Wooing {Fasting series}

So yeah, pretty much everything felt like dying at this point. 

I was trying to finalize the details of women’s Bible studies for the summer, figure out last minute details for our church’s Women’s Retreat retreat that was the weekend before the fast, prepare for a conference, help Jeff with some administrative details, serve meals for some single moms in our area–oh, homeschool our kids and make meals and like keep our house running–yeah, just lots going on and then there was this whole upcoming thing about eating almost nothing for 40 days. Grrr.

I felt so stressed. On top of that, several people close to me had had visions that seemed like warnings, that seemed alarming, that were very troubling to me. I started feeling anxious and fearful, but there was no time to entertain these emotions, there was too much to do.

Just. Keep. Moving. Keep checking off items and keep serving and keep helping. 

To be fair, I honestly didn’t realize I was exhausted and anxious. I tend to be very focused on tasks, what needs to be done, moving forward. I don’t sit around and think about my feelings very much. So I went into the women’s retreat weekend feeling just fine and looking forward to being with the ladies.

Actually, no. That’s not true. The real deep-down truth is I was willing to go because that was my responsibility and that was my thing to do, but I would’ve given anything to stay home and curl up in bed instead.

But that wasn’t an option.

So I went to the retreat, and it was great. Truth was taught, people prayed for, it was fabulous. But then Saturday night I started feeling that anxiety and fear and fatigue creep up, I could feel it hovering just beneath the surface, I could feel that I was about to cry, but wasn’t sure what the appropriate setting was. I couldn’t just blab about everything to everybody, I needed to be wise.

I crept into my room, into bed, in the dark, and everything gushed out in tears. I couldn’t make sense of what I was feeling, it was just overwhelm and sadness. I knew I should share with someone and have them pray over me, I wanted to, especially since this was a prime opportunity to be vulnerable and receive prayer, but I didn’t want to make a scene and honestly didn’t know who to talk to. So I crept up quietly and prayed that if one of the elders’ wives was available, not engaged in a conversation, that I’d ask them. But I went up and they were all busy talking, so I went back downstairs and tried to fall asleep.

But to my amazement, then someone opened the door and silently crawled into the bed on the other side of the room, and I realized it was my dear friend, one of our elders’ wives, someone I knew I could completely bare my heart to.

“Elisha? Is that you?”

“Yeah.”

And then I literally just crawled over on her bed and collapsed in her arms and sobbed on her for at least a half hour. Ha! Poor girl! I seriously don’t think I’ve ever cried that hard. It just all gushed out–anxiety and fear and overwhelm and fatigue and stuff I hadn’t even known that I was feeling. She listened for forever, prayed over me, shared some good and hard words of encouragement too, and I eventually went to sleep.

But I realized the next morning, as I reflected on the scriptures, that I had been one-sided in my relating with the Lord. I was serving. Serving, serving, serving. All I could think about was dying to self, dying the world, giving up my rights, giving up my food, serving and giving and doing and pouring out, out, out, out.

But in a glorious shift of perspective, I realized the Lord was wanting to FILL ME. I realized He was WOOING me. He was calling me away from things, not because I was in trouble, but because He wanted me. He wanted all of me. He wanted to call me away from all the busyness of cooking and eating and working and serving, and He wanted to drastically simplify my life for 40-days so that I could be with Him.

This fast was Him wooing me. It was His love that was leading me here.

During the retreat, each person had a chance to receive prayer, to have every other person lay hands on them and pray over them. During my turn, at the very end, people had visions of me sitting on my deck just basking in the sunshine. They kept saying God was wooing me, calling me away from all the busyness to just be with Him and be filled.

I was so overwhelmed with joy and relief. I could physically feel the change in my body. I came home restful, filled, at peace. From that moment on, everything felt restful. Everything changed. The anxiety left. The fear vanished. I actually got excited for the fast! Yes, there would be an emptying, but there was a “filling” in store that I couldn’t even fathom.

He was going to fill my life with His love. 

{Until next time, thanks for reading…}

Tasteless {Fasting series}

Have you ever had a long cold or sinus infection, and it made everything tasteless? Isn’t it frustrating? Especially if you feel decent otherwise, but you bite into what should be a delicious cookie or burrito or sandwich, and you can feel texture but the whole thing’s just plain tasteless.

It’s disappointing. You want to enjoy it, but you can’t because your senses hindered. Your taste, your ability to fully enjoy that certain flavor, has been deadened.

Once I finally stopped “researching” and just agreed that God probably knew best, once I set my mind and heart to do this fast for 40 days, exactly as prescribed, come what may, then I began involuntarily going through a process. I didn’t like it.

