Discussion from Chapter 8

[This post is for a discussion topic that accompanies a Bible Study on the Power of a Praying Wife.]

On page 81. When Stormie and her husband took a trip to Greece. He had a fear that everything would fall apart if he didn’t go back home. The preacher traveling with him, came and spoke to him and they decided to stay for the duration of the trip. Stormie got pregnant in Jerusalem and had a baby on that Pastor’s Birthday. The impact of those details strike me more significantly when I read the actual pages of the book. But 2 things stand out to me about that story. (I encourage you to read it before proceeding, if you haven’t.)

The first was the significance of little details. The baby being conceived in Jerusalem and then being born on her Pastor’s Birthday, when he [the Pastor] was the one that spoke to them and convinced them to stay.  There have been countless times and situations, where “little things” felt so specific, “ironic” or “coincidental” to my situation, it was difficult to not believe that God was “personal”. Especially when it keeps happening.

The photo

For example: I read a passage in a sexual abuse study a few years ago that really spoke to me about the type of person that I wanted to be. It compared a tree to a woman and it began in me, a deep love of trees. I had little notes on my blog and in my home about them. The picture to the left was my favorite and it was the cover on my Facebook page to remind me. I had other pictures of trees that I thought were beautiful in various places. I decided that I really wanted a painting of a tree but couldn’t afford it. –And this picture,  my favorite, was so pixelated that it didn’t print well and the poster version looked so cheesy that it ruined it. I didn’t pray for it or tell anyone about my desire but I did think to myself, why can’t I just have a painting of that tree!  

The Painting

I am not kidding when I tell you that a year or so later I led a class on post abortion trauma and a few months after the class was over, one of the ladies that attended the class painted me a picture of that very tree that I loved so dearly. It was the perfect size, the perfect tree…. And it came from someone that was a friend but also from someone that represented a particular junction in my life. It was exactly what I wanted [but more] and this painting just couldn’t be bought.

Those details might not mean anything to anyone else but I was seeking the Lord in my life. I was really stepping out and challenging myself to do things that I believed, even though I had “no experience”. I wanted the Lord in every capacity that I could experience him and every time I get past myself and get my eyes on him, he surprises me in some personal way that convinces me, that he knows my name. (Is 43:1-2)

(Just like the experience that I shared with you about picking up the young man and then my husband “coincidentally” going to the conference.)

Let us not forget that his Word tells us in Psalm 37:4 Take delight IN THE LORD and [then] he will give you the desires of your heart.

Perhaps it was the same for Stormie and Michael. They were on a trip with people from church and their pastor. Was there a significant moment spiritually or in their faith on that trip that they were going for and the baby became a reminder of?

You might think that this is a ‘one off’ story but I am telling you, I have prayed for a little donkey to fill an Easter egg, I have wished for a bottle of salad dressing, even in my recent job transition there was a moment when I realized that I was so exhausted in my work that I couldn’t give the passion that I wanted to in sharing my message about Christ. I told him that I wanted to rearrange my life so that he could get more of it. It wasn’t until the moment that I realized it that I was then able to confess it or even know to ask for it. But when I did, then he began to move. –And you know what he else? He took something that I loved personally; and in another moment where I wasn’t even praying, I simply and casually said more as a rhetorical question to God, “Gosh, why can’t I have a job where I do this all day?!” and well…  it took a few months but he answered that too. When I was willing to change it all for him, he answered in a way that I couldn’t even see coming.

When YOU delight in the LORD, HE will give you the desires of your heart!

The second thing that stood out to me from the story on 81 was that he [Michael] felt like everything was going to fall apart if he didn’t go home.  Yet when he stayed just long enough, it all did fall apart but in a different kind of way.  –He had a baby. Nothing stays the same after a baby! Call it intuition, gut feeling, prompting of the holy spirit. But he had this feeling… and got it wrong.

