Getting Distracted in Prayer

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chasing monkeys while praying, disctractions in prayer, do you get distracted while praying, encouragement in prayer, how should i pray, how to be focused in prayer, prayer, prayer time, why do I get distracted in prayer

Ephesians 6:18 says, “Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert in this with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints.”

When I’ve read this verse in the past, I’ve assumed that the perseverance mentioned is referring to making intercession for the saints. What I’m realizing now, at least for me, is that perseverance is referring to staying alert during prayer.

I’ve always chased a few monkeys in prayer time, but lately it’s been ridiculous. I’m starting well, but then all of the sudden I’m thinking about writing, running, yesterday, tomorrow… you get the idea. I’ll startle back to the fact that I’m supposed to be in prayer and hunker down again only to realize a few minutes later my mind has headed in yet another direction.

As I began to think back to a time where I was more focused during prayer, I realized I needed to pray OUT LOUD. I guess I thought I was a “mature enough” Christian to be focused in silent praying, but I’m not.

I also realized that I need a list. I don’t mechanically go through my list every day, but if I’m struggling, it does help me to focus a little easier.

My list also helps me to remember to faithfully pray for family, church, and more. Otherwise, I can go several days without praying for things I truly meant to be in prayer about.

I heard John Ortberg say once that the monkeys that we often chase during prayer time can indicate what God wants us to pray for. I do stay aware of that and ask often whether that’s the case, but praying versus planning is totally different and I need some help praying. I seem to have the planning part down.

So, how am I choosing to stay alert during prayer?

I am definitely implementing praying out loud.

I’m sticking to a set time and I do have a list.

How are you choosing to stay alert in prayer?

If you have something that works for you, I would love to know. Sharing what works for each other is how we grow and I need some growth, people. Help a girl out. 😊

*image by cottonwood.org

Never Give Up! Never Surrender!

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burdens, Christian encouragement, christian journey, christian walk, Christianity, clinging to the altar, clinging to the horns of the altar, don't stop praying, encouragement, exhaustion, faithfulness, family devotions, horns of the altar, our faithfulness, perseverance, prayer

The other day I was scanning through Netflix trying to find something to watch while waiting for my man to finish up with a project. Of all the great things for me to choose from (ahem), I started to watch Galaxy Quest. It had been years since I had watched it and I was astonished at some of the actors in it…but I digress. If you will remember, Tim Allen played the part of an actor who acted in a T.V. series like Star Trek. He was the captain and whenever their “crew” hit a rough patch, he would say, “Never give up! Never surrender!” I literally watched ten minutes of it, my man finished his project and off we went about our evening.

The next day as I was praying and thinking about some “hard cases” that were on my list all of the sudden I heard that crazy motto from Galaxy Quest: “Never give up! Never surrender!” Isn’t that a great mantra for Christians? How many of us have people on our prayer lists that have been shuffled to the side of our minds because we have just become negligent, or we have given up? We would never say that out loud, but that’s the truth of it. After a few years, or months, or days, we have simply stopped praying. We expected things to happen quicker than they did, so we relegated that job situation, or relationship, or person who needs Jesus to the category of throwing a prayer at it every now and again just in case God still wants us to pray about it.

I’m here to tell you that God does want you to keep praying about it and I want to encourage us (and by us I mean me) to never give up and never surrender!

In First Kings 1 we see a man who would not let go of the horns of the altar. He was there to save his own life, but we can definitely use the illustration to remind us that there are situations and people who are worth clinging to the altar for. First Kings 1:50-53 says, “Adonijah was afraid of Solomon, so he got up and went to take hold of the horns of the altar. It was reported to Solomon: “Look, Adonijah fears King Solomon, and he has taken hold of the horns of the altar, saying, ‘Let King Solomon first swear to me that he will not kill his servant with the sword.’” Then Solomon said, “If he is a man of character, not a single hair of his will fall to the ground, but if evil is found in him, he dies.” So King Solomon sent for him, and they took him down from the altar. He came and paid homage to King Solomon, and Solomon said to him, “Go to your home.”

When we never give up and never surrender in prayer we are clinging to the horns of the altar like Adonijah. We are refusing to give up for the sake of our friends, family, neighbors and even those who don’t like us very much. We need to be like Adonijah and cling to the horns of the altar. We need to be willing to never let go and never surrender for the sake of those who need Jesus. Jude 23 says that we can actually “snatch them out of the fire”. I want to be a fire snatcher, don’t you?