It began with three simple things. I had sensed God leading me to obey Him in 3 simple areas for the 3 weeks leading up to the fast. I had already sliced bananas and stocked the pantry, now it was time to prepare my heart. The three things were:

  1. Stay home.
  2. Don’t shop.
  3. Get up early to pray.

This simply meant that whenever possible, I was to stay at home, and begin simplifying my schedule to carve out more time to seek Him. This meant I didn’t need to research things or shop for kids’ summer clothes or keep my eye out for deals. This meant unsubscribing from all “deal” emails. This meant getting up early to pray, to begin preparing my heart for this time.

I didn’t realize it at the time, but these things began to create a sharp separation from the world. I remember so clearly, just a week before the fast, I had really wanted to go into town to take advantage of a coupon that was about to expire. I wasn’t buying anything for myself, but there was something attractive about going and “getting something” nonetheless. It’s hard to explain, but maybe you get it, that subtle thrill of acquiring something new, when it feels like so much is being stripped away.

It was the worst day. I’ll spare you the details, but it was as if God made every attempt to buy or “enjoy the world” that day completely futile. Everything went wrong. Even Starbucks was a flop! Nothing was satisfying or enjoyable about my trip into town, and I came home frustrated and exhausted. I sat down with my journal and cried out to God and so clearly I heard:

“I’m making the world tasteless to you.”

*sigh*

That was exactly it. I kept trying to taste the world, and it was so frustrating because it wasn’t satisfying. But like we sometimes do with food, I just kept trying to taste it again and again that day, hoping somewhere I’d find a bite that tasted sweet.

Nope. It was all bland. All disappointing.

Tasteless.

As the week went on, the process continued. It was uncanny, how time after time after time, God would make the world tasteless. I even noticed that if ate a heavy meal, or something that was a “treat” I’d immediately get a stomachache.

It was as if He was preparing my body and my spirit to be weaned off the world. 

I knew deep down, this was good, but it felt like death. I cried a lot and felt really sad, like I was grieving the loss of a loved one, but that loved one was me. It was self that I loved so much, and self had to die. I kept feeling Him saying,

“I want you to completely relinquish your claim on your life.”

I really don’t mean to sound dramatic. I know we’re just talking about a simple fast. But what was happening inside was so deep, so profound, it was disturbing and jarring. And so good. The fast hadn’t even begun yet and already He was cutting the strings that tied me so tightly to this world, to myself.

He wanted all of me.

{For now, thanks for reading.}

Our spiritual Vitamix, the most neglected weapon

When I think of effective weapons, I think of my Vitamix. 

I know, sounds crazy, but for the kind of Sacred Mundane battle I face on a daily basis — that of feeding my family healthy foods prepared from scratch — there’s nothing else like this blender that’s basically a countertop lawn-mower.

Without this tool, so many of our favorite foods would be virtually impossible to make. No nut-butter protein shakes. No whole-fruit smoothies. No hummus. No Yumm sauce. No homemade ice cream. No blended fruit-wine. No butternut squash soup. No quinoa cupcakes. No apple-pancakes. So many things would be impossible (or much more difficult) if it weren’t for this one simple weapon that sits on my counter and pulverizes food with ease. What would take hours to accomplish by hand takes just seconds with this awesome tool.

Spiritually speaking, we have a weapon available to us that’s stronger than a million Vitamixes and has the power to push back forces of evil, open our eyes to sin, effect change in the spiritual realm, tear down strongholds and conquer invisible forces of darkness. We can pulverize the toughest situations by utilizing this weapon.

But, this most effective weapon is also the most neglected weapon.

Fasting.

Did your heart sink just a little? Were you hoping for something else? I get it. For years–YEARS–I tried to avoid this topic. Scripture reading? Awesome. Prayer? You bet. Fellowship? Bring it on. Church attendance? Of course. Loving people, tithing, discipleship, let’s do it all. I’m all in.

Give up my food? I’m squirming. Seriously squirming. People, I like my food. Look, I don’t really shop, I don’t watch TV, I don’t have guilty pleasures or things I do to check out or escape. My life is pretty basic. All I want is a good meal, let’s say 3 times a day.

Is that too much to ask? No, it’s not really. Of course God does provide food for us, but there’s no denying the clear pattern in Scripture–in times of great need, crisis, needing discernment, in times of wanting to draw closer to God or see Him move in miraculous, supernatural ways, the people of God pulled out the spiritual Vitamix.

They fasted. 

