A Life Worthy

Tag: prayer

  • One-a-Day Friday, 9/26/14

    number 1And thus ends a week of C.S. Lewis poetry.  Thank you for indulging me as I shared a few of my favorites.  I hope you found them as worthwhile as I.

    After Prayers, Lie Cold

    Arise my body, my small body, we have striven

    Enough, and He is merciful; we are forgiven.

    Arise small body, puppet-like and pale, and go,

    White as the bed-clothes into bed, and cold as snow,

    Undress with small, cold fingers and put out the light,

    And be alone, hush’d mortal, in the sacred night,

    –A meadow whipt flat with the rain, a cup

    Emptied and clean, a garment washed and folded up,

    Faded in color, thinned almost to raggedness

    By dirt and by the washing of that dirtiness.

    Be not too quickly warm again.  Lie cold; consent

    To weariness’ and pardon’s watery element.

    Drink up the bitter water, breathe the chilly death;

    Soon enough comes the riot of our blood and breath.

  • One-a-Day Wednesday, 9/24/14

    number 1C.S. Lewis Week—Day Three

    Prayer

    Master, they say that when I seem

    To be in speech with you,

    Since you make no replies, it’ all a dream

    –One talker aping two.

     

    They are half right, but not as the

    Imagine; rather, I

    Seek in myself the things I meant to say,

    And lo!  The wells are dry.

     

    Then, seeing me empty, you forsake

    The Listener’s role, and through

    My dead lips breathe and into utterance wake

    The thoughts I never knew.

     

    And thus you neither need reply

    Nor can; thus, while we seem

    Two talking, thou art One forever, and I

    No dreamer, but thy dream.

     

    He understands you better that you do, Beloved.  Enjoy your Wednesday with him.

  • One-a-Day Monday 7/7/14

    number 1I don’t know about you, but I could use another week of resting in Him.  So, since this is my blog…  

    Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, and with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  (Philippians 4:6).

    I can only do so much.

    Like we talked about last week, a huge part of our anxiety comes from the need to control our situation.  When circumstances, or people, are not working in the ways we want, and we aren’t able to change them, we get stressed.  Paul is reminding us here that we are not in control—that we will never be in control—but that we have a lifeline to the one who is.  Rather than relying on our own ability to manipulate our situation, we are called to take the things that worry us directly to God.

    Nothing too big.

    Nothing too small.

    But we need to do it with the right attitude, Beloved.  It’s not a list of demands.  It’s not a blueprint for our lives that we just need God to sign off on.  We are to come with thanksgiving, recognizing that he loves us, he wants the best for us, and he is more capable of knowing and doing what is best than we can ever think or imagine.

    I’m gonna let you in on a secret, just between the two of us.   This verse has often annoyed me.

    Yeah I know—just a touch of arrogance there.

    When I focus on the first part—Do not be anxious about anything—I get frustrated.  It’s like someone telling me, “Don’t think about squirrels.”  All that does is plant the picture of those fluffy little rats firmly in my brain.  Telling me not to worry only makes me worry more, because now I feel guilty and ungodly for worrying in the first place.

    Thanks a lot, Paul.

    But I find that if I focus on the second half of the verse—in everything…present your requests to God—things work a little better.  I do my part by bringing my worries to him, but then I let him do his part and be God, which, frankly, he is ever so much better at than I am.

    Though that’s tough to admit.

    What worries are holding you down today, Beloved?  I won’t tell you not to worry.  I will tell you that you have a really big, strong God who is waiting to hear all about it.  Go to him.  Release your stress to him.  He can handle it.  And he’s got something to give you in return, but we’ll talk about that tomorrow.

    Happy Monday, Beloved.

  • One-a-Day Wednesday, 1/15/14

    number 1…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.  (Philippians 1:6)

    Hear that, Beloved.  God is at work in you.  He’s the Cosmic Contactor, and he’s building a temple for his Holy Spirit.  He calls that temple You.  Of course he’s not finished yet—he won’t be until the day you stand before him.  So don’t stress because you’re not “there” yet.  You don’t even know where “there” is.  Just let God keep doing what he’s doing.

    Reasons why God is more trustworthy than your average contractor:

    God knows everything.  Your contractor may or may not have finished high school.

    God is totally in control of your situation.  Your contractor is limited by your budget, local building codes, and those pesky laws of physics.

    God loves you completely, and wants only that which will be the best for you.  Your contractor—well, I hate to break it to you, but he’s in it for the money.

    So you’ve got a few rough edges—OK, so you’re a mess.  It won’t be forever.

    As a matter of fact, your forever is going to be amazing.

  • One-a-Day Tuesday, 1/14/14

    number 1In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now…  (Philippians 1:4-5)

    Who did you pray for yesterday?  Were you able to pray with joy?  Paul could, because he was praying for fellow believers. There is a sweetness that comes when you are praying for a “partner in the gospel.” Knowing that they are saved frees you to pray for their sanctification, pray that they would draw closer to Christ every day.

    Pick someone who is your partner in the gospel.  It can be the same person you prayed for yesterday, or it can be someone else.  I’m not keeping track.  Pray for them, that God will draw them closer and closer to himself, and cause them to be conformed to the image of Christ, even this day.

    Who knows?  Someone out there may be praying for you.

    Happy Tuesday.

  • One-a-Day Monday, 1/13/14

    number 1I thank my God every time I remember you.  (Philippians 1:3)

    I used to have a prayer wall.  This was an area of my room where I had pictures of friends and family posted.  There was no rhyme or reason to the arrangement—just dozens of snapshots stapled to the wall of a dorm room.  Every time I looked at those pictures, I remembered people who were important in my life.  Some of these people I saw every day; some were thousands of miles from me.  Just seeing those photos prompted me to pray for them.

    This is what Paul is talking about.  These are people he cares for, people who are important to him.  He wants them to know that he is thinking of them, covering them in prayer even when he can’t be with them.

    Who is on your prayer wall?  Whose face popped into your mind when you read this Scripture?  Spend some time in prayer for them today.  Start your week by bringing someone you love before the throne of God.

    That’s a good Monday, there.

  • Family Worship

     

    Praying Hands

    O.K., this time there will be no rabbit trails.  In my last post, I started to talk about our family’s worship experience, and I got distracted by the issue of sleep.

    I love sleep.

    Anyway, it is a bit ironic that I got distracted when I was talking about worship.  You see, my family always gets distracted when we attempt to worship. (more…)