Bible reading and prayer are the two most basic spiritual disciplines of Christian faith. Prayer in the simplest way is talking to God. It is sharing with your loving father your heart, thoughts, emotions, requests, needs, cares, anxieties, worries, praises, thanksgivings, hopes, and desires. The list could go on for days. God speaks to you through his Word and you speak to him through prayer. Here are some simple tips for developing a discipline of prayer:
1. Set up “triggers” in your life.
Take things that you do every day and make them triggers for you to pray. Here are some ideas to help you get started: taking a shower, using the bathroom, getting in your car, making coffee, getting in bed, getting ready to read your Bible, finishing reading your Bible, driving to work, driving home, finishing lunch, eating eggs, sailing on a boat, scratching your nose, and buying a tambourine. You get the idea. Take things that you do every day and use them as a trigger to pray.
2. Have a plan.
If you don’t have a plan, you can easily become a random prayer. Whatever comes to your head at the time is what you will pray for. You will constantly be praying for the same things over and over. This isn’t necessarily bad, but there are a lot more things/people in your life that you could be praying for. So have a standard place where you keep track of all the things that you want to pray about. Then review this list at least once a day. This way nothing gets left behind.
3. Talk to God.
This might sound dumb to some, but for others this will be an epiphany. I don’t know if you have noticed this or not, but some people like to use what could be called “prayer talk.” This is where a person suddenly embodies the spirit of a TV evangelist and sees how many times they can say the words God, Father God, Lord, or Jesus (whichever is the person’s favourite) in a prayer. It comes as a surprise to most that you can actually just talk to God. You don’t have to use his name as the punctuation to every sentence. You don’t have to speak in old English. You can just talk to him. Just like you talk to your friends about your troubles and your successes, you can talk to him. You can tell him your struggles and failures. You can tell him jokes. You can even be angry and cry out to him (read a few Psalms and you’ll get the idea). Prayer is you simply talking to God. No flair. No technicalities. No special formulas. Just talking.
4. Write it down.
When you develop a habit of constantly praying, it becomes easy to forget what you’ve prayed about. Therefore, you can lose track of whether or not God has answered your prayers. This is so you can look back and see how God has answered your prayers over time. Keep it simple though. Don’t set a limit. That means no minimum or maximum. It puts an unnecessary burden on you. Some days you will write pages worth of prayer to God. Other days it will be the simple phrase, “God help me.” The idea is to simply write it out.
5. Keep it simple.
During the time of Jesus, Jews would have standard prayers for everything that they would do. You would have a standard prayer for plowing a field, eating a meal, drinking wine, and even going to the bathroom (see Marvin R. Wilson’s book). The key was that most of these prayers were only a sentence long. The reality is that our prayers don’t have to be five minutes long for God to hear us. Sometimes the simplest prayers are the best prayers. If you can only think of a few things to say to God, then say them. God isn’t keeping a tally on how much you pray. He just wants to hear from you.
6. Keep it sweet.
Remember whom you are talking to. While God is the king of the universe, he is also the lover of your soul. One of the reasons that David was a man after God’s own heart was because he was passionate and honest with God. He was open and honest as you can only be with a closest friend. The worst prayer isn’t a long prayer or a prayer said in Old English but a prayer that has no heart. If you aren’t praying out of a love for God, then are you really praying? The reality is that this is the core of all prayer—to seek the face of God and to seek after his heart. Prayer is one of the most intimate times we have with God. Treat it that way.
114. God is King over all still.
115. Donation race fun at work.
116. My wedding dress!! *Squee!!
117. New clothes.
118. Value Village.
119. My brother in law offering to help with my taxes.
120. Paint and other house-renovation supplies.
121. Europe plans with my sister.
122. Voting.
123. Pizza.
124. Esl.
125. Warm showers.
126. My internet working.
127. Free buns from work.
128. My awesome roommate.
129. This ring on my finger.
130. Prayers and Bible studies with my sweetheart.
131. 'The reason for God' by Timothy Keller.
132. Wedding planning.
133. Hot water bottle.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
The most exciting thing happened a week and four days ago!
Ryan recently bought a house and every spare moment (well, maybe not quite... :)) that he has, he is working like crazy on renovating it. ( I'm really proud of him, by the way)
On that Saturday, I went to my Mom and Dad's house to visit because I hadn't seen the family in a month or so.
I knew I wouldn't see Ryan, because his house is about three hours away, in Leduc. We did text quickly in the morning, as usual, and after he'd updated me about what he was working on, I told him to be careful and make me happy by driving safe because the roads were pretty icy.