Before I got pregnant with my first child, I remember standing in the kitchen talking to my mother and telling her that I couldn’t explain it but I had this unshakeable feeling that my life was about to change. Only to discover a few short months later that I was also going to have a baby. I had no way of knowing what that ‘change’ would look like. But it was such a strong feeling. My mother and I still talk about that! I was so nervous.

Or again with my job….

The last few years I have really gone through something spiritual with my job. I believe it wasn't necessarily about the job, it's just what the Lord used in my life to speak to and grow me. I still can’t figure out how to put all of the words to it. But I know that I had to go through every single piece of it. I know that it was a birthing process to something else. I know that if I didn’t rise up and do the things that were hard, then I couldn’t move to the next junction.

From the day that I took my promotion on the Help Desk, I told a friend that I couldn’t explain it but it felt like it was either the end of me at the bank or the end of me as I knew it. (Again, another one of those intuitions). Then suddenly, one day, I knew that I had to give my notice. I did it that day! I gave 6 months. I don’t know where that number came from. It just felt like the ‘right’ answer. And 6 months to giving that notice, I found out about or applied for the position that I am in now.

Now I am not just talking about feelings like “I feel like eating a bowl of ice cream ” or “I feel like taking the afternoon off”. It’s hard to describe but there is a usually a restlessness that accompanies these feelings. I can’t just sweep it off to the side and the only way that I know how to explain it is that it’s like “a deep spiritual knowing….” But without all of the details. 

So your question is: What about you? Have you ever experienced a situation like either the first or second?  Feel free to comment on both. If so, please take a moment and tell the group about it (video, blog or text is fine).  If you need to come back to it, ask the Lord to remind you of a situation to share but please come back to this post. If you haven’t experienced either, let’s pray about it. Whether it’s in personal details or in feelings or even in other methods; I pray that he speaks to you in a way that is personal to you. –a way that is unforgettable and undeniable!

And if you’re going through one of those restless places now but you’re just not sure… Feel free to share that with the group too, if you’re comfortable doing so. But most importantly, I’d ask you to take the time to journal, read your Bible and pray about it until the restlessness is over. Yes, some of those situations take months to resolve but concentrating your Bible time and journaling about it, has helped me recognize how God is talking to me and working in my life! Look for God at work in this situation!

Blessings to you!

Setting the Mind and Mouth | Thoughts About Worship

Life is crazy and at any point each of us will be in some sort of struggle. More likely, we’ll have a great number of struggles in varying degrees throughout our lifetime. In each, when it becomes our turn, there’s often another underlying free and annoying companion that invites a whole separate not-so-fun party of its own. The struggle of the mind.

I’d like to share with you a little glimpse from Jehoshaphat’s life that I’ve been meditating on lately. Jehoshaphat is a King of Judah that you can read about in 2 Chronicles. For the most part he was a good King. He was usually quick to seek the Lord and he has been marked as a powerful prayer warrior. So grab your Bible and follow along.

In 2 Chronicles 20 we see that the Moabites and Ammonites came to wage war on Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat goes straight to the Lord full of praise and faith that the Lord will save him and his people. (v6)

In (v10) He reminds God of what the Lord asked of him and his people and how they obeyed.

And I have to stop here for a second because there’s another nugget that I’ve gleaned recently from Philippians 4:6 that says “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Petition as in defending why and why not something should happen. And here we see one of the most powerful pray-ers of the Bible doing this very thing.

Read (v10) again.

Okay moving along.

(v11) He explains what he can’t handle and doesn’t understand. Then he tells God, “we don’t know that to do but our eyes are on you!” They have an encounter with the Lord (v13) and he tells them not to be afraid and this is where the popular verse “the battle is not yours, it’s the Lord” comes from.

(v18) Jehoshaphat bows down and then goes into praise. Then watch what happens the next day when they go into war against the Moabites. (v20)

Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.”

Then in (v21) as they go into battle, “Jehoshaphat appoints his men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army saying Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.”

