In His Hand

"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one."  

~ John 10:27-30 ~

This is just such a wonderful scripture. It's such a comfort. It gives us a glorious promise that we, believers in Jesus Christ, have eternal life and will never be snatched out of Christ’s hand that holds us. What a reassuring promise! What a beautiful picture! We are safe in the hand of the omnipotent God and nothing can remove us from His grasp! 

The Greek word in John 10:28 used for pluck means to take by force or seize. Thus the word snatch in this verse is an action done without the consent of the recipient. In other words we could say that no one will kidnap, take by force, or seize us out of Christ’s hand. This is the promise Jesus gives us. However, we don’t live in God’s hand by default; we must choose to come to Him. As the psalmist wrote in Psalm 91:9-10...

"Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling."

 Does this mean that bad things will never happen to us? No, Christians are persecuted, martyred, and afflicted all the time. So what is the promise then? It’s that no evil shall befall us without our Heavenly Father’s permission.

By making God our dwelling place, we trust in His supreme sovereignty. He is more than able to take care of us, and the painful things that do come into our lives are lovingly filtered through His gentle fingers.

So I ask you….are YOU dwelling in God’s hand? Have YOU made Him your home and place of permanent residence?


There is no safer place to be than in the hands of the Almighty, Omnipotent, and Sovereign God. God, who has called you by name, is now inviting you into His sanctuary. It is an open invitation, and the only thing that can stop us is ourselves. Therefore, let us live in the Palm of His Hand! And let us make it our permanent and everlasting abode.

What Faith Is

Book Review :: The Helper

I'd like to review a wonderful book today. It's "The Helper" by Catherine Marshall.

Interested in the Holy Spirit and want to know more about it?

Confused about the Spirit and what His working in our lives looks like?

Wondering how you can have the Holy Spirit?


This is not just another book about the Holy Spirit. It's one of the best books I've ever read. Catherine Marshall is a wonderful author.

She offers forty inspirational "helps" that contain Scripture, a prayer, and insight into the third person of the Trinity. Catherine Marshall writes about the answers she discovered to questions like: Who is the Helper? How do I experience the Helper's presence? How does the Helper meet everyday needs? What is the Helper's role and function in the Church?

The forty "helps" could be used as a devotional guide, or you could read the book straight like I did. :)

I'd recommend this book for readers who are interested/curious about the Holy Spirit. I'd certainly not recommend it for younger readers, simply because it tackles some slightly more difficult topics. Probably ages 13-14+ would find this book suitable, depending on the maturity of the reader. :)

Overall, this is a great book, one I've found extremely valuable and practical. I highly recommend it.

Testimony Time :: Bonnie

Good morning, friends!

I have had the wonderful privilege of growing up in a Christian family. For as long as I can remember, we've read the Bible together each day (usually multiple times - once in the morning, and once in the evening) and prayed together. My parents have always instilled in my siblings and I the wonderful benefits and blessings of having a relationship with the Lord Jesus.

I don't remember this, but I'm told the time I accepted Jesus into my heart was on the 24th of January 2001, when I was almost 3 years old (I know, young, right??).

I am a sinner, and I know that the wrong things I have done make it impossible for me to attain Heaven's perfection under my own merits. I am a sinner, a fallen human being, and cannot live for eternity with the Lord because of my wrongdoing.

But God, in His everlasting love, faithfulness, justice and mercy, provided a way for me to be saved - His son, Jesus, who He sent down to earth. Jesus lived a perfect life, then was cruelly killed on a cross, a punishment he did not deserve. If I put my faith and hope in Jesus, then his righteousness is transferred to me and I am pure, spotless and clean, making me able to enter Heaven when my walk on this earth is done.

I was baptized in December 2010. That was a wonderful experience, being able to publicly declare who I trusted in and that I was following Jesus.

I think the one word that best sums up God during my walk with Him is "faithful".

Throughout all the hills and the valleys and the ups and downs of life, God is always faithful. And he always will be.

I have found, in my life, that God is always able to be fully trusted. He is in control, no matter what happens. I am most definitely not perfect. I make mistakes, all the time, and botch it up. But God is merciful, gracious, forgiving and loving.... He is my best friend and I absolutely cannot imagine life without Him.

I'd like to close here with a couple of my very favourite scripture references.


