The Garden of Prayer

“My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.
All of the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

Psalm 139:15-16 NIV

This morning I am remembering how precious I am to my creator. Psalm 139 reminds me that even before I was born, even while my unformed body was being formed God had a plan for my life. Even before my body was formed my soul was there. My body simply became the shell for my precious soul. From the day I was conceived my soul began its eternal journey. This was the first day of my life, even before I was born. The truth is that my outer shell will die and return to dust, but my eternal soul will live on forever.

God’s message to me this morning is Paula, be careful! Take care of the precious cargo that lives inside of you. Nurture and protect your soul because it is everlasting. The choice you make regarding your soul is the most important choice you will ever make. That choice is more important than your career choice, and it is more important than choosing a spouse. It is more important than how much money you have or if you should continue your education. What you do with your soul is the most important choice you will ever make. What I do to nourish my soul is also important.

There are two choices regarding your soul. You will either choose to accept Jesus Christ or you will reject him. Acceptance will lead to eternal joy and rejection will lead to eternal punishment.

I’m going to assume that if you have continued to read my blogs that you are investigating Jesus Christ and Christianity, or that you are already a believer. Either way you have major responsibility. If you are not a believer your first responsibility is to choose to discover the wonderful plan that God has ordained for your soul before you were born. If you are a believer, your responsibility is to nourish your soul.

The garden of prayer is that place deep within your shell of a body where you will connect and communicate with God. Prayer is how you enter that garden and it is where your soul is nourished and cared for. Just as we care for a beautiful garden we must care for our soul. Meeting God in the garden is our part; his part is to care for the garden.

I have had amazing things transpire when I have been in the garden of prayer. This is an opportunity that you will never experience unless you are a believer who is seeking to know God more. God has promised us that if we will seek him we will find him. First of all we will find him as our personal Savior. In addition, we will find him and all of the gifts that he carries with him.

In the garden of prayer God has given me many sweet gifts. When I am discouraged God has given me the gifts of assurance and hope. God has also poured out his amazing gifts of grace and love when I have felt unloved and unlovable. Through prayer God has dried my tears and given me his gift of joy in times of great sadness. God has taken my disappointments and filled me with the gift of his peace even when I have experienced seeing my dreams fall apart. Many times God has taken my fear and replaced it with the gift of trust. In my prayer time God has called me to obedience and given me the power to obey. During prayer God has taken my anger and filled me with his mercy and compassion. When I have sought God in the garden of prayer I have found him. God has taken my broken heart and beautifully healed it and has used the brokenness to shape my character. In the garden of prayer God restores my soul! Every day when I pray God gives to me the exact gift that I need for that precise moment and situation.

Tonight when I close my eyes in sleep I will rest well knowing that tomorrow when I wake up, I can run straight to the garden, where Jesus is waiting for me. As I run to my prayer time I will be like a child on Christmas morning, wild with anticipation to unwrap the marvelous gift God has chosen for me today. One thing is certain, it will be exactly what I need. I don’t want to disappoint Him by not showing up!

Questions:

Are you taking care of and nurturing your heart?

What keeps you from taking care of your inner spirit?

Why is the garden of prayer necessary?

In the past, when you have been in prayer what gifts has God given you?


Prayer:

Dear God,

I am amazed that you have had a plan for my life even before one single earthly day began. Forgive my near sightedness! Why do I have so much trouble seeing the big picture? Your eternal plan for my soul is amazing. God, today I realize that my soul is a precious cargo inside of me. Help me to be responsible for what you are showing me this day regarding my eternal soul.

In Your Son’s Name I pray. Amen.

Sweet Peace is Found in the Garden

FOCUS ON GOD –

“You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast,

because he trusts in you.”
Isaiah 26:3 NIV

SEEK AND PURSUE THE PEACE OF GOD –

“…seek peace and pursue it.” Psalms 34:14b NIV

RESULT

“A heart at peace gives life to the body,…” Proverbs 14:30a NIV

Some days I feel overwhelmed with responsibility, I am mentally stressed to the limit, and physically exhausted as well. I have come to realized that all of this pressure is very real signs telling me that I must nonetheless; add one more thing to my already impossibly busy schedule. It is as though God has set up a speed bump on my path cautioning me to slow down!

I am learning that I must push to the top of the already busy list a block of time to go back to the garden of my heart and be still and know that God is God. I must find time to focus on his love and care for me. I must allow his angels to minister to my spirit. I must allow the Holy Spirit to comfort and direct me as I give God my schedule and allow him to set his priorities in all my days. When I am able to do this I do find that sweet peace is found in the garden.