I had fun at Mom and Dad's. Jessica and I had spent most of the morning talking about our trip to Europe this summer and looking up places in England where we could stay. At about three in the afternoon I was writing down a bunch of recipes and trying to figure out the internet on my little netbook with my Dad, because it hasn't been working for the last several months... really annoying.
My Mom came up to me with a piece of paper which was printed on, the start of a treasure hunt.
Julie,
Go to the teepee you made last summer.
Wear rubber boots.
The next clue will be in the teepee.
So I thought that my 'little' sisters had set up a treasure hunt for me. I kept on with what I was doing, thinking that the treasure could wait for a little bit... Mom came back in the room and told me I should go before it got dark, so I grabbed my keys, found my boots in the back of my car, and decided it would be faster to drive down the road to that teepee frame... When I got there, I thought I saw Ryan's shoe lying in the ditch! I was quite confused. I thought the girls had just used it for some reason, to weigh the paper down, then I wondered how it could possibly have been in Neerlandia, and why Ryan hadn't noticed he didn't have his shoe... So I pulled on my boots and jumped into the ditch to retrieve it. It was weighing down a clue. So I got back in the car. I was a bit excited, but not that happy that either the girls had just 'borrowed' Ryan's shoe, or somehow Ryan was around and I hadn't even seen him! The clue read like this-
go to the sign that got hit but still gives its message
bring my shoe please
I was in a cloud of confuzzlement then... I didn't even notice that it was Ryan's writing until later. I drove to the end of the road to see if the sign there was driven over, but it wasn't so I decided to expidite matters by asking my family. The only thing the could think of was a sign that had quite a few bullet holes, down by the creek, so I drove there to look around, but there were not even any footprints, so I drove around the block, and the next one. And did I mention that by then it was really muddy out and I had just washed my car on the way to Mom and Dad's? I was a bit upset that the job I'd done was wasted... So I got back to the house and thought for a bit. Then I noticed that it was Ryan's writing. So I tried to text him.
For some reason my phone had randomly decided to stop sending text messages that morning, so when I saw that, I phoned him. I still didn't know for sure that he was in Neerlandia; I thought he might have written the notes before and gotten my little sisters to set it up or something.
When he answered I asked him what he was working on and he told me he was done with what he'd been doing and was going to start on the next thing right away. ~Still confused~ So I told him the girls had sent me on a treasure hunt and the next clue was a broken sign. He reminded me that the sign at the church had been driven into in a huge accident last year. So I told him to have fun working and hung up.
Then I was pretty sure that he had come. -Unless Mom had dropped that clue off in the morning...
So I drove to Neerlandia as fast as I could with the road conditions, and found the next clue by the sign there.
That next clue led me to a barbeque on the front porch of the little town's only bed-and-breakfast, and the next to the skating rink. I was now kind of getting into the spirit of it, and then I hit Sri-Lanka.
Now what in the world? What does Sri-Lanka have to do with a small Dutch community in the middle of nowhere?
After cogitating for a bit, I decided to check out the water treatment facility, which we had called by some outlandish name when we were children- only I knew it wasn't Sri-Lanka- and I wasn't sure we'de ever had occasion to tell Ryan that. If I couldn't find anything there, I was going to call my Mom and get her to look up Sri-Lanka on Google- maybe there was a special day today that had something to do with something in Neerlandia...
I got out of my car at the station, and followed Ryan's boot prints a bit, but then they doubled back, and I decided that I'd just quickly check the back of the building before calling my Mom.
Ryan was right there, he had checked it out and then parked his car and come back with his runners on. He didn't even have a coat on, just his sweater. He' thought I'd be a lot faster... I was working on that first clue for about an hour...
Poor man.
He dropped to one knee in the mud and ased me to marry him.
And I replied appropriatly, "Are you serious????!!!!!!" I shrieked.
Then I maybe was hysterical as I fell to my honches and gave him a hug. When I could breath again, I told him of course I would- I never said yes until half a week later, when he pointed that out to me...
And now we are going to be married this fall- which was his plan all along, even though I thought next year. I'm so excited! God is so good!!
So I have six months to plan my wedding. And I've already gone looking for a decent dress twice, I've got the church and minister booked, and my sisters have all offered to help me, including my special sister, Alison.
Woooooooooooooooooohooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
On that Saturday, I went to my Mom and Dad's house to visit because I hadn't seen the family in a month or so.
