Day 11 of 51...

In 1995 I prayed a prayer that would forever change my life. I didn't know it was going to change my life, but as I look back on the last 25 years I am reminded of what the fervent prayers of a person whose heart is stayed on Christ will set ablaze in the Spiritual realm. The hard part with fervent prayers is they usually require change and transformation, and we all know how easily that takes place! (insert rolling of my eyes here 😄)

Fast forward to September 2020. My heart's desire is fervent like it hasn't been in years. My awareness of the spiritual oppression in the area where I live is, at times, completely overwhelming. I have the opportunity (did I really just use that word for what is happening?!?!) to see firsthand the enemy's plan to pull people away from their loved ones to resist the conviction of conscience. The relationships with people I've known and appreciated for years are deteriorating as they look at me like the enemy because I ask hard questions and refuse to raise my voice in ways they think are necessary to prove my love for humanity. Outside of my personal bubble, I see destruction, hatred, and absolute vitriol being spewed in all directions. My heart aches in ways I cannot put into words more often than it rests in satisfaction of the life I'm living. 

Which tells me there's work to be done. 

I have one desire for my life - to know I have shared the love of Christ with those around in me in ways that became real and engaging to them. The keyword there is love. What is love? (baby don't hurt me......you knew I couldn't resist! The '80s are alive and well in my musical brain! But I digress....) Honestly, though, what IS love? 

Is love just accepting and affirming a person in everything they do so they never have to deal with the pain of wrong choices or, let's call it what it is, sin? 

Is love being the cheerleader every person needs while leaving the coach on the bench? 

Is love only pointing out what needs to be changed because I know it will make them better?

Is love being sure no one is ever angry at me so I only say the good things?

Is love about feeling good? At all times? Only good vibes? Ever? 

After almost 23 years of marriage, my solid answer to all of those questions above is a resounding, NO. 

Love is seeing the good, the bad, the beautiful, and the ugly in a person and still seeing them as made in the image of God. Seeing the humanity of a person - the imperfections that can make life with them more difficult - and still choosing to say and do what is necessary to show they have worth simply because they are created in the image of God. 

Love is being willing to say the hard things when a wrong is done - not to condemn the person or to "put them in their place" - but so there can be a conversation, a heart-opening, and healing discussion. Hopefully, this conversation will bring them AND your relationship into a better place. (side note: sometimes the conversation you think you need to have with a person about their problem turns into a conversation they need to have about yours. Humbly approaching the confrontation of a problem allows that reciprocal love in action and brings far greater rewards in the long run.)

Love is realizing that God is at work in each of us, and His timing may not look like our timing. Okay, let's correct that - His timing RARELY looks like our timing. No, wait...better correction yet: His timing *never* looks like our timing! And yet, His timing is far better than we could ever expect or imagine because He sees the entirety of a situation (aaaaalllllllll the threads weaving together in the background) and knows exactly when they need to intersect to create the proverbial tapestry of our lives, and, ultimately, His Kingdom. Love knows God sees that person and cares for them far more than we can, even if we love with the kind of love that is at times painful. 

Love is looking beyond the symptoms (outward actions) to the core of the issue (the heart's genuine need) and looking for ways to fill that need regardless of the reaction you may receive. 

All of this sounds an awful lot like what I have, at times, sought to avoid measuring my love against (I know I'm not the only one, c'mon!): 

I Corinthians 13: 1-8a:

    If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, 

    I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 

    And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, 

    and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, 

    I am nothing. 

    If I give away all I have, 

    and if I deliver up my body to be burned, 

    but have not love, 

    I gain nothing. 

    Love is patient and kind;

    love does not envy or boast;

    love is not arrogant or rude.

    It does not insist on its own way;

    it is not irritable or resentful;

    it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, 

    but rejoices with the truth. 

    Love bears all things, 

    believes all things 

    hopes all things, 

    endures all things. 

    Love never ends. 

As I have walked through (emotionally crawled through some of) these past 11 days, I am continually reminded of how genuine love can change a situation.

I keep calling these situations I am living as opportunities, but let's be real - no situation that requires us to act on what we know is true when what we *really* want to do is respond in our humanity - is seen as an opportunity at the time! 

