Tag Archives: prayer

Summer Ordinaries

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July’s activities are now memories as we start our last summer month.  Looking back over the past two months, what’s been happening in your faith journey?  Today, Susan Disher shares with us what’s been going on in her heart.  

 

This summer I have been pondering and praying.

I have been pondering hard questions found in books.  Questions that make me suck in my breath and want to hold it because I am afraid of the answer that will seep out.

“What do you want me to do while I am here?”

“What is the theme of my heart?”

“What is my God purpose?”

”If God is really real and I am going to live with him forever shouldn’t he be the only thing?”

“What if my life was going so beautifully because I wasn’t chasing after God?”

“What would my life look like if I would completely abandon my life to God and chase after him?”

And I am stopped cold by the statement in Luke 14: “…anyone of you who do not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.”  Everything I have, all the stuff I have accumulated, all of my little gods, everything that I love other than him was never going to work.  I was made for his glory and his glory only.

Jesus says the way we glorify God, the way we step into his story is by accomplishing the work God gives us to do.

Acts 20:24 says: “But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.” Or as The Voice states: “finish my race…fulfill the ministry that Jesus our King has given me…gladly tell the good news of God’s grace.”

That is the race I have been given…this is my part in his story.  “Lord, you can have me for anything while I am here.”  Gutsy statement made with shaking knees but with a strengthened heart.

As Luke 1:38 says: “Let it be with me just as you say.”

But my finish line is coming upon me faster than it ever has.  I am in the last one-third of my life, a very sobering thought.  I need to order my days, be deliberate in my ordinary, and be intentional in my walking.  What does my work look like? How do I go about telling of God’s grace? By letting everyone I meet know all about this incredibly extravagant generosity of God.

So I keep pondering and storing thoughts and whisperings in my heart to bring out on cloudy days and doubting days and days that don’t shine bright with God’s promise in my eyes.  Days that I feel alone and lost, and wonder, “what am I doing here?”

It has been a summer of pondering and praying.  Prayers have been said for our niece and her husband as they faithfully watch their newborn fight a courage journey into a healthy life.  Prayers uttered in the silence of doubt for a mother of 9 children fighting stage 4 cancer with unbelievable grace for the last 3 years.  Walking by neighbor’s houses, I pray for the families unsure if they know the Lord.

Names circled in red and knots tied tight for spouses sacrificing to care for each other, friends with aging parents, a sweet friend whose life has been swept off its mooring; prayers that have been shouted out loud and whispered softly and uttered in groaning.

So as I ponder and I pray, I am once again brought back to the truth that the Lord is my portion and I will wait for him, abiding in his love.  Beth Moore states in Praying God’s Word: “…We dwell no further from His side than the place we are most keenly aware of His great affection.  Place your ear against the chest of the savior so that, when troubled times come, you may not know what will befall you, but you can hear the steady pulse of the boundless love of him who holds you.

Pondering, praying, and now abiding, have become my summer “ordinaries”, the daily rhythm of God time.

I hope the same for you.

Lovingyougood…sd

I need my space

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Confession:   I enjoy summer with days lighter longer, seeing lightning bugs at dusk, picking a ripe – bigger-than-your-palm tomato off the bush in our back yard and eating it on a piece of bread with a little mayo, hearing the recorded children’s songs in the distance becoming louder as kids holler for some money as the ice cream van approaches, along with some vacation time and reading a good book.

It can be a refreshing break from the routine I’m used to the other 10 months of the year.  Most of that is a good thing, but there’s one thing that’s not so great about it:  In the summer I struggle with being disciplined to be in the Word and prayer.

Why is that?  Am I the only one?

I think most of that is because I’m wired to live best on a regular routine.

Early in the morning I’ll try to quickly read a short, one page daily devotion and often skip the time of solitude in prayer.  So while I’m taking our dog on a walk I start to pray but my mind drifts off to so many different, random thoughts and honestly, I become frustrates with myself.  Now none of those things are bad but it makes me feel lazy and I’m less intentional like I am the other time of the year.

During the school year I join a bible study (which I highly recommend doing)  that teaches me, challenges me, and helps deepen my spiritual maturity and relationship with Jesus.  For some reason in the summer though, in years past, instead of staying on the track, I find an exit and a hammock.

But it’s my responsibility to make space in my day to spend time with God.   I need to be disciplined to make space.

We need our space.

We need to make space in our year-round, daily lives to spend one on one time in His Word with Him.

So God asks “When and how will you make the time?”

Ask Him.  Listen.  The Holy Spirit will put answers and opportunities in your life for you to make it happen.

Here’s some ways that have helped me lately and might help you.

Find a special space at your home.  It could be at your kitchen table, in a cozy chair to curl up in, or a lounge chair on your porch.  Put a pretty plant or a pot of flowers beside you along with a cup of coffee or iced tea.  It makes a welcome feeling for you and the Holy Spirit to commune.  It really can make a difference and becomes a holy space you look forward to going to each day.

Set your alarm a few minutes earlier in the morning or turn off the TV in the evening.  Sometimes this can be more challenging but once you make it a habit and discipline yourself to do it, it becomes one of the sweetest parts of your day.

Join a summer bible study.  There are some for women at SMC like Threads of Hope or Good Morning Girls, (an online bible study) and both you can join in any time.

Challenge yourself to read a book of the Bible and write in a journal what stood out to you in the verses you read and why.  There’s many to choose from in the Bible!  SMC has a link to help guide you.

Keep a prayer journal.  This personally helps me stay focused and intentional when I pray.  It keeps my mind from wandering.  I simply write what I’m telling God.  And then it’s a blessing to be able to go back and read them to see how God has answered them.

So, make that space and time.  It’ll bring you joy in so many ways.

 

What are some ways that keep you disciplined in your quiet/bible study time, especially during the summer?  We’d love you to post a comment below and share how you make time in your day to spend time with Him.