The specifics vary. Moses, Elijah, and Jesus all fasted for 40 days. Others fasted for 3. Daniel abstained from only certain foods. Some fasted in order to cry out for protection. Jesus refers to regular fasting, in conjunction with prayer. We see examples of personal private fasting, and corporate non-private fasting. Both are beneficial for different reasons and seasons.

We contemplated buying a Vitamix for years before we actually took the plunge and purchased one. I read dozens of reviews, heard testimonies from friends, and prayed about it a lot before making the investment. Why did it take so long?

Because of the cost

You can pick up a new blender at Walmart for $19.99 and if it doesn’t work you’re not out a whole lot of cash. A Vitamix is upwards of $300-700. Yikes! That’s a cost. Was it worth it? Would it really work? When I finally found an older model for $300 we were brave enough to make the leap. That was doable. We made the investment. And you know what?

I’m so glad. Because that thing works. I have used it nearly every single day for 3 years. (Yes, the photo above shows that we even take it camping. 😉

There is a significant cost to fasting too, yes? I tried to ignore fasting for years, trying to take an easier route, something that wouldn’t cost me so much. Anyone can pray, even invest a pretty good amount of time to praying. But giving up my food? I just wasn’t sure if there was anything I desired more than my food.

But in His grace and gentle kindness, the Lord kept putting fasting on my mind and heart. Now, hear me: I’m not talking crash dieting. I’m not talking starving yourself to lose weight. We’ll talk more details in days to come, but that is not fasting. I’ve done both of those things in my life, unfortunately, and it’s nothing like fasting.

Fasting is the most effective and neglected spiritual weapon, a lawn-mower kind of blender on the counter of our lives, just waiting for us to employ and pulverize the attacks of the evil one. I’m certainly no expert, but we just emerged from a 40-day glorious journey of fasting, and I’m convinced there is so much power, joy, freedom, effectiveness, VICTORY available to us if we’d embark on this adventure with God.

So, I’m going to write a series called, The 40-Day Fast for the Rest of Us: An Extraordinary Adventure for Ordinary People. It may turn into an ebook, but for now I’m just going to capture my thoughts in this space, and maybe you can help me make sense of it all. Deal?

Now, I’m off to make dinner: Walnut taco-meat made with the Vitamix. 😉

{Thanks for reading!}

How to pray for our country

I read the article, another political one, and closed my eyes in the car. 

“I don’t even know how to pray,” I confessed to Jeff. The urge is everywhere, “Pray for our country!” But how? Everyone has their own opinion, and it can feel dizzying at times.

Then,I find myself reminded of Christ’s method:

Men were His method. That is, people. People were his plan for reaching the world.

So then, we pray not “for our country” in a vague sense, but we pray for people. Specifically 1 Timothy 2:1-2 says,

“I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” 

1. PRAY FOR LEADERS

Robert Coleman echoed this in His classic book, The Master’s Plan of Evangelism:

“There is no use to pray vaguely for the world. The world is lost and blind in sin. The only hope for the world is for men and women to go to them with the Gospel of Salvation, and having won them to the Savior, not to leave them, but to work with them faithfully, patiently, painstakingly, until they become fruitful Christians savoring the world around them with the Redeemer’s love.” (109)

2. PRAY FOR LABORERS

Yes. We are to pray for people. And specifically, we are to pray for leaders, and then pray that laborers will go out into the world and make disciples, that is, to bring in a harvest of souls who will know, love, and follow Jesus Christ as King. Jesus says clearly,

“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (Matthew 9:37-38).

3. PRAY FOR LIVES ROOTED IN CHRIST

Notice in the 1 Timothy 2 passage, our prayer for people (esp. leaders) is linked to a lifestyle of Christlikeness — one that is peaceful, quiet, dignified, and godly. I dare say we all could use a dose of that in today’s political climate!  Henri Nouwen, writing on Christian Leadership in 1989, wrote these timely words that seem especially applicable today, in the climate of our country.

“I have the impression that many of the debates within the Church around issues such as … homosexuality, birth control, abortion, and euthanasia take place on a primarily moral level. On that level, different parties battle about right or wrong. But that battle is often removed from the experience of God’s first love which lies at the base of all human relationships. Words like right-wing, reactionary, conservative, liberal, and left-wing are used to describe people’s opinions, and many discussions then seem more like political battles for power than spiritual searches for truth.

