Critty Joy

Guest Post :: A Prayer by Kristen Schiffman.

When I asked for guest posts I asked for written prayers...and my dear friend Kristen wrote one that made me cry... I am thrilled to share it with you today as we get ready to close out this series.  I hope and pray that it blesses you as much as it blessed me.

I prayed for you today.

Yes, you.

You. The one doing hard things. The one stepping out in faith. The one who perhaps left her job to follow hard after Him, or who said no when she wanted so desperately to say yes, or who signed on the dotted line out of obedience without knowing just where the provision will come from, or the one who is packing her bags for a new terrifying adventure.

You. 

I prayed first for love. For a Christ-like love to fill you up and spill over into the lives of those around you. For a love that extends grace to enemies, mercy instead of vengeance to the mean girls talking behind your back, and hope in the place of tired words. I prayed that wherever you are going right now - wherever the hard things are that you are headed toward or are in the midst of - I prayed that right there, in the messy place of those very things - your love would not fail. That it would keep going, it would be patient and kind.  A non-record keeping kind of love, one that will delight in truth revealed. A love that will continue to trust on the hard days. 

I prayed second for integrity. Not just any integrity. A sustained integrity. An integrity that can stand up and take on fire-breathing-dragon stuff. For an integrity infused with excellence - one that walks the straight path on cold, snowy days instead of taking the shortcut. An integrity that remembers to live worthy of the calling even in the privacy of your own place, in the quiet of your car, in the office after hours, before the fridge at one in the morning. I prayed for the long days coming, the days when you wonder if God really is a God of love or if He really just likes to leave His people to fend for themselves. For those specific days, I prayed for integrity of heart for you. For a quiet trust that gets on the floor, on its knees, and is honest before the God who called the stars into being. He can take the honesty. I promise.  Speak up, but speak humbly.  

I prayed finally for joy. I don’t know what life is demanding of you right now or just what it is trying to take. But two things I do know: The Word of the Lord? It brings joy to the heart. (Ps.19:8)  Go on, roll your eyes. Get it out of your system. Look up at your ceiling fan and shake your fist at me. You’ve heard this all before and what good does it do you when rent is due tomorrow by noon?! Through tears I tell you, I have had rent due by noon. And when I sold my last piece of jewelry to make the deadline it was not the money that brought me joy. It was the Word spoken straight to my heart by my God through the Psalms, and the life of Daniel, and compassion of Jesus to the young rich man that brought joy (the kind that sings you to sleep as you cry) to my heart. 

The second thing I know about joy is this: Sometimes to get to it, we have to sow some tears. (Psalm 126:5) So, today, I prayed that through your tears gardens of joy would be planted. That when your former joy is restored to you, it would be so lavish, so organic, so bountiful, you would have no choice but to track down a timbrel or a harp and learn how to use the darn things so that you can dance and make music as you wildly praise His name. (Psalm 149:3)

For you, today, my prayers are filled with petitions of love, integrity, and joy.  The kind of treasures that last when it seems everything else has disappeared. May you loosen your grip on the temporal and begin to hold on for dear life to the Eternal. May friends and family rally around you and offer you their hands and feet. May this chapter of your life reveal to you more than just the conflict of your story. May it reveal to you the Hero as well. 

And may you, one day very soon, find that He has granted all your requests... even if in a way you had never, ever expected. 

To all these things, in the mighty name of King Jesus, I whisper,

Amen.

 

 

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You can find Kristen at ExemplifyOnline.com helping others uncover organic faith. Through quarterly Bible studies and regular spotlight shows that focus on the call of the Church, it is Kristen’s hope to equip & inspire women to live out their love for Christ with purposed action. You can find her podcast on iTunes or at Exemplify. 

 

 

Guest Post :: Praying Constantly by Kim

Praying Constantly: The why and how.

Why?

Why should we pray constantly? Isn't praying each morning and evening more than enough?

Pray without ceasing. (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

In the first letter to the Thessalonians Paul makes it quite clear. He instructs them not to pray each Sunday or even everyday but constantly.

With all prayer and supplications, pray at every opportunity in the Spirit, To that end, be watchful with all perseverance and supplication for all the holy one. (Ephesians 6:18)

Then again in his letter to the Ephesians Paul instructs them to pray at every oportunity.

These two simple verses show us that we are really called to pray constantly.

 

How?

Now comes the hard part. How in the world are we supposed to pray constantly. We have a million other things to do during the day. It seems like all we can do to set aside a few minutes each morning for prayer. Praying constantly really does not sound possible.

Praying constantly does not mean siting in a church all day or sacraficing all of our other responsibilities. I feel that the process of praying constantly has two parts, praying with our actions and quick prayers throughout the day.

