Is Your Prayer Life a Grill or a Slow-Cooker?

I was talking to someone a couple days ago about praying with a purpose; distinctively praying with motive and direction.  This person had some concerns and mentioned that they pray daily while involved in another daily regimen.   Let me pause here to say that the majority of us live busy lives but if we want God to take us seriously then we need to take Him seriously.  When I sit down to consult with someone to write their resume or to consult about some other project I want their undivided attention.  It would be rude for me or the other person to constantly be on the phone or doing something else while trying to conduct business.  I believe God requires the same respect from us.  So getting back to my point, I went on to share with this person that it's not enough to just say you know and you believe God answers your prayers you must have conviction and one of the ways that conviction comes is with being conscientious about your personal communication with God, recognizing it's two-way communication not one-way.

One thing I've done since I was a child and still do today is write down things that are a great deal to me on a small piece of paper, I date it and even put THE TIME on it! ha ha ha!  I think it's a writer thing. ;)  Oh and by the way, I don't just write down the issue I write it down in the form of a prayer like a letter.  That note then goes in this BIG BIBLE I've had since a child in between pages where Hebrews 11:1 is found.  If you know that scripture you know why it has significance for me. ;)  This has been my pattern since I was a child, so you can imagine it is a real faith builder for me because though I've thrown some notes away I still have notes I pull out and reflect on from time to time.  THESE ARE NOTES THAT GOD HAS FULFILLED; ONE FROM 1995!

Nothing here that I'm saying is LAW; you don't have to write down your prayers.  But when was the last time you took a serious inventory of every single thing you've had before God that you wanted him to do and then revisited that list from time to time to see what has happened or what God "is" doing?  God is not our "genie in a bottle" but many times unless an issue is something really major, we pray about the thing and when God answers it in the way we want we don't even give much thought to it.  We just go about our way.  We might tell Him thanks but we don't make as much a deal out of telling Him thanks as we did begging Him for it.  Have you thought about the idea of making a list of "everything" you needed or wanted God to do in your life or for someone else could build YOUR faith?  If you need to spice up your prayer life, build your faith and actually SEE EVERYTHING God has already done and is still doing, try tracking some things for a while.  Ahhhh...why not even track specifically a prayer petition to see your prayer life improve. :)

Did God REALLY Tell You That???