Psalm 16:11
You will show me the path that leads to life, in Your presence is fullness of joy.

Isaiah 43:1-3

Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters,I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior

Many blessings to you all! :)

~*~*~*~

The Bible and the Coal Basket

The story is told of an old man who lived on a farm in the mountains of eastern Kentucky with his young grandson. Each morning, Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading from his old worn-out Bible.

His grandson who wanted to be just like him tried to imitate him in any way he could. One day the grandson asked, “Papa, I try to read the Bible just like you but I don’t understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bible do?”

 The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and said, “Take this coal basket down to the river and bring back a basket of water.” The boy did as he was told, even though all the water leaked out before he could get back to the house.

The Grandfather laughed and said, “You will have to move a little faster next time,” and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again.

This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was “impossible to carry water in a basket,” and he went to get a bucket instead. The old man said, “I don’t want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You can do this. You’re just not trying hard enough,” and he went out the door to watch the boy try again.

 At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got far at all. The boy scooped the water and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty.

Out of breath, he said, “See Papa, it’s useless!”

“So you think it is useless?” The old man said, “Look at the basket.” The boy looked at the basket and for the first time he realized that the basket looked different. Instead of a dirty old coal basket, it was clean.

“Son, that’s what happens when you read the Bible. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, it will change you from the inside out.”

That is the work of God in our lives.

To change us from the inside out and to slowly transform us into the image of His son.

Take time to read a portion of God’s word each day. Pray that He will use it to turn your heart and mind to Him.

-Author Unknown

A Story - Big Picture Faith

A New Beginning

Isaiah 43:9
Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

Isaiah 40:31
But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Revelation 21:5
And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”

There's something awesome about a new year. A sort of fresh start. A new beginning. It holds a whole lot of exciting surprises.

The beginning of this year, 2015, is a wonderful opportunity to take the time to focus yourself on the Lord. Spend time in His word and rededicate yourself to him. Spend time in prayer, seeking His will for this year. 

Lamentations 3:22-24
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”

I hope your 2015 is wonderful!

By Faith :: Music Video

Hello friends! I am so sorry I haven't posted recently...my life has been, well, should we say, busy? :) The Lord is so gracious...He allowed me to qualify for the Nationals in Bible Bee, so from August 29th until October 29th, I am busy memorizing 750 Bible verses and studying the book of Nahum. Hence the reason for my absence ;-) 

I thought I'd share a music video I recently saw...hope it blesses you! :) 

God bless your week! Press on! 

Rachel 

Thankfulness and the Lord’s Holiness

Last Monday, I was on my way to work. It’s a 10 km (around 6 mi) distance via the main road, and about 11 km (close to 7 mi) if I take the back way. When there is plenty of light still, I take the main road because it’s sealed all the way—the back road is mostly gravel. The main road is dangerous—being the only direct north/south road on this side of the mountains, it’s traveled a lot. But since it’s quicker and easier to travel on, I stay to the side of the road as far as I can and pray for protection.

Going to work (heading south), I have to go around many curves, up three fairly steep hills, and then I reach the big hill—the fun one, because it’s all down. It is a little nerve-wracking when a bigger vehicle tries passing me while I’m going down in between a cut. Generally, I try to wait at the top until all vehicles have passed me before going down. And I keep my brakes on as I go, because losing control in that area would be deadly.

At the bottom of the big hill there is a bridge. It’s two lane, but still pretty narrow—you wouldn’t want to stay on there long. This particular Monday, I got to the bridge and was still going fairly fast from coming down the steep hill. I knew someone was behind me, but I decided to go ahead anyway instead of stopping to wait for them to pass me—if I hurried, I’d get across before they got to the bridge.

That was my mistake. About half-way across the bridge, trying to stay to the edge so I wouldn’t be in the way of the vehicle behind me, I skimmed the guard rail. I don’t think any part of me or my bike touched the rail, just my bag that I had hanging on my left handle. That was enough, though, and it upset my balance. Before I knew it, I was in the middle of the lane, with a vehicle coming from both ways—the south-bound behind me, the north-bound in front of me! I could feel the bike tipping under me, and I remember thinking one of those thoughts that take about a quarter of a second to process.

“I’m going to go on over. That vehicle coming will hit me.”