How much time will I need? As long as it takes! When and where we meet God is up to each one of us individually. But I have learned from experience it is never good to try to simply squeeze God in between other activities. When I reach this level of stress and exhaustion I must cancel activities, make an appointment with God and keep the appointment! During times of stress, exhaustion, and overwhelming responsibility and need, Jesus separated himself from the duties of life and went deeper into the garden to pray. Sometimes he climbed a mountain to put distance between him and life. Other times he crossed the lake. The point is we MUST be spiritually refreshed if we are to be at our best and if we are to make good choices regarding our time. I challenge you to join me in making time for this wonderful refreshment. You will be glad you did.

As a little girl I learned a hymn that we sang regularly in our church. I have not heard that hymn sung for some time yet God’s Holy Spirit brought it to my mind as I entered the garden this morning. Here are the words to that beautiful hymn. There is really nothing else I can add today. The hymn says it all.

IN THE GARDEN

I come to the garden alone

While the dew is still on the roses

And the voice I hear falling on my ear

The Son of God discloses.

And He walks with me, and He talks with me,

And He tells me I am His own;

And the joy we share as we tarry there,

None other has ever known.

He speaks, and the sound of His voice,

Is so sweet the birds hush their singing,

And the melody that He gave to me

Within my heart is ringing.

And He walks with me, and He talks with me,

And He tells me I am His own;

And the joy we share as we tarry there,

None other has ever known.

I’d stay in the garden with Him

Though the night around me be falling,

But He bids me go; through the voice of woe

His voice to me is calling.

And He walks with me, and He talks with me,

And He tells me I am His own;

And the joy we share as we tarry there,

None other has ever known.

“In The Garden” a hymn by C. Austin Miles, Written March 1912

Questions:

Have you experienced the great joy of being alone in the garden of your heart with Jesus?

When was the last time you were in the garden alone with Jesus?

What did you say?

What did Jesus say?

Did you spend silent time just listening for his voice?

Prayer:

Dear Jesus,

Today I come into your beautiful garden alone. I simply want to tell you I love you and that I thank you for all of my blessings and for your amazing love to me. Today I am concerned about ____________. What do you have to say to me today as I silently set here in the garden and wait for you to speak your words to me today? It may only be a soft whispering thought that you speak into my mind, my heart, but I don’t want to miss out on what you have to say to me this day. I pray that today I will have the patience to practice sitting still and listening for your voice.

In Your Name I pray. Amen.

The Promises of God

“I have set my rainbow in the clouds,

and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.”

Genesis 9:13 NIV

I remember that when my husband and I visited the beautiful state of Hawaii, we enjoyed a rainbow almost every day! When I saw the rainbow, I remembered that the rainbow is a very visible sign of God’s promises to mankind.

It has been said that there are more than thirty-seven thousand promises in the Bible. One day I realized that I only knew a precious few of those promises. It then occurred to me that if I was to trust God’s promises for me I must begin to read his promises. It made perfect sense to me that I could not trust in a promise that I did not know!

One of my favorite study tools is a small pocket size promise book that I purchased so that I could begin to become familiar with all that God has promised. Those precious promises are interwoven throughout the entire Bible. It is interesting that there are three types of promises in the Bible.

The first type of promises looks more like God’s “trusted principles.” These are the promises that we can know beyond a shadow of doubt what must and will happen. These are the principles that tell us how God provides for mankind simply because we are his creation. These promises are prophetic regarding the future of our world and the end of time. The tone of all of these promises is that God has spoken and he will not change his mind, not now or ever. An example of this is “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 NIV

The second type of promises can only to be claimed by believers. We see an example of this as Jesus spoke the following words to his disciples, “I go to prepare a place for you. I will come again and receive you to Myself: that where I am, there you may be also.” John 14: 3 NIV Make no mistake, this promise is only for believers.

The third type is the “conditional” promises. I had a gross misunderstanding of this type of promise because I always focused on what God would do for me, paying no mind to what was necessary for me to do first! God is not obliged to keep these promises to us unless we do our part first. God promises to do “this” if we will do “that.” If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” I John 1: 9 NIV My part is confession and God’s part is forgiveness.

Today I am thinking about the wonderful truth that God is not a God who makes a bunch of rules and puts them in a book and then tells us good luck with all that! No, God is relational. God and I both have a part in our relationship. It is both sad and amazing that mankind makes all kinds of promises to one another everyday, and everyday there is pain and devastation from broken promises. Our encouragement is this; God never breaks his promises to us. “All your words are true;” Psalm 119:160a NIV God’s promises are wonderfully true and marvelously unchangeable.

Questions:

What are some of the promises of God that you know?

Do you feel a need to know more of God’s precious promises to you?

Are you missing out on something that God has promised you because you are not even aware of his promise?

Are you missing out on a “conditional” promise because you have failed to do your part in that promise?

