I’ve been reading the Bible in chronological order. Tonight as I read Deuteronomy 2:7, I stopped and thought, “Wait, what did Moses just say?”

“The Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand. He knows your trudging through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.”

Lacked nothing? For 40 years the Israelites had nothing but the clothes on their backs (miraculously preserved, Deut. 8:4), manna and water. Lacked nothing? Are you hearing me? God’s perspective (through Moses) = they lacked nothing. THEY ATE THE SAME THING FOR 40 YEARS!

This parallels with the Sermon on the Mount where the only things Jesus mentions as needs are food and clothing:

“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ for after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.” Matt. 6:31-32

I just keep thinking, “I am so American. I am so ridiculously selfish and short-sighted.” God knows my needs and He considers my needs to be only food, drink, and clothing. How he must look at me when I complain that I don’t have the comforts that I want! How much do even the middle-class in our society border on God’s standards of repulsive self-indulgence?

I’m not trying to say that all God is doing is looking at us and shaking His head in displeasure. I think He does have compassion on us, and I also think that Deuteronomy has reminded me that I can never blame God for not getting my wants, because He has always supplied my needs.

“If an experience fails to engender humility, charity, mortification, holy simplicity, and silence, etc., of what value is it?…In this faith God supernaturally and secretly teaches the soul and, in a way unknown to it, raises it up in virtues and gifts…When together with the words and concepts the soul is loving God and simultaneously experiencing this love with humility and reverence, there is indication that the Holy Spirit is at work within it.” -St. John of the Cross

As I was driving today, these were my thoughts…

I have experienced deep pain, I have felt the sting of betrayal, the dagger of rejection; I have felt the offense of close friends, I have been torn by the gossip of others. I have seen the hypocrisy of leadership and not pointed my finger; I have stood in the face of being falsely accused.

I have been wrong. I am often wrong. I have hurt people close to me. I have spoken pointed words knowing exactly where they will hurt the most.

And in all of this, in every situation, in all human and spiritual relationships, I have seen that only two things are worth experiencing them all: love and humility. If I can come out of these situations, whether I am the injurer or the offender, with love and humility, it’s worth it.

I’m not trying to rewrite a letter from Paul, though skimming them last night is probably why this is on my mind. It’s sounds so simple: respond well, taking the low road and love through the hard things. Yet so many of us choose the easy way of offense, selfishness, and pride, so we stay in our immature state.

I know many people who are twice my age and still take the easy path. I want to set my face towards the low, unattractive door. I want to come out of every situation with a little more love and a little more humility.

Sometime I’m going to write a post about how I threw my own wedding for only $5ooo.

You’ll have to wait though, I’m still figuring it out. :) (I’m currently within budget!)

Being in a prayer room for 40+ hours a week for over 3 years now, I have heard almost everything there is out there on ways to study the Bible. The quote below takes the cake for the best advice I’ve ever heard and the one I try to implement in my own studies:

“Study the Bible with blank paper. When you’ve exhausted your own research, then turn to commentaries. Always spend more time in the Word than human words.” – David Pawson

I apologize to anyone who still visits my blog. I hadn’t intended to stop blogging but life gets in the way sometimes…this time it was the need to find extra work outside of my prayer habit to make ends meet.

So here it is! For the Love of Vintage

I’m excited about the potential of my new shop — check back for new designs I’ll be adding in the near future!

Things are a little crazy right now as I am moving and my life is in uproar. Ce la vie!

- Alyssa

There’s a woman who works at a local store where I go to run errands on occasion. Her name is Duchess and I have never seen someone in such a monotonous job with so much joy. I don’t think Duchess is a Christian, though with the way her eyes sparkle when she looks into mine, I wouldn’t be surprised.

Duchess is convicting to me every time I see her because no matter how busy the store is or a customer has a problem, she keeps her cheerful demeanor and takes everything in stride. I don’t know if I have any Christian friends working a secular job who have so much genuine joy while they work. And what’s more, I know Duchess well enough to have seen that she is consistently like this — even when she’s going through a tough time.

Paul admonished the Colossians to do everything in word and deed in the name of the Lord. How can I get offended in the name of the Lord? I can’t! How differently would I be viewed by the world if I really lived these words:

“And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him…And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.” Col. 3:17,23-24

Lately, I have been actively pursuing a gracious heart. It’s something that I lack and I desire to show others that God is a gracious God who looks past their weakness. I am realizing more and more how much I need to focus on myself and my problems instead of others’. It’s so easy to take the above verses and say, “So and so should read this, they are so ______.” Instead, I want to see the areas where I am not showing Christ and change them.

I want to live out character and joy instead of just being selfish when I don’t feel like responding well; I want to be like Duchess.

Derek Loux sings the Acronym Song to the IHOP-KC staff. (Please note that this is all in good fun — IHOP is famous for their acronyms).

I will never be asked to play music for the mayor of Roseville. It just wouldn’t happen. I’m sure he wouldn’t like spontaneous prophetic music even if he did want a concert of local musicians playing for him.