(v22) As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seri who were invading Judah and they were defeated.

I don’t know how those verses strike you but who sings going into battle? In all seriousness, aren't we usually trying to get everything to quiet down just so we can concentrate, ahem think! hmmm. Could dying to the mind and singing instead be our very best weapon; a song of worship in praise, in any battle that we face of our own?

If that’s not thought provoking enough, check out this link to 7 Reasons Why Singing Matters.

And let me switch to another popular scene in the Bible. Do you remember when Jesus tells the Samaritan Woman “that true believers worship in Spirit and in Truth”? I don’t know about you but I believe that every single one of us has “that worship song” even if you haven’t found it yet. 

I'm talking about the song that you connect with in an intensely personal way and when it gets your eyes on our Father and all that he’s done for you, SUDDENLY you feel his presence all over! The sensation is so strong and so moving, it is easy to walk in love and be patient and “believe” in the power of God or his plan for you. It’s easy to just act in all the ways that you know that you’re supposed to. And heck that's another struggle in itself, walking in love, in all situations. Am I right?

Talk about power!

Anyway, so hold that thought and let me switch gears again.

I am currently leading an online group and we're studying the book, “The Power of a Praying Wife”. This week’s chapter is about the mind. Each week we also pick a verse to meditate on. By the end of the week, I make a few notes and I am trying to practice tying the topic and verse together, in the way that each speak to me.

Our verse this week is on Romans 8:12-13 “Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.”

As I sit down to study the mind and how we can live "by the spirit", I can see in the passage just above it that it says we must first set our mind. But how? I can barely walk into one room to get something without forgetting why I walked in there.

Certainly spending time in the Word will be the best way to do this. Knowing what the Word says and getting it in your mind should be first and foremost. 

Hebrews 4:12 tells us that the Word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double edged sword. It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, it judges thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

If you’re a fairly new believer that verse might be a hard one to follow. A glimpse of how it breaks down in my life, is that when I am thinking something that I shouldn’t be thinking, if I can find the right scripture, the conviction from it comes along like a sword and completely cuts off the things that don’t line up with the Lord. It helps me divide right and wrong, separating my soul (flesh) from my spirit.

That’s where the power of memorization comes in. Making sure that even when you are not with your Bible, the Words of God are still inside of you. Scripture that you didn’t even realize you knew can surface at just the right time!

I know, I know…. Your mind is fried already. How can you force in one.more.thing? You’re exhausted. I get it. Me too.  –But check this out.

I attended a prayer class last winter and the speaker brought her guitar and before every session she sang a few songs. Several of which were scripture songs.  Some of them seemed kind of corny but there was still something about them.  Especially the little one that she did on “Greater than He that is in me.” It was just so catchy and I found myself singing it even by accident.

AH-HA YES! Singing!

But not just any singing. Singing worship, praise and scripture! Genius! And isn't memorization easier when there is a rhythm to it, like a song?!

So I googled it.

I must first confess that I am more into folk and blue grass than pop or anything else. I’d also prefer traditional hymns to a full flavor worship song. So, if you don’t like these links please search for yourself scripture and the genre that you prefer. Also know that my search is just getting started!

I’ve been listening to them this week and I believe that they’re already making a difference. I’m not really in any sort of struggle right now but they are SO relaxing. My personal favorite (so far) is found on Spotify by Sherri Youngward. Just search scripture songs. Heck get your Bible and read along. 

Anyway, If you’re new to Spotify, just sign up for the free Basic trial (not premium) and it will stay a free account. Then you can simply search for Scripture Songs.

But if singing and worship is your best weapon in battle and if scripture is the best weapon of your mind…. I’d say that once you marry the two and put them into practice, you might just have a life changing “cocktail”.

