suffer from disturbing thoughts; fret.
Torment oneself? Yep. I've done a lot of that. I've spent way too many hours not sleeping because of worry. I've spent way too many hours having arguments in my head that either will never happen or happened way better than I imagined. Maybe we worry because we want to come up with the worst possible scenario, so when whatever we're worrying about does happen, it's not as bad as we imagined it. I would call that torment.
I've never been a worrier in my life before. I've prided myself on having really big faith. I've learned how to pray, worship, give things over, and walk away. So where did this come from? That's what I'm trying to figure out. I'm trying to figure where, in me, did worry begin. Where did a seed get planted? I don't know. But what I do know is that putting anything in the light makes it not look as scary as we once thought it was.
So, instead of worrying, I will do my best to spend my time thinking of the WONDERFUL works of the Lord. I will spend my time thinking of the WONDERFUL things He had done for me, in me, and through me. Those things are WORTH dwelling on.
"They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works." - Psalm 145:5
Side note: I wrote "worrier" and realized how close that word is to "warrior". I want to be a WARRIOR, not a WORRIER. Dwelling on His wonderful works will produce that in me :)
It's been a long time!
Wow! It has been a long time since I wrote in here. Some of it has been sheer busyness, and the rest has been laziness. I'm not even sure what I want to say. I do, indeed, feel like my thoughts have become jumbled with my impending desire to just walk away from the situations I am facing. But over the last month or so, I feel like I've learned a lot. Here are a few things I need to remember/get a better hold of:
-When I'm given 12th row tickets to the UNC/State game at UNC, I need to watch the game, not the big screen at the top of the rafters. You really can see better when you're watching in real life, from really close.
-Stop thinking about what I did or didn't say. It's over. It's done. Don't dwell on it.
-I can't change people. God can. I can't bring repentance. I can't make anyone feel any differently (though I've tried), but God can.
-I really can say too much.
-Relationships change and mold. Sometimes it's for the better and sometimes it's for the worse, but bottom line is: GOD IS ALL GOOD.
-My thoughts have become a force of their own, but I still have dominion over them. Why can't I remember that?
-There's a lot I wish was different right this very minutes, but it's not, so why waste my time thinking about it or dwelling on it? (easier said than done)
-Walking in forgiveness is the hardest thing I've ever done.
Lastly, if I could only grasp this verse, I think things would be incredibly different:
"For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. O LORD Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you." - Psalm 84:11-12
-When I'm given 12th row tickets to the UNC/State game at UNC, I need to watch the game, not the big screen at the top of the rafters. You really can see better when you're watching in real life, from really close.
-Stop thinking about what I did or didn't say. It's over. It's done. Don't dwell on it.
-I can't change people. God can. I can't bring repentance. I can't make anyone feel any differently (though I've tried), but God can.
-I really can say too much.
-Relationships change and mold. Sometimes it's for the better and sometimes it's for the worse, but bottom line is: GOD IS ALL GOOD.
-My thoughts have become a force of their own, but I still have dominion over them. Why can't I remember that?
-There's a lot I wish was different right this very minutes, but it's not, so why waste my time thinking about it or dwelling on it? (easier said than done)
-Walking in forgiveness is the hardest thing I've ever done.
Lastly, if I could only grasp this verse, I think things would be incredibly different:
"For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. O LORD Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you." - Psalm 84:11-12
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