But let’s create a hypothetical scenario: I’ve been asked to play awesome blues on my cello for the mayor of Roseville (Lord willing I will be able to play awesome blues someday. For now I will be content with my hypothetical scenario.). You bet your hiney that I would practice night and day for that concert.

Without drawing out my imaginary blues concert for the mayor of Roseville, I’ll get to my point: when do we musicians who play 4-5 times a week for God practice to become excellent? How do we challenge ourselves so we can become the best? I mean, isn’t that what we should be, since we play for the most important person/audience/God?

And yet, in our carnal man-pleasing spirit, we see more value in being excellent for man rather than God. The writer of Hebrews said that Jesus is our great High Priest. I want to be one who plays with excellence, always improving, so that I can be worthy of that great High Priest. It’s not about a performance mentality, it’s about getting a new theology of grace. Do I come before God’s throne because of grace? Absolutely. Does an understanding of grace mean that God doesn’t want me to grow? No. He accepts me as I am — immature and selfish — but I don’t want to stay there.

Ugly wall of worry

To some extent, we all put up a wall in our minds and hide a thought process behind it. Hopefully you don’t have many of these walls keeping your thoughts from those around you, but don’t lie — you know what I’m talking about.

I don’t want to get into the issues of shame and fear of man, though they’re common walls. What I’ve been meditating on is a big, ugly wall so many of us are hiding behind: worrying about money.

I’ve heard a lot of stories lately about how financial big wigs and missionaries alike are getting hit with the effects of the economy. Two IMs at my HOP had their phones shut off recently. It’s that bad.

So last night I was asking the Lord about His promise in Malachi:

“‘Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.’”
Malachi 3:10

I started to cry as I told the Lord I hadn’t seen the fulfillment of that promise (I have seen blessing, but not to the point of “not enough room to receive it”). He actually said to bachan (test) Him in His faithfulness.

So maybe this is an encouragement to all of you that God promised He would provide, maybe it’s a shout out to Him that I want to see it in my own life — or recognize it if I just haven’t noticed — I don’t really know. All I know is that God keeps His promises and this is no exception. It’s just hard to see sometimes.

***This is being posted 50 minutes into Saturday because my birthday is this weekend and I’ve been super busy…Sorry for the delay!***

Every Thursday night, I’m on an intercession set that prays for Israel. We study the Jewish people together and this year we’re celebrating the Jewish feasts. In light of that, I thought the poems below were amusing.
(Note: “goyim” = Gentiles)

How odd
Of God
To choose
The Jews

— William Norman Ewer

But not so odd
As those who choose
A Jewish God,
But spurn the Jews

— Retort by Cecil Browne

Not odd
Of God
The goyim
Annoy ‘im

— Retort by Leo Rosten

What will be our response? Will we despair and say that God doesn’t answer prayer, or that x group of people didn’t pray enough? Will we be offended and shake our fist at God, claiming He didn’t come through for us?

I was impressed with IHOP-KC’s response within minutes of Obama’s victory. They interrupted the last half of their Worship with the Word set to inform everyone of his win…and immediately called a rapid fire to pray for him. Person after person told the Lord, “Thank you.” There was no hesitance in this response, and I know from living at IHOP that they weren’t prepped to say that either. No, those people have some knowledge of God, and their first response was to acknowledge that even if they didn’t know why He would want this man in power, they were going to trust Him.

Why does God want Obama in power? Maybe it’s reaping consequences or His righteous judgment — however you like to label it. But I don’t think so. I don’t know much, and even though I grew up in a political family with two parents who graduated with Poly Sci majors and I used to breathe talk radio, I have let my politics slide (on purpose) for the past 3 years.

I think God’s giving us two things: an invitation and a sign. The invitation is for Christians to realize that they need to be praying. I want to scream Jeremiah at them:

“O my soul! My soul! I am pained in my very heart! My heart makes a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because you have heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.” Jeremiah 4:19

The second is to realize that God is orchestrating world events for Jesus’ second coming. It’s really going to happen, and soon. That’s going to seem far fetched to most of you, but I’ve been studying the end-times for almost 3 years and I can tell you this much: Matthew 24:3-9 is not far away.

Barack Obama’s senior advisers have drawn up plans to lower expectations for his presidency if he wins next week’s election, amid concerns that many of his euphoric supporters are harbouring unrealistic hopes of what he can achieve.

Maybe Obama really isn’t showing his true colors and he’s allowing people to think whatever the heck they want about him…no matter how untrue. Maybe once again we’ve encountered political rhetoric rather than the truth.

Go figure.

Via

Introvert (n): one whose personality is characterized by introversion ; broadly : a reserved or shy person

A friend recently drew my attention to an ironic list over at Shrinking Violet Promotions: the Introvert’s Bill of Rights. I am 60% introvert, 40% extrovert and can definitely relate to many on the list.

Give Shrinking Violet some traffic. Head over there and enjoy the list.

I have been a fan of Bush for his entire presidency. Though many of us pro-lifers were disappointed that he didn’t fulfill his promises of focusing on abolishing abortion during his presidency — he was legitimately distracted by 9/11 — he did make a few good moves.