Finally, if you just can’t get into Christian music, know that there is hope. I was very much like you. In fact I couldn't listen to the local station in big doses. I cringed. I prayed that God would show me something that I could listen to and he answered. Again, googling different genres helped and so did Spotify. There are even a couple of Christian Coffeehouse stations on there, if you're into the same mellow sounds as I am. Eventually, after a little practice of listening to the songs and even the same local station, I grew to love it. -But I also realized that there was a heart problem. My taste for the music had to be driven by my desire to grow closer to the Lord, not the musicians. -And before I knew it, I was acclimating nicely. **Praise**

If you can only find one song that really moves you for the Lord, I encourage you to wear it out while you are searching for more. When all else fails, make up your own. I am sure Jehoshaphat didn’t have a station, he just “tuned in” from his heart and his mind.

May this be a blessing to you.

P.S. If you've come back to re-read this post, thanks! I had to tweak the end...  :)

Photo Credit: http://thevirtuousgirl.tumblr.com/post/68284264020/colossians-316

Eagles and Signs

I've seen an unusual amount of Eagles lately. I pass them in fields as I drive to work through various towns. Last week alone there were at least 5 sightings. In one of them, there were 3 Eagles, which I believe was a mother and her two big kids. The last one was so close its size was startling. It was sitting on the edge of the road feeding on a carcass along Rt. 14. I weighed the decision to be late to a first meeting or turn around and a take a picture. ...hmmm

I kept driving but began a conversation in my head that went something like this. “I thought it was uncommon to see Eagles.” “Maybe I just haven’t been looking and they are more common than I thought.” “I wonder if there is a reason I am suddenly seeing them.” 

I thought of the verse in Isaiah 40:31. So I asked God if there was something that he wanted me to know. Then quickly I remembered a conversation with a friend. I was discussing several of my recent transitions with her and she asked me if God ever showed me a sign during certain events to let me know that I was on the right path. While, I often feel God's presence and I receive confirmation to various things, I can't say that there has ever been any "one thing that I always see when...."

There have been many changes this year. I know that they are all needed and I am moving in the right direction. But every now and then I do like to stop and check in “Lord is this what you want for me?" "Is this me or you?" My heart fluttered and I realized that maybe Eagles are a “sign". 

Later when I was able to get some quiet time, I looked up my passage. The whole verse reads: "But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." I knew it was confirmation that this was the right path. It was also a reminder that as I face so many new things to learn, I should trust [lean into him] so that he can provide me with the strength or clarity that I need for whatever lies ahead.

I started over from the beginning and read all of Isaiah 40. Another passage caught my attention. It reads "Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all of her sins."

Just that week, maybe even the same day, I had completed a prayer/devotional type thing that I gave my husband. In it, I asked God to give him "double" for everything that he has lost. And while it may appear "coincidence" from where you’re sitting, on this side of the screen there is a stirring that runs deeper. I know that God is with me in this moment. He is also in my prayers for my husband and on this journey. I know those Eagles were meant for me to see.

They may not always be "my sign" but I've had other similar experiences with a sudden onset of the same verse every where I turn, or when every thing and everyone starts giving me the same "unusual" message. When too many instances of something out of the ordinary catches my attention, it's an opportunity to pray and hear from him. And with each, I find that I am refreshed and encouraged in my current situation. 

I believe He called it hope in the Lord.

What about you, is there something that you see regularly when you need confirmation or experience certain life events?

What about now, has there been anything that you've seen lately in an unusual frequency, for you?

Have you prayed and/or studied scripture around it? If not, I encourage you to do so! Make it an opportunity to journal about it.

  

Photo Credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald_eagle#/media/File:2010-bald-eagle-with-fish.jpg 

Philippians 3:15-16

I belong to a ministry (and group of friends) that make it a point to break down a chapter of the bible. We assign a verse to a date and then to a member of the group. Then we each take turns breaking down and sharing what the Lord is speaking to us in that order.

