Power supply

Romans 15:13 (New International Version)
13May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Some days it just does not pay to get out of bed. Right? I'm having those. It was an excellent weekend to be reminded of where my power comes from. I went to a cookout with the Sunday school class and instead of listening, I participated. I'm a very good listener...lots of practice. I am not a good "center of attention" so I don't usually spend much time there. But through the power of Christian fellowship, my attitude improved. No one had solutions or advice, but they did seem to care.

And through them, I'm reminded that God does care. No matter how small or unimportant in the big scheme my troubles are, God does care. To Him, I'm OK as I am, but He's not going to leave me there. And He is at work in my life.

Father, thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is a gift of hope to know that you are at work in the hearts and lives of people all around the world, but more specifically, my heart and mind. You know how much I need the work! Thank you for leaving Another Comforter, a spirit of Counsel and Truth.

4 things we can learn from Prince Caspian

If you haven't read the books or seen the movie, this is going to be less than impressive. I went to see the second movie in the Chronicles of Narnia series, Prince Caspian this weekend. And I enjoyed it.

Here's a quick thing I found on the internet--4 things you can learn from Prince Caspian...
1. We must know, love, trust, and obey God, no matter the difficulties.

2. We must follow Christ, even if we follow him alone.

3. We must wait for the Lord.

4. We have joy in God’s presence, for we know he has won the victory, and we are more than conquerors in him.

It's really too bad how much we lose when books are made into movies. I know I understood more of Lewis' thoughts on Christian life from the book, but this is an excellent movie full of imagination and adventure...and temptation and battle and victory thanks to Aslan.

Good things

The freedom to speak about my faith...that's what this is. And I take it for granted. I'm going to do better (give me the "Sure, I've heard it all before" nod). A coworker just sent me a message asking for more information on the lunch Bible study that we're going to start tomorrow and her e-mail was a wake-up to me. It's easy to get caught up in day-to-day and forget what's important.

Saturday I worked on a flyer for Marketplace Connection, a local ministry for working women. And I felt good. Really good. Good enough to think I did a good job.
Sunday I went to church even though Mother's Day is painful to me...because I felt like my friends would miss me if I didn't. And I felt OK. I skipped a family invite because I was afraid it would push me over the edge from good to not good.
Today I had a root canal. I feel not good. And I feel pretty pitiful and mistreated and sad and poor...very, very poor.

It's good to have a reminder that there are good things happening all around, great things because God is at work in hearts of people that I don't even know yet. And God is working on me.

10 people in my lunch Bible study. That's a good thing...hope God's going to do a good job there!

The power in a name

Colossians 3:12-13 (New American Standard Bible)
12So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; 13bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.

So I mentioned the Bible study that will be starting soon here at work. I've started working on the study itself since I'm sorta supposed to know what it's about in advance. I work on it until I get too frustrated with the "You'll never be able to do this" monologue in my head...hmmm, wonder where that comes from? Never thought about it until now. Anyway, I haven't made it far, but I am thrown off a little by the writing. Kay Arthur is the author and I'm not familiar with her. What throws me...calling me "beloved" and "precious one" in writing. That seems a little icky to me. In one of the first lessons, Kay asks you to take a look at the names of God. This is another study I'd really like to do someday. The list below is one I found on the internets. I was searching for biblical names for Christians...hoping to find "precious one" pretty prominent on the list. No such luck. I couldn't find a list. I think that's interesting. We know about the different parts of God because of his names. How do we know what he thinks of us? By what he calls us? I think I'm going to have to do a little more searching on that...

Adonai-Jehovah -- The Lord our Sovereign
El-Elyon -- The Lord Most High
El-Olam -- The Everlasting God
El-Shaddai -- The God Who is Sufficient for the Needs of His People
Jehovah-Elohim -- The Eternal Creator
Jehovah-Jireh -- The Lord our Provider
Jehovah-Nissi -- The Lord our Banner
Jehovah-Ropheka -- The Lord our Healer
Jehovah-Shalom -- The Lord our Peace
Jehovah-Tsidkenu -- The Lord our Righteousness
Jehovah-Mekaddishkem -- The Lord our Sanctifier
Jehovah-Sabaoth -- The Lord of Hosts
Jehovah-Shammah -- The Lord is Present
Jehovah-Rohi -- The Lord our Shepherd
Jehovah-Hoseenu -- The Lord our Maker
Jehovah-Eloheenu -- The Lord our God

A National Day of Prayer

1 Timothy 2
Instructions on Worship
1I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— 2for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.

Today is the National Day of Prayer, an organized day to pray for the country's leadership. There are lots of activities planned. If you're like me and can't get to an activity, take a minute to pray anyway. We could all use some wise leaders. And while I pretty much distrust big to-dos like this, I can't deny the need for prayer in this country. This is a good reminder that we've been told to pray for our leaders. Prayer every day matters.

If you'd like to find out more about the organization and mission of the leadership of the National Day of Prayer, you can go to www.ndptf.org.

How it goes

When I think about how different I am on the inside compared to what I show the world, I start to wonder. I had this conversation with a friend yesterday about how the people in my Sunday school class don't really know me. Some of them have seen glimpses of me but they don't really know me. Because I don't let them. There are people around me who know more about the real me than others...and it isn't always who you'd think. It seems that it's harder to let church people know that I'm not all together than others who freely let me know that they are not all together. I'm not sure why I'm thinking about that today. I meant to post about prayer, this verse specifically.

Matthew 6
Prayer

5"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

I'm preparing to start a work Bible study. And the conversation in my head is always the same...
I can do that. I should be doing that. I did it before and it was fine. I can do this.
Then count it down to "go time" and the conversation changes....
What was I thinking? I can't do this. I don't want to do this. I'm not smart enough to do this. Prayer? I'm the worst pray-er that I know. How can I teach anyone what I don't know? How do I get out of this? I can't get out of this. God, help!

Father, you made me as I am and you know what I need before I ask you. What a gift that is. Please help me prepare, guide the right people to the study, and give me the words. I'm afraid to mess up here, but I know that you can accomplish great things in spite of me. Jesus taught us how to pray. Help us all understand what that means.

Significance

1 Chronicles 4:9-10 (New International Version)
9 Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, [a] saying, "I gave birth to him in pain." 10 Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain." And God granted his request.

I think that many Christians feel like prayer has to be impressive to be significant. How many times have I listened to an eloquent prayer in church and thought , "I could never pray like that." I read Bruce Wilkinson's book on the Prayer of Jabez last night...a short, easy read...about a prayer than can change lives. And really, who are we trying to impress? God knows our hearts. How much simpler it would be to pray "Bless me, enlarge my territory, be with me, protect me from harm." It worked for Jabez. In a long list of names, Jabez stands out as more honorable...not a bad goal.