A Different Way to Pray

Talking to God

 I am reading a book on a good way to pray.  The premise is that too often we sort of get in a rut praying the same thing every time we pray.  A lot of people will pray a rote prayer, the same thing every time  they pray .  I know , I usually start with the Lord’s Prayer then go through the ACTS system of praying .  A is for Adoration, C is for confession, T is for thanksgiving, and S is for supplication, the things you are praying for.  This system works for me as long as I do not get in a rut and just pray the same way every time I pray. And I understand , it is easy to do.  

The book  Praying the Bible , by Donald Whitney, offers an easy way to really pray powerful prayers because you are praying God’s Word back to Him. We do know the the Bible is God breathed,  totally inspired by the Holy Spirit as He spoke to the men who penned the Bible.  The book offers a new way to approach praying by first of all going to the Psalms. We know that David wrote the psalms and he is known as the man after God’s own heart. You can tell by the beauty of each one. 

Let’s look at Psalm 1.go line by line  and consider  how that  verse relates to you,  if it implies a need you  have  ask the Father  for it, if it is  a verse of  adoration  then  worship Him   about  it  from your heart. Whatever registers within you  know  that if you are  God's child   his Spirit is at work in you.   (If you  are on the fence with  God, my Prayer is you will  decide  to  join His  family by praying the believers Prayer  which you will find on the right column.) That is the glory of  this way of  praying. It is initiated by God's Word and it is  enabled by His Spirit in you! I will demonstrate  as I would pray:

Psalm 1

Blessed is the person who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Dear Father,   Thank you for my salvation,  that I am inclined to hear from You, and  stay  away from the wicked,   even though I  often falter,  thank you  for  reeling me back into your fold and  keeping me from evil.
Nor stand in the path of sinners,  Father, keep me from the path of sinners..  keep me on the right  path for I know the   the path to hell is wide and the  path to You is narrow. 
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!  May I   never be a scoffer or a rude or  lying person.  Keep my mind staid on You and  may my love for YOU  be extended to those  whom I come in contact.
2 But his delight is in the Law of the Lord, Oh, Father, I do delight in your Law.  For it is righteous and good.
And on His Law he meditates day and night. I desire to meditate on Your Law and Your Word  day and night.  I  do wake up with you in my mind each morning and  go to sleep with Your Word on my lips.  I pray that  Your Spirit will help me apply the Word  daily and   as I meditate on it  I would learn it  by memory more and more! 
3 He will be like a tree planted by streams of water,  I  desire to be planted by streams of water..  yes, Living water.  may it flow  through me which means  that  the  Spirit would flow  from me to others  through my speech and actions,  Lord,    help me to be your water vessel!
Which yields its fruit in its season, I do desire to  yield your fruits   which are  written in Galatians 5:22...love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control.
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.  Prosper me Lord, In this world  there are  forces  that  are  working to  take  what is  ours through  poor   governance and   businesses  practice wicked schemes. Give me wisdom to know how to maneuver in  this world and   help me protect the resources you have given us.

But they (the wicked) are like chaff which the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the wicked will perish.

So Father I pray I will never be counted  with the wicked  or be an unrepentant  sinner.  Therefore, I do confess my sinners .......   and   I thank You that YOU  are faithful to forgive us  when we  truly  confess our sins!  Thank YOU and I love You,  Amen

  So that is an example of praying the Bible.  There are 150 Psalms once, you  work your way through once  start again  and  believe me  each time you pray the Spirit will lead you in  manner  that you didn't  do before. It will always be fresh and  relevant.  I hope this helps you as much as it helped me,  and God bless you!

Contemplation and Rejuvenation

Yes, I have been  rather  absent lately....  I  have   been   completely consumed with my parent's   matters  of late,....  since they are  in   different nursing  facilities,  I keep the road  hot and  the last few weeks  were  extremely stressful...   so then I fell  not only  ill,  but  pretty  terribly depressed... things have settled  considerably and  I   am recuperating...   of course, I spend  much time  on my knees during   these  low periods,     but  time spent outside  is   so restorative, as well... 

 Not as glorious as Ive seen this   before,   yet,   this   time of year  never    fails to   rejuvenate me..

from my neighbors  draping  wisteria, so divinely  gorgeous...

 to  my very own  sumptuous lilac  with it's sweet, sweet  fragrance!

I  am  filled with the  majesty of  God's   wondrous creation!

undoubtedly, one of my  most favorite   spring  blossoms, the  peony tree  in its delightful fragility   speaks  realms to me  of the sustenance of God  who  keeps  all things  in   time, order, and space!