I really don’t know what happened next. Somehow, I stayed on my bike, and managed to get back to the very edge of my side of the road—just in time for both vehicles to pass safely. I grazed the guard rail again, but once again although I thought I must have REALLY dinged my bike up good this time, in retrospect I don’t think either of my tires or my pedals actually touched the rail. Shakily, I pedaled on as fast as I could and turned onto the much quieter road the place I work on is located. There, I inspected my bike, and was thankful to realize there was not a scratch on it. And I received no bruises from the incident.

I feel so thankful that I didn’t go on over. If the car behind me had been just a few seconds closer, I would have been hit (and I do feel sorry for the driver—I’m sure they had a heart attack seeing me in the middle of their lane!). I could have crashed into the guard rail, and that would have tipped me over. I know God had His hand on me, and kept me safe. The incident made me very thankful for guardian angels!

Thursday, when I went to work again, I made sure to stop and look behind me before going over that bridge. I was going slower, and as I went across I happened to see a light by the side of the road, where people generally don’t drive. When I went back to look, it was my back bike light—one I use for riding in the dark. It is generally attached right behind my seat (on the seat bar), and somehow snapped off Monday. That was the only thing that broke in the whole ordeal, and I really don’t know how it was hit. (Oh, and by the way—the way it broke made it very easy to fix, as well.) All I know is that God was keeping His eye on me!

So this Sunday, I come to share a thankful heart with you. God certainly does take care of us, and protects us—even when we can’t see the danger.

I am very thankful. But yet, as I think of it, I’m reminded of the age-old truth that says that it takes something big to direct our attention back to God. What a sad statement! How quickly we drift away from Him! How easy it is for the devil to come in and make us ungrateful of all the things the Lord has blessed us with! The lack of gratitude to the Lord for the little things of life reminds me of a powerful statement I heard recently. I can’t remember the exact wording, but it went something like this:

“The lack of strength in the church we see today is a direct result of the church disregarding the holiness of God.”

The men who were talking pointed out that if people would stop to realize for a moment how holy God is, and how His holiness affects us, modern Christianity as we know it would be completely different. People would be more on fire for the Lord.

I’m reminded of the words of Paul when he said,

“And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience….” (Romans 5:3)

Today, we as modern Christians have a major problem facing us. We have forgotten how holy the Lord is. We have forgotten that He is to be praised in everything, the little things as well as the big things. Paul calls us to praise the Lord even when we are in serious trouble—not just when big miraculous things happen! The same word “glory” here is also translated as “joy” and “rejoice” in other verses.

Even when the world is collapsing around you, hang onto the lifeline—Jesus Christ, our Lord. He can turn the impossible into possible. He can get you to the side of the road, even when you feel you’re going to tip off at any second.

How the Lord has shown Himself mighty in your life lately?

~Esther

Desiring God

“As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby….”
—1 Peter 2:2

My mom recently weaned my youngest brother. Even though I’ve seen it done to all my siblings, it is still hard to see him wanting to eat but not being allowed to. He still begs, but he is slowly learning to eat like a “big person” at the table with everyone else.

“Nora” by Rick Bolin is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Seeing his longing to eat and remembering the verse from Peter makes me question my own life. Yes, I’m happy in the Lord and going to Him for daily nourishment, but am I longing to get to know Him like I ought to be? Do I desire to know Him as I ought to—as He wants me to? Or am I lax in my spiritual life, going to Him when it suits me or when I especially need His guidance and direction?

My dad has used the illustration a lot of a baby who is just born and doesn’t want to eat. The parents are very worried about the baby, aren’t they? And so God is about us when we don’t actively seek Him and turn to Him day by day, second by second. It isn’t just us who need this, though—its the world. Let us, each one, turn to the Lord and ask Him to guide our footsteps in the “way of righteousness” (Proverbs 12:28), so others can see His light and desire Him as well.

“We all profess that we are bound for heaven, immortality, and glory: but is it any evidence that we really desire it if all our thoughts are consumed about the trifles of the world, which we must leave behind us, and have only occasional thoughts of things above?”
—John Owen

Be the jewel He’s called you to be!

Grace…and Faith

(I found these very encouraging this weekend, so thought I’d pass them along. :) God bless!)

