Psalm 113

I am so blessed to be surrounded by Christians at work.  Of course I don’t like to get up in the mornings, because I LOVE my sleep, but I never dread going to work.  God has truly blessed me with a job I love and people I love to work with (who also make it easy to go to work).  Last week, a coworker stopped me and told me to read all of Psalm 113, but that the last verse was for me.  First of all, how blessed am I to have someone think about me when they read their Bible?  Secondly, the Lord used her to get my day started right.  How can I have a bad day when I’m surrounded by God’s children who follow His direction when He leads them to share scripture, pray with/for one another, and simply have conversation about Him?  Praise the Lord for where He’s placed me!

Psalm 113 ~ Praise the Lord, you His servants; praise the name of the Lord.  Let the name of the Lord be praised, both now and forevermore.  From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised.  The Lord is exalted over all the nations, His glory above the Heavens.  Who is like the Lord our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the Heavens and the earth?  He raised the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; He seats them with princes, with the princes of His people.  He settles the childless woman in her home as a happy mother of children.  Praise the Lord!

Talk about hearing from the mouth of God!  This knocked me right in my face and made me give thanks and praises to Him.  I whole-heartedly believe that this was the Lord’s way of sending me one more reminder that He is in control and that I should seek His will always.  God sends us comfort in simple things like when a coworker shares scripture or a friend whispers that she’s been praying for you.  My prayer lately has been that God will be glorified in any circumstance, good or bad.  He is so good to me and these reminders make me want to do good work for His Kingdom even more than I already did.  All I can say to this is, “Praise God!”

My prayer is that you will see God’s glory in any situation, good or bad.

Aibileen Clark

I’ve always wanted to be a prayer warrior, but have never felt like I qualify.  I try to make it a point to actually pray for people if I ever tell them, “I’m praying for you.”  I think, as Christians, we sometimes let that phrase become a standard way of letting people know we care about them…without actually following through with the promise.  Much like: “Hey, how are you?”  Most of the time we don’t really care how people are, nor do we respond with how we really feel when asked, ourselves.  I know, in my life, “I’m praying for you” has often become one of these standard phrases to say to people.   I know many people, though, who I can count on their prayers if they say they are going to pray for me.  I try to make a point of saying at least one prayer for the person I’ve promised to pray…I just hope to get to the “prayer warrior” level someday.  I want people to count on my prayers. 

In, The Help, Aibileen is one of these people.  Her friends ask her to pray for them because they think her prayers go straight to the ears of God…of course all of our prayers do.  I think the difference in Aibileen’s prayers and my prayers is that Aibileen prays with all of her heart.  She has a humble heart and wants God’s Will to be done.  She also prays expecting. 

I often get distracted when praying and don’t finish the prayer.  Or, sometimes I may just not know what to pray.  I’m working on these things though.  I was really excited when we started a new Bible study at church called Lord, Teach me to Pray.  Unfortunately, it’s a Kay Arthur study.  She seems to be a wonderful lady and a very strong and passionate Christian…I just can’t relate to her so I’m not really digging the study.  I know how to pray and I truly like praying.  God’s word says to Pray without ceasing ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:17.  I personally like the NIV translation: Pray continually.  (Again, it’s a relation thing, because I rarely use the word “ceasing.”) I like to think I pray continually.  When I was in the youth department, we talked about having a continuous conversation with God.  I talk to Him all day.  Instead of “counting to 10” in a frustrating moment, I talk to God.  When I’m reminded of His magnificence, I thank Him.  When I am sad, or mad, or bored, I don’t have any problem turning to Him for a little conversation.  Praise God for that…my prayers just tend to be on the selfish side, thus making me fall short of “prayer warrior” status. 

MercyMe has a song called “If I could Just Sit with You a While”.  I like to spend a lot of my prayer time just sitting with God and being in His presence.  I am in total awe of Him (If you have never heard that song or don’t have it on your iPod…get it!  It’s helped me when I don’t know what to pray, when I’m sad, or just need a Heavenly Hug.)

I have found that when I make time for my conversation with the Lord, and ask things for other people, my prayers are more heart-felt and true.  I feel like God is more willing to answer my prayers for other people than the same ole selfish prayers I throw at Him all the time. 

I’m also so amazed (and why am I ever amazed by His power?) at the outcome when I pray expectantly and confidently.  When I put my whole heart and faith in a prayer, I know it will be answered.  This is where I struggle though.  I tend to pray “expecting” a pair of Jimmy Choos (not really, but you get the idea) and other selfish, earthly prayers.  1 John 5:14-15 ~ This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His Will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him.  The key here is “according to His Will”.  I love being in His Will and am excited to see Him working in my life and using me for His Kingdom, but continuously praying for His Will gets tough.  Obviously, I want what He wants for me…and I’ll be happier with it, but when it comes to asking for His Will to be done, no matter what my earthly will may be, takes faith.  Perhaps I need to work on strengthening my faith (your prayers would be GREATLY appreciated). I posted a few weeks ago about praying for His Will to be done…no matter what and I think that still gets me.  Satan knows what I want and knows that by making me dwell on those things, I am distancing myself from what God wants.  I need to continue to have faith that God’s Will is enough.  No matter what this earthly life throws at me…God is enough.  He loves me enough.  1 John 2:17 ~ And the world and its desires are fading away, but the person who does God's will remains forever.  Hallelujah for eternal life with God!

My prayer for us is that we will have enough faith in our Father to pray like Aibileen.

What did you do?

Everywhere I turn lately, I hear God asking, “What did you do with what I gave you?”  He is obviously trying to get my attention!  I first heard this a few weeks ago from a Tuskegee Airman on Rick and Bubba.  He was on there talking about the new movie about the TA and he revealed the similarities and differences between the movie and real life.  One of the stories he told was about the way he, as a black man, was treated during his time as a TA.  This was before the Civil Rights Movement, before MLK, before integration.  He was part of the group that integrated the U.S. Military.  His recounts revealed his positive attitude during a difficult time in the world.  He said that he has had a positive attitude no matter what has been thrown at him in life, because he wants to be able to answer God proudly when He asks, “What did you do with what I gave you?”  The TA said he could answer with (something along these lines), “Well God, I was a black man in the south, during a really hard time…” only to have God reply, “I know. I put you there.  What did you do?”  This man has plenty of excuses, yet he has chosen to live his life for the Lord no matter the circumstances.  I have done plenty of things of which I’m ashamed and hope that God doesn’t bring up when I stand before Him.  However, Jeremiah 29:11 says: For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  It’s what we do with those plans and how we react to them that can bring Him glory.  Even if we mess up along the way…no matter how great, we can still glorify the Lord.  Our actions and attitude will determine if He gets the glory.

David and I are behind on movies and finally watched Facing the Giants this weekend.  The coach told his players that their attitudes are the “aromas of their hearts.”  If their attitudes stunk, then their hearts stunk.  This first reminded me of Matthew 12:34 ~ For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks, but it also fits with the question we will all be asked one day.  If you have a humble, Godly attitude no matter the circumstance, God gets the glory! 

Mike mentioned a quote Sunday that says, “Blessings and talents are God’s gifts to us.  What we do with them are our gifts to God.”  God obviously wants me to think about this lately and He’s given me situations so I can apply it.  Thankfully, they’ve been small situations where I think about biting my tongue before I say something or jumping on an opportunity when I feel Him leading me.   I want Him to get the glory in all of my actions. 

My prayer for you is that you will glorify God in all that you do.