Mother Teresa can give us a lot of guidence about praying with our actions.

 

“Prayer in action is love, love in action is service.” (Mother Teresa)

 

“Prayer does not demand that we interrupt our work, but that we continue working as if it were a prayer.” (Mother Teresa)

 

If our actions made out of love and dedicated to the Lord they are a prayer. Something as simple as doing the dishes can be a prayer when it is done out of love for my family who will use the dishes. I can either complain about this chore and resent the fact that we don't have a dishwasher or I can rejoice in the opportunity to serve my family. I can either rush through my lesson planing or I can I take pride in my work, dedicate it to the Lord and create a great lesson out of love for my students. With all of our daily actions we can choose to turn them into a prayer or have them just be another burden on our lives.

Another way that we can pray constantly is by saying quick silent prayers at various point throughout the day. This can be as simple as saying a quick prayer when you pass an accident on the highway or saying a quick prayer of thanksgiving when you pull into your driveway each evening. While these may only last a few seconds, I feel they are instrumental in keeping me connected to the Lord throughout my busy day.

Some practical tips for praying constantly:

 -Pray every time you get into your car for a safe trip.

-After you have a conversation with a friend, coworker, family member, of complete stranger say a quick prayer for that person.

 -Make praying before all meals a habit.  We eat a lot throughout the day so this will remind us to talk to the Lord a lot throughout the day.

-Smile at someone, say an extra thank you, give a complement, bring a little joy into someone's day.

-As soon as you realize you are frustrated with something (ex. lost on the highway, can't find your keys, burnt dinner) say a quick prayer for your frustration.

-Act out of love.  If you are going to do or say something that is not out of love don't.

It is hard.  It is very easy to go though our busy day and not think about the Lord even once.  It takes practice, lots of practice.  There are times when I realize that I have not prayed all day (or even all week).  But you can't give up.  Just ask the Lord for help and keep trying.  It is hard but it will become easier with time.  The more we pray the more praying becomes a regular part of our day.

 

How Can We Pray for You?

Every Sunday I am opening up CJB for prayer requests.  (and praises!  If you have a praise please share!)

Just leave a comment and as a community I want us to pray for one another this coming week.

I think it's a beautiful thing.  

 

(If you want to leave an anonymous request just use the email address [email protected] and your initial.) 

 

Quotable :: Prayer to the Soul...

I adore the mental photo this quote creates...may it remind you how important prayer is.

Have a beautiful weekend,

Guest Post :: Prayer Works on Porn by Jennifer Ferguson

I'm upstairs in the study, the room tucked around our bedroom.  My husband?  He's downstairs on the couch, playing a video game with his friends online.

It's just a typical Friday night.

But, it's nearing 10:00pm and I am tired.  Why not just shut off the computer and cuddle with the pillow that beckons me to sleep after this long day?

Because, friends, it's time to pray.

 

 

For those of you who do not know this part of my story, my husband struggles with a porn addiction.  He's recovering, yes, but he still needs lots of support and help.  Me sneaking off to bed, longing for the cool sheets right now, is not an option.  It's not part of the plan, at least, not yet.

First, I must go downstairs.

I wait a few moments for him to finish up the current battle.  He tells his friends to hold on and then he takes my hands.  We bow our heads.  I pray:

Father God, I thank you that we have access to You at all times.  I thank you that You promise to be with us every moment of every day.  Lord, I pray that You would pour out your Spirit upon Craig this night. I pray that You would send a hedge of fire to protect him from temptation. I pray that in this moment, he would put on the armor You have give him in which to prepare for the real battle -- the battle for his soul.  I pray that if temptation comes his way this night when he is finished with his game that You would send Your angels to help him overcome.  I pray that you would give him the strength to simply turn off the television and come to bed.  Amen.

It's taken a long time for me to get to this point to trust in the power of prayer.  Instead of praying, I was much more into controlling.  And worrying.

I wonder, Do you ever put more trust in your feelings of control than in God?

I did.  I'd stay up late to monitor him.  I'd check his browser history after he got off his computer.  I'd ask him several times a day if he had his quiet time or read his bible or if he was struggling with temptation. 

It was an exhausting process.  On top of already nagging him and following him and micromanaging him about porn, being exhausted led to nagging him about other mundane issues simply because my filter was gone.  I had no good graces left.  

Through many years and a lot of tears and conversations, I've learned to pray instead of outwardly trying to control my husband.  But it was through this process of learning how to really pray pray for Craig that I learned something deeper -- 

I can be controlling while I'm praying.  I can take ownership of things that are not mine while I'm praying.  I can ask God to do many things and yet still cling to my own agenda while I'm praying. 