Christian leaders cannot simply be persons who have well-informed opinions about the burning issues of our time. Their leadership must be rooted in the permanent, intimate relationship with the incarnate Word, Jesus, and they need to find there the source for their words, advice, and guidance. … Dealing with burning issues without being rooted in a deep personal relationship with God easily leads to divisiveness because, before we know it, our sense of self is caught up in our opinion about a given subject. But when we are securely rooted in personal intimacy with the source of life, it will be possible to remain flexible without being relativistic, convinced without being rigid, willing to confront without being offensive, gentle and forgiving without being soft, and true witnesses without being manipulative.” (p. 30-32)

I don’t know about you, but it’s easy to be discouraged and disheartened when we look at our world today. BUT, when we fix our eyes on Jesus and His Word and not the latest campaign speech, we are empowered to PRAY strategically and effectively for the lost, for our leaders, for laborers, and for our lifestyles, that we would walk in humility and Christlikeness, rooted deeply in His unchanging love.

Praying. Thanks for reading. 

A long view of short prayers

I found the book last fall. Covered in brown fabric, the title inside the front cover is written in Sharpie: Prayers and Ponderings. 9/79 — 12/88. Nine years.

2014-10-23 06.36.11

The prayers and ponderings are mostly short. Just 1-2 pages per month to determine the focused prayers and goals for that specific season. November 1979’s page includes a new prayer focus at the bottom:

Baby

That’d be me. Though I was no bigger than a bean, my mom was already praying for me.

Just below that is prayer for Cambodians, Russian Christians, hostages, and President Carter.

Nothing too small, nothing too big. She prayed.

And while there are many jotted notes here and there (PTL!, better :), promising!, house sold!, recovering!) most of these short prayers have a long view of God’s promises.

I believe I’m still reaping the benefits now, more than 35 years later.

My discouragement in prayer is most often due to not seeing quick answers. Certainly I do see some immediate answers, which serves as a spiritual shot-in-the-arm for my faith. But there’s no getting around that a great portion of our prayers requires a great willingness to wait for the fulfillment.

We must have a long view of prayer.

What encourages me about my mom’s prayer journal, is her consistency month after month, year after year.  Other than my wedding ring, I don’t think I’ve kept any item for 9 years, let alone a journal! She kept this same journal for nine years. In this way you could see gradual changes over the years.

And I love that her prayers are rather simple, short. To the point.

Jesus made it clear: Prayers aren’t answered due to length or clever word-choice.

Prayers are answered when they’re prayed in humility and faith. Humility bows us low and alines our will with His will, faith is what leads us to reach up and grasp His will. Like the woman who crept low through the crowd to grasp the hem of his garment, we lower ourselves and reach out.

We take hold of His promises, we take hold of His power, we take hold of His provision.

Everything we need is available to us, through prayer.

My mom’s prayer journal is a beautiful example to me of a commitment to a long view of short prayers. What simple habit can you embrace that will help you do the same? 

A few moments ago my phone alarm went off and the screen read: “Pray with Mom.” Every day it goes off at the same time. Every day I call. She answers, still groggy from sleep. We pray. It’s brief–just 5 minutes, but together we agree with God and reach out together for His promises, His power, His provision.

Together we take a long view of short prayers.

And my hope is that these short morning prayers last a long time. Because just as it is with exercise, parenting, and basically anything else worth doing–consistency is key. You may not pray for an hour, but if you pray for 5 minutes every single day, something glorious will happen in the long haul.

 {Thanks for reading.}

Prayer Cards: A simple tool that really works

Update: It’s now been 14 months of using these prayer cards each day, and I have to say: I love them! The word for me recently has been FOCUS, and these cards help me focus in prayer, on specific, scriptural things in line with God’s heart and will, to intentionally intercede for. It’s been so fun to see circles, smiley-faces, dates and “Yay God!” notes scribbled all over different places as answers become apparent. Specifically with my kids and husband, this has been an excellent way to focus in on different areas and see God really move in their lives and mine. I hope this can be helpful for you too! 

~

Yesterday as she opened her Bible, a stack of colored index cards slipped out onto the floor. I had to smile. I knew exactly what they were and why she likely kept them with her all the time.

Because I do too!

I’ve been a Christian for almost 30 years, but I just started really praying two months ago. I’m not trying to be dramatic, but the change in my prayer life has been just that–dramatic.

Because of what? Prayer Cards.

Now, I’ve often used assorted types of prayer cards in the past but these specifically have so powerfully transformed my times in prayer. I’d love to share them with you!

They come from Paul Miller’s book A Praying Life. If you have not yet read this book, please click over immediately to Amazon and purchase a copy. Now.

