The Voice of Your Heart

Did you know that your heart has a voice? Yup...it can speak to God. Did you further know that the Lord WANTS to hear our voices talk to Him...we do it through prayer.

Alot of people who are new to Christianity and some that aren't get confused by the subject of prayer. They don't feel that they pray well enough. They don't feel that they know the right things to say, that they aren't eloquent enough, that they aren't smart enough, that they are just not capable. Well guess what, WRONG!

First of all I want to say that talking to God is just a conversation, just like you would have with your best friend.
It doesn't have to be eloquent, it doesn't have to be wordy or pretty...just raw heartfelt emotion is fine. God gets it, He is pretty good that way.

In Colossians 1:3-12 it tells us how to pray...lets check it out a little. a quick breakdown

vs 3 says : we always pray for you & we give thanks to God
vs 9 & 10 says: we have not stopped praying for you; we ask God to give you complete knowledge of His will and to give you spiritual wisdowm and understanding, then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit.
vs 11 & 12 says: We also pray that you will be strengthened with His all glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy always thanking the Father.

So lets break that down further, we should pray to 1) lift up others 2) thank God 3) ask for strength

Ok, so I once was told that you can use the acronym ACTS to pray Found in Colossians, but also in 1 Tim 2:1 I urge then first of all that requests prayers intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone.

A: Adoration - pretty self explanitory
C: Confession -(repent) ask for forgiveness for the things you have done wrong and for strength or help from God
                       to overcome those trials.
T: Thanksgiving - Thank God for all your blessings.
S: Supplication -(requests) Anything that you need help for or with...God knows, and He WANTS to help us.

The next question alot of people ask is...Does prayer reaaaaaaally work? Uhhh, ya ..ya it does. The answer might not always be the one you want to hear, Jesus even had a prayer that He didn't have answered the way He wanted :Matt 26:39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."

So there is a huge point to be made there. Its Gods will, not ours. We can ask, but the answer doesn't have to be yes. Think as a parent how many times your children asked you for something...a dog? a horse? a jet? to go to an unchaperoned party? the list is endless...and just as we have to tell them that wonderful two letter word NO sometimes, as does God with us. We don't know what the reasons are but we don't have to...I can hear in the back of my head "Because I said so!"

So, last note here...The Bible says...1 Thess 5:17 pray continually.

Wow, ok really? How do I pray CONTINUALLY?!?? I mean that must mean that I can do nothing but pray all the time day and night right? Well yes, and no...remember when I said that prayer is just a conversation that you have with God. So lets follow this along, I talk to my children continually, now they dont really listen, but I do talk to them..we get up in the morning and talk, I call during the day, they call me, we text and in the evening we talk, and then we all go to bed....a continual stream of communication. So when you pray continually to God...its a continual stream of conversation

7a Hey God its me, thanks for the wonderful day, please let all go well
730a Hey God just wanted to say that sunrise! Wow, good work there!
745 Hey God, its me again, please help my temper driving through rush hour and help me get there safely, I know my temper can get set off in this traffic
8a: Hey God, its me again, please bless this food thank you for providing it

and so forth and so on...

I pray for you all, for strengh, wisdom, growth, health and joy in Jesus name. amen

Sharyl

All In

Hello Poker fans we are sitting at a table of......Oh wait...thats not what I wanted to talk about but the term comes from there..."All In"
In poker we watch players raise and lower their bets based on their hands, and if they have a really good hand, or a really good bluff you may
see them go "ALL IN" Which can be exciting to watch...So lets use that as our jumping point.

In life we watch a lot of people live life on the sidelines, not participating but just going through the motions. Well our walk as Christians can
be much the same. Alot of people, myself included in the past, tend to show up for services and consider that their raised bets, because hey
they showed up! So lets give this some though shall we?

What if...God had created the world and called it done?
What if...Jesus came to earth and decided ..Hey I showed up, good enough!
What if...He had never died for our sins.
What if...He let the devil tempt him as we are so want to do?

The answer...we would all be dead spiritually.

God gave us His son...gave Him to us so that we could still have a way back to Him! Pretty impressive huh?

So I would say if we were using that poker terminology that the stakes are pretty darn high right? We have a good hand being
dealt now that we are Christians...Wouldn't this be the time to go "all in" not just toss in a token bet?

