Prayer and worship - thoughts and conclusions. Pt. 1

So! Finally posting this, it's taken forever! But then the topics are quite worthy of extensive thought, so I hope you'll forgive me :)

Worship and prayer, where to even begin. There is simply so much to them both. They are both quite obviously, I believe, the Christian's most important job. To worship and love God with everything we have, and to talk to Him! I think I'll have to start with prayer. My pastor gave a wonderful sermon on prayer just this morning, and it's been running through my mind all day.

prayer - I've always been brought up to understand that it is simply talking to God. Which is a wonderful way to be brought up in prayer. It's particularly accessible to little ones, and people unaccustomed to praying; but I've found that as I've grown older, I've wanted to know it more deeply than simply 'talking to God'. It always seems that there must be more. He is so vast, and I am so small...it can't simply be Us talking to God. To my relief, and great happiness, it is not a singular, one-sided conversation. Lol. I began to see it differently, to view it as an actual, real-time conversation with God. Think about it, if you're having a convo with a friend and they are doing all of the talking...it's not particularly engaging or conscientious, unless they're telling a really, really long story. It would most likely be considered quite rude. Lol. Yet sadly much of the time I find myself straying to that "Hey God, how's it going what's new I've got 5 minutes in which to spill all of my frustrations, requests, thoughts and questions to you, and then I have simply GOT to do some life planning and check out that new band on myspace - " mentality in my prayer with God. It can very quickly become me telling God all about everything, and never pausing a second to see what He might have to say about it. Realizing that God might just want to talk back to me was a big turning point in my prayer life. As you may well guess, it brings a whole new dimension. This consciousness of God speaking, to me, on a daily basis, and me learning to listen, was at first - and still, is a learning curve. But Oh what a wonderful one. There is a verse in Isaiah (30:19) that says, "As soon as he hears, he will answer you." I love this verse, it constantly reminds me how much more I have to learn about hearing God. In that verse is a promise that as soon as He hears us, He gives answer. It is not always the answer we're looking for though. It can come in any number of ways, and so many times I find myself looking back in hind-sight (it's always crystal clear; 20-20 vision) realizing that I'd completely missed an answer to a question or prayer. There's much to learn about listening. And it's something well worth your time. I'd strongly encourage you to take and hour (yes a whole hour) and devote it to prayer. Go someplace quiet, where you're alone (but safe) and can think. Take a pen and journal with you. Start out talking, to God, about Him for a change. Tell Him why you adore Him, try to describe your love for Him in a new way, try explaining to Him the awe you feel when you see a sunrise He made. Then invite Him to speak.

*Listen.

Hearing God isn't easy. It's not easy to describe His voice either. I've had that sublime pleasure on fewer occasions than I'd like, but they are some of my most treasured moments. It's the voice of truth. It's perfectly described in the Bible as a 'still, small voice'. And that's just it. It's, still. Not a word we use to describe voices, and yet it fits Jesus' perfectly. It's still, timeless, vividly truthful, bold and yet, small. It's like trying to distinguish one precious, delicate melody in a roaring clamor of two dueling heavy metal bands. Not easy! But - if you know what you're listening for, it becomes more and more easy. Truly it does.
I heard a pastor once say "if you want to hear God's voice, you'd better read what He talks about." If you can't say amen, say ouch. The truth does hurt. We've been given such a treasure. such a treasure. You probably have one, or two, maybe even three of them. Just lying around your house. It's called the word of God. His laws, His words, His thoughts, His desires for you, and His love - in writing, and compiled lovingly into a book. For your reading pleasure. What that pastor said is very true. If you know what God talks about, and you know what His standards and laws are, if you're reading His truth and soaking it it's brilliance, it is so much easier to hear His voice.

A lovely, simple way to remember to not let God become your Holy vending machine is to remember to pray completely. Simply spewing to God is not a healthy relationship. Simply asking for things is not a healthy relationship with God. Simply praying for others, though good, is not a healthy relationship with God.

Remember ACTS. A is for Adore. He is Lord of creation! He loves you! He cherishes you, and desires you! He is Holy above all else! First and foremost, adore your King. Give Him the love, bragging, and adoration He deserves. This is, in my opinion the best way to start praying. It naturally puts you in your place of humble adoration, and reminds you who is God, and who is capable and Holy.

Next C. Yes, though it can be painful, and it's definitely not easy, Confession is a necessity of a healthy prayer life. It's hard to get real with God when you're holding a bunch of white lies, impurity, and profanities behind your back. God's grace is something I could write endless pages about. But know that it's extended to you. Yes you. No matter the sin, no matter the blackness of it, no matter just how wrong it was in the worlds eyes - there is grace enough. If you love someone, and they do something stupid, you don't stop loving them do you? You may be disappointed, but you don't stop loving them. Now put into perspective the reality that you are a mere speck of who God is. If you're like Him in extending that grace, how much more grace does He extend to you in His perfection? Bring it to Him. Tell Him all about it. Acknowledge it's wrongness. He forgives. and one it's forgiven, it's forgotten.