He leads a journey into becoming childlike and honest in our prayers, identifying real needs and strategically praying in specific ways over those things. He helps us learn to pray God’s Word over each situation and continue persevering in asking, seeking, knocking over and over and over. For me, the journey was learning to pray with greater

  • focus
  • purpose
  • confidence
  • patience
  • faith

When I first heard of these prayer cards I admit I felt a slight, “Been there, done that,” cynicism flitting through my mind. But my dear friend Elisha was so enthusiastic about them I finally cheated and skipped to the back of the book to see what the hype was all about.

I was hooked. I spent the weekend making my own, and dove in to praying through them each day. Almost immediately I started seeing results! It was crazy! That first week I gushed through all the ways I’d seen God answer the specific, Scripture-based prayers from the week before. A part of me wondered if the novelty would wear off, but I’m 2-months in and still loving this helpful tool. Of course, it’s just a tool. God is what’s powerful, not the cards. But they are, in my opinion, an insanely helpful tool. Paul Miller has been using his for decades and still finds them immensely helpful in his own personal prayer life.

So what are they? Just a way to identify the people and needs around you that God has called you specifically to strategically pray for: Miller gives a sample deck in his book (p.232). They are roughly broken into Repentance, Family & Friends, Specific Needs, Ministry, Work, Co-Workers, Other Relationships, Dreams, etc.

Mine look like this (I put them on a metal ring so I can flip through):

photo (95)

  • Repentance cards (2-3)These are things I need to regularly confess to God and ask for His help in overcoming my tendency to sin in this area. My current two are titled “Unbelief” and “Pride”–they include specific ways I tend toward these sins, and specific scriptures on each to pray through each morning.
  • Immediate Family (3): One each for Jeff, Heidi, and Dutch, with specific verses, characteristics, and/or issues to pray for each one, each day. (I’ve seen huge answers to prayer on these ones! Miller says “I do my best parenting through prayer.”)
  • Extended family cards (2): I have one for my “Zyp-side” family members and one for my “Patterson-side” family members, with a word or two, or a verse.
  • Close friends (1): I have a few close friends listed here, with specific (ongoing) needs, and notes jotted down when answers come or other needs arise.
  • Healing (1): Here I have the names of people I am specifically and faithfully praying for physical healing every day, along with verses (Acts 3:16, Ex. 15:26, Matt 8:16, and others) regarding healing.
  • Salvation (1): I now see how healing and “salvation” are partly one and the same, but this card refers to those who do not yet follow Jesus as their Savior and King. Romans 10:9 is written across the top to pray for each of these people.
  • Bible Study (1): Here I pray for the 21 ladies who are currently involved in Women’s Bible Study. I don’t pray for each of them every day by name, but I look over the list each day, pray over them in general, and usually pick a few to pray for individually.
  • Retreats (1): Here I pray specific scriptures over all my speaking events, asking God for boldness and humility, and praying for life change, repentance, salvation, freedom, faith, and joy. 
  • Renew (1): Here I pray specific, scriptural verses over Renew, for the elders, for increased influence for the gospel, for unity and love, and jot down specific things that come to mind and ways I believe God wants me to pray. This is a fun card!
  • Renew fam (1): I know that if we get bigger I won’t be able to list everyone on one card! But for now I can. I listed all the last-names of the families of Renew all on a card. Again, I don’t pray for each one every day, but I’ll pick several each day.
  • Missionaries (1): Here I list the 5 main ministries we support and pray for each one.
  • Sacred Mundane (1): Here I pray specific things for this ministry, this blog, my book project, etc. 
  • Personal (1): Finally, I dream. 🙂 I pray for specific dreams I think God has placed in my heart, and for any personal things I desire to see God do, according to His will. 

And of course prayer is not simply reading over these cards each day. These cards are a diving board, a place to begin and then leap into a conversation with the Father and pour out my heart, listen to His Spirit, and pray as He leads. But the cards keep me on track, and remind of what I already know to pray for, according to His Word, so my prayer time doesn’t end up being an exercise in mind-wandering and mental grocery-list making.

Of course I’m still a beginner in prayer, but the change has been dramatic in my prayer life. I’m enjoying prayer, looking forward to it, feeling confident in it, and seeing real results. I get discouraged less often and see more “incremental answers”–little ways I see God moving even if the “end result” answer remains unfinished. I can honestly say I’m learning to love to pray.

This, perhaps, is the greatest answer of all.

{Thanks for reading.}

Leading our children from cynicism to hope…

I remember right where we were when she said it, a couple years ago. 

