No Good Thing Will He Withhold

While I'm here with my Washington family, I'll admit it, paying a great deal of attention to this Lenten season hasn't been easy. We go from early to late at this house -- not unusual for busy, active schedules with school-age kids. I love it here because it's such a departure from my easy-does-it lifestyle back home in Tulsa. Though I'm always active and busy at home, it's sure not the same pace. But yesterday, I found time to think about my Lenten journey in the midst of a multitude of kids at the Boys & Girls Club playing basketball. With my computer on my lap, basketballs bouncing and sailing through the air, kids screaming, coaches blowing their whistles, I'm thinking about my Lord. Yes, it's possible in a world of activity.

During Lent, we tend to yearn for quiet spaces and places where we can be attentive to an "inner" focus & cleansing inside AND out. And that's a good thing. But, I'm here to tell you -- we can still go there in the busyness of our lives. Even if it's a quick steal-away to a bathroom stall (there, I said it), a closet, a quick walk outside, or EVEN right at our desk at work or a kid's basketball game.

Yesterday, right smack dab in the middle of Lent and when I'm desiring to be the cleanest vessel I can possibly be so that He can flow through me to others, I realized God has His own agendas. I realized that whatever God is urging us to clear away, cannot begin to be compared to what He ultimately wants to bring TO US that is so much greater. This last week, He brought to me full-of-energy and full-of-life boys that bring me so much joy and delight. Conscience clear, heart clean, and delighting in God....has so many benefits. Psalms 84:11 says "No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly."

Less a Prayer Slacker; More a Prayer Circle Maker

Day 140 of Photo Inspirations -- Less a Prayer Slacker; More a Prayer Circle Maker
CONFESSIONS OF A PRAYER SLACKER by Diane Moody is an e-book I'm reading right now, and the more I read it, the more aware I am that her confessions are my confessions too.  Good intentions.  Start the day with devotion and prayer.....phone rings or distracted by remembering that appointment I need to make or that item I need to buy.....and my prayer time becomes less than best. Now, I've learned to keep a note pad by my prayer chair.  That keeps me focused on HIM!

Yesterday, my Texas family and I had our morning devotions out of the book, THE CIRCLE MAKER, by Mark Batterson.  I read his 40-Day devotional book, DRAW THE CIRCLE, during my Lenten Journey this year, and now reading this book has only further inspired and encouraged me more in my prayer life.

What stood out for us the most in yesterday's readings was this:  "GOD IS FOR YOU.  If you don't believe that, then you'll pray small timid prayers.  If you do believe it, then you'll pray big audacious prayers.  And one way or another, your small timid prayers, or big audacious prayers will change THE TRAJECTORY of your life.  Prayers are prophecies.  They're the best predictors of your spiritual future.  Who you become is determined by how you pray.  Ultimately, the transcript of your prayers becomes the script of your life."  No wonder the enemy wants us to be distracted during our prayer times.  He wants to keep us from our destiny.

And, WOW!  I get it. I've witnessed it.  When I''ve prayed with bold, unwavering faith, I've seen God move ENORMOUS mountains, and THE TRAJECTORY of our lives, and the mountains that were moved, were not even the mountains we prayed to be moved.  Father knew best, but our complete trust in Him, brought the answer to those prayers in ways we couldn't have even conceived.

Of late, I've prayed a CIRCLE around my family, my friends, my community, my Life Group, my business.  A circle is unending -- no beginning or ending.  The specific prayers I pray are inside that circle.  Whether it's a week, a month, a year or a lifetime -- I pray and believe and expect for my prayers to be answered.  When we pray bold prayers, we are honoring God.  He isn't offended by our biggest dreams or boldest prayers.  If our prayers aren't impossible to us, they are insulting to God.  Why?  Because they don't require divine intervention.  Our all-knowing, all-seeing God is honored when we cast our cares, dream big dreams, and trust Him with all out relentless, unwavering faith......

Stay tuned for hearing the "dreams come true" and "prayers answered" stories.  My prayer TRAJECTORY is soon to hit the target.