Behind the Faces

By Jennifer R.

This is just a brief reminder to all of us (myself included!) not to judge a book by its cover, so to speak. You never know what kind of day, week, or life someone has had before they crossed your path.

Behind the Faces

In your face I may see
A smile that’s carefree,
But behind your face may be
Struggles I can’t see.

In your face I may see
A happiness that’s glowing,
But behind your face may be
A pain you aren’t showing.

In your face I may see
A life of ease and blessing,
But behind your face may be
A history of trials and suffering.

In your face I may see
A dear sister or brother, always focused on things above,
But behind your face may be
A heavy heart, burdened for someone you love.

God, help me not to only see
The face that’s right in front of me.
Give me compassion, love, and grace
To minister to the soul behind every face.


(c) 2014

While the Pastor's Away...

By Jennifer R.

Our pastor and his family are currently enjoying a sabbatical. While they're away, we don't want to forget to continue to pray for them and for our other pastors who will be filling in the gap while they're gone. There is no greater thing we can do for our spiritual leaders than to pray for them! If you would like some ideas for specific ways to pray, here are some helpful resources to get you started:

• 31 Days of Praying for Your Pastor by Revive Our Hearts
• 31 Days of Praying for Your Pastor's Wife by Revive Our Hearts
• Pray for Your Pastor! by Tim Challies - He lists several articles here with specific ways to pray.

Praying for Your Children

By Vivian E.

For about the past month, the Lord has really been convicting and encouraging me concerning my prayer life. One Sunday during our parenting class, the teacher challenged us to write down ten things we are praying for our children. On Wednesday night of the same week, the women's Bible study leader taught a lesson on prayer which impacted my heart deeply. The Lord used these things, along with my friend Kimberly Wagner's blog posts concerning prayer to convict my heart and shake me into the reality of just how imperative it is for me to pursue a fervency and consistency in my prayer life!

Since I have been immersed in Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians over the past year through Precept studies, key phrases from Paul’s prayers immediately came to mind, along with other Scriptures I have prayed for them.

1. That they would love the Lord with all their heart,soul,mind, and strength! (Mark 12:30)
   
2. That God would unite their hearts to fear Him.
   
3. That they would set their affections on things above, not on things of the earth, remembering that this world is not their home, but their citizenship is in heaven! (Col.3:1-3 and Phil. 3:20)
   
4. For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; (Colossians 1:9-11)
   
5. That they would hunger and thirst after God and His Word.
   
6. That they would have such an understanding of the holiness of God that their lives reflect that (their speech, entertainment choices, etc.).
   
7. that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
   
   Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:16-21)
   
8. Humility (Philippians 2:3-4)
   
9. That they would be awed by the Gospel and never get over God’s amazing grace in their lives!
   
10. That they would be sensitive to sin and live a life of repentance.
    

The Warning Sign of Prayerlessness

By Hannah S.

How’s your prayer life?

That’s a question that usually gets the same answer.

“It could be better.”

Until we are face to face with the Lord, our communication with Him will always be lacking. But if you are like me, there are times when prayer comes easily and then there are other times where it is bordering on sheer duty.

Why?

When I find myself struggling to pray, I will often call out to the Lord and ask Him to increase my desire for fellowship with Him. I am beginning to see a pattern of how He has answered these prayers in my life. He answers by bringing circumstances in my life where I feel helpless. I pray fervently when I have exhausted all my efforts and don’t know what else to do to remedy a situation. We even see this in the world as news reporters and political leaders will often refer to prayer during times of crisis. It is very natural for us to cry out to God when we feel helpless.

Helplessness leads to prayer.

So what does this say about areas of my life in which I don’t pray? Somehow, I have fooled myself into believing that I can handle these things and, thus, prayer is not crucial. I believe that I have a plan, a program, or a schedule that will get me to my end goal. The reality is I am much more helpless than I really want to think. Prayerlessness is a warning sign in my life. My lack of prayer is pride that says, “ I’ve got this one covered.”

So if you are like me, and desire to grow in your prayer life, ask the Lord to remind you of your helplessness. It is good to rehearse these truths to ourselves. We are helpless to live this Christian life without the power of the Holy Spirit. We are helpless to respond kindly to our husbands and children. We are helpless to serve without selfish gain, to learn from His word, to love others… The list goes on and on. All of these items should drive us before the throne of God with passion and urgency. Everyday life is more of a crisis than you might realize. We must pray!

Prayers for My Husband

By Kim W.

I desire to pray for my husband on a daily basis. I know how important that is, but sometimes I lack the specifics of what to pray for. Also, I tend to pray for the same things, not looking to Scripture to guide me on how to pray. This biblically based list (click on the link to go to the list) reminds us all 1) what to pray and 2) how to use Scripture in our prayer life as we pray for our husbands. It has been helpful to me... just thought I would pass it on! Pray without ceasing, ladies!

Ways of Praying the Psalms

If you missed the first night of Thrive, here are some of the key notes from Ann's talk (below). Also, if you missed some of Erin's homiletics notes, you can download those here. If you want to print more homiletics worksheets, you can find those here.

Prayer is “answering speech”, responding to God’s Word to us. The goal of praying the psalms is to make them our own prayers, using God’s language to respond to Him.