We were snuggled up together, under a quilt; we’d just finished reading the story of Jesus healing Jairus’ daughter. What a glorious story! And then she said it, quiet, to herself,

“God doesn’t do that anymore.”

My breath caught, struck that her unguarded childlike words would reflect what I too suspected, way down deep:

Does God do that anymore?

The truth was, though I’d read those words dozens of times, I wasn’t quite sure if God “did that anymore.”

My own inner doubts seemed harmless enough, honest questions, right? But once I heard my own unbelief spoken softly into the air, through the very lips of my precious daughter, the one I have devoted my life to discipling into a follower of Christ … then I knew something great was at stake:

My life is becoming her doctrine.

I closed my eyes and saw the sand in the hourglass–time running out.

See, childlike faith can quickly turn to cynicism. Certainly, we cannot (and should not!) shelter our children from all disappointment. God does not say yes to every prayer. (This too is grace.) But children give us the gift of unfiltered speech:

The Emperor has no clothes!

They see right through religion. What is real? We’re often afraid to speak the obvious, afraid it will expose our own inadequacies, and as a result we sometimes miss seeing a real God do real stuff in the real world every single day.

Later, we sat on the couch and read The Hungry Thing. When all the adults cannot fathom was schmancakes and hookies and gollipops could possibly be, the small child speaks up with the clarity that only humility can bring:

Pancakes, and cookies and lollipops!

We all need a lesson in childlikeness. Believe what the Word actually says. Keep living as if “biblical” is real, because it is, even if you don’t feel it or see it at first.

Eventually your “real” will rise to meet biblical. Don’t give up.

What does this mean for my mundane? It means refusing to give up. It means meeting the questioning gaze of my daughter when she prays again and doesn’t see the answer she’d hoped for. It means honestly admitting that I also don’t understand sometimes. And it means celebrating every glimpse of the miraculous in our mundane. (Four times recently Heidi has prayed on her own to find a misplaced item and each time God immediately answered. She prayed for a specific need on Wednesday and had it clearly answered. Mundane miracles start tiny!)

It means cultivating an atmosphere of childlike faith and steadfast hope. It means rejecting cynicism, doubt, discouragement, and unbelief. It means come to the Father again and again in faith, in prayer, asking for everything from miracles to meals.

Let’s not lose our children to cynicism. Let’s commit afresh to seeing His kingdom come, in our homes and in their hearts as it is in heaven.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. (Rom. 15:13)

{Have a glorious week, dear child of God. Thanks for reading.}

From Fatalism to Faith

“I guess it’s just meant to be.”

The words rolled off her tongue, a verbal white flag.*

Before, even months ago, I probably would have nodded, smiled, perhaps even commended her for her full surrender.

But now, something rose up inside, indignant.

No. That is not true. The works of the devil are not just “meant to be.” 

They are meant to be  … destroyed. (1 John 3:8)

The anger that rose up inside wasn’t about me. In fact, it would’ve been easier, in that moment, to assent to this line of thinking. Easier to slip my hand softly on hers, around that white flag, and wave it with her, to resign together to the “will of God” and feel a strange sort of comfort, pride even, that we were chosen to “suffer” in that way.

Except that isn’t what our King calls us to do.

Digging deep into God’s Word clearly reveals the heart and will of God. He’s shown us the Stuff Jesus Does and He’s verbally given us a clear and great Commission. Sure, He might not have told us which brand of toilet paper to buy, but He’s made His overarching will for us on earth crystal clear.

Preach the gospel and perform signs to physically demonstrate the love and power of God (Matt. 10:7, Mark 6:12-13, Luke 10:9, John 10:38). Destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8). While you do that, you will suffer much persecution (2 Tim. 3:12). But the persecution will actually work to increase your hope and prove your faith and prepare for you a glorious reward in heaven (Rom 5:3-5; 1 Pet. 1:6-7, 2 Cor. 4:17).

Here is what I’m trying to say: I have taken the biblical concept of surrender and skewed it.  It has slipped from surrender to resignation to fatalism, all in the name of trusting the sovereignty of God. This is a perverted view of sovereignty. God is SO sovereign that “when He redeems a situation He does it so thoroughly that it looks like He created the problem as an opportunity for His power and glory to be seen” (Bill Johnson). [bctt tweet=”When God redeems a situation He does it so thoroughly that it looks like He created the problem as an opportunity for His power and glory to be seen.” @billjohnsonBJM”]

We think that a situation was “meant to be” but in reality God is so powerful He can destroy the works of the devil and turn them on their head, redeeming them and using them for good. But He calls us to partner with Him in this. Practically, this means that we must not just resign to the evil around us, but we must believe God and press in, praying in faith for the complete redemption of every evil, for the glory of God and the furthering of His kingdom.