We need to cling to the horns of the altar for our job situations that we have given up on. We need to cling to the altar for our marriages. We need to cling to the altar for our country, our church and our communities. We need to cling to the altar when things seem bad and when things seem good. When Jesus comes to take us home to Glory, may He find us clinging to the horns of the altar for someone, somewhere.  May He find us never giving up and never surrendering.

As King Solomon had to send people to take Adonijah down from the altar, I want Jesus Himself to have to remove us from our places of prayer when He returns. And then, as Adonijah did, we will come before our King, pay homage with great joy because He is so worth it and then He will say to us more than just, “Go to your home”. He will tell us things like, “Well done thou good and faithful servant,” “Look what I’ve prepared for you,” and “You are home.”

He is so faithful. Let’s be faithful to Him and cling to the horns of the altar for someone today. Oh, and remember … Never give up! Never surrender!

Go be with Jesus today!

Seeking Hearts Ministries         My Story

Marriage

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all things for good, anniversaries, anniversary, Christian encouragement, christian journey, christian walk, Christianity, encouragement, exhaustion, family, forgiveness, grace, marriage, past mistakes, prayer, sticking with it, stuffing, temptations, tenacity, worth it

On Saturday, my husband and I will be celebrating our 23^rd year of marriage. Crazy! I can’t help but think of Matthew 19:26, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

I love that our anniversary hits on Saturday this year because I can remember the weekend as it really was. Memories of the rehearsal on Friday and actual wedding day on Saturday seem easier to recall when the memories coincide with the actual day. I was eighteen and he had just turned twenty-one. We were so young and yes, very dumb. I’m sure many thought that I was making a mistake, but God knew who my man was behind the mullet and farm boy mentality. God also knew that I needed to see grace in action and He knew that my man was the only one who could be that for me. That’s my man through and through…grace.

Have we gone through rough patches? Oh, yes, horrible patches filled with briars and weeds (many of which we planted ourselves). The only explanation there is for this anniversary is God Himself. He is a true Miracle Worker. You think I’m exaggerating? I’m not and you are just going to have to take my word for it. We have both made incredible mistakes and have come very close to others. We get the statement “but for the grace of God go I” to the fiber of our being. I have no idea how our marriage has kept going except to say that God simply wouldn’t let us stop. I love Him for that.

I always tell people to watch out for year five. It’s a doozy. For me personally, the repercussions from our year five still rears its ugly head at times. I buried specifics from year five all the way to year ten. I had heard a therapist on television say that what your spouse doesn’t know, don’t worry about. He said to stop doing it and move on with your marriage, but why hurt them unnecessarily. So, I took it as a word from God and sought His forgiveness, asked a general forgiveness from my guy and buried it all. My man and I knew that we both had done some awful things, but it was a taboo subject. Neither one of us wanted to deal with it.

A few months before out tenth anniversary I went to a Ladies Bible Study at our church. We studied “When Godly People Do Ungodly Things” by Beth Moore. In all honesty, I took the class to see if I could discern who was and wasn’t saved among my family. Yes, I realize how pious that sounds, but it’s the truth. I didn’t take the class as intended, God drug me through that class. I realized very quickly that burying the past was not what God intended. I prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed that what I was hearing was wrong, but it wasn’t.  When I knew God truly was telling me to confess to my guy and ask his forgiveness I prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed that his heart would be prepared to hear it and forgive. We had two small children at the time and very little money, but wouldn’t you know that God arranged for us to have a private cabin on the water for our anniversary night? I knew this was the moment for confession and God’s grace poured out on us. I had prepared him that I needed to come clean so that he wasn’t blind-sided. I was a nervous wreck, but God’s Spirit was with us. It took several days for things to be fully confessed and worked through and several months of recovery with God healing us bone deep, but I remember that I kept praying that God would not let me close my own wound. I wanted Him to clean out the wounds and keep them open until all the infection was out. I was physically ill from the cleaning at times, but that prayer stayed in the forefront of my mind and He was so faithful. Proverbs 27:6 says, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend…” and our God is the most faithful Friend of all.

