prayer

Leave a comment Posted on Daily Blogs, Faith Journeys

The voice that leads you

Praying with strangers can be scary. 

“Lord, are you sure about this?”

The prompting of the Holy Spirit, though, is strong. 

“Okay, here I go…”

At least, that’s how it’s always been with me. And it happened again today. 

I stopped and helped a lady put her car tag on in the Taco Bell parking lot. 

Nothing really special about that deed. It took less than 2 minutes. She was excited because it was a new car. I listened to her tale and met her grandkids. 

Then it happened. 

“Pray with her and bless her new car.” I heard the Holy Spirit loud and clear. 

So I did. 

Velma (the lady) was very thankful for my prayer. I found out she was a pastor who had a lot of car trouble last year. This car was provision from God. 

Wow. God used me to confirm His blessing in her life. 

And all because I was willing to get over my nervousness. 

I think we need to pray more for people when we’re with them. Writing down there requests and praying later is awesome and necessary. 

However, there’s something special that happens when we pray together for that need. 

I know that it’s weird,  especially if they’re strangers.

We have a great helper in the Holy Spirit. He won’t let you down. If he leads you to do something, listen. 

There are many miracles and blessings that are missed when you don’t trust the Holy Spirit’s prompting. 

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to miss an opportunity to serve God and help others see him more clearly. 

Be bold, my friends, in following the Holy Spirit’s prompting and mighty things will happen. 

Leave a comment Posted on Business Sense, Character Corner, Daily Blogs, Faith Journeys, Family

All I need is a cup of coffee and a little perspective

I used to be a chipper morning person. My grumpier self told her to get lost.

My younger siblings do not care.

They are loud and boisterous and excited about the day–even if they don’t know what day it is.

“Audra, what day is it?” Caleb asks.

“It’s Tuesday,” I reply.

His response is normally something like:

“Yay! That means we get to ________” or “What are we going to do today?”

Maybe us grumpy adults should be more easily excitable.

We tend to see each day from a more practical, soul sucking point of view. I don’t think we mean to, though, but it’s easy to fall in line with our work hating, wish-it-was-the-weekend culture.

Last night my little brother–in his childlike wisdom–prayed the most beautiful blessing over our dinner.

“Dear God,

Thanks for having us today.

Thank you for dinner and this time with my family.”

Amen.”

Caleb thanked God for letting us live.

And the thunderbolt of conviction struck my heart….

IMG_1692Every breath, every day comes from God. Begrudging my life and all the things I “have to do” is a slap in God’s face.

I understand that we all have hardships and bad days, but our worst day–especially if you live in the West–is someone else’s best day.

The minor inconveniences of our life will not affect whether we live or die. With that in mind, you and I have very little to complain about.

This is not meant to be a guilt trip.

Just call it a good, old fashioned reality check.

Sure, you’re not a morning person but you can be a thankful–yet quiet–non-morning person.

Sure, money is tight but you have food, water, and shelter. A cancelled Netflix account or a month without cable will not kill you.

Perspective has a way of making us honest.

1 Comment Posted on Daily Blogs, Faith Journeys

Lessons from the War Room

I watched War Room yesterday. It is, by far, the best Kendrick Brothers film to date.

Here’s the description, taken from the official movie website:

Tony and Elizabeth Jordan have it all—great jobs, a beautiful daughter, and their dream house. But appearances can be deceiving. Tony and Elizabeth Jordan’s world is actually crumbling under the strain of a failing marriage. While Tony basks in his professional success and flirts with temptation, Elizabeth resigns herself to increasing bitterness. But their lives take an unexpected turn when Elizabeth meets her newest client, Miss Clara, and is challenged to establish a “war room” and a battle plan of prayer for her family. As Elizabeth tries to fight for her family, Tony’s hidden struggles come to light. Tony must decide if he will make amends to his family and prove Miss Clara’s wisdom that victories don’t come by accident.