It's been a while since I've sat down and blogged. I've been quite preoccupied but this was on my mind earlier this week so I thought I'd share it.  It's a touchy subject but I believe that it is important to address, especially in the time that we live in today.  Some might agree, some might disagree...just keep in mind this particular thought is based on what I read in scripture and believe, not Charlotte's words. :)  Let me ask this question... how often have your heard or known a God-fearing person, who clearly has the ability or has learned what it means to hear what God says to them, say they made a certain decision based on what a prophet, minister, pastor, or other "seasoned" believer told them God said to do INSPITE OF them KNOWING or STRONGLY BELIEVING for themselves God told them to do differently?  You probably have heard or seen this quite often right?  Maybe you were that person who did differently from what God clearly instructed you to do?  I've been there and done that.  Let me point out that we are not above receiving direction from others especially those we consider our spiritual guides but it is so important to note that if you consider yourself a spirit led person (and I am talking about God the father Spirit here) you better be VERY SURE you're doing what someone else tells you to do because YOU KNOW it's God.  It hasn't happened to me a lot but I cringe when I think of the times I followed someone else's instruction because I THOUGHT they heard from God (even though in my spirit it didn't feel right).  I hadn't learned how to discern when God was telling me something and when He wasn't; so I fail prey to someone WHO SAID God told them a particular thing.  Read I Kings 13 - the whole chapter.  It's very intriguing but also very relevant to those of us who live spirit led lives today.  It tells of this "man of God" which the Bible does not give his name but he was instructed to go give words to this King regarding his ways of running the Israelite kingdom; God wasn't pleased at all!  Well, this King was so impressed with all that occurred in his encounter with this "man of God" that the King invited him to come home so he could be given a reward.  Well the "man of God" made it unequivocally clear that he could not because God had already instructed him what his purpose was and he was to leave the King after he'd fulfilled the purpose for which he was sent. HOWEVER, there was an "old prophet" (that's what the Bible calls him) that caught wind of this "man of God" so the "old prophet" tracked him down and invited him to come eat with him.  Now I'm going to detour here a bit and give my thoughts (or questions) regarding this "old prophet".  Again, read I Kings 13 and you'll get a better picture of why I'm saying these things.  Seeing that the "man of God" was sent to Bethel to confront the King and the Bible says the "old prophet" lived in Bethel it makes me wonder WHY wasn't he instructed to confront the King?  Was the prophet old in age or was it that he'd become complacent or was it both?  Was he just so honestly intrigued with this "man of God" that he just wanted to be in his presence because of his BOLDNESS? Perhaps the "old prophet" wished he had the boldness to confront the King as the "man of God" had?  Getting back to the story....  So, the "old prohet" tracks down the "man of God" and invites him back to his house to eat.  Again, the "man of God" clearly states what God told him to do after confronting the King in Bethel...LEAVE!  But you know what the "old prophet" did?  He LIED! Yep, that's right he told the truth about being a prophet but he lied about an angel telling him to have the "man of God" return with him.  Now you see why I have all these questions in my mind about the "old prophet"?  So, anyway the "man of God" follows the "old prophet" back and guess what happens...God tells the "old prophet" to tell the "man of God" his fate for his disobedience (if you want to know what it was you need to go read I Kings 13...ha ha ha!).  I'm telling you this is something!!  Reading that I was thinking what a horrible feeling for that "old prophet" to know that he LIED and then God waits until after the "man of God" is at home eating with him before instructing the "old prophet" to actually tell the "man of God" his fate for disobedience.  This just confirms that the person who leads another person astray doesn't go without punishment.  In my eyes that had to be punishment for the "old prophet" having to live the rest of his days with the consequences of that "man of God" for his lie. Did that make the "old prophet" a bad person?  I wouldn't say that...we don't know from scripture enough about his life.  And did the "man of God's" fate seem harsh?  Maybe it would appear that way but again we don't know enough about his life.  Had he been given guidance by God time after time after time??  We're not God and we don't have the answers.  But I do know that we are responsible for our own obedience or disobedience to God.  Those who lead us astray will not escape but when we KNOW God has given us instruction we're accountable first-hand.

Sometimes we can feel like the other person who is telling us God gave them specific instruction on something for us would be telling us right because they've had more experience in spiritual matters, they have been saved longer than we have, they pastor a church...whatever the case may be.  Perhaps that was the case with the "man of God" in I Kings 13 we were previously talking about.  Perhaps he thought this "old prophet" has more experience than I do...maybe I heard God wrong.  AGAIN...this is not to say that God NEVER EVER gives other people instruction for us or that WE ARE NEVER WRONG in what WE THINK God is telling us to do.  The only way to know is to LEARN TO DISCERN God's voice and PRAYERFULLY consider every guidance AND PRAY for God's direction to you directly or through the source of another.  Remember, it's difficult to KNOW what God is telling you if you're not living a God-filled, spirt-led life.

You Don't Hear ME

I’ve shown you simultaneously mass changes
In the weather across your land
But you don’t hear ME

Like any other time
You’ve seen death in your land
But you’re seeing it in a way you’ve never seen before
Yet…you don’t hear ME

You’ve waited for your economy to recover
Not seeing what you’ve expected right?
Your land has suffered the Great Depression….
                …that’s in the past you say—right?
Your land keeps looking for recovery
But you’re still not hearing ME

Now you’re looking at the wealth
You’ve set up for yourselves
Numbers steady falling—
Falling as fast as you’ve fallen into sin