I’ve shared with you a small part of my testimony in our marriage to simply demonstrate that things with us have not been easy. I wanted to share so that when I say what I am about to say you won’t just brush it off as a lucky break with two people who always get along and have no problems, or temptations. What do I want to say? Sticking with your marriage is worth it. My man loves me and I love him more deeply than I ever thought possible. He demonstrates grace often (because I need it often) and that kind of depth only comes with time. It only comes with hard work and above all, it only comes with God Himself chiseling off the hard stuff and molding you into the person He has called you to be. We can fake it with a lot of people, but never our spouse and that’s the way it should be. Pray for love to cover your marriage, pray for your desire to only be for your spouse, touch each other often, tell each other what you appreciate about them, spend time together, pray for tenacity and above all pray for God’s Spirit to take over. Pray and stay, people. It’s worth it!

And, to my man, let me just say that I love you more than life itself and more than I ever dreamed possible. Thank you for being a man of grace, wisdom and stength. I admire who you are so much. Happy Anniversary!

Seeking Hearts Ministries

Ask, Seek and Knock

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answers from God, ask, asking, direction, find, knock, knocking, prayer, seek, seeking, unexpected answers

 

“Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened.” – Matthew 7:7-8, NAS
Verse seven and eight in Matthew chapter seven tell us that if we ask, we will receive and if we seek, we will find. This is faith empowering for all of us, but oftentimes we must remember that prayers are not answered in the way we expect. In fact, sometimes God says, “no” instead of “yes”. So, how can this fact mesh up with these verses?
First off, these verses tell us that when we ask we will be given something, but this passage is not specific about what we will be given. We are to ask, but then trust God with the giving. We may be praying for a certain opportunity, but God opens another door of opportunity that we never even thought to ask about. Was it specifically what we had in mind? No, but we did receive an opportunity.
I think about our kids’ Christmas lists some years. They put things on that list that my husband and I both know is simply a whim. They just saw a commercial about it, thought it would be neat, so BOOM! on the list it goes. As loving parents, we remember their interests throughout the year. We remember their hearts’ desires. We remember how it was to be a kid, get caught up in the moment and forget what we really wanted.
God must look at our prayer lists that way sometimes. A spur of the moment idea is easily deciphered from our true hearts’ desire with Him. He hears the longings in our souls that cannot be uttered (Romans 8:26). He knows what is best for us long-term and answers accordingly. God can be trusted to give the very best for us when we ask.
Secondly, the book of Matthew tells us to “seek and you shall find.” We must ask ourselves the question, ‘What am I seeking?’ Are we seeking God’s direction? When we do, we will find it according to Isaiah 30:20b-21. Are we seeking God Himself? If we are, we will find Him according to Isaiah 30:19b. In fact, Isaiah 65:24 says, “It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking I will hear.” I love that verse! We are assured that God loves to answer us. He is not playing hide and seek. He is desirous of a relationship with us. When we seek, we will find.
Thirdly, when we knock, the Word tells us that “it shall be opened”. I have to think about the many times that I have visited a friend, or acquaintance for the first time. I go to the front door and knock, but no one answers. I knock and knock and wonder what is going on because I know that they know I am coming over. All at once I hear a distant voice yelling for me to come around to the back door. So, I do. I was knocking and the door was opened, but it was at a different place than what I was originally expecting.
Are you starting to see? God always answers, but often times we are looking in the wrong direction. When we are looking up to Him instead of in the direction we expect the answer to come, that problem fades away.
So, I’m asking you to place all expectations to the side as you pray this week. Ask, seek and knock, but then listen for the answer He has. Don’t listen for the only way you expect Him to fulfill your request. Ask Him to open your eyes and ears to be able to see His answer.

Seeking Hearts MInistries

A Time of Contemplation

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boys, children, contemplation, daily bread, Ebenezer, encouragment, God, homechooling, parenting, prayer, remembering, younger mom

 

October is an unusual month for our family this year. Our youngest is turning fourteen. To actually put that down in black and white makes it even more real. It may not sound like a big deal to you, but for us it is major. Our youngest will be fourteen, y’all! Crazy. So, I’m finding myself in a place of contemplation and a place of remembrance.

As I think over the earlier years of parenting, I have been wondering what truly would have helped me as a younger mom. What would I say to myself when in the midst of nurturing those two little guys? What would I have benefited from knowing?

I think the first thing I would tell myself would be to read “Grace Based Parenting” by Tim Kimmell earlier. It changed my parenting style and my whole outlook on parenting in general. Before reading this book, I was so uptight about what people thought about our kids and I would always automatically say “no” to everything. That book changed my life and in turn, the life of my boys. I am forever grateful.