Like the Prenatally and Postnatally Diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act which was signed into law on October 8th. I guess 90% of babies prenatally diagnosed with Down Syndrome are aborted. The Awareness Act will, at the very least, ensure that parents of diagnosed children receive information to make informed decisions.

So, in the flurry of deciding who our next president will be, I am personally thanking President Bush for finishing well.

Sources: LifeNews and Nation Review Online

Whether you like Lamborghinis or not, this one is a work of art. It took the artist only 2 weeks to paint this entire car — with Sharpie pens.

See all the pictures here.

It’s been a good challenge for me to sit down and consciously think about how I pray. I certainly didn’t intend for the series to last so long! I hope that some of my insight, experiential knowledge, or simple steps have helped you and lifted some of the mystery of prayer.

In conclusion, I just wanted to say that as you continue your journey in prayer, don’t be afraid to make mistakes. My favorite quote about that comes from a Jason Upton song:

I’m so proud of you
I’m so proud of you
Samuel, I’m so proud of you
I’m proud of you when you are sleeping
I’m proud of you when you’re awake
And whatever you do, don’t stop tryin’
‘Cause learnin’ makes lots of mistakes

The Holy Spirit will direct your path. Ask Him for help, after all, He is called the Teacher (John 14:26).

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This post is a part of a series on different types of prayer. Click here to read the rest of the series.

“In prayer, real prayer, we begin to think God’s thoughts after him: to desire the things he desires, to love the things he loves, to will the things he wills. Progressively, we are taught to see things from his point of view.” – Richard Foster

Practical Steps

In my limited experience, I have learned that listening is the most important part of this kind of prayer. We must not assume we know God’s will on a matter (unless clearly defined in Scripture) because then we can twist our prayer to suit our own motives or misconceptions. Rather, before I even begin to intercede, I ask the Holy Spirit several questions about the person/situation. I ask for certain scriptures to pray, what God thinks of them/the situation, what my position is to be, etc. Then I can intercede with authority because I know I am in alignment with God’s heart.

Beyond receiving direction from the Lord on how to pray, there’s really no formula for intercession. It can be practiced as a two-word prayer, internally as you’re going about monotonous tasks, or very focused in a prayer room. It can last two seconds or several hours. The goal is not the quantity of time or amount of words — as I said before, many words encourage distractions — but instead praying in alignment with God’s will. It is when we pray God’s will that we see our prayers answered. Please know that just because you have direction from the Lord on how to pray, it does not mean He will answer right away. In my post on Luke 11, I went into depth on the importance of persistence in prayer.

Something I learned at IHOP is how important it is to pray positive prayers. All of the apostles’ prayers in the Bible are positive, praying for what would be in the churches instead of focusing on their weaknesses. (While on the subject, apostolic prayers are great tools for intercession. A list of them can be downloaded here.) It is vital to keep our focus on God in our prayers. In Luke 11, the man that needed bread didn’t pray against the lack, he went to his friend with the bread.

A couple weeks ago, a young married couple asked me to pray for them. I didn’t know what they needed prayer for, but I spent about 3 hours asking questions and interceding for them before I went to their house. After I spent only 15 minutes praying for them, I could see fresh hope in their eyes. The Lord had spoken to me and used me to encourage them — and I was just as encouraged to know that I hear from God!

Recommended Reading

Prayer by Hans Urs von Balthasar

Crafted Prayer by Graham Cooke is a 95 pages of wisdom on focused, effective prayers

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This post is a part of a series on different types of prayer. Click here to read the rest of the series.

This is a little late in coming, but Don LaFontaine died last month and I found this hilarious video he made with 4 other voiceover artists a while back.

I’ve left the most complex subject for last. I’m timid about defining intercession for three reasons: a) people I respect disagree with my definition, b) hundreds of thousands of intercessors have gone before me and must know much more than I, and c) because there is so much to be said. But the rule is that I speak from my own experience, so here is my humble definition.

What is it?

The simplest definition is this: intercession is praying for others. (The dictionary definition of intercession is “the action of intervening on the behalf of another.”) I like to tag on to that definition that it is taking a position between God and man — partnering with God’s heart for anything outside of yourself and asking Him to bring His purposes to pass.

I can’t move on from “what is it?” without addressing why I think the intercessors are the most burnt-out part of the Church. We must have a foundation of who God is and who we are before Him before we begin to seriously intercede. If we do not, we begin to strive and look to man for validation of what we are doing. I wrote about my experience of finding my identity before God in prayer in my series on enjoyable prayer (which can be found here, here, and here).

“Surely the Lord God does nothing unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.” Amos 3:7

God has things He will or won’t do based upon our intercession (Jer. 5:1). We see several times in the Bible that God changes His mind as a direct result of someone praying. My favorite example is Moses:

“And the Lord said to Moses, ‘I have seen [Israel] and indeed it is a stiff-necked people!”
Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation.’
Then Moses pleaded with the Lord his God and said, ‘Lord, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?
Why should the Egyptians speak and say, ‘He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce wrath and relent from this harm to Your people.
‘Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.”
So the Lord relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people.” Exodus 32:9-14

God has given us an unprecedented dignity in our prayers: even to the point of changing His mind.