However, looking back I can see them as exactly that. I have had multiple opportunities to either love or try to look like love but was really only to tolerate. In one situation I saw the power of genuine love in the atmospheric changes from arrival to departure, but others are still a work in progress. Each morning I wake up with the fervent prayers for loved ones on my mind and have to make the choice to either trust God in His timing and work in their lives, or get angry about what they are choosing to do (or not do). Each and every day I have had to wrestle with what it looks like to love as Christ loves. In looking at the list above I don't know that I have succeeded, but I can say there is growth. 

So what does all this mean? Well, I think if you're reading this there's a reason. I don't believe in chance or coincidence. I believe, if you're here, it's because maybe there's a message here for you. I don't dare say I know why - I have no idea what you're here for - but God does, and that's enough for me. This is, to speak to what I said at the beginning, a portion of what needs to be done. 

My mission right now is to share genuine love with people. My ability to keep "that tone" out of my voice, or to always speak lovingly to those around me is not always intact, however, so I am currently learning that love is sometimes also silent. Sometimes love doesn't speak to the person, but speaks instead to the Creator of the person. If there is one lesson I have firmly grasped over the past 25 years it is that I cannot, no matter how hard I try, change a person. I've learned that only God can bring about the change that is necessary. So I speak to Him about the person...and He often reveals to me, with a proverbial arm around my shoulder and a sweet chuckle in the doing, what I need to change or see in the situation I am lifting up. But at 1:17 pm I have the pure joy of pouring out love on others by lifting them up to the throne of grace with confidence regardless of our personal situation. 

Every day. 

The alarm is set on both phone and watch. 

1:17 pm. Prayer. 

I don't know what is happening in response, but I know my God is faithful and He bends down to listen. So I pray. 

How do you love? Do you love? Do you know the Author of love? Do you want to? I'd be thrilled to introduce you! Leave a comment and let me know. 

(if you know where this photo is from - please let me know. I want to give credit because it is so good!)

Also, I'd enjoy hearing what you are doing to love your neighbor as yourself these days! May you be encouraged....and know I'm praying for you. I may not know your name, but God does. 💓

Be a blessing...

- Trayc

What We Need Right Now...

 

My Birthday Wish, Part 1

Does anyone else have this problem? You have a conversation with a friend who is super on top of things and has spent 10 minutes telling you, without being arrogant about it...just sharing life, all the things they've accomplished in the last few months. It's incredibly encouraging, and you are pumped up to sit down and put together a plan for what you want to accomplish in the next few months, too. You sit down at your desk, or table, or grab a notebook and pen and head to "the office" to think...and you scribble away! The ideas are flowing, there's great content and you can't wait to get started. So you get things together for the first day of the BIG PLAN, and go to sleep excited about what lies ahead. 

The next morning your feet hit the floor and you get a phone call or text that shares a plan changer. It's a big one. Can't be ignored. So you figure, "okay. This is a setback. Not a total changer, just a today changer. I'll work on the plan as soon as this is taken care of." It's okay. It's going to be okay. Right? 

Pretty soon, you're looking at 6 months between plan date and calendar date and wondering how it happened?! 

Am I the only one? Please, someone tell me this happens to others...even (if not especially) to the super-on-top-of-it-all kind of person!! Because this has been most of our experiences of 2020, hasn't it? It has definitely been mine! 

No more!

It's September 22, 2020, and in two days I get to celebrate having made it through 51 years of life! It has not been easy, but boy do I have some pretty great memories to look back on. The really great ones come from those things I was scared to do but actually did anyway. The most heartwarming ones are the ones that scared the bajeebies out of me at the time because they required more of me than I thought I could give. The saddest ones are those that I let slip away...wishing I'd said something differently or had actually chanced saying at all. Hugging someone tighter the last time we saw each other face to face, or being okay with making them uncomfortable in the moment while I said to their face how much they have meant to me. I especially long for the times I could hold their hands and bow our heads in prayer together again. These are often partner pieces to the tremendous memories we share, which is why they make me so sad. I know I'm not alone in missing those we love but are not able to spend time with for whatever reason. 

I am thankful for the 51 years I've been given, and pray God gives me 51 more so I can continue to invest in others and share His beautiful Truth with a hurting world. I can pray, but the Lord determines the years...and because I don't know I must act now. 

