"look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand as you said. And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew - a bowlful of water. Then Gideon said to God, "Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece, but this time make the fleece dry and let the ground be covered with dew. " That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew."
Interesting reading isn't it? For some reason I had it in my head that I could petition God for a lot of things but putting God to the test never entered my mind because who am I to question or test God? But we think about it don't we and afterall can we really hide anything from God? Our Pastor preached on this very topic a couple months back and even then I wondered who Gideon though he was that he could put God to a test. Ahh, but then in a single moment while driving in my car God said "Get Real Heather".
I listen to a lot of people pray in groups or over a service and I think that they sound so "pretty" in their prayers. But that's not what God wants...he doesn't want our pretty prayers, he wants our heartfelt "real" petitions before him. I know he hears me all the time, even in times when I wish he wasn't listening because what I said whether in my heart or out of my mouth isn't always "pretty". Sometimes what comes into my head or enters my heart is just the opposite of pretty and can be quite ugly. In Ephesians 6:18 we are told to "Pray in the spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests."
Jesus set the example in Matthew 6 with the Lord's Prayer. "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." What I don't think are that many read the words that come before this prayer.... "and when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words." It's not about the words spoken, it's about the words coming from your heart to his.
I was struggling earlier this week, just feeling rather alone and struggling with some things going on with my life. Thursday morning I finally had it and as I usually do I began to pray on my way to work. I do so during that time for a couple of reasons, one, that stretch of road is crazy that time of morning!! and two, because it's quiet in the car and I can just talk with my Daddy with no one else around. I began thanking him for all the things in my life and asking him to touch those that have requested prayer and then he stirred my heart and I heard those words, "Get Real, Heather". It's not often I will pray for myself, why I have no idea, but I tossed all the "pretty words" out the car window and I began to petition God in a way I've not done before. I began to pray that I needed to see him show me that day in some physical way that he was present and had my life in his hands. I prayed that I needed to see in a tangible way that I was highly favored and prayed that he show me that I was going to be ok.
I went to a business luncheon later that day and there was a drawing being held where we all took a numbered ticket. We ate lunch and at the end of the luncheon the lucky number was to be drawn. As the announcer called out the numbers....I looked around the room and no one got up. Another ticket drawn and another number announced and still no one approached the stage. A third time and no one claimed the prize. The announcer decided it was best to flip the basket upside down and draw from the bottom. I listened to the numbers and was shocked to see they were my numbers! I had just won an iPad 2. In front of all those people I waited til I got to the front of the room and did a victory dance all the while smiling not just because I had won, but because God showed in a very real tangible way that I was favored and I knew then at that moment he was smiling too and was saying, "when you get real with me, I get real with you."
I'm not saying that you will all win an iPad or anything like that when you pray, but I am saying that when you get real with God he listens far beyond the "pretty words". You don't have to sound important and all knowing when you pray, you just need to talk to him like you know he's your daddy and you are favored. He hears you all the time in your every day talk, he's just waiting for you to talk with him.
What real talk do you need to have with God right now? Is there something that you think he doesn't already know? Are you trying to talk with him like you speak "King James speak" or are you talking to him like the father you know him to be? Is it time that you fleece God so that you can move on from the place you are today to the place he's calling you to be?
A final note today of encouragement is a song by Mandisa that I heard yesterday called, "What if we were real". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcLYkUb5Keo I pray that it ministers to you as it did my heart to Get Real.
Blessings,
Heather
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Comfortable; Isaiah 32:9
Isaiah 32:9; You women who are so complacent, rise up and listen to me; you daughters who feel secure, hear what I have to say!
Wow! Certainly not what I expected God to be sharing with me this week, but then again perhaps I need to leave the guiding and directing to Him and just allow Him to be who He is... God. What do you think? Sometimes God is so clear in preparing me in writing for this blog and other times waits until I'm very still and lets me know He has a message to share with me, for me, and for someone reading it at just the right moment.
The past couple of months there have been a lot of "unknowns" thrown into my life causing me to question where I am and where I am to be. It seems this always begins to happen when I grow comfortable and complacent in life in any one area or sometimes in several areas. God reminds me that this isn't my permanent home and I'm pretty much as the song says, A wayfaring stranger. I have a purpose to fulfill, wherever and whatever that may be. That's hard sometimes for me. I love serving in the body of Christ but I'm also a planner and have an analytical mind (just as God designed) which means that sometimes I get in my own way. Are any of you like that? Do you ever trip over your own feet down the path God lays out before you? Some days it completely seems like I have two left feet!