T. Thanksgiving. If you have the great blessing of living in America, I need hardly tell you just how blessed you are. Therefore this will be short and very blunt. Take a piece of paper, and a pen, and write everything you use during the day. Everything you eat and drink. Every object you employ or enjoy. Every relationship you have. The stunningly profound mystery of your salvation - and there is an endless source for giving thanks.

S. is for supplication. A very long word meaning 'to ask'. The scriptures say, pray about everything. Notice, it didn't say, 'pray about anything, except the unacceptable request list in the back of your Bible.' It does indeed say everything. So go for it. Bring your requests, humbly before your Provider. Read in Matthew 6:28-34 just how precious and cared for we are.

So take some time. Give your Lover an hour of your time, or more. Let's embark on the journey of listening to the sweet melody in the chaos. Thanks for your time :)

Note: If you love the Voice of God being like a melody illustration as much as I do, check out my blog for some posts on that - http://sirielizabeth.wordpress.com . I'm going to divert my thoughts on worship to another post, lol, since this one was so very long =)

Is Worship a Way of Life? or a time of week?

Worship - the object of adoring reverence or regard.

We are made to worship. Whether you like it or not, we are worshippers. We each worship something every day. We are good at it; we do it well because we have had lots of practice. What do we worship? Probably lots of things we shouldn’t. All you have to do is follow the trail of your time and affection. What does your energy go towards? When you look at that, you will find out what you worship! Think about your thought life? What are you constantly thinking of, is it a ministry you want to be involved in or are, is it a prayer meeting you want to have, is it some Bible Study, or is it thinking about God? Or, is it your friend, is it your outward beauty, is it your sports, or pets, maybe it’s your grades in school. (Probably not…) Think about Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Your thought life determines what you worship.

What is worship? Some people think that worship is only when you have music. I beg to differ. Worship is simply giving something adoration. You can spend all day giving God adoration. While doing the dishes, sweeping the floor, accomplishing an intense math test, or while you’re grounded. The point is, we are capable of worshiping while doing just about anything. Giving God glory is the most important things we can do. It is amazing, powerful, and necessary in the Christian life.

Music, I love music. Especially praise music, worship stuff. Smetimes it is easier when worshipping with music to use music that you know the words too. Because music reaches our soul, it does not even need words. And God desires us to worship Him specifically, not just worshipping to some tune out there. For all you know it could be written by a musician with no intentions of worshipping Jesus, but rather the World. So pick music you can hear the words and understand them. Sing or speak them as your prayer to the Lord. Pick songs that are to Jesus, worship specifically noted to praise Him, love Him and give Him adoration. Choose music that is closely linked with what you might be thinking at that time. Maybe you are burdened over a friend who is not a believer, a song like, Casting Crowns “Prayer for a Friend” would be a good choice.

"Worship is the heart crying out to a God of Love; it is the human soul praising the Lord of Eternity. Since we are made to worship, we must do it! We must worship, together, and alone. In secret and in public."

An AWESOME book on worship for teenagers would be Louie Giglio's "Wired for a life of Worship." You can get it through Multnomah Publishing.

What are your thoughts on worship? What are some things that distract our worship from Christ?

Online Prayer Chats

As a part of 'Creativity in Prayer' I thought I would include this little note along those lines.

So, you like to hang out online? Use it to glorify God. Yeah, you heard me right, use your internet time to bring praise to God. How? Well, let me tell you! Use your chat line, whether it be Google, Gmail, Skype, Hi5, Facebook, MySpace, or anything else you enjoy chatting on and put together a prayer meeting. Join together a group of your friends, place them all on a group chat and type, video, or voice prayers with each other.

Some friends and I started doing this over Skype when school started a little while back. We would start at 6:15am, and pray until the last person had to leave sometimes as late as 8:00am. Now you don’t have to start that early, but it is a GREAT way, we found, to start our days! We would usually begin with some form of praise or thanksgiving, worshipping the Lord, then continue on to anything else on our hearts, requests, intercession, or confession.

Give it a try sometime! Have you done this, did you enjoy it? What are some other ways that you have prayer times with friends?

plan(s)

OK, so it's not precisely about prayer, but :) it's worth remembering that Someone greater is holding your life story in His infinitely loving hands. enjoy. :)

I’m wondering what will happen next

I’m not sure I even want to hazard a guess

There’s so many options, so many places

So many dreams, so many faces.

Stay at home or work abroad

Write or speak or teach or dance?

Sing and play, record, perform

Pain or draw, or write freelance?

Maybe all of it, maybe none

More or less of this or that

Train so hard, day and night

Learn to fly, or paint the light

Learn to design and create

Which one? All? Or none?

Desires and dreams dance through my mind,

Dazzling thoughts, not enough time,

My imagination soars and shapes –

And then through it all – you bring escape.

Relief drowns me; I can slow to a walk

You have a plan, I don’t need to hurry

You know my dreams, I don’t need to worry.

Your imagination’s bigger than mine

You plan’s expand, beyond my lines.

Because you harbor a love so secure,

I can’t be uneasy, how could I fear?

My dreams and desires rest in your arms.

I sleep and rest easy no cause for alarm.