Will you join me in acting on what God has impressed on me to share with others? Will you be willing to take time at 1:17 every day (am or pm, which ever works best for your schedule and you'll follow through on) and pray for our Nation, our Churches, our Families and our World? I am using 1:17 based on the verse I have used as my "life" verse since 1996 - Colossians 1:17 "He is before ALL things and IN HIM all things hold together." (emphasis mine)

A) Our Nation - This is not praying for a particular outcome to elections or people in office, but rather, for God to carry out what He needs for our nation. Pray for leaders whose hearts are soft to the still small voice of God and willing to put their desires on the back burner while implementing policy that will be for the best of our nation. We are not looking for a savior - we've already got one. We are, instead, praying that our nation will be a beacon of hope to the world. A beacon that shines with what freedom looks like. Loving our neighbors as we love ourselves, and seeking to spur others on to outbursts of love and good deeds. Pray that we would come together instead of raising fists and other tools of harm and destruction against each other. 

B) Our Churches - pray for bold church leaders and Christians who are thoughtful, disciplined followers of Christ. That our churches would preach Biblical Truth, and those who are not, who are using the name of Jesus to promote what will ultimately lead to death, will be convicted of the truth and turn back to what the Bible says a Christian is. That, in the meantime, correction would be done in love with those issues meant only to divide will be swept away where we can see what unites us and come together to love our communities in the way Jesus loved. 

C) Our Families - there are organizations seeking to tear down the family as God has shown it to be. May we rise up and pray to strengthen our families. Pray for Fathers to be spiritual leaders, hand-in-hand with their wives, to raise a generation of Christ-followers who understand what it is to be obedient and humbled before the authority of God because respect for authority has been taught in their homes. Pray for those who are single to remain strong and to be engulfed in the church as those who are vital to ministry and to community. May they know their worth is not found in marriage or children, but in their love for Christ as they are filled up and pour out as only they can. For our children, pray they would be taught well and that the teachings of the Bible will be planted as acorns in the heart of their lives. As they grow, may those acorns bud and bloom into mighty oaks, planted beside waters that do not run dry but continually feed them. May their roots grow deep and wide, and may their fruit and shade where others find hope be equally tall and wide. Finally, pray for those who are in the sunset of their lives. Pray they will speak truth and share their wisdom with the generations below. Pray their love for Christ would not fade with the changes they see so that they become bitter, but will, instead, spark an even more fervent desire to encourage that which is Godly and speak correction to that which will pull away.  Pray, too, that their hearts would be full, knowing they are necessary and needed to those of us trudging behind. May we all know what it is to encourage each other and lift each other up to do that which God has given us to do. WE are The Church. May our actions toward others be like a lighthouse to those looking for hope. 

D) Finally, our World - God is moving in ways we may not know this side of Heaven, but we can stand on the promise that He is at work in the hearts and minds of His creation. Pray The Church (which knows no boundaries) will be strengthened around the world. In a time when communication from Africa to Alaska is just as quick as Germany to Switzerland, let the Word of God spread around the globe that His kingdom will be enlarged. 

This is for all of us, but nestles easily into a World request - if your specific area of the world has a need for prayer that is inherent to your area, will you share it in the comments? Then we can all be praying for each other and lifting each other up to the Throne of Grace with Confidence in our Lord Jesus. 

Thank you for joining me in prayer. Set an alarm on your phone or watch for each day at 1:17 and pray. The beauty of God's economy is that the "fervent prayers of a righteous man availeth much." This means that if one day you can pray deeply and specifically for a lengthened amount of time - huzzah! It also means that if your prayer is heartfelt and honest before Him but it is a mere few seconds long - huzzah all the same!  He tells us in multiple Psalms that He bends down to listen to us as we say His name...so, my brothers and sisters in Christ - say His name and lift up your requests. He cares and is not finished with us yet. 

May you be blessed in your prayer time, strengthened as you wear your Armor of God each day, and emboldened to love well as you live in the Joy of the Lord. 

Be the Church...