In my next post, I’ll cover some practical ways to intercede, as well as some encouragement of the fruit of intercession that I have seen in my own life.

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This post is a part of a series on different types of prayer. Click here to read the rest of the series.

I am a Mac user. I have been for about 4 years and I love it. In turn, I love Apple’s “Get a Mac” ad campaign. Here’s my favorite one:

John Hodgman, the “PC Guy,” is quite funny in real life. Listen to him talk about his sudden fame on This American Life (click on “Full Episode.” His segment starts at 8:00 minutes).

“God [is] Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:24

What is it?

I’m not here to talk about the Eucharist, though that’s a good form of communion too. The word “communion” simply means sharing something in intimate fellowship/friendship. The kind of communion I am talking about is the internal relationship we have with the Holy Spirit.

Why do it? Well firstly, it is repeated over and over that Jesus communed with the Spirit (Luke 4:1, 10:21, John 1:33, etc.). I also find it interesting how much Jesus stressed abiding with the Spirit right before He went to the cross (read John 14-16).

In my own life, I find that the more I focus on communing with the Spirit on a moment-by-moment basis, the less I sin: I make better decisions because I follow His leading and I am generally more joyful as I remember God is walking with me throughout all my circumstances.

I have posted this quote before, but I believe it sums up communing with the Holy Spirit better than I ever could:

“There is a way of ordering our mental life on more than one level at once. On one level we may be thinking, discussing, seeing, calculating, meeting all the demands of external affairs. But deep within, behind the scenes, at a profounder level, we may also be in prayer and adoration, song and worship, and a gentle receptiveness to the divine breathings.” – Thomas Kelly

Practical Steps

Jesus said the Father would give the Holy Spirit to His children if we ask (Luke 11:13). I don’t have bullet-points for this type of prayer, just suggestions.

Try to develop an awareness of the Spirit within you all the time. You may have been consumed with the natural all day and then all of the sudden remember about Him — that’s great! Talk to Him internally when that happens. If you’re stressed out, thank Him for who He is (e.g. “Thank you Holy Spirit for your peace”).

As I’ve progressed in this, I find that I can have a normal conversation with someone and be consciously adoring the Lord and as I have to make small decisions, I ask Him what I should do. Sometimes He gives me specific direction, other times I know that that it is my choice.

Recommended Reading

The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence is a small but insightful book on communing with the Lord throughout the day

Clowning in Rome by Henri Nouwen is an easy read on unceasing prayer, among other subjects

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This post is a part of a series on different types of prayer. Click here to read the rest of the series.

I have a secret love for folk and bluegrass, so imagine my excitement over finding a new band to love: First Aid Kit. They are two Swedish girls (my own heritage!), only 15 and 17. I have had a lot of vocal training, but these untrained voices and harmonies are inspiring.

Enjoy their cover of Fleet Foxes‘ Tiger Mountain Peasant Song:

Contemplative prayer is my favorite type of prayer. When people write about contemplative prayer, they usually refer to the old Catholic saints like St. John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, and Madame Guyon. These people are called “mystics”; I don’t prefer the term because of the Catholic affiliation, but I do like to call myself “contemplative.”

What is it?

Contemplative prayer is really something that must be experienced. It is near impossible to describe as it is  communing with God through your spirit (and everyone goes about this a little differently). The basic idea is this: it is a selfless prayer — a prayer that focuses on ministering to God and Him alone. It is giving back to Him because He has given so much to us.

Contemplative prayer is a prayer of the spirit. God is a spirit being, so it follows that He is to be loved in spirit. Although you may receive what the mystics called “favors” (visions, etc.) from the Lord, don’t expect them. Sometimes I come out of contemplative prayer feeling so in love and I don’t know why, I just feel full and like I’m walking on air. Other times I feel more dry than ever.

Practical Steps

I have practiced contemplative prayer in a prayer room, but I think it is most effective in solitude. I like to play soft music or have complete silence.

1. Start with reading the Bible and worshiping. Take this time to write down your thoughts and quiet your soul before the Lord.

2. Find a scripture of adoration (i.e. that makes you love the Lord).

3. Softly repeat the phrase of scripture internally. Seek a connection with Holy Spirit in this.

4. Say the phrase until you feel a distinct “in love” feeling.

5. With no words, remain in that “loving on the Lord” place as long as you can (try to start with 20 minutes).

If you get distracted in this process, go back to repeating the scripture. If you fall asleep, just continue where you left off. It is important to begin with a scripture because of the mystical nature of contemplative prayer. Otherwise, it is possible to get involved in nihilism (extreme skepticism maintaining that nothing in the world has real existence) and other things.

You can use mental imagery when you contemplate, but the mystics consider this a “lesser” form of prayer because God cannot be contained in any imagery and His majesty cannot be given justice through what we know in our heads. I think imagery is a fine place to start, but – in my opinion – it’s good to get to the place where we are able to stare into “the cloud of unknowing” without imagery props.

Recommended Reading

Fire Within by Thomas Dubay is a summary of the lives of two great mystics, St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila

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This post is a part of a series on different types of prayer. Click here to read the rest of the series.

