PRAYERS OF THANKSGIVING

A few months ago, one of the wonderful shepherds at PV suggested a book to me by Beth Moore, entitled "Praying God's Word". This book is about overcoming strongholds in your life through praying scripture-prayers. It is a wonderful book, divided up into different chapters that deal with different issues that a lot of people face, and it is filled with scripture after scripture, prayer after prayer written to help a person to overcome whatever it is that they are facing.

Beth teaches that prayer and God's Word are two of the most powerful tools that we, as Christians, have to help us both draw near to God and fend off the attacks of Satan. Because these two, prayer and scripture, are so powerful, when we combine them together, Beth compares that to tying two sticks of dynamite together. It can be explosively effective in our lives.

This idea intrigued me because, although i've got an ever-increasing love for scripture, prayer is usually more difficult for me, especially if I don't have something specific to say or to pray for. For example, if I wanted to pray for this wonderful elder (or any of them, for that matter!) that recommended this book, I wouldnt have much specific to say, beyond asking God to be with them, give them wisdom in making decisions, etc. That's okay, I suppose, but for me, I can only say/pray the same thing so many times before I feel like I'm just talking to myself.

However, taking Beth's advice, I can instead pray something to the effect of, "Please help _____ to be a shepherd of Your flock that is under his care, serving as an overseer—not because he must, but because he is willing, as You want him to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to him, but being an example to us as his flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, Lord, please give him the crown of glory that will never fade away." In such a way, I feel like Beth's suggestion of praying scripture has added substance to my prayers. It's given me words to say when I didn't have the words myself. More and more often now, whenever I feel like I need to talk to God, I feel like I need to go to His Word.

With that in mind, I went today, looking for some prayers of thanksgiving. Below are some of the verses that spoke to my heart, and I wanted to share them, along with the idea of praying God's word. If you've not done it before, give it a try sometime. It'll change the way you talk to our Father.

"Blessed are You, O Lord God of Israel our father, forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O Lord, and You exalt Yourself as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone. Now therefore, our God, we thank You, and praise Your glorious name. But who am I and who are my people that we should be able to offer as generously as this? For all things come from You, and from Your hand we have given you."--I Chron. 29:10-14

"Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me; O Lord, be my helper. You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness, that my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent. O Lord, my God, I will give thanks to You forever."--Ps. 30:10-12

"Come, let us sing with joy to the Lord. Let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before Him with thanksgiving and extol Him with music and song. For the Lord is a great God, the great King above all gods. in His hands are the depths of the earth. The mountain peaks belong to Him, the sea is His, He made it. And His hands formed the dry ground."--Ps. 95:1-5

"Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His lovingkindness is everlasting. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so...Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness, and for His wonders to the sons of men! For He has satisfied the thirsty soul, and the hungry soul He has filled with what is good."--Ps. 107:1-2, 8-9

"I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I jofully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!"--Rom. 7:21-25

"Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."--I Cor. 15:55-57

"Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place."--II Cor. 2:14

"Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!"--II Cor. 9:15

"Give thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light. For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."--Col. 1:12-14

Remember (Part 2)

Of all the passages in the Old Testament that use the word "remember", I found 33 of them that are examples of people...not "characters" but people just like you and me...that call out to God in prayer, asking Him to remember something.

In Exodus 32, after the Israelites have created a golden calf to worship and God's anger burns against the Israelites and He is ready to destroy them all and make a great nation out of Moses...Moses asks God to remember His covenant that He made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He asks God to remember the covenant and turn from His anger and not destroy His people.

In Exodus 33, Moses asks God for guidance in leading Israel. He says, "You have been telling me, 'Lead these people,' but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, 'I know you by name and you have found favor with me.' If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people."

In the Judges, one of the most intersting people to read about is Samson. He was a man who seemed to enjoy riddles. He was a man of incredible strength, which he received from the Lord. There was that time he tied the foxes' tails together (300 of them, btw!) and tied torches to their tails and set them loose in the grain fields. There was that other time that he killed 1,000 people with the jawbone of a donkey. And then there was that time when Delilah cut his hair, and thus, with his Nazirite vow being broken, his strength left him. He was captured by the Philistines, bound in shackles, and his eyes gouged out. But he prayed to God, "O Sovereign Lord, remember me. O God, please strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes."