I reflected earlier this week in all the wonderful ways God has asked me to serve since becoming a Christian as a young girl. He has gifted me and regifted me time and time again for the things He'd have me to do. It's taken me quite a few years to recognize some of the larger portions of the puzzle of my life and how they all fell together in a way that other than God's purpose wouldn't make sense to anyone watching it. When you hear people say that God works in mysterious ways.... I have no doubts in that! While going through a situation or simply living life you often can't see how it has much to do with anything. Give it some time, pray about it if you care to and then see how all things truly do work together for the glory of God. You may just be amazed at how God has woven life for you, just don't get too comfortable because this isn't your permanent home either.
The word says, "Rise Up and Listen". I believe that is what God is sharing with me now in these moments of life to not grow complacent but to continue to rise up and listen. To have my ears tuned into his direction, not to grow comfortable but to be ready whether it is to stay the course or to change direction. It's not always easy to change and sometimes it really doesn't make sense but where in scripture does it say that it will? I've been changed by changes. I've had opportunities to have different jobs, different ministries and different relationships. God has never allowed me to grow stagnant that is for certain. I've normally accepted changing jobs fairly easily. Changing ministries was a bit harder, especially when I couldn't see myself filling the role. Changing relationships, well that has been one of the hardest. God designed me to be a relational being, connecting and building friendships along life's road. While in one of those friendships I could never imagine that we'd ever go different ways or lose touch but something whether it's physical proximity or different goals draws us apart. That kind of change is hard for me but necessary to fulfill my role. Sometimes in my "comfortableness" (is that a word?) I begin to lose my listening skills. My comfort comes from the Lord and in Him alone should I find a comfortable place not in any one place or any one relationship formed here. When He calls we simply need to be ready to answer Here I am Lord, send me.
What areas of life have you become comfortable and complacent to the point that you'd wrestle with God if He told you today to leave it behind? Would it be a home, a town, a church or maybe a relationship or family that would make you not rise up and listen to His call? Do not become comfortable, this is not your permanent home. Rise when He says rise and be ready to move ahead.
Blessings,
Heather
Wow! Certainly not what I expected God to be sharing with me this week, but then again perhaps I need to leave the guiding and directing to Him and just allow Him to be who He is... God. What do you think? Sometimes God is so clear in preparing me in writing for this blog and other times waits until I'm very still and lets me know He has a message to share with me, for me, and for someone reading it at just the right moment.
The past couple of months there have been a lot of "unknowns" thrown into my life causing me to question where I am and where I am to be. It seems this always begins to happen when I grow comfortable and complacent in life in any one area or sometimes in several areas. God reminds me that this isn't my permanent home and I'm pretty much as the song says, A wayfaring stranger. I have a purpose to fulfill, wherever and whatever that may be. That's hard sometimes for me. I love serving in the body of Christ but I'm also a planner and have an analytical mind (just as God designed) which means that sometimes I get in my own way. Are any of you like that? Do you ever trip over your own feet down the path God lays out before you? Some days it completely seems like I have two left feet!
I reflected earlier this week in all the wonderful ways God has asked me to serve since becoming a Christian as a young girl. He has gifted me and regifted me time and time again for the things He'd have me to do. It's taken me quite a few years to recognize some of the larger portions of the puzzle of my life and how they all fell together in a way that other than God's purpose wouldn't make sense to anyone watching it. When you hear people say that God works in mysterious ways.... I have no doubts in that! While going through a situation or simply living life you often can't see how it has much to do with anything. Give it some time, pray about it if you care to and then see how all things truly do work together for the glory of God. You may just be amazed at how God has woven life for you, just don't get too comfortable because this isn't your permanent home either.
The word says, "Rise Up and Listen". I believe that is what God is sharing with me now in these moments of life to not grow complacent but to continue to rise up and listen. To have my ears tuned into his direction, not to grow comfortable but to be ready whether it is to stay the course or to change direction. It's not always easy to change and sometimes it really doesn't make sense but where in scripture does it say that it will? I've been changed by changes. I've had opportunities to have different jobs, different ministries and different relationships. God has never allowed me to grow stagnant that is for certain. I've normally accepted changing jobs fairly easily. Changing ministries was a bit harder, especially when I couldn't see myself filling the role. Changing relationships, well that has been one of the hardest. God designed me to be a relational being, connecting and building friendships along life's road. While in one of those friendships I could never imagine that we'd ever go different ways or lose touch but something whether it's physical proximity or different goals draws us apart. That kind of change is hard for me but necessary to fulfill my role. Sometimes in my "comfortableness" (is that a word?) I begin to lose my listening skills. My comfort comes from the Lord and in Him alone should I find a comfortable place not in any one place or any one relationship formed here. When He calls we simply need to be ready to answer Here I am Lord, send me.
What areas of life have you become comfortable and complacent to the point that you'd wrestle with God if He told you today to leave it behind? Would it be a home, a town, a church or maybe a relationship or family that would make you not rise up and listen to His call? Do not become comfortable, this is not your permanent home. Rise when He says rise and be ready to move ahead.
Blessings,
Heather
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