  

the luscious   seemingly identical bloms of the azalea, yet no  two  exactly the same....   God's infinite creativity and   concern  for   individuality  speaks  to   my personal need for Him and how  he never fails to   provide for all of my needs.. no matter  how   small!

a row of blooming  azaleas  of varying hues  living together  in  harmony and unity.. how  marvelous if people  could learn from nature!

One of the    most precious things I learned this week    was from  one of my favorite tv pastors... Joseph Prince...seen daily on TBN  at 10am
  this morning    he spoke on   what  God had told him  about  this year 2013.. that is   the year of the "Open Door".     There are many  scripture passages on the open door  concept...   and I found this intensely interesting because God proclaimed to me an open door  period   in my spiritual  life  just  a  few years ago.. and  since that time  my   spiritual  life has  changed..   I am a different person  in  a  good way, I think,   because   my open door  that opened  for me   was  in a prayer ministry  that  brought new friends into my life,  new  things to learn about God and His ways,  a deeper walk  through  prayer  and  expectation from God and  He has multiplied  our  blessings through prayer in so many  ways....  I am thinking today is the National Day of  Prayer  where   thousands of people  all over this nation are coming to God... bringing  our   deepest  concern over our sin,   our nation's decline, our  lack of morality,  our  lukewarm   churches,  our failing government, and decline in the  family....  and   the  spirit of antichrist  that is  seeming to infiltrate our    society at an alrming rate..all,  before the throne of His grace...     repenting  for  our nation's  deeds.. the injustice, the  killing of the unborn,  the  misdeeds of  so many in authority.....  we  come to Him at a time of the Open Door.....   here is what God  says about the Open door..  as  He spoke to the true  church of Philadelphia ( one of the  7  churches of Revelation)...  the church of brotherly love...

...“He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens” 8 “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name....  

Let us pray, first, of all  that  we are  this   pure  church of Philadelphia...  who.....

• depends on the strength of God and not our own strength
• keeps  God's Word...  in our hearts and on our lips
• will not deny the name of Jesus  but speaks it boldly  even in times of persecution
•  but also,      let us pray   for   an open door  be over our nation    to  pour out   the light and fire of God's spirit  over   the churches,  over  our government,  over  the media,  over our schools,  and over   our military....   that  no man or   unclean spirit  can shut out and    that will  bring  a  time of righteousness and holiness..   that   will heal our land  with  His righteousness and holiness  for   the sake of our  children and  our posterity, forever, ! Amen!

Home  and Garden  

 Outdoor Wednesday

A Day to Pray

Pop on over to  https://www.facebook.com/events/182725988533484/
  
Thousands there are offering prayers for  the nation...   You can join   the multitudes... God bless!!

Mike Huckabee   is seeing  his  marvelous  vision to  call America to prayer  come to  fruition....  Multitudes are on their knees today  in prayer....  Please   join  them there...it's easy!

Let's Pray for our Nation

Today is the first  official  day of autumn and  it feels like a new beginning to me!!!!..  I have purposely been absent from blogging   because I   was preparing my  mind, body, and  spirit   for    powerful prayer event   we  worked on  this last week..   What an awesome event it was... 
Our prayer group  had been feeling, for a while, that    God   was on the move in our lives  but we weren't quite sure of  what  he was  getting us to do....    but, we were feeling antsy and ready to  move with HIm...   We, then, were  reading all the emails   regarding prayer events for the election and the concerns  for  the election and felt an urgency to   to   break through the bonds of denominationalism   that   separate us and bring together  Christians in our valley   to exalt the one who    binds us together  in peace and love and harmony so we   planned a  prayer event , held it in  our local library  auditorium  and   sent out flyers to   many churches...   the only problem,   in  one sense, was  that our date  coincided with  another pro-life fundraising dinner in our community ....   but even  at that  we had  over 85 very dedicated  Christians  come   for an evening of sweet worship and prayer for our  nation..   We were taking  II Chronicles seriously.. we spent most of the time praying   repentance  our people , our churches  not  just  pouring  requests    for  God's help   from our perspective wants and wishes,,, but     cried out  for mercy  and   God's favor  in His Will   for our nation....
G
This prayer that  circulated  around  the internet   resonated with us... credited to  Billy Graham  but  snopes   declares  it was  written   by a congressman  a few years ago,   but no matter... it   speaks to the ills of our  nation!
Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our
spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have
killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem. We have abused power and called it politics. We have coveted
our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and Set us free. Amen!'