In I Samuel, Hannah prays fervently, asking God to remember her and give her a son.

In II Chronicles, as Solomon prays at the dedication of the Temple to the Lord, He says, "O Lord God, do not reject Your anointed one. Remember the great love promised to David, Your servant."

In II Kings, Hezekiah, who has been one of Judah's few faithful kings, becomes ill. He receives word from the prophet Isaiah to put his affairs in order--he is going to die. But Hezekiah pours out his heart to God, as he weeps bitterly, asking God to "Remember, O Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in Your eyes."

Nehemiah was an incredible man of prayer, and all throughout his book, you will find him praying that God remember...that He remember His instruction to Moses saying that "If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to Me and obey My commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for My Name" (Neh. 1:8)...that He remember him with favor for all he has done for the people of Israel (Neh. 5:19; Neh. 13)...even that He remember the harm that his enemies have caused (Neh. 6:14; Neh. 13).

Job, as a man under great distress over the circumstances of his life, asks God to remember that his life is but a breath (Job 7:7). He also asks God to remember that He molded him like clay...and asks Him not to make him like dust again! (Job. 10:9) Job asks for God to wait until His anger is passed and then remember His servant Job.

The Psalms are peppered with statements from the psalmists, asking God to remember:

• "Remember, O Lord, Your great mercy and love, for they are from of old..." (Ps. 25:6)
• "Remember the people You purchased of old, the tribe of Your inheritiance, whom You redeemed..." (Ps. 74:2)
• "Remember how the enemy has mocked You, O Lord, how foolish people have reviled Your name..." (Ps. 74:18)
• "Rise up, O God, and defend Your cause; remember how fools mock you all day long..." (Ps. 74:22)
• "Remember how fleeting is my life..." (Ps. 89:47)
• "Remember, Lord, how Your servant has been mocked, how I bear in my heart the taunts of all the nations..." (Ps. 89:50)
• "Remember me, O Lord, when You show favor to Your people, come to my aid when you save them..." (Ps. 106:4)
• "Remember Your word to Your servant, for You have given me hope..." (Ps. 119:49)
• "O Lord, remember David and all the hardships he endured..." (Ps. 132:1)
• "Remember, O Lord, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell..." (Ps. 137:7)

The prophet Jeremiah is another one who, several times, asks the Lord to remember. He prays, "For the sake of Your name do not despise us; do not dishonor Your glorious throne. Remember Your covenant with us and do not break it." (Jer. 14:21) He also prays, "You understand, O Lord; remember me and care for me." (Jer. 15:15) He again pleads, "Remember that I stood before You and spoke in their behalf to turn Your wrath away from them." (Jer. 18:20) Finally, he laments, "Remember, O Lord, what has happened to us; look, and see our disgrace." (Lam. 5:1)

Finally, the prophet Habakkuk also prays, "Lord, I have heard of Your fame; I stand in awe of Your deeds, O Lord. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy." (Hab. 3:2)

In the midst of all these prayers asking God to remember...there are even a couple asking God NOT to remember...NOT to remember the sins of our youth (Ps. 25:7)...NOT to remember our sins forever (Is. 64:9).

What impresses me most about this lengthy list of people in the Old Testament is that for so many of them...when they prayed asking God to remember...God answered their prayers.

With Moses, God didn't destory the Israelites. He allowed Moses to lead them. He renewed Samson's strength. He gave Hannah a child. He extended Hezekiah's life, made Nehemiah successful, and restored to Job more than he had before...

What about you? Can we add your name to this list? Is there something that you desperately want God to remember and act upon?

Or is there something that you'd rather He did NOT remember?

Why don't you tell Him about it?

He listens...and He answers...He REMEMBERS.