“I’ve learned recently to love imperfection a lot because it shines such a big light on God’s grace. And if someone has grace for you that’s when you feel their love the most and they see you for who you are and they love you anyway.”
― Lacey Mosley

“Trusting God’s grace means trusting God’s love for us rather than our love for God. […] Therefore our prayers should consist mainly of rousing our awareness of God’s love for us rather than trying to rouse God’s awareness of our love for him, like the priests of Baal on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:26-29).”
― Peter Kreeft

Photo courtesy freeimages.com

“God really is a Father, as displeased with a cramped, niggardly attitude of lack as with its opposite.”
― Brother Andrew

“We can put it this way: the man who has faith is the man who is no longer looking at himself and no longer looking to himself. He no longer looks at anything he once was. He does not look at what he is now. He does not even look at what he hopes to be as the result of his own efforts. He looks entirely to the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work, and rests on that alone. He has ceased to say, ‘Ah yes, I used to commit terrible sins but I have done this and that.’ He stops saying that. If he goes on saying that, he has not got faith. Faith speaks in an entirely different manner and makes a man say, ‘Yes I have sinned grievously, I have lived a life of sin, yet I know that I am a child of God because I am not resting on any righteousness of my own; my righteousness is in Jesus Christ and God has put that to my account.’”
― D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

A Lighted Fire

I’m sure most if not all of you have had some experience building and lighting a fire in your lifetime. We have the privilege of having a coal range to heat the kitchen, cook meals on, and heat our water, and since we try to use as little electricity as possible we have to run the range frequently to make sure we have enough hot water to get through the day’s needs. We also have a log burner in the living room, and with the two combined we often have the chance to get a lot of experience in lighting fires!

“Cat and fire” by Michel Filion is licensed under CC BY 2.0

When you first go to start a fire, you have to start with the stuff that burns easiest—such as newspaper and cardboard. On top of that, we usually pile a few pinecones, then a few thin pieces of wood, and then slightly thicker wood. After that, you can put a thicker piece of wood on or beside your stack. It usually works best if you build your pile against the side of the stove, so that the oxygen can more easily get in there to help the fire burn.

Then you set the newspaper alight, and blow gently on it so that the fire will burn hotter. Sometimes, it doesn’t catch the pinecones and thin pieces of wood right away, so you have to put more newspaper and cardboard in. The fire might almost die, but with coaxing, patience, and gentle (and sometimes harsh!) blowing, and maybe a little more newspaper in there, the fire usually takes off and the room starts to warm up.

The Christian life is a lot like that, too. When we first become Christians, we are excited about following Jesus. We burn hot for a little while…and then somehow our fervour slowly seems to die. We start to wonder whether anything really did happen back there or not, and slowly our little light goes out. Then God adds a bit of newspaper, and starts blowing again. Sometimes, He has to blow pretty harshly to get our attention. After a bit, we get the message, and slowly start to warm up and get excited again. After a while, the fire is burning well, but you do have to replenish the amount of wood from time to time, or it will go out.

Proverbs 26:20 says, “Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out….” God has given us plenty of wood to use—the Bible—to keep our fires burning brightly. But it’s our choice whether or not we use that wood to feed and grow on. Sometimes, it requires some heavy wading to find a jewel of encouragement for the day—especially when you feel you don’t have much time to do it—but like wood that is still slightly damp when thrown in the fire it will catch and burn eventually.

Our responsibility to actively seek God’s will and try to learn from Him. Just as we blow on the newspaper to start a fire, we also have to blow on the little flame that He has given us with faith in His promises, praise of His goodness, and prayers for His guidance. Just like a fire needs fuel, oxygen, and heat to burn, we need to use the Bible as our fuel, prayer as our daily communication with Him, and faith and praise as the heat by which people can tell that we are real followers of Jesus. We don’t want to be one of those fake fires that look like they’re burning but they really aren’t—we want outsiders to see that this faith we possess is real.

“That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:7)

Jesus is ALIVE!!!

The Garden of Gethsemane / Mount of Olives, looking towards the city of Jerusalem.

Golgotha - "The place of a skull"

Do you see it? The lower half of it is now hidden under the parking lot.

In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.

And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.

 His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:

And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.

 And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.

HE IS NOT HERE, FOR HE IS RISEN, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.

 And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.

And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.

Matthew 28:1-8

The Garden Tomb - where he was buried ... and where he rose from the dead!!

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

John 3:16-17

~*~

Praise the LORD! Jesus is risen and alive forevermore!!!

