It’s been a crazy weekend, so I’ve been remiss in posting the daily prayer prompts. I’ve been fighting a cold, plus we had the turning-10yo’s birthday party on Saturday. All 21 (or 22? I lost count) boys had a great time at a local video game shop where they had seven XBox 360s to share. That many tween boys in a relatively confined space was more than enough testosterone in one room for me! The other boys are already asking about their birthday parties, and the next one’s birthday isn’t until July. Give Mom a break, ok? 😉

 

Here is yesterday’s prayer prompt; we are finishing our week discussing The Word:

 

(Saturday) The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We hear a lot about Jesus’ birth during Christmastime, but today let’s think about how astounding that really is! The Word – Life, Light, Creator – becoming     vulnerable for you and me. Thank God today for sending Jesus to live among us. If you are a follower of Christ, thank him for the promise of forgiveness and life. If you haven’t accepted his gift of forgiveness, what is stopping you?

The Word gives us hope. John says that when we receive Jesus, we get adopted into God’s family! We have a number of adoptive and blended families at Crossroads. How exciting that we, too, have the opportunity to be adopted into a forever (eternal!) family. Take some time to say a prayer for our Crossroads kids of all ages today.

The following is a brief prayer prompt, which is part of a weekly devotional that I’m writing for my church. You can pray for your own church family, if you like – just substitute your congregation for Crossroads. 🙂

 

The Word was rejected. Think about your life before you knew Jesus, or perhaps before you came to Crossroads. Why do you think people reject Jesus’ message? Think about someone you know who doesn’t know Jesus. Ask God to help them be receptive to his love. Invite them to Crossroads with you on Sunday.

This is the second post in a weekly installment of prayer devotionals that I’ve begun writing for my church. Since we are already partially through the week,  I will include the daily prayer prompts through today.

What does it mean when someone says, “I give you my word”? We take their statement as a promise. Giving someone your word means making a commitment to do what you say you will do. When witnesses have to give a testimony in court, they speak an oath to be truthful. When two people get married, they commit to one another verbally. In a simpler time before computers and credit cards, business deals were often made with a word and a handshake. When we talk to God, we voice our prayer. Words are powerful.

 

This week, we talked about committing to read the Bible. Let’s look at a few things the Bible has to say about God’s word:

 

• In his second letter to Timothy, Paul shared his experiences about being imprisoned for the sake of the gospel message, and he reminded Timothy that “… God’s word is not chained” (2 Timothy 2:9b), which encouraged him to keep his faith during trials. Isn’t it wonderful to know that the gospel message – God’s word – is alive and strong, no matter how hard the enemy tries to squelch it?
• The author of the book of Hebrews warned us about treating God’s word flippantly. We are instructed in chapter 5 to learn the basic truths of God’s word and help others understand it, as well. Otherwise, it says that we are like babies who still drink milk when they ought to be eating solid food. Being spoon-fed might sound appetizing for a while, but we’d miss out on the delights of the buffet!
• Moses and the ancient Hebrews learned the hard way that God’s word is serious instruction. The book of Exodus (check out chapter 24) tells us about how Moses received what we know as the 10 Commandments from God, yet time and time again, the Israelites disobeyed the Lord. God’s commandments back then are just as valid today. Will we obey?

 

God’s word is more than just print on a page. The apostle John used “the Word” as a metaphor to describe Jesus. We’ll use John 1: 1-14 as our prayer guide this week:

 

(Sunday) The Word was in the beginning. Our lives are calculated by the date we are born and the date we die. There is a beginning and an end. Although we celebrate Jesus’ birthday at Christmas, we don’t actually know his birthdate. Besides, in ways that confound our human brains, Jesus already existed! The Bible tells us that he was with God in the very beginning of time. Think about your life in the timeline of history. You were created for a purpose. Ask God how you could honor him with your life.

 

(Monday) The Word was with God; the Word was God. One of the things that I find appealing about our community is how relational it is. People move here and plant roots; they start family businesses and get involved in the local community. Isn’t it neat to know that God the Father and Son are also in a family business? Think about the folks who sat near you at church this week. Even if you don’t know them well, take some time today to pray for them and their families. (And if you don’t know them, take a moment next Sunday to meet them!)

 

(Tuesday) Through the Word, all things were made. Perhaps you have freckles and wish you didn’t, or maybe you have curly hair and wish it was straight. There are countless details that we criticize about our looks, but did it ever occur to you that God made you in his own image? The first chapter of Genesis tells us so! Take some time to thank God for creating you. Marvel at his love for you.

 

(Wednesday) In the Word is life and light. John 1 says that the Word is the light of the world, and the darkness cannot overpower it. Imagine being in a room so full of light that there are no shadows. We all have sinful places—shadows, if you will—in our lives that we’d like to keep hidden. Ask God to reveal those shadows/sins to you, then take time to ask his forgiveness. Jesus triumphs over darkness!

This is the first in a weekly installment of prayer devotionals that I’ve begun writing for my church. Since this one has already passed, I won’t include the daily prayer prompts that followed.

I remember when Hurricane Alicia barreled through Houston in ’83—we hunkered down at home with pine trees bending like taffy and no electricity for days. It was a frightening experience. I think about Hurricane Rita coming on the heels of Hurricane Katrina—many people were still displaced from the first disaster! Now, with the anniversary of the devastating Haiti earthquake still fresh on everyone’s minds, a question arises: Why would God put us through such hard times, especially when we’re still recovering?