The next thing that I would tell myself is to trust God for daily bread. Honestly, I have just learned this in the last two years. Concentrate on the needs for today, lay them in God’s arms and He will provide. I would tell my earlier self to quit trying to devise ways to provide for your family. I would tell myself to spend that time on my knees thanking God for the provision of the day instead. He is faithful! He is Provider! He can be trusted for daily needs. As Jesus said in Matthew 6:33 “each day has enough trouble of its own”.

I would also tell my younger version that you will never regret staying home with your boys over a “career”. You will get to the end of rearing two amazing human beings and know that you made the right investment. You will not regret leaving singing options behind because your oldest boy will be the lead in several college musical productions. You will never regret not becoming the next fitness guru because your youngest is now running down the road with you three times a week. You will never regret investing in your family instead of your own wants. You are making the right choice.

As my younger self, I would also like to know that homeschooling is worth it. Yes, the burnout will come, the frustration will be often, but it is more valuable than gold to see and hear your little ones read and to know that the only reason they are reading is because God gave you the ability to teach them. You will have many precious moments when you know God is your Ebenezer, the only way you have come this far.

The last thing I would tell my younger self is to not worry about praying for the right thing. Don’t worry with the latest book, the newest article, or even the most recent “in thing” to pray over your kids. Simply pray. Pray for them to love God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength, that they would be men of God’s Word and men of prayer. Everything else will ‘come out in the wash’. So, wad up the massive list to pray over your kids each day and realize that as long as you are praying, you are doing it the right way. Romans 8:26 assures us that “…the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” We are assured that the Spirit takes our heartfelt groanings for our children and molds them into the prayers that God wants prayed over them. So, relax, pray and leave it in God’s hands.

We have not finished rearing our boys, but we are close. Before I know it, my youngest will be going to college and my oldest will be graduating college and beginning his own, independent journey. So, for now, I need to be reminded to finish my race well. The Lord laid out a journey for our family that seemed overwhelming at the time, but He has been so faithful and I know He will continue to be. I Thessalonians 5:24 says, “Faithful is He who calls you, and He will also bring it to pass.”

Through the Lord, the journey will soon be complete. But, for now, I also need to be reminded of Deuteronomy 31:8. It says, “And the LORD is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear, or be dismayed.” God will be with us through the upcoming decisions, temptations and paths to cross. He is before us paving the way.

I likewise need to be reminded of Isaiah 66:11. It says, “‘Shall I bring to the point of birth, and not give delivery?’ says the LORD.” I need to remember that God has brought us to the point of delivery with our boys and He will allow their birth into this world to be completed. He will sustain them, provide for them and be faithful to them just as He has been their entire life. He will not bring us to the point of their adult birth and leave. He will deliver! That’s our God.

So, as I finish thinking of our parenting journey, I am left is awe of the provision that God has given to us over the course of this amazing voyage. I am left in such a state of gratitude and wonder that God is indeed faithful and true to the promises of His Word. I am left with increased faith knowing that if God has done so much in the past, I know He has great things in store for our future. I am left in awe of the daily bread, the answered prayer, the deep, abiding friendship that He has provided over the years and I am left with such an intense love for a God that cares about every detail, every nuance of each day in this crazy family. I am left knowing that God is a God of comfort, insight and truly the best teacher of all time.

God of all gods, I give You praise today for the two amazing men that You have provided for us. I praise You today for all of the children all across the world who love You. Help them to stay strong in Your power. I pray that they are men and women of courage and strength through the power of Your Spirit. I pray that they will love You with all of their heart, soul, mind and strength and I praise You that they will become men and women of Your Word and of prayer. In Jesus’ Name…

Please visit the website at: Seeking Hearts Ministries

Our Mighty Weapon

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encouragement, mighty weapon, power, prayer, war

 

-Our Mighty Weapon-

 

  If you were in a war and your enemy had the best weapon, what would you do? If you knew without any doubt that when your enemy used this weapon, you would be obliterated, what would your strategy be? You could not join their side. You could not disarm the weapon. You could not do anything about the weapon’s power. So, what would you do?

  The best strategy would be to convince your enemy that the most powerful weapon they have, the one that would completely annihilate your side, is useless. The best plan would be to come up with a campaign to brainwash the opposing side into thinking that their weapon is pitiful. Their weapon will never amount to anything and in fact, other armies will laugh at them if that’s the weapon that they depend on. You would try to embarrass them and harass them and tell them that, in fact, the weapon that they were told is powerful would actually make them appear weak. Why? That would be your only hope. You would know that you had to convince them at ALL cost not to use that weapon or, you were finished.