There’s something very special about waiting prayer. When practiced with the right motives, it can become the core of your prayer life — and a very important part at that.

What is it?

Waiting prayer is taking time to be still before the Lord. This concept is repeated over and over again in Scripture (Ps. 25:5, 25:21, 27:14, 37:7, 37:9, 39:7, 62:5, 130:5; Isa. 40:31; Lam. 3:25-26; Hos. 12:6 — to name a few). When you quiet your soul and focus on the Lord, you are expectant. You let Him love you as you worship Him and you expect that He will reveal Himself to you. If you’re not used to internal prayer, waiting prayer is a great place to start.

“Truly my soul silently waits for God; from Him comes my salvation.” Ps. 62:1

The more you wait on the Lord, the more sensitive you become to the Holy Spirit. You may feel nothing — in fact, for a while, I can almost guarantee you that you will feel nothing — but the simple act of quieting your soul before God will inevitably cause you to sense Him more.

The Bible commands us to wait on the Lord (Ps. 27:14, Hosea 12:6). It is the beginning of trust: you admit your own human weakness and look to the Lord for strength. And David tells us that, “those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.” (Ps. 37:9)

Practical Steps

Waiting prayer can be practiced in a prayer room or in your bedroom. Just be somewhere that you’re not likely to be interrupted.

1. Start with worshiping God — out loud or internally — and read the Word.
2. Close your eyes and begin to clear your mind of distracting thoughts. Focus, in expectancy, on the Lord. (If you want, ask God to give you a mental picture to help you focus.)
3. Then just wait. Don’t ask questions, try not to get distracted — just wait. Honestly, even though I’ve been doing this for 2 years, it often takes a half hour for my soul to quiet down so I can hear the Holy Spirit’s voice clearly. We get so busy during the day that it takes us a while to slow down.

Start with a few minutes at a time. If you fall asleep, just pick up where you left off; there’s no shame in that. You will soon find that you want to wait on the Lord longer and longer because His presence is so addicting.

Recommended Reading

Jaeson Ma, a campus revivalist, has posted his “Waiting Prayer” chapter from his book on his blog — it is an excellent description and includes his own personal testimony.

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This post is a part of a series on different types of prayer. Click here to read the rest of the series.

I had to re-take the Myers-Briggs Personality Test to figure out which one of these is me. I’m an ISFJ and, well, it fits me.

Prayers for Myers Briggs Types

ISTJ: Lord help me to relax about insignificant details beginning tomorrow at 11:41.23 am e.s.t.

ISTP: God help me to consider people’s feelings, even if most of them ARE hypersensitive.

ESTP: God help me to take responsibility for my own actions, even though they’re usually NOT my fault.

ESTJ: God, help me to not try to RUN everything. But, if You need some help, just ask.

ISFJ: Lord, help me to be more laid back and help me to do it EXACTLY right.

ISFP: Lord, help me to stand up for my rights (if you don’t mind my asking).

ESFP: God help me to take things more seriously, especially parties and dancing.

ESFJ: God give me patience, and I mean right NOW.

INFJ: Lord help me not be a perfectionist. (did I spell that correctly?)

INFP: God, help me to finish everything I sta

ENFP: God, help me to keep my mind on one th-Look a bird-ing at a time.

ENFJ: God help me to do only what I can and trust you for the rest. Do you mind putting that in writing?

INTJ: Lord keep me open to others’ ideas, WRONG though they may be.

INTP: Lord help me be less independent, but let me do it my way.

ENTP: Lord help me follow established procedures today. On second thought, I’ll settle for a few minutes.

ENTJ: Lord, help me slow downandnotrushthroughwhatIdo.

Amen.

What is it?

While Eastern meditation attempts to empty the mind, this kind of meditation is an attempt to consume it with God. Biblical meditation is setting yourself before the Lord to receive revelation from His Word. The purpose is to receive more of the knowledge of God. Proverbs 2:1-5 says how to get the knowledge of God and this is the first step: receiving God’s words and treasuring His commands.

There is nothing quite like taking an hour to meditate on a short phrase (like “Our Father in Heaven”), asking the Holy Spirit to teach you about it, and receiving your own revelation on it (and then feeling silly that you didn’t see that before!)

Practical Steps

Everyone who practices meditation does it a little differently. Here’s how I do it:

1. Pick a verse you want to meditate on (or a portion of Scripture you want to take a few weeks to go through).
2. Worship for a bit.
3. Begin to meditate on the first phrase of the first verse (e.g. if the phrase is “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” try just meditating on “In the beginning”).
4. Repeat the phrase over and over.
5. Thank the Holy Spirit for the truth of the verse (e.g. “Thank you that You were in the beginning”).
6. Ask questions – lots of questions. Write down any answers you get.
7. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal more to you

Meditate for 20 minutes before you move on to the next part of the verse. Once you get the hang of it, try going for 2 hours on one phrase. It may seem impossible at first, but it’s amazing how long you can stay on one phrase when the Holy Spirit is speaking!