Remember (Part 1)

I don’t know about you, but I like reminders. Without them, I forget. So I’ve got them all around me. At work, when there’s something I need to be certain that I don’t forget to do, I can set my Microsoft Outlook taskbar to pop up with a reminder. At home, my refrigerator is covered with pictures of my niece and nephew, and some Christmas pictures of some friends and their children. And in my bedroom, the walls are nearly covered with collages of photos…people and places that I love…things that I don’t want to forget. So I like reminders.

This week I was struck by the realization that God loves reminders, too! In my ladies Bible study on “Believing God” by Beth Moore, we studied Joshua 4, and Beth brought out a point and made a connection for me that I’d never made before. For me, the implications were incredible. I was in awe to think of my God that way.

In Joshua 3, the Israelites cross over the Jordan River and into their promised land. This is followed up by some instructions that the Lord gives to Joshua, beginning in chapter 4:
“When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan from right where the priests stood and to carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.’ So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, ‘Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, “What do these stones mean?” tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.’”

After discussing this passage of scripture, we turned back to Genesis 15 and read of where God first made His covenant with Abraham. Starting in verse 9, it reads:
“So the Lord said to him, ‘Bring me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.’ Abram brought all these to Him, cut them in two, and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half…As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him…When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, ‘To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates—the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebushites.’”

Upon comparing these two passages of scripture, Beth pointed out that the Hebrew word describing the Jordan being “cut off” before the ark of the covenant of the Lord before the ark was carried through the Jordan was the same as that used to describe Abram cutting the pieces of the animals in two, before the Lord passed through them in establishing a covenant with Abraham. Now, Beth admitted that this is her own speculation or theory, simply based on the similarities of these words in these two passages, but she said, “I believe that God was having His own memorial right there, remembering, ‘Children, I made a covenant with you…I made a promise, and I’m about to deliver!’”

It had a drastic impact on me to think of my God making it a point to Himself to remember something. I guess I find that interesting because I’m not sure it’s possible for an omniscient, omnipotent God to forget anything! So it would seem to me that “remembering” is more than just “not forgetting”. I decided to look into this a little bit more.

According to Strong’s Concordance, the Hebrew word for “remember” used in the Old Testament is “zakar”. There are several very similar definitions given for this word:
1. to remember, recall
2. to be brought to remembrance, be remembered, be thought of, be brought to mind
3. to cause to remember, remind
4. to cause to be remembered, keep in remembrance
5. to mention
6. to record
7. to make a memorial, make remembrance
The last three really speak to me…the idea of mentioning, recording, and making it a point actually make a memorial to something or someone.

A biblegateway.com search of the NIV yields the word “remember” 233 times. One hundred eighty-two of those occurrences are in the Old Testament. Sometimes it is used to describe God “remembering” someone. Sometimes it is people crying out to God, asking that He “remember” someone or something. Most often, though, it is God commanding us to remember Him and what He’s done.

I’ll take a closer look at these passages over the next several days and cover some of them in a little more detail in some following blogs/notes. Feel free to leave your own thoughts/comments.

And in the meantime, take some time to purposefully remember what God has done for you today

My Current Song...

I'm a lover of music! It speaks to me like nothing else.

I love listening to praise/worship music. It's playing very softly in the background on my computer as I type this. It's playing on my car radio approximately 85% of the time that I'm in the car...it's on either KLOVE or a local Christian station.

But asking me to pick a favorite song or artist would be next to impossible. Especially considering what an indecisive person I am. I can be pretty indecisive sometimes...or at least I think I can be...I'm not sure... ;)

Although I love most of the music I hear, sometimes there's a song or verse that really grabs hold of me, and really speaks to me or what I'm feeling at the time. It becomes my temporary favorite...the one that I gotta hear...the one that, if it is on, I'll sit in the car after I get where I'm going, just to hear it or the part of it that I like.

Right now that song is one that I didn't like at first...until I actually listened to the words. The second verse has really grabbed me. It's from Mark Harris' song, "One True God" and the second verse is as follows:

"I don't have a thing that I got on my own,
And I don't have a care that I carry alone.
But I have a God, He's carrying me.