Ways of praying the Psalms – 6 methods or approaches (God’s Prayer Program, by T.M. Moore)

• verbatim – praying the psalm as written, reading aloud, reflecting as you go (you need to be familiar with what the psalm beforehand)
• paraphrase – when words don’t fit your life exactly, but suggest something very similar read as written, prayerfully considering how it applies to your own situation put into your own words, using words that seem appropriate to you
• praying over – similar to paraphrasing, summarize sections of psalm, applying to your own life as you go; allow HS to prompt, move you in related, but new directions
• responsive – read/pray the psalm, respond to matters raised as HS guides; establish a dialogue with God as He speaks from His Word
• guided --‐ let the verses of the psalm suggest a topic and pray for as many specific applications of that topic as the Lord brings to mind
• altogether--‐ using a variety of the above approaches, back and forth, letting the content of the psalm direct you We have the perfect Teacher in the language of prayer; the main obstacle is our own lack of desire

We learn to speak God’s language in prayers as a toddler learns language of his parent, must be practiced, builds relationship over time, shapes us. Some of these primary “vertical habits” of prayer are:

“I love you”

“I’m sorry”

“Thank you”

“Help!”

“Why?”

“I’m listening”

“What can I do?”

“Bless you”

Praying for College Students

By Jennifer R.

I recently attended our senior recognition day, where the parents of graduating seniors got a brief three minutes to give their students a charge as they go forward into the next phase of their lives. I was struck by the variety of the charges and the different Scriptures used by each set of parents. I thought it would be helpful to compile a list of some of these parents’ prayers and advice for their students so that we can know better how to lift up these college students in prayer. And we NEED to be lifting them up in prayer. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it should be enough to get you started. So here they are, in no particular order:

As you venture out into this world, remember to depend on the One who knows the beginning from the end.

Proverbs 2:6–9 (NASB)
For the Lord gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
He is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
Guarding the paths of justice,
And He preserves the way of His godly ones.
Then you will discern righteousness and justice
And equity and every good course.

Think, talk, and write constantly about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Do not let a second go by when you are not aware of His presence, or thinking about Him in some way. 

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (ESV)
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Matthew 5:14 (ESV):
You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Be faithful to stay in God's word daily. Be filled with the knowledge of His will.

Colossians 1:9-12 (NJKV)
For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

Focus on others more than yourself. Be sensitive to others. Be faithful to serve the Lord. Be wise in your decisions. Choose friends carefully. Guard your heart.

1 Timothy 4:12 (ESV):
Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

James 1:5-6 (ESV)
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

Colossians 3:13 (ESV):
Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

Keep your focus on Jesus Christ; keep your eyes on Jesus.

Colossians 3:2 (NKJV)
Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.

Seek God first in all things. Seek Him before all other counsel, before all other companionship, before all other pleasure.

Matthew 6:33 (NKJV)
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Micah 6:8
He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the LORD require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?

A Mother Who Prays

This poem, from Elizabeth George’s book “A Woman after God’s Own Heart,” was read recently at a baby shower. May it encourage those who are mothers to pray for our children, and may it encourage all of us to be thankful for the prayers of our own mothers.

Some have had kings in their lineage,
Some to whom honor was paid.
Not blest of my ancestors---but,
I have a mother who prays.

I have a mother who prays for me,
And pleads with the Lord every day for me,
Oh what a difference it makes for me—
I have a mother who prays.

My mother's prayers cannot save me,
Only mine can avail;
But mother introduced me to Someone—
Someone who never could fail.

Oh, yes…I have a mother who prays for me,
And pleads with the Lord every day for me.
O what a difference it makes for me—
I have a mother who prays.

~ Anonymous

The Gift of Gifts

The following prayer is called "The Gift of Gifts" and is from The Valley of Vision.

O Source of all Good,
What shall I render to Thee for the gift of gifts,
Thine own dear Son, begotten, not created,
my Redeemer, Proxy, Surety, Substitute,
His self-emptying incomprehensible,
His infinity of love beyond the heart's grasp.

Herein is wonder of wonders:
He came below to raise me above,
He was born like me that I might become like Him.

Herein is love;
when I cannot rise to Him He draws near on wings of grace,
to raise me to Himself.

Herein is power;
when Deity and humanity were infinitely apart
He united them in indissoluble unity, the uncreated and the created.

Herein is wisdom;
when I was undone, with no will to return to Him,
and no intellect to devise recovery,
He came, God-incarnate, to save me to the uttermost,
as man to die my death,
to shed satisfying blood on my behalf,
to work out a perfect righteousness for me.

O God, take me in spirit to the watchful shepherds,
and enlarge my mind;
let me hear good tidings of great joy,
and hearing, believe, rejoice, praise, adore,
my conscience bathed in an ocean of repose,
my eyes uplifted to a reconciled Father,
place me with ox, donkey, camel, goat,
to look with them upon my Redeemer's face,
and in Him account myself delivered from sin;
let me with Simeon clasp the new-born Child to my heart,
embrace Him with undying faith,
exulting that He is mine and I am His.

In Him Thou hast given me so much that heaven can give no more.

[Arthur Bennett, ed., The Valley of Vision (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2002), 28-29.]