Happy Resurrection Day!!

My Plans Towards You

Have you ever felt despair of not knowing what tomorrow holds? Faced the unknown with fear? Became sick just thinking about the final exam tomorrow? Worked yourself up at the thought of your job interview next week?

The truth is that all of us have experienced the same or similar experiences some time in our lives. If you are at all like me, I can work myself up at that slightest thing abnormal or unknown in my life.
For example, I recently applied at PA College of Health Sciences as I work towards an Associates’ Degree as a Registered Nurse. The deadline to apply to class was February 1st. All my paperwork was into the college by that date, except for my GED transcript. That transcript was coming from the state of PA and the college did not receive it until two weeks after the deadline. Any applications that are received late are reviewed according to available space. So I began to wonder, was I too late? Would I be admitted to the August class? Should I accept the offer from the other college? After I declined the first offer, I began to wonder, did I make the right choice? Time began to slowly tick by - days developed into weeks. I continued to question my decisions and then started selling myself short.
My faith was quite small at that point and worry was taking over. I was struck with the thought that God is in control and He already knows the outcome. All I need to do is trust Him to lead me in His will. I was reminded of a verse from Jeremiah 29:11

I realized that I had so quickly forgot that God was in control of the situation. After surrendering my college issue to Him, I felt peace knowing that He would work in His perfect time. Although worry continued to surface, I reminded myself to let go and let God take control.
The challenge I leave with you today is to trust all your worry to God. When you surrender it to Him, leave it in His arms. Don't bring it back into your arms to worry and fret about it. He is faithful! He knows where you will be tomorrow, next year, and even ten years from today.
For me, the answer came once I fully surrendered my worry to Him. I received an acceptance letter to the college and the first thing I did before I opened the envelope was to thank God and ask for His continued guidance wherever He was leading me. Sometimes He answers in the way we were hoping, other times He says "No" and yet sometimes He says "Wait"
He is faithful. Trust Him moment by moment!

Blessings! Andrea

Foundation

This post came from The Pursuit (you can read others we’ve posted from the website here). It was originally posted on September 21, 2011.
Used by permission of the blog/magazine’s editor—thanks, Ariel!

Some girls wear it, some don’t. Foundation—a creamy concoction of pigments and fillers to create a flawless complexion. With a smooth canvas, a girl can create a masterpiece!

How important is having a foundation? I often think about my childhood and how blessed I am to have a family who set my feet on a firm understanding of God, love, morals and the important lessons of life. I often wonder what I would be like without their support and upbringing. No matter how far or how many times I’ve strayed, their words—especially those of my mom—resonate in my head, bringing me back to the path of the straight and narrow. Without that smooth foundation, where would I be? Would I be a mess?

Then I think about those who didn’t have a solid foundation set for them. Their lives were far from flawless and loving. My favorite thing is hearing about those Cinderella type stories where someone goes from nothing to something! The Blind Side was a great example, but the people I know personally who are truly better because of their rocky start and dysfunctional childhood. Those people truly deserve the world and respect! You see, no matter what, you have a choice—be that foundation for someone, someone who needs it!!

Every makeup artist starts with a blank canvas—flawless or not. It’s the teachings, experiences and creativity that helps them create that perfect look. Flawless or not, you have the option of creating a beautiful life for yourself and others. The Lord will honor you and bless you and guide you along the way :)

Psalm 40:2 “…he set my feet upon a rock…”

Stay FabYOUlous,
Brynlea
fabyoulousgals.blogpsot.com

Brynlea Taylor Cunniff is a tomboy in a tutu. With a desire to be the Proverbs 31 woman God created her to be, she walks down the runway of life hand-in-hand with her Designer (in heels…and cowboy boots). Brynlea has a true passion for the young ladies of today’s generation, so she has a blog dedicated to devotions, fashion and everything girly! Follow her on fabyoulousgals.blogspot.com and Twitter @FabYOUlousGals. She would love for you to join her Facebook group “Fabyoulousgals” for Godly encouragement and girl chat!

Claiming the Promise

Monday morning. I work on clearing the breakfast table, half-listening to my brothers practising their memory verses. My mind drifts elsewhere as I put the food in containers for the fridge. It’s been three months now since we were first told we had to move out of our rental, and even now the house we are planning to move into has not even been finished. Our deadline for moving is getting closer.