And I don't have a sin that He doesn't forgive,
And I don't have a heart that is worthy of His.
But I have a God, He still loves me!"

Amen.

Just wanted to share that with you all. Be blessed. Thanks for reading. Much love.

God Is Love

A couple of weeks ago, on a Wednesday night, our minister read to us the love passage from I John, which contains the statement that "God is love." When he posed the question, "What does that mean? What does that mean to you?" ...well, I've been thinking about it since then...and I couldn't help but remember something my mom once told me.

When I asked her what her favorite passage of scripture was, she said it varies, but one of her favorites is I John 4:8. She said that she loves it because in light of the fact that God is love, you can take the passage from I Cor. 13 and fill in that blank with God.

"God is patient. God is kind. He does not envy. He does not boast. He is not proud, He is not rude, He's not self-seeking......" and on it goes. This thought is just such a comfort to me, so I wanted to share it with all of you. We can sometimes tend to create God in our own image, imagining a God that is more like us, and that's not a good thing. I am not the most patient person in the world, and when I get irritated, I can be rude to others. Sometimes I look out for my own interests more than those of others. And sometimes I can think of God in those terms...I can imagine him becoming ever-increasingly impatient with me for all of the times that I mess up.

What a comfort it is to know that He is not like me, but that He's perfect. He's patient and kind towards all of us. He is Love. And He never fails.

The View From The Pulpit

Every day I discover new and exciting things in my Psalms study--I run across verses and passages that speak to me in an entirely new way! In this Beth Moore study, she spends two days per psalm...and at the end of the second day, she asks you to write the psalm in your own words. This is something that I'm not great at, because unfortunately, I am seriously deficient in the creativity department. But I've attempted to at least modify the psalms to fit me/my life/my current experiences. I may work up the nerve to post them here in the not-too-distant future.

But there's one in particular that I'd really like to share now...it's been on my heart ever since I read it/studied it/wrote my own version. It expresses the psalmist's desire for peace in the city of Jerusalem, their place of worship, the place where God's presence dwelt. It is found in Psalm 122, and Beth gives us two different verisons of it (she gives two different versions for each psalm studied):

A Prayer for Jerusalem
A Davidic song of ascents.

1 I rejoiced with those who said to me,
"Let us go to the house of the LORD."

2 Our feet are standing
within your gates, Jerusalem—

3 Jerusalem, built as a city [should be],
solidly joined together,

4 where the tribes, the tribes of the LORD, go up
to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
(This is an ordinance for Israel.)

5 There, thrones for judgment are placed,
thrones of the house of David.

6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
"May those who love you prosper;

7 may there be peace within your walls,
prosperity within your fortresses."

8 Because of my brothers and friends,
I will say, "Peace be with you."

9 Because of the house of the LORD our God,
I will seek your good.
--Psalm 122 (HCSB)

A song for the ascent to Jerusalem.

A psalm of David.

1 I was glad when they said to me,

“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”

2 And now here we are,

standing inside your gates, O Jerusalem.

3 Jerusalem is a well-built city;

its seamless walls cannot be breached.

4 All the tribes of Israel—the Lord’s people—

make their pilgrimage here. They come to give thanks to the name of the Lord,

as the law requires of Israel.

5 Here stand the thrones where judgment is given,

the thrones of the dynasty of David.
6 Pray for peace in Jerusalem.

May all who love this city prosper.

7 O Jerusalem, may there be peace within your walls

and prosperity in your palaces.

8 For the sake of my family and friends, I will say,

“May you have peace.”

9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,

I will seek what is best for you, O Jerusalem.

--Psalm 122 (NLT)

As we studied this particular psalm, Beth had us consider it in the context of our own places of worship...our own churches and our own communities. I can feel the psalmists heart for the place of worship...as I have such a heart for mine.

This psalmist rejoiced at entering to worship in the place where God's presence dwelt. I rejoice both at entering my place of corporate worship, but also at the idea that the veil is torn and I can enter His presence for worship at any time.