Trayc

Prayer Changes Things

Lately the power of prayer has been a constant reminder. I have been reminded that God sees me....He hears me...He bends down to listen...He cares. I've been brought up short as I'm reminded that my prayers are not a to-do list for God, but rather a heart surrendering to His will as I humbly reveal the deepest parts of me to the Only One Who can really do anything about it. When I've prayed and not seen immediate results I've been reminded that patience is a virtue - a character trait not ingrained, but learned. Finally, when I have seen the joy of prayers affirmed and answered only to be sent back to square two a couple days later I've been reminded that life is a journey and just because I pray and He answers doesn't mean it's all going to be A-Okay from then on. 

What it does mean is that He still sees me. He stills hears me. He still bends down to listen, and, no matter what, He still cares. 

About every little detail. 

Every. 

Little. 

Detail. 

HE CARES

This excerpt from a devotional on prayer by Jack Graham speaks directly to what I have been experiencing and thinking recently. 

"When you and I arrive at heaven's gate someday, no doubt we will be shocked by our lack of faithfulness as it relates to prayer. We will see firsthand the vast storehouse of blessing God had reserved for us, if only we had asked for His intervention in our lives. "You do not have because you do not ask." James 4:2 reads. What a fitting reminder to pray while we still have life left to live! Indeed, nothing good, nothing great, nothing lasting, nothing holy can ever happen apart from prayer.

That is why prayer should never be a sideline habit for believers. Prayer should not just be a ritual performed at the beginning of a family meal. We are to pray, persistently and passionately in dependence and in obedience. And let me be clear, if you are not praying, there is no way you can ever grow as a Christian. Without prayer, there is no way you will ever truly know God intimately. Prayer flows out of a life connected to Christ. And prayer also connects our life to Christ."

taken from "Lord, Hear Our Cry: A 30-Day Prayer Challenge" by Dr. Jack Graham

(you can also do this plan on the youversion.com Bible )

Those last couple of sentences in the second paragraph were like arrows between the eyes for me. "without prayer, there is no way you will ever truly know God intimately. Prayer flows out of a life connected to Christ. And prayer also connects our life to Christ." To know God intimately requires getting together with Him and connecting not just at the head level, but on a heart level. 

For example...I listen to a few different Bible teachers as I prepare for my day. I may listen to Dr. Charles Swindoll one day, and Dr. Stanley the next...or I might listen to a podcast from my own church or our previous church's teaching. Although the last two pastors I do know personally, I cannot say I know them intimately. Because I have listened to Dr. Swindoll for so many years and read so many of his books I can say I sometimes feel as if I know him. My own pastors I can even say I know pretty well.....but intimately? Uh. No. 

However, I can say I know my husband and children intimately. I can also say I have intimate friends. The difference between them and the people I mentioned in the previous paragraph? Easy answer....time spent together getting real with each other. 

It is not a one way relationship. I do not read God's word and think I know Him intimately. I do not only pray and think I know Him intimately. One without the other leaves one of us out in the cold. 

Reading God's Word gives us an intimate knowledge of Who He is - we get to know Who He is throughout His interactions with others. We don't, however, fully grasp the magnitude of who He is if we only know Him intellectually. 

There is a current movement to seek the Holy Spirit and to consistently let Him guide through prayer and fervent times of seeking His voice. Not a bad thing....unless the voices in our heads that we think are the Holy Spirit are actually not of God at all. The voice we hear goes against what the Word of God says, but because we aren't reading the Bible we aren't aware of it....and we are led astray under the guise of "following the Spirit's leading." 

Praying alone gives us, at times, an emotional heart-level understanding of Who He is, but not knowing the truth of Who He is as we read in His Word leaves us wanting intellectually. 

Then there's our side. If we spend time reading His Word - studying, digging in, getting to know Him - we know His character. If we spend time praying for others in accordance with His Word we trust what we know of Him. Sounds pretty well-rounded, huh? Pretty full? We know, love and trust Him, so we're good? 

Not quite. 

WE know HIM...and HE knows US....but do we *intimately* trust Him with our most intimate selves? Our deepest hurts? Our most fervent desires? Our greatest doubts? Our rage and frustration over the injustices in our lives and the world around us? 

Nope. 

