Say Yes to Alphabet Prayers by Sandi Somers

 

As we near the end of our alphabet project, I discovered something surprising.

I lay awake one night, worrying. Gradually I turned to praying for a family on my prayer list. It wasn't too long before I fell asleep. Next morning my mind was clear of the worry, and I realized I hadn't even finished praying for everyone.

Occasionally I have restless wakeful nights, and I try praying. Recently I read an article that suggested praying Scriptures--work your way through the alphabet. Recite scriptures until you fall asleep. 

Aha!

It was a great idea. I could combine alphabet Scriptures with praying for people or personal needs. So the next wakeful night, I began.

A "Ask...Seek...Knock."

B "Bless the Lord, O my soul."

C "Confess your sins one to another."

 I didn't get too far. By the letters G and H, I was drifting in and out of sleep. But I did wake enough to J, and recited, "Jesus wept."

The next sleepless night, I decided praise was in order. I focused on Scriptures from Isaiah, even though thoughts were out of alphabetical order: "Almighty God, Wonderful Counsellor Everlasting Father, Prince of peace." "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord."

Then came a night I lay awake, even with quoting Scriptures. I was surprised that, though I've memorized a lot of verses, I couldn't recall examples--K, Q, R---Perhaps I wasn't fully alert. 

On later nights, I diverted from a strict alphabetical order and prayed The Lord's Prayer, praying into each verse. Or Psalm 23. Or favourite verses. 

I prayed for our pastors. I prayed for my writing. I prayed for our Canadian leaders. 

Then I realized something else was happening.

I was generally sleeping more soundly. The Lord's words were becoming a balm to my spirit. And I wasn't worrying nearly as much.

But more. I was reminded of how important it is to pray with Scripture. In this way, we know we are praying according to God's will. If we don't, we can, as the German theologian Dietrich Bonhoefffer wrote, "become victim of our own emptiness", praying in generalities.

In my regular morning prayer time, I began writing down special Scriptures for people--a process that will continue to grow. 

How will this process grow and influence my praying? My hope is that it will lead to more effective praying. God's word is powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit...and attitudes of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12).

If you haven't tried it, pray through Scriptures during a wakeful night, matching verses with special requests. 

God bless you this coming year.

Image by Pixabay

A Time of "Gracious Uncertainty" by Sharon Espeseth

Reminder from Friend that I am a Writer

Stymied in My Writing

The topic, "writing in the cracks,” had me stymied as I’m finding it hard to write. Period. I’m sporadic in my journal writing. When I do begin a blog or essay, it’s hard to get it finished even by using "cracks of time,” which seem to allude me.


Seek the Lord

Lynn J. Simpson’s blog, “God’s Timetable,” struck a note with me. Although God’s timetable may differ from ours, his goodness is everlasting. Lynn quotes the well-known verse: “Ask and it will be given you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7 NIV) This time the word “seek” grabbed my attention.

A recent shift in our household schedule has challenged my morning routine of reading, writing and praying. I pray throughout the day, but I’m missing, or skimping on, my morning devotions. Have I, lately, been seeking enough?


Seeking through Song

“He who sings prays twice, says Saint Augustine. Although I miss singing in church, because of Covid restrictions, I can still sing and make music with all my soul. (Psalm 108:1) This too is seeking and addressing the Lord.

Here are two of my favourite hymn about seeking.

1. "Seek the Lord” by Roc O’Connor and sung by the Saint Louis Jesuits. The lyrics are based on Isaiah 55:6-9.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLjgnSKepow]

2. Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God by Karen Laffertyis based on Matthew 6:33.

Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsBpM9IcBts


My Writing Plans??

Writing may not be my present priority. Since I can’t see around corners, I don’t make many commitments. I find it best to trust God for each day. I’m not perfect at laying everything before God, especially the part of leaving things there, but I believe God is teaching me to live my life that way.

James has an interesting beginning to his letter “to the twelve tribes scattered to Kingdom Come,” as Eugene Peterson says in The Messenger. He questions why we say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money.” As writers, we may say, "I will write such and such and make a profit." Yet we don’t know with any certainty what tomorrow will bring. James reminds us that our life is transient, that we are a mist that will soon vanish. James suggests, we ought to say, "If the Lord wishes, we will live and do this and that.” (James 4:13-14 ESV)

"Gracious Uncertainty”* (From My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers)

It is our natural inclination,  Chambers explains, to be so precise in our planning and forecasting the future “that we look upon uncertainty as a bad thing.” Our common sense may have us planning and plotting, but, he says, “We cannot presume to see ourselves in any circumstance in which we have never been.”

These past few years, due to my husband’s health concerns, the two of us are learning that we are better off not to presume too much.

Chambers also says, “Certainty is the mark of the common sense life--gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life.” We can be uncertain about our next step, but we can be certain about God. “As soon as we abandon ourselves to God and do the task He has placed closest to us, He begins to fill our lives with surprises.”

The Norwegian and I in Another Season

My Present Task

Caregiving my husband is the present task God has placed closest to me. My writing must take a lesser place. My natural instinct is to analyze, observe, question, plan and schedule. That includes matters regarding Hank's health and daily living. This organizing can be time-consuming and sometimes discouraging and frustrating for both of us. Plans often fall apart when one is feeling poorly.

I must remind myself that I am not in charge.

One day Jesus  called a child and set the little one among his followers. Holding the child he said,  “Truly, I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3 ESV) We need to become humble, instead of self-righteous (always right), overly critical, and limited in our view.