This psalmist had an appreciation for the city of Jerusalem and the fact that it was well-built, knit together as one unit, as a city should be. I have an appreciation for the fact that we, as the body of Christ, are knit together as one unit, as His church should be.

This psalmist recognized the place where the thrones of judgment were established. I am able to recognize that our God is a holy and just God...and that though I've sinned, I've been justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ, who now sits enthroned above.

Finally, this psalmist prayed for peace for Jerusalem and prosperity for those who love her. My prayer is for peace, not only for my own place of corporate worship, but for Christ's body as a whole, and my prayer is for prosperity for those who love Him and His church.

I actually went last week to purposely take some time to appreciate my place of corporate worship. On Friday nights, I, along with some of the people in my singles group, are accustomed to spending a large portion of the evening at our church building, down in our singles room, playing games, watching TV/movies, eating, or just talking. Sometimes...when we are just sitting there, not really doing anything...and it gets late...and I start to get a little sleepy, but am not quite ready to go home...I will go wander around the church building. Not to do anything or mess with anything, but just to walk around. I'll walk through the hallways, perhaps stop in the library to flip through a good book. There's something fascinating to me anyway about being able to walk through a ginormously empty building...and because this building is a place of worship for me, it holds a special place in my heart.

This past Friday night, though, rather than walk down the hallway, I went into our dark, empty auditorium. I walked all the way down the aisle to the very front, and I took a seat on the steps of the stage, in front of the podium. I sat there, letting my mind be flooded with all the memories of experiences that I have worshiping there over the past ~3 years. It was interesting, because I'm almost certain that particular view of the room, that view from the pulpit, is one that I'll not ever really see, when the room is actually filled with people, at least not in my fellowship of believers. But still...I imagined the place filled with my brothers and sisters, and wondered what it must be like to lead them into the presence of our Father in worship in some way or form. I prayed for those who are blessed with that task. I prayed for our ministers who preach the Word...for those who lead singing...for all those who share scripture with us...for our Shepherds who lead us to the Father's throne in prayer...and for all those who guide our hearts/minds in communion. I looked up to the balcony and thought of all those who might sacrifice by having to work a little harder at being engaged in our worship as they run sound and a/v equipment during our worship times together. My prayer was one of extreme gratitude for those who lead us in worship and for those with whom I am privilged to worship.

I reached out and took a Bible off the front pew, turned to this, Psalm 122, and read it, by the light from my cell phone. Then I took a cue, both from a friend of mine that I've seen in worship, and from Beth Moore, who suggests that we spend some time in prayer each day actually face-down before the Lord. I was able to kneel in prayer and lay prostrate in my place of worship, thanking the Lord, not only for our worship there in that place, but thanking Him for now making His dwelling among us, as His Spirit lives in us. Thanking Him for sending His Immanuel to make that possible, though we were unworthy. And praying for His peace to be felt by all who are His.

Less than 24 hours later, I was experiencing one of the best nights of worship I've ever had there at Pleasant Valley, with brothers and sisters from all over the city, as we gathered for a Saturday Night of Praise. We were able to lift our voices to God, and have Him inhabit our praise!

With all of that in mind, here is MY version of Psalm 122:

I rejoice with those who say to me,

"Let us go to the house of the Lord."

We stand at the front of this church,

this church that is knit together,

with Christ as the unifying thread,

the way His church should be.

This is where His people come, the people of the Lord.

This is where they come to worship Him together,

to learn to act justly and to love mercy as Christ did.

Pray for the peace of His church:

"May all who love her be secure. May there be peace within."

"May the Lord be our peace and prosper each of us,

as He makes His dwelling among us!"

Thanks for reading, and much love!

An Answer to Prayer!!!

I've written previously (here and here) about my brother Brent and the accident that he was involved in a little over a year ago. After a terrible dirt bike accident, he sustained numerous injuries, among which was a spinal cord that was almost completely severed. He was paralyzed from the waist down, and the doctors said he had almost no chance of ever walking again.

Check out the video Brent posted last night over on his own blog!

And PRAISE GOD!!!