I’ve made my meditation page available for download here.

Recommended Reading

Revelation through Meditation by Kirk Bennett is a great method for meditation (listen to the teaching too)

Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ by Madame Guyon is a book written in simple language to make meditation approachable for everyone

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This post is a part of a series on different types of prayer. Click here to read the rest of the series.

I want to get a huge factor out of the way before I continue this series on prayer: distraction.

Humans are weak — I live in a community of people who pray for a living and this issue comes up over and over again. We live such fast-paced lives (internally and externally) that when we try to sit and focus on an invisible God, we understandably get distracted by the smallest thing.

But there is hope! I’ve been in a prayer room for a minimum of 25 hours a week for the past 2 1/2 years and I have definitely progressed in the distraction area (though I’m far from conquering it).

“Our minds are so flighty. However, remember that our God-given wills govern all of our strength. We must recall our minds to God. Otherwise, our spirits may wander, dragging us down to the things of this earth. It isn’t necessary to be too verbose in prayer, because lengthy prayers encourage wandering thoughts. Simply present yourself to God…and fix your attention on His presence. If your mind wanders at times, don’t be upset, because being upset will only distract you more. Allow your will to recall your attention gently to God. Such perseverance will please Him.”

-Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God
(emphasis mine)

There are many ways to stay focused in prayer — I won’t go into them now, but be encouraged that distraction is perfectly normal and nothing to be frustrated about.

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This post is a part of a series on different types of prayer. Click here to read the rest of the series.

We have a funny custom in prayer rooms. As soon as you walk in to one, you will notice random people pacing between or beside rows of chairs. Some people find pacers distracting, although it’s one of the things about a prayer room that you get used to pretty quickly.

The question is — why?

• Some people pace because they’re really into the prayer meeting
• Some people (myself included) pace to stay focused
• Some of us just need a break from sitting since we are in the prayer room for 6-8 hours at a time
• Sometimes it’s simply to stay awake
• I’ve heard some people pace because they’re bored and it makes time pass
• Every once in a while, there will be a pacer who is just pacing to look spiritual and attract attention

Contrary to popular belief, pacers are no more spiritual than those sitting in the chairs. In fact, their reasons are usually quite practical. It’s just the way of a prayer room.

In modern American churches, we tend to think of prayer as closing our eyes and saying words aloud. Since when was the dignity of prayer cheapened into such a pitiful form?

The authority on this subject I have to hand over to the Catholics. I so admire their history on the subject and the high respect they continue to give it. I am not here to bash vocal prayer; it’s a method of prayer that we practice regularly in the prayer room and I think it’s very necessary. But there’s so much more to prayer.

Here’s my quarrel with vocal prayer: prayer is so powerful (more on that later) and yet most of the time when we close our eyes and pray aloud, we’re not thinking about what we’re praying and even less are we thinking about Whom we are praying to.

“If a person does not think Whom he is addressing, and what he is asking for, and who it is that is asking and of Whom he is asking it, I do not consider that he is praying at all even though he be constantly moving his lips.” – St. Teresa of Avila, Fire Within

I’m going to do a series of posts on prayer: different types of prayer, the power of prayer…I guess it’s my weak attempt to change the mindset of my culture. Everything that I will say I’ve learned myself – I won’t be parroting my teachers or plagiarizing a book.

Stay tuned.

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I have now completed this series. Click here to read the rest of the posts.

Bristol Palin & Levi Johnston

If I were Bristol Palin, I’d be googling myself (though it may not be the wisest thing, since there are people out there saying terrible things about her family).

I wanted to offer my thoughts on the whole situation (for those not familiar with “the situation,” vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s daughter, Bristol, is 5 months pregnant out of wedlock).I think Bristol’s bravery to even get to the point of telling her parents that she was pregnant shows a lot of courage. I know what it’s like to be in a family that is watched all the time; Bristol would have known the implications of admitting her pregnancy instead of secretly getting an abortion. She would have known that her mom would have to make a public statement and that people would all of the sudden want her picture and be crawling the internet for careless statements.

No, I don’t condone sex out of wedlock or abortion. But why chew up and spit out a young couple who are trying to make their mistake right? I think Bristol is beautiful and has the kind of courage some could only dream of. More power to her.

I am an avid tea drinker. I’m no connoisseur since I only like black teas, but I have become known for my theory that whenever something’s wrong with someone, tea will help. (Well it works for me!) I think it’s a placebo — OK, I know it is — but still, tea helps me when I’m down, when I have a stomach ache, whatever.

So you can imagine that I instantly said, “I want!” when I saw this bag:

I want to continue the thought I started in my God of Secrets post about Luke 11. I don’t know how most people interpret the parable of the friend at midnight, but for me, it is one of the most significant passages in the Bible about prayer.

“And [Jesus] said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’? I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.” Luke 11:5-8

Now we have to backtrack a little. In verse 1, the disciples had asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. Then we see the part we all know so well, the Lord’s prayer. But Jesus doesn’t take a breath between verses 4 and 5…He is still answering their question. (Please understand that the following is my interpretation/revelation on the chapter and is completely original.)