What does this mean for my mundane today?

  • It means I will refuse to mindlessly accept all that happens as “meant to be.”
  • It means I will immerse myself in the Word of God so I can better understand His heart and His will.
  • It means I will reject overwhelm, that throw-your-hands-up mentality that breeds hopelessness and despair.
  • It means I will pray in faith, as best as I can, for evil to be destroyed, for sin and sickness to be destroyed, for salvation and health and life to spring up, so that many will witness the power and glory of God.
  • It means I won’t look at my child’s sin and say, “Oh that’s just the way she is. It’s the terrible twos.”
  • It means I won’t give in to cynicism and defeat.

Getting really mundane it means I won’t give in to the entropy of my endlessly dirty house–I will reject apathy and destroy the works of the devil and scrub that toilet once again! 🙂

I will surrender my way, and my will, and take up God’s way and God’s will. And I will trust His Word to show me that good and perfect will.

Fatalism says, the future is fixed. Accept it. Faith says, God is alive, and He has graciously chosen me to be an active part of His will, in His world, to let His Kingdom come.

Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

{Thanks for reading.}

*Originally from March 2015, seeing glorious answers to prayer in this area! God does move, let’s pray and not give up!

Nothing short of total transformation

So I guess I had the flu. What I thought was a looooong cold took a sharp downturn and landed me flat on my back for days and I’m just finally coming up for air and headed to speak tonight (pray for no more crazy coughing fits!), so it’s been quiet here on the online front. But, my laundry’s done and everyone’s fed. Glory!

The upside of the flu (!) is that it forced me to the couch, and while my children played happily in this week’s glorious sunshine, I had time to read, pray, and pound out a few chapters on the book. Hooray! As I was revising the chapter on prayer, I flipped back through A Praying Life and was blessed all over again by the simplicity and power of this book. In the current journey we’re on, I’m once again floored by the Father’s relentless love, that He stops at nothing short of total transformation in our lives. It reminded me of this from last year …

~

I wish I could send a copy of A Praying Life to every single one of you.

This book is resonating with the deepest part of my Spirit. You know the feeling, right? That internal Yes! that makes all those loose fragments come into focus and your heart “gets it.” I don’t mean we understand prayer in the sense that we dissect how it works, but we “get it” in the sense that it’s made accessible. There is still profound mystery (and, inevitably at times, profound frustration!) but we’ve waded into the waters of effective prayer and we’re learning to dive down deeper and deeper into its glorious depths. That’s what this book has been for me.

What’s struck me again and again is the fresh awareness that through prayer, God is seeking nothing short of total transformation.[bctt tweet=”Through prayer, God is seeking nothing short of total transformation.”]

While we may be tempted to believe that we’re asking God for “too big,” the truth is that God is always doing something so much bigger than I can even imagine. He’s changing me in the process. So the last few weeks I’ve been considering: What are the characteristics of prayers that I’m most often seeing answered, in the Scriptures and in my life? So far I’d say …

1. Faith. Scripture is crystal clear on this—if we ask with doubt, we cannot assume we will receive anything. Faith is the key that unlocks miraculous and astounding “results” in prayer. There is just no getting around this. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. The more than we drench our lives in the truth and promises of God’s Word, the more we will believe He is who He says He is, we will know His heart and His will, and we will ask in accordance with it, for His glory. Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief!

2. Repentance. Probably the most significant answer to prayer I have seen recently is in direct response to repentance. God showed me a clear area of sin in which He wanted to me to practice repentance—daily bringing this area to God, acknowledging my “bent” toward it, and asking Him to forgive me and deliver me from evil. To my everlasting amazement, He has! He is, and even did some other awesome things like removing the behavior in another person (i.e. a child of mine!) that was triggering that sin issue. A huge praise, and it all started with repentance.

3. Requests firmly rooted in Scripture. As we saw in Jesus’ radical promises regarding prayer, if we are Christ’s Ambassadors, performing His work for His sake, we need to know clearly what He wants us to do. I’m finding that unless I’m convinced this is the kind of thing my Master would want, my prayers are weak because I lack confidence of His will. Studying the Scriptures helps clarify the Stuff Jesus Does, and gives us greater confidence for praying prayers of faith.

4. Honesty. God sees what I really want, not just what I say I want, so it does no good to doll up my requests with Scriptur-y language if I don’t really mean what I say. We don’t let God work in the real part of us until the real part of us is exposed and laid bare to God during prayer. Whenever we are hiding the “real us” behind churchy language, we forfeit the real transformation that God can work through our honest pleas.

