Skip to main content

Prayer and Holy 2 x 4's

My lawn was mown and jungle tamed today. I actually did some yard work and didn't get eaten by T-Rex. More importantly, I am better attitudinally. Why? Because people are praying for me. I tell myself they are praying for me because they are tired of hearing me complain about everything and they want God to shut me up. My inner monologue says some fairly mean things to me. It doesn't matter though. I gladly accept prayers to our God on my behalf.

I used to hate it when people told me they were praying for me. I hated it because that meant that God was going to do something in my life. He was going to take action and I was going to receive whatever it was whether I wanted it or not. I didn't mind so much when there was a catastrophe of some kind going on in my life. I would actually ask for prayer then... but when someone would randomly tell me they were praying for me, it unnerved me. Praying for someone exponentially increases their likelihood of being refined. If someone told me they were praying for me, it was the same as saying, "God is going to take away the things you like most." I am so grateful that God has extended me His grace and taught me differently. Prayer is a good thing.

My friend, Carla keeps a prayer journal. She's one of those Proverbs 31 women types, although she would probably try to deny it. She has a post on her blog on how to keep a prayer journal. We'll all know that God has done some major rewiring and refining in me when I start keeping a prayer journal. Not because I think it is a silly idea. I think it is a great idea. I just know I don't have the discipline required to keep a prayer journal. I can't discipline myself to make a grocery list. When I was young, I didn't need one and now that I do, I can't remember to write them. Or if I remember to write them, you can bet I can't remember to take them to the store with me when I go. Oh for the synapses of my youth! But... I digress.

I know about Carla's prayer journal because my name is in it. Carla is one of the people praying for me. She not only prays for me but checks in with me too. See? Proverbs 31 and Titus 2 collide to make a wonderful sister in Christ. I bet she is praying for my prayer life. Somebody is. I am being nudged by the Holy Spirit to get busy and pray. One of these days I will learn to respond to His nudging and not wait for the Holy 2 x 4 to get my attention.

John Piper has a series of sermons on prayer. I listened to Be Devoted to Prayer today and think that I will listen to it again tomorrow. He makes some excellent points if you have difficulty praying. Basically he says, "So what? Why should you be any different? Do it anyway. Fight to do. Work at it." That's the kind of straight shooting I need to hear. I better go listen again.

Comments

Carla Rolfe said…
{{{ rozie }}}

Reading your post made me smile, then it made my nose sting. We'll discuss that later in channel.

Yes, you are indeed in my journal.
:-)

Popular posts from this blog

Fear Down, Hope and Peace to Go!

Last night I had the honor and privilege to present some information to the women of my church. I cannot begin to tell you how much I love and appreciate them. The seminar I did was on fear. God is clever and He had me present the information to them because I needed it. It's not that I don't want to study things for my own benefit and growth, but whenever I do a topical study to teach it, I see how badly I needed it and how much more I have to repent of than I realized. Sometimes you don't know what you don't know. That's a topic I want to return to in another post. I want to talk about the ladies for a moment. They are an incredibly loving group of women. Women who seek God and are teachable. They have gone out of their way to include me and love on me, which speaks volumes of their characters because I am not all that lovable. I am not being self-deprecating here. I am a mix of endearing and maddening qualities like anyone else. What I am telling you is ...

Be yourself- don't waste your blog...

So... I read an article on my friend, Carla's blog . I have written about her on my blog before and have recommended her before. In this particular post she talks about one blogger's vision for a directory of Christian bloggers to help promote accountability. Which, on the surface sounds all good and 'Christianly' but Carla has reservations. Then I read the comments for her article and Steve Camp of Camp onThis fame has responded. I have also recommended his blog a number of times. For those of you who don't want to click the links, this is a brief synopsis. Some guy wants to have a Christian bloggers directory for accountability purposes, Carla questions the need since accountability begins in the bloggers local church, and she fears it will set up a click of bloggers who are "in" and those who are "out." Steve drives the point home and signs his comment "Don't waste your blog..." That's the part that has me spinning....

Super Church a song for the Emergent-sy

In the early 70s I was in a youth choir at my church. Our youth pastor was a musician and his way of connecting with us as a group was through the choir and music. Somehow there was an affiliation between him and The Continental Singers, New Hope and Jeremiah People. He was worked with Moishe Rosen of Jews for Jesus too, I think. Are any of these names familiar to you? Though I remember the church fondly I was a profoundly lost and troubled young woman during my years there. That and time have muddled the memories quite a bit. Today I was digging through some old paperwork and one of the books to the musical we did. It's Getting Late For the Great Planet Earth, a folk rock oratorio by Cam Floria. Yes, that's right. Cam Floria put Hal Lindsey to music. There's a lot to laugh about and some to groan about but as I was looking through the songs and remembering, I found this little ditty and I only wish I could sing it for you. Just remember that this is circa 1972 and even th...