You were the one, who gave me my dreams

You are the one, who’s holding the keys.

You safeguard the plans, and guide my steps,

For everything, there is a reason. and a time. and a season.

Prayer Journals!

Siri and I are going to focus in our next few posts on prayer and creativity in prayer. We'd absolutely LOVE your comments on what your prayer life looks like!

One of the things that I do on a regular basis is prayer journaling. If you get distracted easy, this may be one the best things you could do! I get distracted very easily, and so attempting to pray without some guideline, keeping me focused was really hard. I would start praying, and then end up a few seconds later in another world thinking about the next day’s plans.
It was getting frustrating and I was having a really hard time focusing myself. Finally I started writing to God. It was then what I considered a “last resort,” now though; I view it as a “first choice.” I can write in my prayer journal for an hour, but praying silently or aloud in my quite times, was much, much shorter, and far less fruitful! I found that writing prayers was a beneficial and amazing thing.

Here are some tips for getting you started in your own vibrant walk with God!

Get a blank small journal (or a specific prayer journal), and if you want get a few friends as well to do this with you. Having your friend’s prayer journal with you will be an amazing. Try to keep each other accountable to write in your prayer journals. Share with each other what you write.

Another idea would be to go through and pick a Psalm from the Bible, take a Characteristic of God that you see in it, and write it at the top of the page, write down praise to God for that characteristic, tell him what it means in your life. Then move on to other things. When you get distracted or are not sure where to go next, come back to the word you started with. Here is an example:

FAITHFUL
Father God, I thank you for all you have done in my life, thank You for being faithful. In the small things and in the big things! You amaze me, Lord, how you can move in so many different ways. Jesus, I praise You for Your faithfulness to me. You are always by my side, regardless of what I do, and where I go. You do not leave me.

Start with praise, you can follow this little guideline if you wish. Admiration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication (which spells ACTS, supplication being petition). You don’t have to follow it exactly, but try to balance your prayer life with all four things. And know that regardless, Jesus is there to listen, never hesitate to pour out your heart to Him.

Have your done prayer journaling before? What are some ways that you do it?

A Thought About Make-Up

I was thinking today of what a pity it is that so many stunning young ladies cover up their beauty and features with too much make-up. I've seen it time and time again, and it makes me just wonder at the cause. I happen to have the benefit of a father who has reared me with the opinion of make-up being "war-paint". haha. (Yes, you can laugh at the expression, I do :)
But come to think of it, it truly does make sense. It would seem, from popular magazines, Hollywood, and the media, that women are battling for acceptance, and approval from guys. We feel the need to get that hairbrush, have our hair done up at all hours, plump our lips and chase the next fashion, in order to be liked/loved by men. We think that we must be aggressive, and take the lead, initiate friendships/relationships, and be self-sufficient. So, in a way, overdone make-up is very much like warpaint for a women on the war-path, lol. It sounds a little funny, eh? And don't get me wrong, I think that tasteful make-up is great! No problem there, it can accentuate your God-given features and enhance the beauty He endowed you with; only take care to not appear like a 'war-path women'. If you feel like you must dress and act to please guys - hold up a minute and reconsider! God gave myself and every woman I know the desire to have a fairytale love story.

Do you believe He can give you one?

For a great, great, great great, couldn't-recommend-it-more read about God-written fairytale love stories, I recommend Leslie Ludy's book "Authentic Beauty"

God's Mysterious Ways...

So some of you may know that I am without internet right now, and have been for about a week. I use my internet quite a bit, I use it for emails regularily, Wisdom's Crown things, School (I have an online class at the college.) and a various assortment of other necessities. So when my computer quit working and quit supplying me internet and audio I was NOT thrilled, to say in the least. I was doing a prayer meeting online through an internet chat system with a few girls in the mornings and without internet I was not able to do them, and it bugged me because it was kind of my connection with God in the early mornings.

However God had other plans for me. He had plans to move in me through this. He told me that I was spending time on my computer that I could be spending with Him. Even with the prayer meeting in the mornings, I was still spending a good bit chatting with people. Either way I realized that the prayer meetings in the mornings with others had replaced my personal time of prayer. God saw an opportunity to speak to me and draw me closer to Himself with this internet break down, and used it. After a 2 days without internet, I grabbed my school notebook and began writing to God. This was something I used to do a TON, I since switched it out for praying online with friends. I began to notice as I wrote that I missed the quiet, "You and me alone, God" time. After penning a few pages of praise to God I began to focus on worship, with my Mp3 player I turned a few quiet worship songs on, and got out my Bible. Spending an hour in prayer, worship, and Bible reading was no longer seemed nearly as long as it had become.

Needless to say, I do still hope to get my internet back, but I will be focusing far less on my computer time and far more on my Saviour!

I wanted to use this opportunity to challenge you to do the same. Disappear off of Facebook, chats and your computer in general for some time each day, to spend focused on just you and God.

Also, fill us in, comment on how you like to spend your time alone with God, when do you do it, do you like music on or do you not, how often do you spend time alone with God, and what are some things that you notice when you have a quiet time with God?