Your arranged marriages have become a mockery
In my eyes
Your children are deteriorating
From the inside out
Your churches built on man-made traditions
Instead of MY sound Word
Have become dead-end traps
Traps leading to an end unintended
(MY true saints—keep your hearts pure)

Your land is crumpling
Right before your eyes
But you don’t see because—
You don’t hear ME

So when the time comes you can pray
You can cry out to ME
But I won’t hear you
Because all this must be
As was told from the beginning
I only hoped that somehow you’d change—
Your heart

But none of that matters now—
‘Cause you won’t hear ME

Copyright ©2011 by Charlotte R. Beard

Praying With A Purpose

Today I was looking at a number of e-mails I'd received from companies who had seen my resume and showed an interest in sitting down with me to discuss a job opportunity.  One key thing you have to know here is that the job opportunity they all want to discuss is in my background but not what I had in mind of pursuing after my transitional period from a company merger.  While I was deciding how to respond to these e-mails God began to enlighten me regarding some things about myself that I had not realized.  Though I wanted and truly need to pursue this other path I've had in mind for quite some time, why was I considering totally closing the door on these possible opportunities before me?  Part of it is fear of failure, a greater part of it is fear of this role consuming more of my life than I want to give it.  While being honest with myself about how to respond to these opportunities God spoke to me something so simple: Say YES and PRAY.  Now that might seem a little backwards to some of us because we're use to praying about a situation first and then re-acting.  However, God told me to just say "yes" to these opportunities and pray while you wait for the outcome, whether it's the outcome from a sit down with these prospects or outcome from my response to these e-mails.  So, basically I prayed, "God if not one of these jobs is for me...if you know I would be horrible at performing any of these jobs, then don't let any of them come through for me."  My prayer is that the one job I'm suppoe to have will be the one to come through and save me the headache and stress of interviewing for anything God knows is not mine.

How often do we go through life with the attitude or mentality that we have to do a bunch of things aimlessly and just hope for the best?  How often do people knowingly date a bunch of the wrong people just hoping they turn out to be the right person?  I haven't done that a bunch of times but I can say I've done it more than once; waste of time and resources.  When we know God is telling us "yes" in any area in our lives we can have confidence in moving forward in that area with the right prayer.  And with the right prayer we never have to worry about moving beyond what is right for us in life.  Afterall, if we are truly children of the God we say KNOWS ALL, shouldn't there come a point when we stop throwing darts JUST HOPING to land in the right spot?

For An Audience Of One

Almost a year ago I got rather frustrated with my purpose in life.  It wasn't that I was unaware of who I was made to be as an individual but it was that I was at a place in life where I didn't know how to best utilize what I was made to be.  One day I decided to ask God to show me exactly what I was suppose to be doing with my life (often we fail to consult our Creator).  And when I asked this question I was not seeking the "general" answer most church-goers have already heard (your purpose is to live your life to serve God, etc.).  NO...I was looking for specifics.  I was aware of one involvment I'd discontinued maybe 3 to 4 years earlier that I knew I needed to return to.  I'd walked away from it for personal reasons and at this time that I started seeking last year, I felt it was time for me to return to that...so I did.  Also, around that same time I decided to inquire about serving in a capacity through my church that would not just confine me to serving while at church but it required me devoting time and making a 2 year commitment to this particular service.  Because of the timing of my inquiry I had to wait a year (this is the year) to become involved.  So, this Saturday I have the priviledge of finding out more about this service  before I commit to it.  Of course, I already know that I'm going to commit.  You see, this service involves so many of my natural qualities.  People naturally come to me with problems; sometimes they want advice, sometimes they just want a listener.  The frustrating part is when you want to reach out to people who don't want what you have to offer them (which is why this service will be so rewarding-I'm going where people want it).  I was thinking about this frustration earlier before sitting down to write this and I thought, 'How frustrated God must be to have the gift of peace, freedom from life's strongholds, wisdom...so many gifts yet many reject them'.  It's frustrating to have something valuable to offer others but to find they don't want it.  Truth is while I'm sure it breaks God's heart to see us wonder endlessly, I doubt it's frustration.  We become frustrated because we aren't seeking out those who need and desire what is in us to give.  I've made a commitment in 2011 that if whatever God will have me do is only for the audience of one, then for that audience of one so be it.  For every life we touch, that same life touches at least one other person.