Prayer:

Dear God,

Oh my, there are so many promises in your Word. Help me to learn little by little everything you have promised me. God, I want to claim all of your promises for my life. I don’t want to miss out on a single promise. Give me strength to do my part in the “conditional” promises. Thank you for the comfort that comes to my heart as I pray back to you the very words that you have promised me. God it is such a privilege that I can remind you in prayer of what you have promised to me. I wait in expectation for the fulfillment of every promise that you have given me. As I wait, I take comfort in the knowledge that you cannot lie and that you are amazingly faithful in keeping all of your promises to those who love, trust, and obey you.

In Your Son’s Name I pray. Amen.

Clouds

“Sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds –
his name is the LORD – and rejoice before him.

Psalm 68:4 NIV

The other day I was enjoying looking up at the clouds with my grandchildren. We were imagining what all of the different shapes reminded us of. Abigail saw a heart, Joshua saw a bear, and I saw a fluffy cone of cotton candy.

I then took the opportunity tell them that the Bible teaches us that we are to praise God because he is so mighty that instead of riding in cars and airplanes, God rides the clouds! I remind them that their Papa likes roller coasters but I imagine that riding clouds must be way more fun!

Clouds are important. Jesus left this earth in a cloud and we will see him coming a second time in the clouds. In fact, the Bible tells us that those who have died in Christ will rise first and those who are still living will be caught up in the clouds to meet our Savior, Jesus Christ.

“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”

I Thessalonians 4:15 NIV

Yes, clouds are important. Sooner or later if you are a believer you will be riding the clouds with Jesus! Considering that I hate roller coasters, this adventure unnerves me just a bit! I am comforted by the fact that we are always eternally safe when we are with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ

From an earthly perspective some days the clouds are not so beautiful. Some days they are dark and dangerous looking. The clouds that cover our spirit can be the worst clouds of all. The sooner we are able to entrust Jesus with the darkness that tries to enter our mind the better off we will be. Remember, Satan uses times of discouragement and depression to squelch our spirit. Choose to fight negative thoughts with prayer. If you find that you are so discouraged and that you can’t pray, then ask someone to pray for you. Even in the darkest times of our lives, even in times that we feel God’s face is hidden in the dark gray clouds of life, our faith in our God brings us comfort.

After all, that is what faith is! Faith is believing in something or someone that we cannot see. “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1 NIV We cannot see the wind, yet we know it is there. We cannot see electricity, yet we flip a switch believing that the light will come on. We cannot see the healing results of medication, yet we take it believing that we will feel better. Remember God rides all of the clouds. He is there in the beautiful white puffy clouds that reflect his sunshine and he also he is there in the dark clouds of life that hide his face. Praise God, our God rides the clouds! He is always there. God is only a prayer away!

Questions:

Is faith a difficult concept for you?

Do you fear that in believing in something you cannot see will make you look foolish?

Because the benefits of believing in God are so great, would you consider giving faith a chance?

Are there some things that you can trust God with and other things that you simply can’t believe?

What are those things?

Have you ever prayed that God would help your unbelief?


Prayer:

Dear God,

Today I pray that you will help my unbelief. God, make the question in my heart not be if you can, but rather if it will be your will to do so. With you God I do know that all things are possible, yet not all things happen the way I want them too. God forgive me for thinking that I don’t have enough faith to merit your help. I realize that I cannot drum up huge amounts of faith; I simply must express to you that I know you are able to do all things. I am so glad that all the faith that is needed on my part is the very small amount, faith the size of a mustard seed. Matthew 17:20.

In Your Son’s Name I pray. Amen

Precious Thoughts

“How precious to me are your thoughts,

O God! How vast the sum of them!
Were I to count them,

they would outnumber the grains of sand.”

Psalm 139:17-18 NIV

Recently I was enjoying a wonderful early morning at the beach. As I was walking along the North Carolina shore, I was enjoying watching the waves crash upon the beach, allowing the ocean to spill over onto the sand and splash over my bare feet. The sun was slowly rising and the morning color mix of blues, white, and sunshine yellows magnificently painted the sky! Seagulls swooped down looking for their breakfast. As I breathed in the salt air I realized that here on this earth, it really doesn’t get much better than this!

This peaceful setting always draws my thoughts to my precious family and then I begin to pray. I thank God for my wonderful husband who I love and who loves me in return. I pray that God will bless his work and be near to him and on our brief vacation that he will give him the rest and relaxation that he so desperately needs. I think of my daughter, Amy and son-in-law, Todd who are amazing parents to my two adorable grandchildren, Abigail and Joshua. I imagine them sitting around their kitchen table in Maryland having breakfast and getting ready to start their day. I pray that God will watch over them and bless them. I pray that God will continue to work in their lives drawing them closer to him this day. My thoughts then move to the west coast where my wonderful son, David lives. He has not yet awakened to the California sunshine. I imagine God standing over his bed watching him sleep and I pray the same prayer of protection, blessing, and spiritual growth for him.