First of all you (the green guy) have a friend (the orange guy) who traveled from afar to visit you. You want to be hospitable and pour into him (i.e. give him food). So you think, “Hey! I have another friend who OWNS the bakery! He can give me bread for this friend!”

See, the friend didn’t ask anything of you (they represent whatever/whomever you are praying for), but you wanted to give what you knew you did not have (true humility – I am nothing outside of Christ). But, you know a guy (Jesus) who has what you need – and more.

So you go to your friend and knock on his door, even though it’s midnight. “Hey man, I’ve got this friend who needs food, can you give me some? ‘Cause I don’t have any.” And then your friend answers, “Don’t bother me, man! I can’t give you anything right now.”

When you pray, God always answers (“he will answer”). But what if His answer surprises you? See, you knew to go to Him, you knew He had what you needed, but even though you are His friend (you have some relationship with Him), He’s asking for something more from you:

“I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture…I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.”   John 10:9,14

Jesus is asking you to come to a new level: yes, you are His friend, but when you don’t understand why He won’t give to you, will you take that as an invitation to ask again? It’s not favoritism for those who persist more: it’s the nature of God’s kingdom. It’s the same reason why Jesus spoke in parables – so that only the hungry would seek out what they meant. Jesus is the door and He wants you to persist, to keep knocking to find what you are looking for. See, once you’re in the door, you have access to fellowship with Him, to the knowledge of God.

It is because of your persistence that Jesus will give to you: and that’s always more than you asked Him for initially. Now, knowing the context, the following verse should make a lot of sense:

“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you: seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”   Luke 11:9

Note: I hope you don’t feel demeaned by my childish illustrations. I wanted to make this rather confusing parable as clear as possible. And feel free to give me kudos for my amazing drawing skills too – especially my camel. (Yeah, I’m joking.)

Like I said last week (I’m still taking answers to my question, by the way!), I will try to keep these prayer room related even though they are small insignificant things.

I don’t have any deep — or not deep — questions for you today, just pictures of my new haircut.

My sad hair

My hair all prettified (doesn’t Katie work wonders?)

UPDATE: Josiah says he can’t tell the difference. Ach, oh well. I can tell.

Though this article is slanted with a pro-Obama pro-choice viewpoint, hearing a frustrated Democrat claim John McCain is getting pro-choice votes because he “looks like a maverick” is encouraging to this pro-life Republican. Lithwick sounds like she’s shaking in her boots that McCain might steal some — albeit, much needed — votes from Barack Obama.

Sorry to allow my passion for politics to seep through on this blog, but even just in regards to the pro-life movement, this article is encouraging. (Though I’m sure that was Lithwick’s last intention!)

I want to start posting little humorous/weird things periodically that I think will entertain you, my audience. Thus I thought up “the Friday Diversion.” I’m planning on keeping them prayer room-related; we’ll see how it goes.

So for this first week, I have a question for everyone (humor me, my silent readers, and comment!).

How do you chose what to highlight in your Bible?

See, I thought most people were like me: I highlight whenever something jumps out at me. That means that pretty much every verse in my Bible that I find profound, worthy of being called “favorite,” or simply touches me — is highlighted. This means that there’s a lot of color in my Bible, but I love it because I can find things so easily. Personally, I prefer colored pencils and I have a key in the back for which colors mean what.

I’m posting this because I asked Josiah the other day why he highlights and he said he only highlights verses he has revelation on. And…he’s the only person I’ve ever asked until now.

I just read this fascinating article published by the New York Times back in June called “Mystery on Fifth Avenue”. It got me thinking. As humans, we love mysteries. I don’t think this is a character trait or quirk; I think we all love solving puzzles, riddles, enigmas – whatever you want to call them – in some form.

But why? I guess I ask that question a lot…It’s not that I love to find out how things work, I just like to know about human nature. My conclusion to the question “Why do we love mysteries?” is this: God loves mysteries. OK, that was really anti-climactic. But it’s true!

It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out. Prov. 25:2 (ESV)

The New Testament speaks 27 times of God’s mysteries. I think that He hides on purpose. That way, only those who are hungry will look hard enough to find Him. And when I say the hungry, I don’t mean the unsaved: I mean Christians who are looking for more of God.

Now the question I have to ask myself is “Do I want to take the time to search out God and His mysteries?” It’s so much easier just to spout off what I know about Him and never go and actually get to know Him. But I think only those who are really persistent get the reward: the knowledge of God. It’s not as if when Jesus tells the story of the friend at midnight (Luke 11), the friend only had to ask him for bread once: it was only by his persistence that he received what he asked for.

This is how I want to live the rest of my Christianity: continually seeking out God and His mysteries until He answers me.

A few weeks ago, I posted that I was asking for more faith specifically in the area of finances. God came through in many ways and I hope it’ll encourage you to hear what He’s done for me lately.

