Prayer time.....

There are certain "disciplines" that never fail to add value to my life, yet I struggle to always include them in my daily life.   You know, things like exercising, eating right, prayer/meditation time.....  all of those enhance my day if I actually getting around to doing them.  So, WHY is it SO EASY to put them down on my list of priorities??  I mean, I don't mean to put them low on the list, but it's just so easy to get distracted by... well.... life.    

I decided to pick ONE thing to make my main priority in 2014, and that is my prayer life.  I want to enhance that so badly.  I've been getting alot of "messages" sent to me via emails and websites I have stumbled across lately that are reminding me of the importance of prayer....   

Romans 12:12 -- "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." 
Commentary:  Prayer does not come easily. It takes consistent application in order to discover the great benefits that prayer bring to the life of the believer. Faithfulness in prayer shapes the heart of the believer in ways that no other activity can, and once you have experienced the power of prayer it is hard to live without it.

.......and how we should find a specific PLACE to pray. 

Acts 16:13 -- "On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there."   Commentary:  Places to pray were mentioned often in Scripture. Many of the men and women in the Bible had a specific spot where they went to pray. A place of prayer keeps us from trivializing prayer and helps us to focus when we do pray. That place could be a closet, a wooded area, or a certain bench in the city, wherever it is, establishing a geographic location of prayer can help revitalize a devotional life that is languishing.

  ... and a specific TIME each day to pray. 

Psalm 145: 1-2 -- "I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever."   Commentary:  The history of Christianity is filled with communities who set specific times of the day to pray. Setting a time to pray ensures consistency in the rhythm of our week. Conversely, if we don’t schedule a time for prayer, we will fill that time in with something else, and days will become weeks of prayerless activities. Don’t wait until you are so dry in your spiritual life that prayer becomes a chore to be re-learned. Get out your schedule book and make time for God each day, then guard that time just like you would any other appointment.

So, that's what I have done.  I have picked my prayer "time and place" each day and I'm going to commit as faithfully as I can for one year.  It's going to be exiting to see how God speaks to me during this specifically set aside time.  I believe He will.  And I believe it's going to rock my world!!  

How about you?  Do you take your daily "prayer time" as a serious commitment?  And do you have any tips on how to make your prayer time more consistent?   Share with the class please.   :-)

*all commentary above is by Dave Whitehead, Senior Pastor at GraceNYC.org

Waiting on God....

Some days it feels I'm stuck... just waiting on God.

Waiting on God to give me answers.

Waiting on God to heal.

Waiting on God to stop an injustice.

Waiting on God to just "show up" and DO SOMETHING.

 I always post my morning devotional from "Jesus Calling" everyday on my twitter and Facebook pages.  I've noticed a pattern of people responding to the days that have to do with waiting, trusting, hoping... so I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who feels like they are playing the "waiting" game.

Yesterday, I read this in my "Daily Bible Verse" email.

"Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." - Psalm 27:14

And the commentary from Dave Whitehead, Senior Pastor from GraceNYC.org, said this: 

It takes strength to wait for the LORD. We want answers now, but sometimes God is found in the delay. He uses waiting to form things in our soul that we won’t get any other way. It is better to take heart and wait upon the LORD than to take things into our own hands.

"...but sometimes God is found in the delay"..... Wow.  That reminds me of something else I read recently which stated that "waiting" isn't meant to be a passive action.  While we are waiting, we should be doing something.  Like maybe we should be searching for God.  Moving closer to Him.  Take this "waiting" time to get to know Him better.  

I am convinced that God's timing is perfect.  That has been shown to me over and over in my own life, and in the lives of many around me.  

So, if today you feel, like me, as if you are in a "waiting season".... don't worry.  It is only just that.  A season.  You will not stay here forever, nor will I.  But in the meantime... don't just sit passively, watching as life passes you by. See what is before you today, that you can grab on to and pursue to the fullest.  Maybe it's just laundry today.  I mean, some days, that's all I got..... but if you do THAT with purpose and passion... maybe then God will trust that you will bring that same purpose and passion into something bigger... something greater.  

God is doing work in me.  And in you.  And sometimes, the greatest work is happening while we are .....waiting.   

Happy waiting!.... Love ya'll..... M