It is 11:59 on the very first day of 2011 and what was I just doing you ask? Well, let me tell you…I just Googled myself. (cue laughter) Well, low and behold I found this lil ol’ blog (yes, I just typed that while saying it in a southern accent). I decided it was about time to start updating, but considering the fact that it is indeed so late on January 1st…oh wait, nevermind, it is now January 2nd…I thought it best to find some old tidbits I had written here and there and post those so as not to let them get lost in the land of Microsoft Word; hence, the blog written in November right below this one. As I am searching on my computer I find a document titled “Babbling Blog;” my creative zest for titles is quite impressive I know.
While I am reading through this blog that was written almost a year ago in January of 2010 I am sitting here wondering…who is this pastor that I am talking about that spoke at church?? Quick, scroll down and read the post below this one…seriously do it. I will just keep typing nothingness until you do. For example, did you know that the coach of Alabama before Bear Bryant had only won four games in three seasons?! I know that because one of my best friends was watching the Alabama/MSU game with her boyfriend’s family today so I thought it was my BFF obligation to text her some impressive “Alabama Football Fun Facts” (yes, I Googled that too). OK the point is I want you to read the previous post…all done? Good. Remember the part where I said “It’s funny how things seem to come full circle.” Ladies and gentlemen, it’s about to come full circle once again (signal dramatic zooming and music). That friend that had written me the e-mail about seeking the kingdom of God above all else is indeed the same fella that spoke on prayer…now is that a coincidence or a GODincidence (you like that term don’t ya? It’s ok I don’t care if you use it…it’s way better than that term Lacey Chabert’s character tried to coin in Mean Girls…sorry my distraction level’s at an all time high at the moment, which is most likely due to the three cups of coffee I had earlier).
So here it is..I left it as I had written it a year ago:
I was just sitting at my computer doing some lesson planning for the week to come when my iTunes came to one of my favorite songs: From the Inside Out by Hillsong United. (Listen to it right now…seriously).
How true are those lyrics? Everyday my soul is crying out to Him. I wake up and take my bowl of vanilla soymilk and cereal, usually some sort of organic granola of some sort (yeah I know I am one of those organic eating, tree-hugging types…well sort of) and I go to my computer and do some devotionals. Now I know what you are thinking…devotionals on the computer, really? (Hey, don’t knock it until you try it.) Before I go to bed I read my Bible. During the day I pray for strength, wisdom, discernment…I pray that I won’t tell that student that is rolling around on the floor smashing orange crayon into the carpet that if he doesn’t stop then…wait wait anyways the point is I feel that we as humans can not go through the day without Him. Even if I am distracted by the discouragements and even encouragements of the day He is always there. He is faithful, always faithful, so we should be faithful. How often do we lose sleep because we are worried about everything and anything from what we are going to wear in the morning and if we have matching socks to how we are going to manage the next house payment. I will let you in on a little secret…a secret weapon to combat those worries and anxieties of everyday life: Prayer. Yeah, I said the P word. Prayer…now what does that word mean to you? An all access, never-busy, straight path to the personal cell phone of the Lord and Savior that’s what it is.
Last week I listened to a pastor preach on prayer. Now I wasn’t going to go to church on that cold January night, but I did. I am sure you can guess what I am about to say next: I felt like that message was meant for me. I felt like it was meant for my family. I felt like it was meant for that teenage kid sitting two rows in front of me in the collared shirt and ripped jeans. I felt like it was meant for that middle age couple quietly sitting behind me drinking their coffees. The point is God uses so many vessels to speak to us and I totally believe nothing is by accident. I feel like every single person in that church that night was drawn there by Him. We all needed to hear that sermon, even if we knew it at the time or not.
There were two major aspects of that night that stuck out to me. The first was when the pastor said, “You don’t HAVE to pray, you GET to pray.” Now how awesome is that? I mean so many times we do the monotonous, day in and day out prayers that don’t really contain that authenticity of a relationship because we feel obligated to pray. Our relationship with Christ is so contrary to that though; we have the privilege of coming to him and being completely genuine. We have the honor of having that counsel right there for us at any moment. The other thing that really caught my attention was when the point was made with a rather humorous analogy of requesting a PB&B sandwich over and over and over and over again with that fact that many times we may make requests to God by continuously asking Him for the same thing in a million different ways. The pastor pointed out that we do not need to repeat ourselves; we can definitely have short prayers because He hears those. Along with that second element was the fact that we may need to come to Him in prayer for something 2, 3, 4…times because more often than not he is going to change our hearts and our wills to align with His.
I pray that God will constantly work in me. I pray that God will constantly draw close to me as I draw close to Him. I pray that I can be a light for Him. I pray that contentment and peace will always overcome me as I trust in Him. I pray that I will never stop praying. I pray that not my will, but His will be done.
How true are those lyrics? Everyday my soul is crying out to Him. I wake up and take my bowl of vanilla soymilk and cereal, usually some sort of organic granola of some sort (yeah I know I am one of those organic eating, tree-hugging types…well sort of) and I go to my computer and do some devotionals. Now I know what you are thinking…devotionals on the computer, really? (Hey, don’t knock it until you try it.) Before I go to bed I read my Bible. During the day I pray for strength, wisdom, discernment…I pray that I won’t tell that student that is rolling around on the floor smashing orange crayon into the carpet that if he doesn’t stop then…wait wait anyways the point is I feel that we as humans can not go through the day without Him. Even if I am distracted by the discouragements and even encouragements of the day He is always there. He is faithful, always faithful, so we should be faithful. How often do we lose sleep because we are worried about everything and anything from what we are going to wear in the morning and if we have matching socks to how we are going to manage the next house payment. I will let you in on a little secret…a secret weapon to combat those worries and anxieties of everyday life: Prayer. Yeah, I said the P word. Prayer…now what does that word mean to you? An all access, never-busy, straight path to the personal cell phone of the Lord and Savior that’s what it is.
Last week I listened to a pastor preach on prayer. Now I wasn’t going to go to church on that cold January night, but I did. I am sure you can guess what I am about to say next: I felt like that message was meant for me. I felt like it was meant for my family. I felt like it was meant for that teenage kid sitting two rows in front of me in the collared shirt and ripped jeans. I felt like it was meant for that middle age couple quietly sitting behind me drinking their coffees. The point is God uses so many vessels to speak to us and I totally believe nothing is by accident. I feel like every single person in that church that night was drawn there by Him. We all needed to hear that sermon, even if we knew it at the time or not.
There were two major aspects of that night that stuck out to me. The first was when the pastor said, “You don’t HAVE to pray, you GET to pray.” Now how awesome is that? I mean so many times we do the monotonous, day in and day out prayers that don’t really contain that authenticity of a relationship because we feel obligated to pray. Our relationship with Christ is so contrary to that though; we have the privilege of coming to him and being completely genuine. We have the honor of having that counsel right there for us at any moment. The other thing that really caught my attention was when the point was made with a rather humorous analogy of requesting a PB&B sandwich over and over and over and over again with that fact that many times we may make requests to God by continuously asking Him for the same thing in a million different ways. The pastor pointed out that we do not need to repeat ourselves; we can definitely have short prayers because He hears those. Along with that second element was the fact that we may need to come to Him in prayer for something 2, 3, 4…times because more often than not he is going to change our hearts and our wills to align with His.
I pray that God will constantly work in me. I pray that God will constantly draw close to me as I draw close to Him. I pray that I can be a light for Him. I pray that contentment and peace will always overcome me as I trust in Him. I pray that I will never stop praying. I pray that not my will, but His will be done.
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