  Ephesians 6:12, says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” This Scripture tells us clearly that we are in a war and it is a war that we cannot see without spiritual eyes. This chapter in Ephesians also tells us to put on the whole armor of God and while we are putting on this armor verse 18 tells us that we are to do so with ALL PRAYER. It says we are to PRAY at ALL times.

  Philippians 4:6 tells us, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything BY PRAYER and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

  Colossians 4:2 says, “Devote yourselves TO PRAYER, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving;”

  Another example is found in I Thessalonians 5:17. It says, “Pray without ceasing.”

  All of these verses tell us that prayer is vital. It is a MIGHTY WEAPON, but how do we really feel about prayer? In the core of our being do we really know how powerful prayer is? Did we know at one time how powerful prayer is? Can we remember intense times of prayer, but the edge of our weapon has worn down a little? Do we believe prayer works, still works right now? Do we believe it is our strongest weapon?

  Jesus is our best example for prayer in Scripture. Matthew 14:23, Mark 1:35, Luke 9:18 are just a few examples of the accounts we are given of Jesus praying. We see in these first two verses that He prayed in the morning and the evening. We see from other passages that He was continually in prayer throughout His ministry. In Matthew 6:6, Jesus says, “…when you pray”, not if. Praying is not a suggestion, it’s a necessity. So, if Jesus taught it and demonstrated to us how to pray, why is prayer so hard at times for us? Why is it so hard to pray without ceasing?

  Part of the reason why prayer is so hard is that we ARE in a war. It is a weapon. Battle is hard work. Fatigue is very real. Ask any soldier. When we pick up our weapon of prayer, we have engaged the enemy. Our weapon is by far the most powerful, but we still have to wield it. That takes work.

  Another reason that prayer is hard for us is that we have no perseverance without God’s strength. Our humanness has no staying power without the Holy Spirit. We have to ask God for His heart for prayer. What is His heart? We have to ask Him what He wants us to pray and move accordingly. We need to ask Him for an awareness when our prayer lives have grown stale. When our excitement fades, we have to confess that and ask Him for renewed vigor for the battle. 

  Prayer is also hard because our enemy knows that our prayers will annihilate them. They know that prayer is the key to not just the battle, but the war. Our enemy is a constant gnat buzzing around our ear saying things like, “Prayer doesn’t matter. God’s not hearing you. You are wasting your time. You’ve already prayed about that. Is prayer really all you have?” Our enemy is holding a constant campaign to sow deceit into our thinking. Our enemy knows that their only chance of victory is if we do not use our most powerful weapon…prayer. Unfortunately, the constant barrage works with most of us. We think that prayer is a last resort; or God hears others, but not us. We allow lies that we are told by the enemy to germinate in our lives and those seeds bring forth the fruit of a prayer less life. 

  In the Old Testament, Hezekiah gives us an amazing illustration of prayer. When he prayed on behalf of God’s people, the Lord sent an angel that destroyed over 185,000 soldiers in one night. That is twice the number of people killed with the atomic bomb in World War II! Let that sink in. One man’s prayer  led to twice as many people being killed than the atomic bombs of World War II. Prayer is powerful! We literally have a spiritual atomic bomb in our arsenal that will obliterate our enemy and it sits quietly in the corner gathering dust. We worry and fret about our families’ issues, the unsaved, dissention among believers, finances…the list can go on and on and we have allowed our greatest weapon to seem powerless to us. We have believed the propaganda of our enemy.

  So, is praying hard? It is, but we know that it is worth the effort because it is our most powerful weapon.

  Why do we feel like prayer is not powerful? It’s because our enemy is continually buzzing around our ear telling us lies, sowing deceit. We allow his lies to cover God’s truth.

  I want to encourage you to pray without ceasing. Prayer is a mighty weapon and we need to utilize it. Pray with renewed commitment and vigor. Pray when you feel like it and especially when you don’t. Let’s not be tricked into thinking that prayer is not vital to every person and every ministry. When we get discouraged into thinking that our prayers do not matter, it should be a trigger for us to know that they matter… A LOT! Otherwise, why would our enemy bother with discouraging us? If prayer was a waste of time, why would our enemy be so adamantly against it? So…PRAY! And, if you need to get out the flyswatter to swat those gnats, by all means, please do.