 
One of my favorite Bible characters, Elijah, went through a stormy situation that makes Alicia, Rita and Katrina pale in comparison. Elijah was a radical prophet of God, but he had run away because he feared for his life. While he was hiding in a cave one night, the Lord spoke to him:

 
“The Lord said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.”
1 Kings 19:11-13a [NIV]

 
Could you imagine standing there while the very presence of God caused the ground beneath your feet to tremble? Elijah also withstood what sounds like gale-force winds, not to mention a fire! Yet, after that tremendous display of his mighty power, God revealed himself to Elijah in a soft voice.

 

Elijah’s experience reminded me that God isn’t always where we most expect Him to be. His Spirit can work in our lives in tangible, dramatic ways, but also in subtle, behind-the-scenes fashion. No matter what our situation might be right now—whether chaos or calm—let us be radical like Elijah and seek God’s presence in the coming week.

As you’ve probably figured out by now, I am not always consistent with daily posts. I usually just write when an idea hits me and/or the mood strikes. Well, it looks like I’ll have more to write about now!

 

I’ve started down a new road of ministry at my church, and it is forcing me to write – at least on a weekly basis. We are revamping our church website and making better use of social media (particularly Facebook). We are also challenging our church family to pray. As part of that effort, I have begun writing a weekly devotional with daily prayer prompts. We will post the prompts on the website and cross-list them to our Facebook page. I’m excited about what God will do with this!

 

We are in the second week now, so I thought I would follow up this post with the first two weeks’ devotionals, then I’ll [try to remember to] post the daily prompts as brief blog entries. Many of the prompts are specific to our church’s ministries, but you could tailor them to your own (or pray for us – that would be great, too!).

 

Constructive feedback is always welcomed. 🙂

Spending a few minutes in a muddy river during two of my sons’ baptisms ranks high in the list of Top Moments of My Life. This weekend, I had another amazing moment. I had the privilege of serving them communion at church.

 

Every church is different in the way they conduct the Lord’s Supper, or communion. One tradition that our church does is to hold a special communion service on the weekend nearest Christmas. Rather than pass the plates of juice cups and wafers down the rows, however, we did something different this year. We observed communion by intiction, where people came to the front of the church as they were ready, broke off a piece of bread, then dipped it in a cup of juice. Our pastors had the loaves of bread in the center aisle , then the line split off to each side of the stage where the two elders had the cups.

 

As one of those two folks, I had the honor to participate in serving communion to my church family. My job was to not spill the juice pray a brief prayer of blessing over each person as they came to dip their bread. As strangers, acquaintances, close friends, small group family, then two of my own boys came through the line, my heart was full to bursting. I felt a connectedness with them that mirrored the day of their baptisms. There was something intensely spiritual about sharing communion together in that way and having the chance to pray over them as not only my sons, but as brothers in Christ. It is a moment that I will cherish always.

Yesterday’s sermon hit me upside the head like Wile E. Coyote stepping on a rake. The title was “Christmas is For-giving,” and as you can guess, it wasn’t about gift-giving. I’m trying to keep my eyes on the heavenly prize and the race, not the heckling by-standers, but forgiving is easier said than done.

 

Forgiving grievous acts over and over is more difficult for me than forgiving a one-time offense. (Then again, I can think of a few one-time offenses that would be pretty tough to forgive, as well.) Yet, regardless of whether the hurt was dished out all at once or piecemeal over years, we are still mandated to forgive. Not only forgive, but we are called to LOVE our enemies! Ouch. I don’t know about you, but I still struggle with that.

 

I appreciate God’s mercy and grace, and I know that I don’t deserve either. My humanness tries to justify my desire not to forgive by comparing another person’s sin with my own. I tell myself that my sins are mostly between God and me; they are matters of the heart and not things that hurt others. Someone else’s actions hurt me and those I love; therefore, they should be harder to forgive. That is soooo not biblical, but I would venture to say that I’m not the only one who tries to get away with unforgiveness by justifying my own shortcomings.

 

I need to pray – for myself, for my enemy(ies). I need to forgive. I need to forgive. I need to forgive … and, last but not least, I need to love/bless my enemy(ies). That last part actually seems to be a little easier than the forgiveness part, and I’ve taken baby steps already. I guess compassion comes easier to me than mercy; ironic how they are supposed to go hand-in-hand! Like I said, I’m taking baby steps. As Paul wrote in the verse that I linked above, I cannot claim to have arrived at my destination. This physical – and spiritual – life is a marathon, not a sprint.

 

Lord, please help me today to forgive. And again tomorrow. And the day after that. I know that your opinion is the only one that matters. You are my running partner, taking my hand and guiding me through the course. Let your Spirit’s presence be my playlist, and let the voice of the heckler sound like white noise to my ears.

In an effort to remind them that giving can be as much fun as receiving, the boys are having a little friendly competition this week. Kudos to Nana and Granddad for the great idea! You see, Granddad doesn’t like to carry change around, so he empties his pockets every day and saves the money — four full glass jars, at the moment. Here’s how the competition works:

 

The boys took turns guessing how much money the jars contain. The adults made unofficial guesses, too, but we’re not competing. The guesses had to be at least $5 apart, in order to avoid the $0.01 trick, ala, The Price Is Right. Nana will take the jars to the bank for the official tally, then the fun begins!

 

The boy who guessed closest to the total gets to keep 10% of the stash, with the expectation that he’ll tithe from his winnings. (So, if there’s $300, he’ll get $30 and give back $3. Sweet deal!) The other 90% will be used to support holiday ministries, which the winner will get to help choose. Our church and Nana & Granddad’s church each participate in several ministries, so it’ll be fun to involve the boys in a more hands-on way this year. We usually do the shoe boxes or gift trees, but there are lots of other options on the list, too. Depending on how much change-to-cash we end up with, we might be able to support a few different ones.

 

Needless to say, the boys are anxious to find how who the winner is!

 

In my next post, I’ll share another giving/receiving shopping idea that we’re launching this year. I think the boys will like it a lot.