If we aren't willing to spend time getting real with God our Christian life, as Dr. Graham stated, is stunted. We don't grow in Him. We don't thrive. We don't grasp the power available to us through Him. 

Today I am in that place of frustration over the answers to my prayers being ping-ponged back and forth between "Passing Go" and "Going directly to Jail" (we'll use Monopoly as a tangible example of what the prayers - answered - seeing - positive - results - while - in - the - next - moment - human - nature - takes - over - and - pulls - it - back - again feels like). I hate it. I want to do some major brain surgery on a certain young person in my life who keeps being offered grace, celebrates and jumps in, freaks out and jumps back out again where he can be comfortable. 

I am reminded life is a journey. Reminded that, just because one day seems like my prayers are answered and life is going to be beautiful all the time from here on out, I still live in a broken world where the only hope I have is knowing the One Who created all things and in Whom all things hold together. 

So today I pray again....for the very same thing I've been praying for over the last few months. I cling again...to the hope found only in Jesus Christ. I trust again...in the fact that God the Father knows exactly what His plan is and I don't. I remind myself (again)....patience is a character trait that is learned, not given. Then I scream and kick my feet because I want patience in the situation......NOW! ......and I start all over again knowing that everyday really does bring a brighter hope, a bit more trust, a lot more patience. 

Because after all.....

Let's Get Ready to Rum-bulllll!

The other day I wrote about punching the devil in the face.

Evidently that ticks him off.

Enough to fight back.

Although it sucks, I'm not afraid.

But I am tired.

And he knows it.

But that doesn't take the fight out of me.

I cling to the promise that if God is for me, who can be against me?

And the promise that He will never leave me nor forsake me.

And the fact that He created everything and IN HIM all things hold together.

I also cling to Psalm 139, Psalm 103 and THIS:

"Psalms 34:4-7 NLT

I prayed to the lord , and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears. Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces. In my desperation I prayed, and the lord listened; he saved me from all my troubles. For the angel of the lord is a guard; he surrounds and defends all who fear him."!!!!!!

Tonight may I ask that we spend some tiem praying for families? For those who are fighting battles meant to pull them apart...for those who are facing death of any sort... for those who are struggling to keep on the path God has for them when the enemy simply wants to fill them with doubt and pull them away from The One Who loves them like no other. Prayer changes things....Thank you for praying. God has this!

In The Heart of the FREE

"...come to me when you're weary and I'll give you hope when you're hurting."
 
Jamie Grace sings this in my ear as I sit in Starbucks sipping on my venti single shot honey latte', and it's exactly what I needed to hear! My oldest son is at a Heart Change Workshop right now  (you may remember I wrote about my youngest son's Heart Change experience HERE), and it is day 2 of the workshop. We look at Freedom today... 

The problem with freedom? It doesn't come easy, and it's not handed over without giving up what we cling to. We cling to our ideas of who we should be, how we should act, what we should think and what others will think of us. In doing "all the right things" we find that we are put into more and more bondage and pain. We don't find freedom to be ourselves by trying to act differently or by dressing differently. We won't find freedom in doing it "the way it's supposed to be done" according to some self-help guru looking to gain fame and fortune with their bestseller. We won't find freedom until we realize that freedom isn't free. Freedom requires something of us.

Freedom requires us to take our eyes off ourselves.

Freedom requires us to realize what freedom is and what freedom isn't. 

Freedom is not the ability to say whatever I want under the guise of free speech.
Freedom is not the ability to make a choice as to where I live or what work I do.
Freedom is not the ability to vote for whomever it is I want to lead our city, county, state or country.
Freedom is not the ability to marry whomever I want to marry and raise my children the way we want to raise them.

You may be shaking your head....yes, those things are all the outcomes of national freedoms and the laws we live under. However, do you really understand TRUE freedom?

True freedom is knowing you are exactly who you are supposed to be because you know the very One Who created you.
True freedom is knowing you are not the sum of what you do or what you have done, but that you ARE...because the Creator loves you.
True freedom is knowing you don't have to fit in to be accepted.
True freedom is knowing those people who call you names, refuse to listen to your heart, or put you down because you're not like them are the very same people you were put on earth to love and lead to true freedom.
True freedom is knowing you don't have to fight for your freedom....you have to accept it.