I knew I wouldn't see Ryan, because his house is about three hours away, in Leduc. We did text quickly in the morning, as usual, and after he'd updated me about what he was working on, I told him to be careful and make me happy by driving safe because the roads were pretty icy.
I had fun at Mom and Dad's. Jessica and I had spent most of the morning talking about our trip to Europe this summer and looking up places in England where we could stay. At about three in the afternoon I was writing down a bunch of recipes and trying to figure out the internet on my little netbook with my Dad, because it hasn't been working for the last several months... really annoying.
My Mom came up to me with a piece of paper which was printed on, the start of a treasure hunt.
Julie,
Go to the teepee you made last summer.
Wear rubber boots.
The next clue will be in the teepee.
So I thought that my 'little' sisters had set up a treasure hunt for me. I kept on with what I was doing, thinking that the treasure could wait for a little bit... Mom came back in the room and told me I should go before it got dark, so I grabbed my keys, found my boots in the back of my car, and decided it would be faster to drive down the road to that teepee frame... When I got there, I thought I saw Ryan's shoe lying in the ditch! I was quite confused. I thought the girls had just used it for some reason, to weigh the paper down, then I wondered how it could possibly have been in Neerlandia, and why Ryan hadn't noticed he didn't have his shoe... So I pulled on my boots and jumped into the ditch to retrieve it. It was weighing down a clue. So I got back in the car. I was a bit excited, but not that happy that either the girls had just 'borrowed' Ryan's shoe, or somehow Ryan was around and I hadn't even seen him! The clue read like this-
go to the sign that got hit but still gives its message
bring my shoe please
I was in a cloud of confuzzlement then... I didn't even notice that it was Ryan's writing until later. I drove to the end of the road to see if the sign there was driven over, but it wasn't so I decided to expidite matters by asking my family. The only thing the could think of was a sign that had quite a few bullet holes, down by the creek, so I drove there to look around, but there were not even any footprints, so I drove around the block, and the next one. And did I mention that by then it was really muddy out and I had just washed my car on the way to Mom and Dad's? I was a bit upset that the job I'd done was wasted... So I got back to the house and thought for a bit. Then I noticed that it was Ryan's writing. So I tried to text him.
For some reason my phone had randomly decided to stop sending text messages that morning, so when I saw that, I phoned him. I still didn't know for sure that he was in Neerlandia; I thought he might have written the notes before and gotten my little sisters to set it up or something.
When he answered I asked him what he was working on and he told me he was done with what he'd been doing and was going to start on the next thing right away. ~Still confused~ So I told him the girls had sent me on a treasure hunt and the next clue was a broken sign. He reminded me that the sign at the church had been driven into in a huge accident last year. So I told him to have fun working and hung up.
Then I was pretty sure that he had come. -Unless Mom had dropped that clue off in the morning...
So I drove to Neerlandia as fast as I could with the road conditions, and found the next clue by the sign there.
That next clue led me to a barbeque on the front porch of the little town's only bed-and-breakfast, and the next to the skating rink. I was now kind of getting into the spirit of it, and then I hit Sri-Lanka.
Now what in the world? What does Sri-Lanka have to do with a small Dutch community in the middle of nowhere?
After cogitating for a bit, I decided to check out the water treatment facility, which we had called by some outlandish name when we were children- only I knew it wasn't Sri-Lanka- and I wasn't sure we'de ever had occasion to tell Ryan that. If I couldn't find anything there, I was going to call my Mom and get her to look up Sri-Lanka on Google- maybe there was a special day today that had something to do with something in Neerlandia...
I got out of my car at the station, and followed Ryan's boot prints a bit, but then they doubled back, and I decided that I'd just quickly check the back of the building before calling my Mom.
Ryan was right there, he had checked it out and then parked his car and come back with his runners on. He didn't even have a coat on, just his sweater. He' thought I'd be a lot faster... I was working on that first clue for about an hour...
Poor man.
He dropped to one knee in the mud and ased me to marry him.
And I replied appropriatly, "Are you serious????!!!!!!" I shrieked.
Then I maybe was hysterical as I fell to my honches and gave him a hug. When I could breath again, I told him of course I would- I never said yes until half a week later, when he pointed that out to me...
And now we are going to be married this fall- which was his plan all along, even though I thought next year. I'm so excited! God is so good!!
So I have six months to plan my wedding. And I've already gone looking for a decent dress twice, I've got the church and minister booked, and my sisters have all offered to help me, including my special sister, Alison.
Woooooooooooooooooohooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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