When The Love Is Less Than Desirable

How often have we found ourselves on the receiving end of love that seemed just a little bit less than love?  Probably more often than we care to remember.  We've given what has seemed like our entire heart to another while it seems that they have offered nothing more than what was convenient for them, being sure not to give too much (or nothing at all) of themselves.  We've given our time or been there more times than we care to remember when a friend was in need, yet when we needed them most it seems they thought we could make it on our own.  Unfortunately, though not everyone in life fails us often we may come across those who claim to love us but the actions speak something quite differently.  A few years ago God helped me to begin to understand that many times people say they love someone and earnestly mean what they say with all their heart but they can only love at the level at which they've grown.  Did you get that?  People can love only at the level of their capability within.  Think about it this way....  Can you recall a time in your childhood when you really thought you loved someone with all your heart?  And maybe even today you look back and believe that you did love that person but do you also see that there was a lot you've learned that impacts your view of love for another?  Hopefully your view of love has matured.  And though on a broader scale you would expect that the view of love matures with age, there are still other factors in a person's life that affects their ability to truly love the way we would expect.  I Corinthians 13 gives the perfect definition of love; it encompasses a lot.  I also think this passage serves as a great mirror for ourselves, which brings me to the relationship that I (and I'm sure many of you reading this) need to spend more time perfecting.  I'm speaking of our relationship with God.  How often do we spend so much time talking to everyone else yet we SQUEEZE in a few minutes to pray (little time simply talking to God)?  How often do we spend so much time considering what others think of us yet we hardly give 1st thought to whether or not our actions or what we say offend God - the one we CLAIM to love so much?  How often do we quickly go spend money on ourselves but have to think about handing some money to that person we know needs it because we're so critical or self-righteous concerning what they're going to do with it?  Never mind there is this RESOUNDING annoyance in our spirit to do something. (Oops is that God's voice?)  Yet...we say we love Him, with all our hearts.

The point I'm making here is that though we should never become susceptible to mistreatment or commit to less than God's best he has for us, our own individual relationships with our Creator should be great lessons in understanding and being patient with those who occassionally dissappoint us.  Because we are human, sometimes we mess up in our love walk and God understands and allows us room to grow.  Notice I said he allows us room to GROW.  God never expects less than what he knows we are capable of.  In the same manner, we should allow those we know truly love us room for growth, while expecting their best just as we require the same of ourselves.

When The Middle Doesn't Match The Ending

At this stage in my life I can relate to Abraham more than ever when he was waiting on his son of promise. Many times God will show us something so awesome, so unfanthomable...but yet...there is all this junk in the middle that He never tells us about. Some days I just want to stop hoping...stop believing - but I can't shake what I've seen. Every time I tell myself to just accept things how they are, I keep having what God has shown me pull me a little further. So, I keep praying. Some days I ask God, "Do you ever get tired of me talking about this SAME situation to you?" In my heart I know He never gets tired...I just wish that I could show Him I was stronger by not always bringing it to Him. Perhaps if I didn't I'd lose my mind. That's the thing about having a relationship with God, you never have to deal with the shortcomings of humanity. People can only endure so much of you discussing your problems.

So, when God has shown you THE END FROM THE BEGINNING, just remember what He's told you while you endure all of the junk in the middle. God cannot lie & His words never return void. Trust me...even as I write this my mind tells me I was mistaken about what I believe He's told me. But this is where faith comes into play. So while the middle doesn't match the ending, I choose to use faith to keep me looking for God's ending.