So with that being said. I am going ALL IN. I am not just betting here, I know that with God I have life everlasting...its a sure bet, the easiest
one to make.

What are you waiting for? Come on...push all your chips to the middle and live your life for HIM!

Sharyl

Twenty One!

Did you know that it takes 3 weeks, or 21 days, or 504 hours or 30240 minutes or ....oh well you get the idea... to make something a habit? So it strikes me as we continue with week 2 of our fast that we are fasting for 3 weeks. Well what does this mean exactly?

It means that we are putting God first in our hearts and minds for 3 weeks. We are rethinking how we think about food, and when we struggle we are asking God to help us through. We are becoming better Christians through this walk....and not just for the short term, because as we struggle through these 3 weeks, we are setting the bar higher! When it becomes a habit to put God first in these 3 weeks, it is easier to carry that over to after because its already our new routine.

So the question is then...then what? What will you do to continue to raise that bar? To strive to become better and better in your walk with God?

Sharyl

Distracted much?

This week while fasting, I was doing ten things at once and called to order dinner while I was at work. I wasn't paying attention and ordered Steak of all things....I was talking on the phone on the way home and realized what I had done and called and canceled...but still, the thought crosses my mind that I can't believe I forgot for even just a minute. But there we have it...I was distracted and things just slipped away. Now, I did remember before I even picked up the food, canceled and changed my plan, but it could have gone completely differently.

It taught me something that I really needed to think about, and maybe so do you..only you can answer that...Do distractions often take us away from our walk with our Father? Do we get so focused on work, the house, bills, children, friends and THINGS that we forget our true purpose is to seek Him?

I have to admit...I am guilty of that sometimes...I forget to listen for His call, I forget to put Him first. I have been doing so much better about that lately and it is a concentrated effort. Why would we think a relationship with our Heavenly Father is different than any other relationship? We have to put time and effort into it and do things to make Him happy. Now obviously I can't bring Him flowers, I can't buy Him chocolates....but what I can do is keep Him in my heart, follow the things He would have me to do, donate my time and energy to Him and to bringing others to Him.

So, be mindful as you are going about your day...be thoughtful, prayerful...I know I need to be.

What about you? What distractions do you need to be mindful of?

Sharyl

Its a love story...just say yes!

Once upon a time there was a little girl and all she dreamed about was growing up and finding her one true love.....but as she got to be older she realized that Prince Charming wasn't as charming as she was led to believe...and the fairy tales came crashing down. With no one to believe in but herself she spiraled ...all she wanted was the perfect love story, the kind that the love songs like Taylor Swift sings about in Its a Love Story talk about...Hmmm..

Sound familiar to you ladies out there? Guys..how bout you...the princess in your life not as sweet as Snow White? Love not going where you thought it would?

Guess what...love is a verb, its an action not a feeling. You have to give it to get it back, and just like the infomercials say..But wait! There's more...tell us about it!

We all have the love of our father. Now, I am not just talking about your Earthly father, I am talking about our Heavenly Father. He loved us so much that he sent His son down here...ya I know you know that already right? But I heard an interesting thing on Klove yesterday...and it really hit home for me..so let me share..

A Father is out in the yard and he is letting his son climb the trees. He tells his son, never ever climb the tree's without me here because you could fall and hurt yourself. Of course what happened? The son was climbing the tree when his father was inside and fell and hurt himself. His father hearing the screams coming from outside did what?....well lets think about that a minute...did he say, oh no, not going out there...i told him not to do that! On top of that his room isnt clean! he didnt eat his vegetables! He didnt feed the dog! No, the father ran out the door and took care of his child because he loves him.

So, why do we think that God wont respond to us if we cry out in pain and agony? We are His children..and even though we screw up, when we hurt...He WANTS us to turn toward Him. He uses our adversity to bring us closer to Him. He WANTS to have a relationship with us....amazing...simply amazing!

So once upon a time there was a girl, and she fell in love... Her Father God will always be there, He will never let her down..He is faithful and awesome and to beautiful beyond description. It truly is the greatest love story known to man. We just have to say yes and it can be OUR love story...

So how about it? Are you ready to have the greatest love of your life?

Sharyl

Well, doesn't that just take the cake!

As you all know by now...I am fasting from chocolate, soda and red meat...and life continues to happen when we aren't even paying attention. A girl at work had a birthday today (and yes my turn will come) Apparently they go all out for birthdays at my job, decorate your cubicle, cake, food you like, snack you like kinda thing...and they got her chocolate cake...and the drool started...