Instead we need to seek the Lord and leave everything to Him. Then we will become, as Chambers says, “gloriously and graciously uncertain” about how God will work in our situation. We can be certain, however, that He will come if we remain faithful to him.*

*(Between the asterisks above, I am quoting and paraphrasing ideas from the devotional, “Gracious Uncertainty,” in My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers.

As for Hank’s health, we still have our struggles, but we are thankful for answered prayers, a diagnosis, God’s direction, and for family and friends who pray and support us.

Writing Between the Cracks

Hank is well enough to enjoy a bit of TV watching in the evening and he is back to his night-owl” habits, so I watch with him. . . Although it’s enjoyable and important to spend this time together, I need to pull back enough to get my sleep, so I can regain my early-bird ways. This is when I am best at reading, writing and praying.

I pray that I will follow God’s guidance and live well in this time of gracious uncertainty. You are welcome to join me in this prayer for yourselves.

God's Timetable by Lynn J Simpson

“Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be open.” Matthew 7:7

What does it mean to “seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened?” A lot of us will find ourselves seeking but after an amount of time, we give up our search. When the door we’ve been knocking on is not opened after an amount of time waiting, we leave. We become frustrated and discouraged when the seeking and knocking does not produce the results we want in a timely fashion. We make the decision to walk-away from our searches and pursuits using our own understanding of how we should spend our time.

 An article deadline is fast approaching when we still have not found the information we need and our sources are not responded. We are ready to let the editor know we cannot follow-through on our commitment. Our novel outline stalls when our writing partner kindly let’s us know of a flaw in our research. We start to loose faith in our writing and are ready to hit delete on the project. After months of  waiting for responses from our queries, we start to box up the pages of our memoir wondering if our children might read it when we are gone. We’ve just written our 200^th blog post to just a handful of readers and wonder if it is time to focus our writings elsewhere. Why seek out a blog audience when the numbers are not rising? Not a word has been written for that devotional we have been thinking about for many, many years as there is always something else to do that closes the door on time to spend writing. 

When Jesus taught about asking, seeking and knocking, He did not advise to give-up after a certain amount of time. Instead, He tells us  to pursue God with our whole heart. This whole-hearted pursuit to know God takes faith, focus and follow-through. We are never to give-up our efforts to seek Him and we are promised we will find Him. During those challenging times of our writing life, instead of falling on our own understanding of time and productivity that can lead us to discouragement and even abandoning our projects, may we remember to place God above all our pursuits. We can ask Him for knowledge, patience, faith, love, wisdom and understanding. 

Take heart! God’s timetable is different than ours! His goodness everlasting!

Your goodness continues forever, and your teachings are true. I have had troubles and misery, but I love your commands. Your rules are always good. Help me to understand so I can live. Psalm 142-144

You can find more of Lynn's writing on faith at Keep It Real. 

Falling Leaves By Marcia Lee Laycock

Leaves Hanging On

We once lived on a hillside facing a small wood. In the fall, the bush across from our house would be a blaze of gold and russet. When the sun fell on it, the effect was startling, as the colors seemed to glow. But the fall temperatures, winds and rains would eventually do their damage; the trees would look more grey and dismal by the day as their colour was stripped away. Soon there would be nothing but barren tree trunks with the odd withered leaf hanging on.

Just as darkness was falling one night, I was looking out my kitchen window, thinking how this time of year can be a bit depressing. Then I noticed a twinkling through the branches. The lights of the town below were coming on, and because most of the leaves were gone, they were showing through the trees. As I watched, it became a delightful dance of light. The next morning I noticed, not the barren trees, but the view emerging beyond them. With the foliage disappearing, the river valley was emerging. I could already see the main street. Soon the river would be visible, and the bridge that connected the two halves of the town. Soon I’d be able to see it all.

There are times in our lives when it feels like everything is being stripped away, when there is no colour left, no joy in the day. At these times it’s hard to see the purpose in what is happening, hard to find meaning in it. But it is often during these hard times that we gain new perspective and begin to see what was hidden. When hard times come, all that is superfluous is stripped away and what is real, what matters, comes into focus. It is often at such times that we are able to see God.

The Bible is peopled with those who were in this situation; lepers cried out to Jesus, blind men groped to be close to Him, the sick reached out just to touch His robe, believing they would be healed. Their hope came from a clear-sightedness that resulted from being in barren places. When all is stripped away, we have an opportunity to shift our perspective and see what lies beyond. It is an opportunity to reach out for God.

But we don’t have to wait for that day. We can gain that perspective at any time, simply by seeking God with a whole-hearted earnestness. One of His greatest promises is found in Matthew 7:7 – “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Not only that, but God has also given us a helper. When Jesus left this earth He promised to send His spirit to guide and direct us. That same Spirit is available to us today. He will help us to see what is hidden, to see beyond the distractions of life to what is real and important.

The trees might look beautiful but the view beyond is magnificent. 
****

Marcia Lee Laycock writes from central Alberta Canada where she is a pastor's wife and mother of three adult daughters. She was the winner of The Best New Canadian Christian Author Award for her novel, One Smooth Stone. The sequel, A Tumbled Stone was short listed in The Word Awards. Marcia also has four devotional books in print and has contributed to several anthologies. Her work has been endorsed by Sigmund Brouwer, Janette Oke, Phil Callaway and Mark Buchanan.

Abundant Rain, an ebook devotional for writers can be downloaded on Smashwords or on Amazon. It is also now available in Journal format on Amazon. 

Her most recent release is Celebrate This Day, a devotional book for special occasions like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Thanksgiving. 

Visit Marcia’s Website

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