And so I've learned that prayer can be exhausting, too, if I'm not laying what I'm praying about at His feet.  Jesus tells me that His yoke is easy, His burden is light (Matthew 11:30) and while I can tell you that there is nothing light and easy about carrying around your spouse's porn addiction, I can also tell you that it was a burden I shouldn't have been carrying around in the first place.

Just as I could not physically pick up my husband and carry him around all day, I can not spiritually throw his porn addiction on my back and lug it around even if I'm praying.

"Give all your worries and your cares to God, for He cares about you."  (1 Peter 5:7)  If I pray and give only words, God will still care about me, but I have not opened up the space for God to care for me.  But if I give him the worries, the anxieties, the fear, I give Him the opportunity to give me freedom from exhaustion, from control, from feeling like I have to parent my husband.

Oftentimes, I find myself praying to get something and I forget that there is much to give in prayer.  But, oh, how He transforms my offerings into greater gifts that I could imagine.

 

 

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Jen Ferguson is founder of s(He) Listens Ministries and the facilitator for the Soli Deo Gloria Sisterhood.  She writes at Finding Heaven and teaches classes at her home church, St. Luke's on the Lake Episcopal.  She is passionate about building community among women and helping them grow deeper in their walks with Christ.  She is a wife to Craig and mommy to two (mostly) sweet girls.  She is a marathoner, a Words with Friends addict, and a new coffee drinker!

 

She Believed in the Impossible and it Became Possible.

So my 31 day series isn't going to be 31 days...eep!  I must admit to thinking it's for a pretty fabulous reason though.  :)  The last few days have been quiet because I have been so very busy.

With what?

Well. 

Let me tell you a little story.....

The story starts in September but the culmination came the week I shared about impossible prayers including the man who showed me what faith meant, how much I needed to start believing in the impossible, and and the challenge to ask Him for something impossible.  

You see at the beginning of September I applied for a job...the interview went really great and I came home wanting the job more than ever.  

Days passed.

Weeks passed.

Then...a month.

I was so disappointed and feeling pretty hopeless... yet could not bring myself to apply for other jobs.  It became my impossible prayer request.  This job.  Every night I would ask God for the job even though I was feeling hopeless.  I was so unsure of what to do next and feeling confused.

Yet I decided to move forward...with a pretty sad heart.

Then just almost 2 weeks ago I got a call.  In fact the call came the day after I issued the ask God for the impossible prayer challenge.  That Thursday night I once again asked Him for this job.  That Friday afternoon I got a call...It was from the job I had interviewed for and they offered me the position... so could I move and start in about a week?

So last week I packed my stuff, bought some furniture and moved into a lovely little apartment.

Monday...I started work and it was like I had finally found something my heart had so wanted.

The last few days have been overwhelming.  In a beautiful way.  I already love this job.

It's a gift.

One that will challenge me and make me grow.

It's my impossible prayer answered in such a way I cannot believe it's happening.

My heart has been filled with gratitude toward my Jesus for answering my prayer.

I don't think it's a coincidence that all of this came about during this series...and during the week about impossible prayers.  This series has taught me so much...and He has shown Himself to me in some beautiful ways.

I ran across a note on my phone today in which I had written...

Prayer is the language of love.  

My heart finds that so true tonight.

I hope this series has helped you or encouraged you or challenged you in some way.  The next few days are full of fabulous guest posts, a quotable, and of course Sunday is prayer day here on CJB.

So this will be my last post for the series... and one I find some incredibly appropriate because it illustrates the power of prayer and the bigness of our God.

Keeping praying lovelies.  Ask for the impossible.  Have conversations with Him.

Prayer. Works.

Believe in the impossible and ask Him for it.  He makes things possible.

That's what I have learned this month.

 

I hope you too have learned something this month and would love to hear about it in the comments.  :)

Guest Post :: A Lifetime of Prayer by Victoria Jenkins

Prayer is powerful. The impact it has on the world just can't be estimated. The broken hearts pouring out all over this place. The hearts breaking after years of seemingly unanswered petitioning. The hidden masterpiece each conversation with God is weaving. The visibly miraculous set into motion. Prayer is immeasurable—incomprehensible, yet we're born with an understanding of its implications. 

There is hope.

Before we've ever been formally introduced, we begin to voice our desires, repeating them aloud to whatever force compels us to share. Little do we know, it is a great big God hanging on our every word. Oh, how He adores us. And our hearts yearn to tell Him their all.

As a girl, I prayed as if Jesus were my best friend. When the church I attended told me that was irreverent, I did it in secret. We've this innate sense of how very much we need a friend like Jesus. I prayed for my parents to get back together and for God to heal both of my grandmothers. Nightly. I eventually outgrew the family reunion hopes, but I held out until the end when it came to my grands. It never occurred to me it might not work. Honestly, I think I just figured if God could swing it, He would. Childhood theology at its best. But you know what? I knew all I could wrap my little girl mind around at the time, and the Lord laid a groundwork, even then. 