5. Heart. I do not mean mere emotionalism; we don’t have to muster up tears or put on a show. But Jesus was moved with compassion during His days walking this earth, healing people and performing miracles. Again, we can’t fake this or conjure it up on our own, but we can humbly ask God to break our hearts for the things that break His. The more we seek His kingdom during our day, with our time and energy and money, the more our hearts will be turned toward the things of Him.

 {Ready to dive deeper? Whether you’ve been praying for five minutes or 50 years, let’s continue to grow in our pursuit of prayer. Thanks so much for reading.}

Blindfold Dancing

{Remembering this moment, from last year, as I once again attempt to be blind to the waves and do the dance of faith.}

~

Another game?  I was kind of anxious for this thing to just be over with.

It’s a terrible thing for the retreat speaker to say, I adore these ladies and we’d had a fabulous time, but it was late Saturday night, I had one more session and a long drive home ahead, and I’d just heard some disturbing news and was eager to get back home and deal with it. (You know, since it all depends on me. *smile*)

Instead, while I inwardly wrangled that worry down like a wild crocodile … they were going to play a dancing version of musical chairs.

Really? I have a thousand worries tossing to and fro inside, this crazy storm brewing in my soul and I’m sitting here watching musical chairs? Deep breath.

Ok, Lord, I trust You, I’ll look for you here. 

These precious ladies situated themselves in a large circle. The leader began explaining the rules, and I was struck afresh by her joviality and joy, her easy-going attitude about everything, especially since she’s got seven kids at home including a 16-year-old daughter with Downs Syndrome.

The “chairs” for this game were the 5-gallon bean-buckets from her pantry. Someone sits on pinto, another on Great Northern. This lady knows mundane faith.

But as the five chosen contestants situated themselves around the musical buckets, she interrupts my daydreaming admiration by mentioning the final detail:

“Oh, and you’ll be dancing blindfolded.” 

My interest piques every so slightly. Blindfold dancing? I’ve seen this before, at a college retreat, and can attest to the fact that it is, perhaps, the funniest thing on the planet.

But this was even better.

This was a group, not of college students who are used to being footloose and free, this was a group of middle-aged women. This was a group wearing color-coordinating eternity-scarves and neat strands of pearls. These were Bible-carrying, verse-referencing, polite, respectable women.

I watched their faces as they were handed blindfolds: Not thrilled.

But then something happened. With the blindfolds secure and the sight of all of the rest of us completely removed from their vision, the music started, and lo and behold

These girls could dance.

“Because I’m happy! Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof…”

Pretty soon our amusement turned to chuckles turned to laughing so hard I couldn’t breathe. Tears spilling over. I had watched these ladies all weekend long; this was not their norm.

Ever-careful, ever-measured movements gone. They were free. 

Something in that room transformed. It was beautiful. They were beautiful. Joyful, unhindered exuberant dancing. I watched them and couldn’t help but pray, Lord let me live like that.

No, not making a fool of myself. *smile*

I mean, it is a ridiculous comedic version of Peter walking on water. Right?

“‘Lord! If it is you, command me to come to You on the water.’ And Jesus said, ‘Come!'” (Matt. 14:28)

As soon as Peter heard that beautiful music, the voice of Jesus calling, Come, Peter became blessedly blind to the crashing, wild, deadly waves assaulting his senses.  [bctt tweet=”When Peter heard Jesus calling, he became blessedly blind to the waves. “]

The miracle of pure faith: Walking on water, doing what Jesus did, defying physical laws, living by the greater, spiritual ones instead.

But as soon as Peter took that blessed blindfold off, when he looked back down at the waves which rose, incessant, threatening … as soon as he looked back down at this and away from Jesus, he sank.

Jesus is perfect theology. Jesus is truth. Jesus is life.

The fight of faith for me is to blindfold myself to the crashing, wild, deadly waves that assault my senses each day.  To refuse to fix my gaze on all that is unanswered and unclear in this messy sea of life and to fix my soul’s gaze on the face of Jesus, bringing Him my honest questions from a pure heart of faith.

Questions clarify truth and bring life, doubt discourages and brings death.

Jesus, let me hear the music of Your voice, through Your Word. Let me walk based on Your beautiful beckoning, Come!, blindfolded to the onslaught of anti-faith that threatens my senses each day.

Though I may look a little foolish to the world, I know I’ll find an inner victory — faith.

{Happy Monday. Let’s dance! Thanks for reading.}