Tonight's Simple Prayer

Tonight.
Sweet. Music. Movement. Joy.
Thank you.

So long sweet summer. So long sweet dreams.
I place all in the hands of the gardener.
The gardener of my life.
Trust. Faith. Hope.

Rest, my soul, in the Love of the Father.

Prayer Reveals Beauty

After reading a little devotional about prayer this morning, I became overwhelmed with questions and thoughts.


The author defined Prayer as "an ongoing interaction between the material world and the spiritual world. It takes many forms. One of those forms is active, aggressive obedience to God's revealed will" (Kennedy Dean)

When one looks at prayer as described above, we can see that prayer is more than just words between Dear God and Amen.


"What is God's intent for prayer?
The Purpose of prayer is to release the power of God to accomplish the purposes of God. The purpose of prayer is to discover God's will, not obligate Him to do mine; to reflect God's mind, not change it. I could, through prayer, release God's power to bring about the best possible solution in every situation, because that is always God's desire. "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future'" Jeremiah 29:11 " (Kennedy Dean)

"Finding a new purpose for prayer is required to have an inner transformation. Changing my prayer focus from my own satisfaction and happiness to God's glory and eternal purposes would take a brand new heart" (Kennedy Dean).

"'I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws'" (Ezekiel 36:26-27) "... shaping my desires to match His. He promised to take my self-centered heart and fasten it on Him. And He worked in me until I desired to receive what He desired to give. 'It is God who worked in you to will... his good purpose' " (Kennedy Dean).

After reading these points, I began to wonder... "Okay God, I see the desires you have placed on my heart and I feel them in my daily life. I hope and pray that I can act on these desires you have placed in my life, but what do I do when I am alone in acting out those desires? Does that mean they are my own desires? Or do I not have the faith to speak up or step out in those desires? How much of my character influences my action? Am I really living out these desires and giving you the glory? Am I being changed by you in my prayers or am I trying to change you?


Afterward, I decided to read through a little of Ephesians and began to see many connections between my little devotional and this book. Later, I will write more about these verses and topics discovered in Ephesians and how they may connect with the thoughts mentioned above.

the song of my heart...

3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit,

For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 Blessed are those who mourn,

For they shall be comforted.

5 Blessed are the meek,

For they shall inherit the earth.

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

For they shall be filled.

7 Blessed are the merciful,

For they shall obtain mercy.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart,

For they shall see God.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers,

For they shall be called sons of God.

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake,

For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

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Blessed are the poor

For theirs is the kingdom

Blessed are those who mourn

For they will be comforted

And blessed are the meek

For they will inherit the earth

And blessed are those who hunger and thirst

For they will be filled

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, HallelujahHallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Blessed are the merciful

For they will be shown mercy

Blessed are the pure in heart

For they will see God Almighty

And blessed are the peacemakers

For they will be called His children

And blessed are the persecuted

For they will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, HallelujahHallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Rejoice and be glad

For great is your reward

Rejoice and be glad

For great is your reward

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, HallelujahHallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah

******************************************************************************

The orphan clings to Your hand

Singing the song of how he was found

The widow rejoices

For her oppressors are silenced now

You sit at the table with the wounded and the poor

You laugh and share stories with the thief and the whore

When You could just be silent and leave us here to die

Still, You sent Your Son for usYou are on our side

The runaway falls at Your feet

You are what he has searched for

The rich man is broken

When he stands beneath a sky full of stars

You sit at the table with the wounded and the poor

You laugh and share stories with the thief and the whore

When You could just be silent and leave us here to die

Still, You sent Your Son for us

You are on our side

You sit at the table with the wounded and the poor

You laugh and share stories with the thief and the whore

When You could just be silent and leave us here to die

Still, You sent Your Son for us

You are on our sideStill,

You sent Your Son for us

You are on our side

Love

I am learning to love.

I am learning to listen.

I am learning to care.

I am learning to push through the discomfort.

I am learning to forgive.

I am learning to move with the transition.

I am learning to not be stand alone.

I am learning to know who I am.

I am learning to stand up.

I have never been around such a mix of needs.

I have never been around so much judgement.

I have never been around such critical ideas.

But I am thankful for the place that I am.

The place to LOVE.

A transparent decision

I am learning to be transparent and authentic.
I may lose friends and I may gain friends.
But the fact of the matter,
when I am honest and transparent
there is room for the holy spirit to move,
and the compassion of the Lord to be seen.
It may hurt me.
It may cause a broken heart every so often.
But at least I am living.

I am tired of living a numb and false life.
I am ready to be transparent,
I am ready to learn, to love and to live.

I am going to try to live in such a reckless manner
because are we not all reckless anyway.

Afterwards,

I may be alone.
I may lose friends.


But it is well worth it.

Prepare your lonely heart

Thank God for Hope.



If there was no concept of hope. I wonder if we could make it past a day, an hour, or even a minute. For me, deep within there is hope, but outward hope is few and far between. But I am sure some day I will find it. I will not always feel this way, and I can change. The searching and never finding will not last. I will soon believe and soon live on past this time.

For this lonely season of life, I find it very interesting that deep within... the who that I am is not lonely. God is there, he is the source of my strength, my life and my love. I seek Him for these things and I place my days in His hands. The lonely is only found in the living and doing of life, but not in the being. Which is a whole new concept to me!

I think one of the hardest things to do in a westernized christian faith is laying down our desires. We are told we can have anything we want. We here in the US can basically have all that we want. If we want something, for example,we could simply go to a store see that huge plasma screen, buy if for one year free no interest and bam! there you have it. Desire something and with a little tweeking, it is yours. This is why I say that one of the hardest things to do is to lay down our desires at the foot of the cross. No matter how much you think you care about the shiny object or even that person you cared for and would have loved to known. We always need to lay it down at the foot of the cross, to trust his plans are good, that we are satisfied by him, that we find our joy solely in Him. So I have laid mine down, I have let go, but honestly Why... Why... do I feel less joy and peace than before? Why do I have to let go?





I am...

Broken
Surrendered
Believing

all for a deeper confidence in the Lord.

I will prepare my lonely heart.

I will soon share hope and joy with another.

Goodbye sweet.
Hello lonely road.

weary traveler

After talking to a good friend today, I was inspired to write out a blog. Moslty because journaling is not effective right now. OH, how weary I feel. OH, how anxious I am.

I just have to trudge through this alone. I talk to all, but they have nothing to say to help! I hope and pray that soon joy will be restored to my oh so weary soul!