Sometimes, we're falling. And it doesn't

seem like there's anything under us.

That's when we need to just trust.

Photo Credit: “Wings” by Paul Friel
is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Knowing that God has been faithful in the past makes it a little easier to wait, but I still wish that we would be able to just move and get the stress over with. The boys start a new verse, and the words snap me back to attention.

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28.

 

All things work together? We’ve been waiting for over two months for the electricity to be hooked up so we can move in, but so far it hasn’t been done! That’s the major hold-up—and Dad just said yesterday that we might end up moving whether or not the electricity is in! I do not want that to happen.
 
But all things work together? Yes, maybe mostly everything else is ready over there for us to move in. Electricity is a big thing, though. But if the Bible says that all things, not just some things—but ALL things work together for good, then I believe it. God knew back in early November when we were told that within 2-3 months we needed to be out. He knows now that the situation is getting desperate—we need to move!
 
God knows. And I’m going to trust Him, even though it looks like it could take them two or three more weeks to get everything done. I’ll trust. Because I believe that when He says in this verse that “all things work together for good”, He means it.
 

God always means what He says.

~Esther

 

P.S. I’m sorry I didn’t write last week. We had things going (which will hopefully be explained soon!), and by Saturday night I was too tired to write. Lord willing, these next few weeks won’t be so busy so I have a bit more time to write. :)

So let's talk about prayer...

Okay, so let’s talk about prayer…you know that face you make when someone around you gets hurt, or when you realized you did something horrible without even knowing it? I think that writers better than me call it “wincing.” Well, that was what I did when I decided to write on prayer. Not because it’s a bad topic, but because it’s a really good topic. A topic that, well, if I wanted to write a nice, clean, lovely encouraging post about prayer, well, I couldn’t do it honestly.

Because, to tell you the truth, I’ve been working on this whole prayer thing for years…and I just can’t seem to get a hold of it. So allow me to write a messy, honest, down to the grit post about prayer.

What is prayer? And our typical answer would be “Prayer is talking to God.” And then we move on to pray…we thank God for something, we apologize for any sins we know hurt Him, and we continue with our list of prayer requests for other people and then end with our own. Right? Well, most of the time, I don’t get that far. Most of the time, I can’t even get past those first two sentences….

The fact that God calls me to pray, when prayer is talking to Him, makes me stagger in shyness. Because it reminds me once again of God’s boundless love for me and the rest of His girls and boys. Because it reminds me of my too-often bounded love for God. Too often the love I return back to God is bound by conditions and insecurities. And when I finally comprehend that, I am ashamed. And I cry out to God and apologize and surrender…every time I go to pray. Trying to comprehend the fact that He bids my un-agape soul to come to His throne from which proceeds the vastest love in the universe to bring my requests to Him…it causes me to fall on my knees. Through this heart-prayer, I lay everything at God’s feet.

And this is what has happened almost every time I begin a prayer since I committed my teenage life to learning more about prayer. At times, I think that I should be “further” in my prayer life by now. But what I have learned is this: Sometimes God’s purpose of prayer can be to reveal Himself to us. I have learned so much about the faithfulness of God through this almost awkward journey through prayer. I’m still learning so much about Him, and I have seen Him answer the surrendering prayers of my heart so many times. I’m learning to pray for other people, not just by whispering their names in a so-called “prayer,” but I have learned to pray for other people by lifting up their lives with my heart to God. Trust me, prayer is so much more than the words we say. It is more than the list we write at our prayer meetings. The very substance of prayer is who God is. Think about it. He already knows what you are going to say. But He wants you to come to Him and lay everything at His feet. He already knows how it’s going to work out. But He’s your Father and He wants to commune with you.

Anyway, I’m not sure I’m making sense. Hopefully, some of you will know what I’m talking about when I refer to my wincing at the writing topic. I’m sure there are more experienced posts on prayer. I’m sure there are some honest, beautiful expounding posts on prayer. But I can’t put on a face about it. Allow me to be honest about my personal prayer life and what I have learned. Prayer revolves around God and His Word, not around you and your words.

-Cosette

Anxiety and Faith

Photo found on Flickr.

“The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety.”
― George Mueller

This would be very good to remember, especially when we’re struggling to try to get everything done and afraid we won’t find time to do everything.

Keep trusting Jesus!
~Esther