Accepting it. Man! Isn't that the hardest part? Yesterday I wrote about accepting the blessings of someone else (you can read there HERE ). Today I'm faced with accepting freedom. I think there's a theme here, and I see the need to encourage all of us to get to know the heart of our Savior so we can learn to understand the need to accept HIS gift to us - complete and utter freedom.

Throughout this workshop my son will be fighting for his personal freedom...his changed heart...and many will be standing in the gap praying for him and the others who will be walking into battle for their own hearts. Is that what's missing in our relationships? The people who are standing in the gap for us? Are you standing in the gap for anyone?

First, let's figure out where that phrase came from - to "stand in the gap." It comes from Ezekiel 22:30 where it says, "I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one." God was looking for someone righteous. He was looking about the land and searching for someone who was crying out to HIM in the midst of a society that sounds, terrifyingly, much like ours. He was looking....seeking...searching for anyone who was willing to stand up to the injustices of their time.

He found no one.

Matthew Henry says in his full commentary, "Sin makes a gap in the hedge of protection that is about (around) a people at which good things run out from them and evil things pour in upon them, a gap by which God enters to destroy them...When God is coming forth against a sinful people to destroy them He expects some to intercede for them (to stand in the gap) and enquires if there is but one that does; so much is it His desire and delight to show mercy. If there be but a man that stands in the gap, as Abraham for Sodom, He will discover him and be pleased with him." (parentheses mine)

So today, I stand in the gap for those fighting for their freedom - their true freedom. Will you join me? Who needs you to stand in the gap for them? Who needs you to cry out to God in their favor and pray His mercy and redemption on them? Martin Luther has this great quote that cuts me to the quick when I think about praying. He said, "I have so much to do today I must spend three hours in prayer."  Dr. Chuck Swindoll shared the story in a recent broadcast of his daily message on "Insight for Living" of a man he knew who set aside the best three hours of his day to spend in prayer. I remember, too, hearing a well-respected Bible leader back in my days of working in radio (I can't even try to remember who it was who said it - some days the teaching ran together and the voices all sounded the same to me,,  if you made me guess I'd say it was Bill Bright) who said, when asked how he could possibly pray for so many people each day (his prayer list was substantial and prayed over daily) that he remembered WHO he was praying to. He knew God knew all going on with each person just by name. So, he said that throughout the day as a person came to mind he simply lifted them up to God as he went about his duties. In doing so he prayed without ceasing and stood in the gap for many, many people who needed those prayers. Just this past weekend a friend and fellow middle school small group leader shared with me how one night he was really struggling with *what* to pray for a certain person. As he struggled he heard God say, "stop talking. Just say the name and rest in Me." (I've paraphrased) That very night, after he shared this with me, I had the opportunity to put this prayer tactic to the test, so to speak. One of my girls was such a burden on my heart and I had no idea how to pray for her. I simply laid in bed and said her name....and held her up to the throne of grace with confidence. The peace that came was immediate. 

There's so much more that could be said for standing in the gap! From the honor found in the Jewish community when they say, "I'll say your name." They are meaning that they won't forget - they will bring honor to the person and say their name. 

What a beautiful option we have to stand in the gap for those who are fighting for their freedom! Stand in the gap today....pray without ceasing...say their name...and rest in this: 

Because He bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath!

Psalm 116:2

True Freedom.....who do you know who needs you to stand in their gap so they will find it? 

A Sinful Woman's reflection on a Woman of Righteousness

Luke 1:26-38 NLTIn the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you! ” Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!” Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.” The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month. For the word of God will never fail. ” Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.

I don't want to, nor can I, personalize this as if I were Mary and can relate to what was going on inside. When I was younger I faced a pregnancy as a single woman, but that was the result of my sin. Mary's pregnancy was the result of her virtue! Knowing my own experience I have to wonder, though, what went through her head. Did she wish God had chosen someone else at times? Did she have private conversations with Him when she wanted to hide in the covering and never come out? It was during my pregnancy that God got my attention and changed my life. Mary's life certainly changed, too. One day I was reading Mary's account of being told she would have a child, and I remembered my own experiences way back then. I will emphasize that I can in no way, shape or form, know what it would be like to be held up as virtuous enough to carry the Son of God. However, the responses of others and the weight of those nine months are something that got me thinking....Did Mary's prayer life go something like this?...