It has been very encouraging and good to read but also be a part of. It definitely ensures that members of your group are spending time in the word. But it also helps build intimacy in your group. So, I thought it was worth sharing with you. Anyway, this week it is my turn.  This was my verse and here was what was on my heart! May it be a blessing to you.

***

All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained. – Philippians 3:15-16

This verse speaks a lot to me in all areas of our lives.  The first is in how we should embrace ourselves.   My kids are still in elementary school. Many times when they see their friends do something different or get something new, they feel as if they need to have the exact same too. The same jeans. The same skateboard. The same games on their iPods. I’ve also heard my daughter say, “But I can’t sing like her.” And my son say “But he’s doing it (naming his best friend) and I’ve gotta do it to!”  Sometimes we don’t grow out of that when we’re older.

Don’t we look to our peers sometimes and think I wish that I could paint like her. I wish that had a marriage like that. I wish that I had the same job or could do those things. We write ourselves, our gifts and our things off as if they don’t compare adequately to the world around us.

But here, this verse says “All of us who are mature should take such a view of things.”  As it said in the previous verses “forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead”.  (It doesn’t say look to your right and left at who’s running by you.) It encourages me to embrace where I am. Who I am. To practice what gifts I might have. Don’t some of those places feel awkward as we start off this new practice?

I used to say that I wasn’t creative. Mostly because I didn’t really have any proof of it.  I dismissed most of my ideas thinking that they sounded better only in my head. But then I started practicing and saying “I am creative. Let me try.” It was mostly in small ways like, painting rocks with the kids here or making something for someone there.  It felt awkward at first but the more I tried, the more I felt myself coming to life.

Even in writing, I always wanted to be a writer. I used to write a lot of poetry in school. I stopped for a long time but when I began getting inspired to write differently and to share it publicly… I felt silly and worried “What if….and I was wrong?”

But by believing that there is a purpose for those desires and “pressing on”; it has allowed me to see how God can use me. He may not have made you like Sally or Jane but that was because someone in your life needed something that only you could do.

Doesn’t that also translate to how we grow in the word and by faith? “My testimony will never sound like his or hers.” or “I am not a preacher. I can’t talk to someone about God.” And “I will sound stupid if I pray out loud.” –By not daring to practice, we miss the opportunity to grow in it.

No toddler ever learns to walk without falling. Every parent knows that and so we encourage them to get up and try again. We should practice the same maturity and acceptance with ourselves.

Whatever it is that you feel you should be doing, start doing it. Know that there will be mistakes. Know that you can’t “know and do it all” from where you are. If you step wrong the first time, God will correct it. If it feels uncomfortable, keep practicing. You will learn all kinds of ways to do it better and then you’ll have knowledge. –Even in faith, sharing the word and your testimony; speak and share what you know now. (what you have attained to be true) and if some part of your thinking is different than what it should be, God will make that clear to you when it’s the right season to do so.

My Pastor always says that faith is like a library. If you get stuck on a concept or principle, just put that book back up on the shelf for later. Don’t try to have it all figured out right now. Let the Lord lead you with what you do know and the rest of the information will come later when you’re ready. His comment reminds me a lot of this passage.

Finally, I don’t know what season you’re in but even when we come into transitions. We want to move ahead but we plague ourselves with doubt and sometimes hold ourselves back, because we don’t know what it’s like on the other side of that decision. This verse again, reminds us to have confidence in what we do know to be true about Christ. –That he will be with us wherever we go (Joshua 1:9).  That he upholds us (Is 41:10). That he is our personal teacher/counselor (John 14:26) and HE is sufficient for all of our needs. (Phil 4:19)

Embrace where you are ladies and let the Lord lead you. Don’t worry about being different. You already are. Challenge yourself to do new things. Stop worrying about what everyone else might think or what you might do wrong because it’s stifling the flow in your own life and maybe even someone else's.

Photo Credit: http://www.theverge.com/2014/9/18/6339583/iphone-6-and-6-plus-camera-test-iceland