As a woman with no working relationship with God, I prayed sporadically, as life demanded it. Out of frustration, or pain, or desperation. I only talked to the Lord when I didn't like what the world was saying. I threw up a praise when crises were diverted or overcome. It was a very situational conversation. Still, I can cite instances where God moved so radically, these come and go prayer sessions changed my love for Him. The Lord planted a garden, even then.

As a practicing, learning more every day, Christian, my prayer life looks a lot more like an open-ended conversation. For once, I'm not doing all the talking. To be fair, God had been the only one doing any listening before I entered into a working relationship with Him. Now we discuss things, instead of my talking in His general direction and never really expecting Him to respond. It still surprises me when God starts the conversation and truth be told, He's had to repeat Himself. A lot. And often. The Lord grows that which He planted, even now.

As a more mature follower of Christ, I pray to experience more of what it means to be fervent in our prayer. Diligent. Driven. To be able to instantly enter into deep communion with my God. I want to learn to step aside and allow the Holy Spirit to pray on my behalf, without hesitation. To begin and end each day in His presence and to not step out of it nearly so often as I do today. Prayer is our heart's cry. Our purest form of expression. It changes us, and everything, even when all seems to remain the same.

Matthew Henry's Commentary On The Whole Bible says this of 1 Thessalonians 5:17's direction to pray without ceasing: “The way to rejoice evermore is to pray without ceasing. We should rejoice more if we prayed more. We should keep up stated times for prayer, and continue instant in prayer. We should pray always, and not faint: pray without weariness, and continue in prayer, till we come to that world where prayer shall be swallowed up in praise. The meaning is not that men should do nothing but pray, but that nothing else we do should hinder prayer in its proper season. Prayer will help forward and not hinder all other lawful business, and every good work.”

And I can't help but say, “Amen.”

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Victoria has a passion for Biblical friendship and a love of all things 80s. She also loves to write with coffee nearby and can't get enough of Scripture and the amazing God who penned each word. She and her husband live in North Carolina with their three wonderfully silly children—who prove daily that the apple really doesn't fall far from the tree. 

How Can We Pray for You?

Every Sunday I am opening up CJB for prayer requests.  (and praises!  If you have a praise please share!)

Just leave a comment and as a community I want us to pray for one another this coming week.

I think it's a beautiful thing.  

 

(If you want to leave an anonymous request just use the email address [email protected] and your initial.) 

 

Lord, Catch Me Off Guard....

Have a beautiful weekend full of little moments with Him,

Guest Post :: You put a Smile on God's Face by Cate Russell-Cole.

I’ve been through some really hard times over the past few years with serious health issues, financial pressures, losing a job I truly loved and the various other rigours life puts us through. One day I felt so low, I went into our local Christian bookshop for comfort. I’d been in there before and felt the presence of God. I made a special trip there that day, as all I wanted was to be near my Dad!

God did something really special. As soon as I went through the door, I had a really strong feeling in my heart, that God’s face lit up in a huge smile. 

For many years God has placed burdens on my heart to uphold others in prayer. Countless times I have been woken in the night to pray for people, or I feel Him tugging at my sleeve during the day to ask me to pray. Quite often He wants me to pray immediately. When we have a need He responds THEN. We aren’t scheduled or stuck on hold in some kind of queue. Whether we can see or feel it or not, His attention to how we are feeling and His overwhelming love for us means we get absolute immediate attention, one hundred percent of the time: totally without fail. 

Learning that has changed my life. I have gone from being a Christian who sat in church depressed and hopeless, to someone who knows that if God will disturb my day or my sleep for someone else, He will do the same for me. We are all loved equally. I too am the sheep He would turn the planet upside down to look for when lost. I am the one He wants to pull under His protective wings and keep safe. I am loved so much, when I seek Him for any reason, He smiles, as He wants to be with me too.

So all of us being equally loved: yes we are! You also put a smile on God’s face. Every time you think of Him, want to be with Him, or do anything which shows that you have a love in your heart for your Father, He smiles. You make Him happy. You too put a smile on God’s face.

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Cate Russell-Cole is a fully qualified Trainer, Editor and Social Worker; with an understanding of both the psychology and technical aspects of writing and creativity. She has been researching, writing and teaching her own courses since 1990, and is a successful feature article and book Author. She currently writes and coaches online. Cate’s creativity and writing coaching has attracted thriving online communities, which Cate maintains frequently to provide both how-to resources and writer support. More of Cate's Christian writing can be found on Faithwriters."