The point here is that I am thinking precious thoughts of all six of my loved ones. I can’t help but recognize that no matter how much I love them, God loves them more! And because of that one fact alone I am able to trust God with their lives. This trust does not exclude trouble from their lives but it does assure me that God will be with them in their trouble and use that trouble for their eternal good.

After I finish praying I decided to set a little while on the beach. I am writing in the sand with my finger, when some water rushes over my hand. I began to examine the sand on the tip of my finger. I then make a futile attempt to count the number of grains of sand that has clung solely to one of my fingertips. There were so many grains that counting them was an impossible task.

This reminded me of today’s scripture. God’s thoughts are precious and he thinks precious thoughts regarding me. The sum of God’s thoughts of me, are so vast that they outnumber the sand. I am amazed as I ponder the fact that God thinks so many precious thoughts of me and that number outnumbers the uncountable grains of sand on my fingertip. As I looked down the shoreline as far as my eye could see, I am blown away when I think of all of the sand on the entire planet. Other beaches and shorelines full of sand. The ocean floor covered with sand. The vast deserts covered with sand. How many grains of sand have been placed by God in our world? Is it possible that God thinks precious thoughts about me and those that I love and that those thoughts really do outnumber the sand? Yes indeed, it is possible our God is awesome!

Questions:

Are you amazed that God’s thoughts of you out number the sand?

How does that make you feel?

Does this enable you to trust God more with the details of your life?

Does this allow you to trust God more completely with the lives of all those you love and cherish?


Prayer:

Dear God,

Thank you for today’s amazing lesson regarding how very much you love me and those I love. I confess to you that many times my heart is full of fear for the future and for any harm that may come to my family. I also worry about losing them. Help me God to embrace with both arms this wonderful Biblical truth that reminds me that you have your eye on all of us and no matter what happens you will be with us. Thank you for the billions of precious thoughts that you think about me and all those I love.

In Your Son’s Name I pray. Amen

Freedom

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

Galatians 5:1 NIV

The Fourth of July is the day that we celebrate the birthday of the United States of America. Our country was founded by the people and for the people of this country. It was the intent of our founding fathers that we form a nation that would submit to the direct leadership of God. The God that I am talking about here is the one and only God! The God I speak of is the same God who created all of heaven and all of earth. He is the same God who breathed the very breath of life into every single human being.

Our founding fathers also desired that we have basic individual freedoms such as the freedom to worship and freedom of speech. The founding fathers also wanted us to have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

As I celebrate the birthday of my country, I also celebrate a very special freedom that I have through Christ Jesus. Because I have accepted the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ for me personally, I am free from the bondage of sin that separated me from God. I have been redeemed by Jesus and brought back into fellowship with my creator.

Jesus taught us to give to the government what belongs to the government but never to bow to anyone other than God. As believers we are to be discerning and gracious people. In many ways we are like sheep among wolves. Jesus told his followers,

"I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.
Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.”

Matthew 10:16 NIV

I also believe that in this world God has given his children spiritual discernment to recognize when some of our basic freedoms are in danger. The Bible teaches us to watch for injustice and recognize sin and corruption.

Join me this week as we celebrate all of our most precious freedoms. Especially the one we have in Jesus. I also challenge you as a believer to be astute, sharp, perceptive, insightful, discerning and wise. Do not follow blindly any leadership that threatens our basic freedoms and do not bow to anyone other than the God of all creation. Our greatest hope for our country is for believers to pray with a humble heart, for the ones who lead our country and for our fellow believers to remain strong through the power of the Holy Spirit. We do not know about the future, but we do know the One who holds the future in his almighty hands!

I pray that we will never loose our precious freedoms but if we do, there is one freedom that can never be taken away from us and it is the freedom we have in Christ Jesus. Even in death no one can take our soul!

Questions:

Are you grateful for the freedoms that you have in this country?

Have you experienced freedom from sin through Jesus?

Are you a discerning believer?

What are some of the things that God has given you discernment about concerning our country?

Will you join me in praying for our country, our leaders, and fellow Christians?


Prayer:

Dear God,

As a believer sometimes I feel discouraged regarding the direction our world is going. I am sad when I see people call “good” evil and “evil” good. I pray Lord that you will give me your discernment regarding the country in which I live. I am grateful and privileged to live in the USA, but I also am fearful that we have become a country where many do not acknowledge you and would love to stamp out your name. Your Word teaches that when you are not honored there will be consequences. Help me Lord to be as shrewd as a snake and gentle as a dove as I go about living my life. Lord, I pray I will not take for granted the freedoms that I now experience, and to cherish the freedom that I have in you. I pray for our country, and that our leaders would look to you. I pray also for all believers that we might be discerning and remain strong in our faith.

In Your Son’s Name I pray. Amen.