 The people cant wait for our next event on November 2....We  feel that   God  was pleased for the  Holy Spirit moved  through the room  and He filled in   the areas   that  we were remiss in  planning....We felt that  exactly the right people  were there, the exact  correct number and  we  also feel that  our next venue  must necessarily hold a larger   influx of  folks  because  people are hungry for this  ...  it was a taste of heaven on earth!!!!

Please pray

for me and my family....   this has been one of the most stressful times of my life....   my  parents just moved into Assisted Living last Wednesday and  each day since then has been a  huge trial.....it's not that they dont like   the new home....  it is very nice and  a lovely place to live...   but mom's fall last Monday a t home   has aggravated her  arthritis to the extent that  she has  basically given up trying to  do those things she knows she needs to do...  Lynn and I have worked around the clock to  get things   done for them and  make  the transition smooth  but  nothing we have been able to do or say has helped mom in her resolve to    move beyond the reality of the pain that she has coped with  for many years  ....   tomorrow  we take dad to one doctor and  then later mid morning we take mom to the pain specialist... please pray that  he will have  some relief for her.....  and that  things will finally settle down....  this week has taken its toll on everyone....

Today, Wednesday

has been a difficult day...   I am better now...  but I do ask for continued prayers  for  uncomplicated recovery healing and  rest!!!  Thank you to all  who   visit here and I  pray God's blessing on you!

Prayer for November from Guideposts

You will probably wish to pause the regular playlist as you enjoy this 30 second prayer video... and God bless!

National Day of Prayer

Today is the National Day of Prayer on our country and our community... I am pleased that our church opened its doors this morning at 7am for those wishing to come in and spend time humbling themselves before God seeking direction and mercy for our country. I was there to help kick off the day and Lynn and I will go spend an hour there around 5 this afternoon. Doors close at 7pm. There are so many issues in desperate need of soaking prayer we need to be continually seeking God's will in every area of life. Our nation is struggling with the effects of the enemy in everya rea of our society and government... God is our only hope...

2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Prayer

Please click this link
if you have the same deep concerns about our nation and indeed the world today. When I received this in an email today I was so moved... this scripture and sentiment has been a resounding gong in my life and I might say in many lives as we see our world crumbling before us... but through prayer... we can make a difference.

Prayer for Today

From the Upper Room

The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles."Psalm 34:17

This is such a very important election. If you are like me you feel the groaning of creation as sin catapults us farther and farther from the glory we once experienced in the Garden before humankind plunged us into the clutches of the enemy who seeks to devour and destroy. I particularly feel this death-grip on our nation... it seems as if the enemy has blinded so many into beleiving a lie which is being perpetrated which is undermining the core values, and even the very material of which our nation was forged. As a retired teacher of Virginia History I am so saddened by the initiaitve of rewriting our wonderful history removing all mention of God from our marvelous birth as a nation. Now instead of for religious freedom, our founding fathers colonized America for economic reasons......for this and so many other reasons of which I pray more and more Americans are realizing, this election and particularly the next one will be tantamount in our attempt to staunch the flow of liberty that is radidly evaporating from our grasp. I urge you today to meet with me today in deep, soaking prayer for our nation.. let's agree together that Godly men and women will be elected who will stand in the gap in our government.. With God all things are possible!!!

I DREAD Today

If you happen by my blog today especially this morning, please pray for my day. This is the fourth day of my 10 day sub in fifth grade and yesterday I could sense that the climate was deteriorating. The classes had been very good the first 2 days, but it just couldnt last. Yesterday they simply told me " I dont want to!" I mean I have never had students just say something like that. Today the plans are such as to require more work from me than them, and in my spirit, I find myself rebelling. I dont want to either. It is no fun when it is difficult to find any joy in being around a certain group of students. There is one class- right in the middle of the day that really is NO pleasure at all. After 6 years of retirement this is tough. I dont mean to be bellyaching, but I dread dealing with trying to keep them engaged, paying attention and being accountable when so many are rebellious. I suppose I could just go in- do my job and not care whether they did their part or not, but I cant do that. I really do care too much and want them to be the best they can be! Argh! I really need God's provision today!

AW! Please Pray

I was checking Amanda's away message today on the messaging service and it said,"I CAN'T WAIT TO GET MY LIFE BACK!"
Poor thing, she has been holed up in the lab or at her computer now for weeks trying to finish her Master's program. Her professor just didnt seem to understand she wasn't going for her PHD. She finally finished the lab experiements Wednesday and now has until next Thursday to finish her thesis as she defends on that day. This has been a long time in coming. Joshua, as well, as been teaching at Tech, plus working on his PHD to defend in December. I would really appreciate any prayers on their behalf. The problem is I know they are losing a ton of sleep. They work way into the wee hours night after night!