Did she say to Him, "My Lord, You are my Yeshuah, and I give You praise. But, OH, ABBA! Why me? I am a simple woman who loves Your law, but who am I to carry the Messiah?!? THE MESSIAH!! The One my people have talked about and waited for - why did You choose ME?"

I believer that could be a prayer of her heart, but what about the moment when she told Joseph? Was her prayer a bit different then?

"Oh, Abba! Father! El Berit! God of the Covenant! My Joseph is hurt and very upset that I am carrying this child! When I say He is the Child of God, our Adonai, I sound like the crazy woman who lives up the hill! WHY ME? WHY have You chosen me? Yahweh! Must I lose my Joseph and be alone so he Messiah may come? Yahweh-Shalom, I need Your peace! Yahweh-Jirah, I need Your provision. Help me trust You, Yahweh-Shammah. Calm my spirit - I trust You."

What about when the people have found out and think that she and Joseph (the "Barbie and Ken" perfect couple?) have been intimate before they were meant to be? The pain! The ridicule and the looks!!

Did her private prayers sound like, "OH. MY. ADONAI! My spirit aches and my heart is broken by the things being said by our "friends" and the people we come in contact with. Yahweh, I know, and Joseph knows, that it is The Messiah - Soter - Whom I carry, and our hope, trust and strength are all in You. Bolster my spirit that the painful things being said will not cut through. Adonai, I am Yours and I love Your law - turn my ears deaf to the words of condemnation and close my eyes to the looks of scorn. I'm so unworthy and weak. Why have You chosen me? Surely there are stronger, more capable women who could and would be a better choice! I am humbled, Abba, that You find me worthy. Give me the fortitude to continue to be so. El Shaddai - My El Shaddai - El Elyona, Adonai!"

My sin...your sin...she carried the weight of all of us in the form of a tiny baby for nine months. The saving grace is Jesus' death and resurrection, but please do not look over the miracle of Christmas and what was sacrificed for YOU and for me.

Any of these prayers could be. How awesome to have lived a life God saw as worthy to carry His SON! And how thankful I am for Mary to do so and bring MY Soter - My SAVIOR - into this earth in human form!!

He gave up streets of Gold to walk on paths of dirt so we can walk those streets of gold WITH HIM for eternity. Selah.

What PART are you fulfilling?

2 Chronicles 7 ~ the dedication of the Temple

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"...3 elements we can include in services, and even in songs: re-enactment, realization, and anticipation. They are like the beginning, middle, and end of a story. So we recall something God did in the history of His people – then we enter the realization stage. In other words, what that means to our lives, here and now today. And then we end in anticipation – knowing there is more still to come in this epic love story of God we exist in..."

This is from Matt Redman's devotional series, "Sing Like Never Before." Based on 2 Chronicles 7 and his song, "Lord Let Your Glory Fall."

These three elements are really what my "prayer pattern" is based on...

Knowing God has and is doing His PART, we, too, have a part to fulfill in our relationship with Him. In praying, we can remember to do our...

P: Praise Him for what He is doing and Who He is.

A: Ask forgiveness for our foolish human natures that gravitate toward sin and destruction.

R: Requests ~ bring our requests before the throne of grace with confidence in Whose hands we are putting them.

T: Thank Him for His goodness and mercy and what He is doing in our lives.

Just as we put our faith in The One who holds it all together (Colossians 1:17) to do His part, we do ours. By this, we know we are not passively expecting God to do something, but actively engaging in the awareness of what our hearts are needing, while connecting our hearts to His.  

There's an old saying that goes like this: 

Watch your thoughts - they become your words. 

Watch your words - they become your actions.

Watch your actions - they become your habits. 

Watch your habits - they become your character. 

Watch your character - it becomes your destiny. 

What thoughts are you engaging with? What words are they forming? What actions have been expressed? What habits are you allowing? What does your character say about Who you believe is in charge of your life? 

Doing your PART in your walk with Christ will make all the difference in each of those categories, and as you lean into The One Who created you, you will know peace. That's the part He promises. (John 16:33)