Facebook/War Room

Facebook/War Room

Here are 5 lessons I learned by watching War Room:

  • I need to pray more.
    • As Christians, we’re told to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17). I always have time to chat, but I find that God gets scraps of my attention.
  • I need to be more intentional.
    • It’s easy to get caught up in the “Dear Lord, please be with ______” kind of prayers. I need to be more specific as I pray, taking my time instead of sending up emergency flares.
  • I need to pray the Scriptures.
    • This is pretty self-explanatory, but I want to start praying scripture passages, especially as I get more intentional in my conversations with God.
  • I need to pray more with other Christians.
    • Praying with others is not only a part of “bearing each others burdens” (Gal. 6:2) but also an important part of connecting in faith about a specific request.
  • I need to praise God when my prayers are answered.
    • I don’t praise God enough when a prayer is answered. Not doing so is selfish and reveals an underlying attitude of ungratefulness.
Leave a comment Posted on Book Nook, Daily Blogs, Faith Journeys

Transitional daydreams

Ever been so lost in thought that it’s hard to come back to reality?

It’s a lot like daydreaming. You see all of these things happening around you, but it’s more like you’re watching instead of participating.

Maybe you’ve been there or maybe you think I’m a lunatic. (I won’t be offended if you think that.)

Either way, I think we’ve all faced times of transition and decision.

That’s where I am right now.

And, for me, it’s hard to know where to go when everything is colliding, when the past, present, and future are duking it out for time and attention.

How do you stay centered?

I find three things helpful:

1. Journaling

2. Reading

3. Praying

I journal a lot about my thoughts, feelings, etc.

It helps to capture my thoughts so they don’t end up controlling me.

Then I read.

I read my Bible, I read books, I read articles and blogs because that helps me gain perspective and see the bigger picture. Reading shows me that I am not alone in my struggles and that there are answers to my questions.

Lastly, I pray.

I talk to God about what’s happening in my life. A few weeks ago I wrote on the importance of prayer and how God is truly interested in our day-to-day lives. Nothing proves that to me more than in these moments of transition. The coolest part is that I’m not talking up to a ceiling, hoping that God is listening. I am confident that God not only hears me but also talks to me.

Without these three things, I would be one confused girl. That’s the truth.

I encourage you, my friend, to recognize what helps you in moments of transition and decision. Don’t wait until the pressure is on to figure it out either.

If you feel brave, share with me what helps you.

1 Comment Posted on Daily Blogs, Faith Journeys

A conversation with God

Prayer is a fancy word that means talking to God. It’s a divine conversation that is special and grows richer and deeper with time.

Think about your best friend. I bet you didn’t meet he or she in one day and the next day start bearing your soul.

Prayer, much like the other spiritual disciplines, takes time to grow.

Now, it’s also not complicated either. Just open your mouth and talk to God. He loves it when you talk to him!

Tell him about your day, thank him for the many blessings in your life, and go to him on behalf of others.

I talk to God a lot in the car. He’s my favorite road trip buddy. I tell him about my sadness and burdens. I tell him how excited I am. And, a lot of times, I just tell God how thankful I am. We just talk as I drive. It’s awesome!

My point in sharing all of this is simple.

A lot of people make prayer really hard. They think God’s too busy or not interested. None of those things are true.

He always has time to hang out and talk to you.

Spend some time this weekend talking to God. Don’t hold anything back.

And, don’t be too surprised when God starts talking to you too. He’ll speak words of comfort, encouragement, and direction.

Leave a comment Posted on Daily Blogs, Faith Journeys

A Friday filled with awesomeness

This Friday has been awesome.

First off, a group from BBVA brought us doughnuts and coffee. They came downtown to do random acts of kindness and I was one of their many recipients.

Robert is walking out of the hospital today!

Robert is walking out of the hospital today!

And then, to top it off, a friend of mine sent me the most wonderful praise report!

In May, her son was in a horrible accident at work. It was really touch and go for a while. He had a lot of internal bleeding and they were saying he wouldn’t be about to walk for a really long time. I immediately put her family on my prayer list.

Here’s the latest report I received, along with a picture:

Update: It will be therapy for a while and he still has a hole in his bladder. He is walking with a walker, but without anyone assisting him. The bladder is still healing itself slowly.He is on less pain meds though at times he still hurts pretty bad. But, after being told he would be wheelchair bound for 8-9 months, a walker is A OK.

I can’t think of a better way to start the weekend. This is such good news!

Today’s post is not long, but this exciting news has really got me thinking about prayer…

Let’s talk about it some more tomorrow, okay?