Why is it when we are abstaining from something that everything you do, no matter where you go ..there it is to slap you in the face.. Temptation with a capital T! I went to the grocery store and there was something with chocolate, soda or red meat around every corner...argh!!! LOL just lead me to the dang chicken blindfolded!

But here is my realization...temptation was there when Jesus walked the earth, the devil tempted him many times over..so why should I be so special? Right..I am not...there will always be things out there that tempt us all...its how we handle it that makes us different.

I have not handled it well in the past, I have succombed to my fair share of weakness...of many varieties...we all have. But today...I looked the demon in the eye...I faced the chocolate cake..my nemesis..and I didn't care...I knew I wasn't going to have any...why might you ask? Well that one is easy...I let myself down all the time...but I wasn't about to let God down. Neat trick huh?
Who knew it was so easy...but with this new attitude of putting God first, it was time.

What are you doing to put God first in your life? What temptations get placed in your way that you can deny because you have the strength of God instead of the willpower of yourself. FROG baby!
Fully Rely On God!

Sharyl

Faith, Goodness, Knowledge & Don't Forget That Self Control & Perseverance.

2 Peter 1:5 - 6 Make every effort to add to your faith goodness, and to goodness knowledge, and to knowledge self control and to self control perseverance.

I seriously lack self control. I have always said it, I will say it again - I seriously lack self control. I have been consistently overweight for my entire adult life due to this fact? Not really....Is it self control I really lack? Or just self discipline? That is the thing right there....I want a specific outcome but not enough that I stick with things...Let me explain.

I want to lose weight, but at the first sign of stress. I fold...I am done, I can't possibly eat well today because well, gee I am stressed and I DESERVE to have whatever food I want to put into my mouth right??? Chocolate, McDonalds? Soda? I work HARD to pay my bills, I work HARD to do things, why should I have to give up those comfort foods?

Ok so Whoa! Wait a minute...when did I start looking to food as comfort? Hmm, good question, not really sure...I can't pinpoint a moment in time. However, the bigger question is now that I am a Christian, why am I STILL turning to food for comfort when I should be turning to God?

Matt:11:28-30 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

So I have faith in God right? I try to be good...good mother, good Christian, good worker...so just need to work on the good to myself part. I have the knowledge that God has given me to lose weight, to be healthy and to keep my body as a temple to Him. So here we are back to the self-control and the perseverance.. Well, with God all things are possible, and if I can turn to Him instead of chocolate...or a double cheeseburger and fries...or Pepsi...Then in Him, through Him and with Him...I will reach that goal, and to Him be the glory.

So now ya know right? Why I am fasting the things I am fasting from...because they are the bane of my existence and for God and with God I can deny myself to focus on Him.

What about you? What are you needing self control and perseverance from?

Sharyl

God First..

Well today is the first day of the rest of our lives and after listening to Pastor Craig in his lesson First....I have some work to do..How about you?

 

Well today I put God first in my thoughts...I started the day with my Bible studies. (yay youversion.com) and I am going to continue that with doing Day 1 of the fast. Ahhhh fasting, why? when? what? how? who?

 

Why: Because it is good for us to give up things for God to help us focus our mind on Him.

When: The net 21 days.

What: Fasting...any kind of fast.

How: By giving up something that is difficult for you to give up. Me? I am giving up Chocolate, anyone who knows me knows that is horribly hard for me! Also giving up Soda, and Beef.

Who: If I can do it so can you

 

I challenge you, try the fast...try a Bible study...try putting God first in your life.

 

Sharyl

New Year - New Outlook

New Years are a time to reminisce on things of the past and to look for the things of the future. As 2011 goes forward these are my goals.

I want to put the past behind me, I want to look to the future, I want to be a better follower of Christ, I want to put God first in all things, I want to lose weight and be healthier. I want to strive to be patient, kind, not envy or boast, to not be proud or rude, not be self seeking or easily angered, to keep no records of wrongs, to not delight in evil but rejoice in the truth, to protect, trust, hope and preserve.

So join me as we go forward into 2011 and watch these things come to fruition. Share your opinions with me and lets make 2011 about God, about friendship and about making our worlds more than just "My Own little world population one" as Matthew West puts it.