Just a couple days after I began to focus on praying for faith, I received anonymous cash in the mail. I laughed at how sneaky God is. Then a week after that, I received a generous support check from some old friends of mine who don’t even get my support letters! But the most playful thing was yet to come: I posted on my Facebook that I have been wanting a bicycle; Josiah has one and it wasn’t a need, I just wanted to be able to go riding with him. Well, the next day, we were at a party and the host came up to me and said, “So you want a bike? I have an old Schwinn that’s sitting outside; you can have it if you want it.” At the time, I didn’t even remember that I had told anyone I wanted a bike!

As we put the bike in my car I kept saying, “Oh my goodness! I can’t believe God!” It just reminds me of how much God loves to give good gifts to His children, even when it’s a want and not a need. One of my favorite sermons is Allen Hood’s Playfulness of God. I listen to that message once a year just to remind me that God has a sense of humor.

My problems or need for money didn’t decrease during that time, but my faith undoubtedly increased. I could tell you story after story of recent things that have happened to other IMs at my prayer room but instead I’ll just leave it at this: I have a God who is faithful and I have a little more faith in my own heart to believe that He’s gonna be there for me when I need Him.

I’m going to diverge from my normal prayer room banter for this post and talk about another topic. In my teen years, I was very active in pro-life work with an organization called SOHLNet. I am still avidly pro-life and I couldn’t resist this news before it got stale.

On Monday July 28, Sioux Falls’ Planned Parenthood was closed for the day. Why? Because their preliminary injunction to stop execution of the 2005 informed consent law expired. I had been one of many who prayed over this law and now I can thank God it is finally in effect. It is so effective, actually, that Planned Parenthood would rather shut itself down than comply with it!

So what could be so extreme in this law as to cause PP to shut down? Among other things, the following:

• Abortion doctors must advise pregnant mothers in writing that the abortion will “terminate the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being.”
• Requires the doctor to inform the pregnant mother that the pregnant mother and the second human being have an existing relationship that enjoys protection under the Constitution of the United States, and that the procedure terminates that relationship and the rights associated with it. The Law also requires disclosure of medical risks, including the risk of depression and “increased risk of suicide ideation and suicide.”
• Penalties for non-compliance could include imprisonment, loss of medical license, and even civil prosecution.

Now, the only question is, how can we get a version of this law passed in California?

In the heart of Old Roseville, there’s a renown farmer’s market and swap meet called Denio’s. It’s basically the biggest garage sale you’ve ever seen. I like to go to the farmer’s market on the weekend because it’s simply the best in the county.

This past weekend, I was met with an unusual situation. I’m not the paranoid type, but I had parked in a particularly sketchy part of the market and the first people I see are two elderly men walking amidst the cars in my row. One of them only looked a bit suspicious, wearing a large grin and an over-sized t-shirt. The other work a gray top hat and had a long beard carefully dyed half blue and half neon-green.

The short version of the story goes like this: I was convinced enough that these characters were vandalizing cars in the lot that I called the cops (for the first time in my life). An hour later, it was determined that they were just being suspicious around their parties 3 cars and I sheepishly apologized to them as the police officer laughed with me and assured me that there is theft at Denio’s.

My funny story has a point. As I pondered what happened later that day, I thought once again how true it is that man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart. I want to be quick to discern but slow to judge. Even if that person never knows about it, I want to be wise in my thoughts; I want to see as God sees.

I think next time I see a green-and-blue bearded man in top hat, I’ll ask the Lord what to do before I ask the Roseville Police Department.

When I first went to IHOP, I thought prayer was boring. When I did pray, I would draw out my little prayer list so that it took a half hour and then go on with my day. I can’t pinpoint the exact time, but when I began to hear the people around me talk about God everything changed; they began to tell me that God’s plan didn’t start at the cross.

As I looked at the Word closer, I had to ask myself the question, “Why did Jesus go to the cross for me?” It seemed a simple question with a cookie-cutter answer, but was it? Why would God come down from heaven, leave all of His glory and take on a little Jewish man’s body forever? (And Isaiah said Jesus wasn’t even good looking!) What was it in the heart of the Godhead that took such drastic measures to save a few creatures He formed from dirt?

In the American church, we tend to throw around the term, “we are the Bride of Christ;” I had heard that term a thousand times but I never stopped to think about it before. I think that somewhere back before Genesis, the Godhead wanted companionship: not because He lacked something, but simply because He wanted to share His pleasure, joy, love – with someone else. I can almost see Jesus going to His Father and saying, “Father, We have so much to give, is it good for God to be alone? Father, I desire a companion, someone whom I can love and who will love me voluntarily in return.”

I can’t prove this exact scenario, but once I begin thinking of myself as the Bride of Christ, I saw something amazing woven throughout Scripture: Jesus came and gave me the dignity to be His partner; He didn’t need me, He only wanted me! And He says that He will actually change His mind if I pray! (Examples: Ex. 32:7-14, Zeph. 2:3, Jer. 29:12) Without going really into depth regarding Jewish traditions, I believe Jesus died on the cross to pay the traditional bride price: He said we were worth the blood of the Son of God.

I’ve only scraped the surface of this whole “viewing myself as a bride” thing, but the reason why I connect it to prayer is this: prayer isn’t boring to me when I see that God created me because He wanted to, because He enjoys me and that He loves me so much that my prayers actually change His plans.