Prayer

Prayer: the act of communicating with a deity or spirit.

To me, prayer is the communication I have with the God of this World, of this City, of Me. God loves me and he also loves everyone else the exact same. He is my God, my Father, my lover, my bridegroom. To maintain a real and good relationship with my God, I must communicate with Him. Just like anyone would do to keep a strong relationship with anyone else in their life, they must communicate. I want my relationship with God to be the tightest, most closest knit relationship I have. Why? Well, when I go to Heaven, it is me and Him and that is it.

Mark 11:23-25
"I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, "Go throw yourself into the sea" and does not doubt in his heart but believes in that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your father in heaven may forgive your sins."

Reading this reminds me of what Mr. Bridges told Coach Taylor in Facing the Giants. He read this passage to the Coach to encourage him.

Revelations 3:7-8
These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.

While praying, I must prepare for my prayers to be answered. This has really been hitting me hard, because I want my prayers to be answered but sometimes I don't believe it is ever going to happen. God's timing is defiantly tough to understand but I have to trust in the Lord. I need to start "preparing my field" for when the Lord sends me rain.

Captivating part 1

I am currently reading Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge. This book is great! It has taught me so much about myself, about my love for God, and about His love for me. I am going to sum up four points that I think God has put it into my heart with this book.

1. God made women for a reason.
God made man out of His image, but

Genesis 2:18
"It is not good for the man to be alone, I will make a helper suitable for him."

Guess who that helper is? yup, the women! Eve was the first one to help out the first man. We are to be there to help our brothers, husbands, and other men in our lives. God made women for a specific reason, not just to give rise to the nations but to be here for those men in our lives.

2. Every woman WANTS to be beautiful.
God made this longing in women's hearts to be beautiful, to be captivating. From the age of three or younger we were trying to capture the attention of those around us. I have alwaysed loved being the center of attention and so I can see this so clearly in my life. In class in elementary school, I loved being the one who was always chosen, in high school I loved to be the one who the teachers would call out for praise, and I can see how I long for God's attention to. I remember when I just started realizing the Christian life asking for a sign from God. Now I don't remember if God actually gave me a sign at the time or not, but I longed that He would give me attention enough so I could know He was real.

3. God wants our whole heart.
God told us He wants to get to know us.

Jeremiah 24:7
I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.

He wants our whole heart! Not just a little piece of our heart on Sunday mornings, but really all of it!

Mark 12:30
Love the Lord your God with all your heart.....

He wants us to give Him our whole heart! God doesn't want us to give our hearts half to Him and half to this world! He wants the whole darn thing! He is just waiting for us to give Him our whole heart as well. He waits for us and is patient.

Revelations 3:20
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.

He is waiting for us! What are we waiting for, an invitation in the mail? He is knocking on that door of everyone's hearts. He will return the favor to, He loves us! Not just that "Jesus loves me this I know....." but really loves us!

Jeremiah 31:3
The Lord appeared to us in the past saying: "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness."

I am loved! Really loved, by our God! How great?!

4. I want to captivate His heart
I understand God loves me. He loves me like NO ONE here on this earth can! He loves me so much, I cannot fathom it! I don't just want to love Him because he commanded it by loving God being the greatest commandment

Matthew 22:37
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and all your mind.

But I want to love God because He loves me! How great is it to know that you are loved so dearly and you are wanted so badly by your God?!

While learning this, I dug out an old CD of mine that I was going to give to a friend to listen to. I instead popped it in and gave it a whirl before handing it over. The CD is this whole story all over again! Here is what I have learned from four of the songs on Bethany Dillon's CD, Bethany Dillon:

Aimless: I think this life here on earth is great... heaven is going to be so much better.

Beautiful: I long to be beautiful! He is the one who makes me so beautiful.

For My Love: I want to be captured by His love! Fall completely in love with Him.

Are All I Need: God is all I need. Period.

Totally recommend listening to this CD, love it!