While I’m awake I just had to shoot something into cyberspace…

One of my favorite prayers, from Valley of Vision: (i love to pray this aloud)

“Lord Jesus, give me a deeper repentance, a horror of sin, a dread of its approach. Help me chastely to flee it and jealously to resolve that my heart shall be Thine alone.

Give me a deeper trust, that I may lose myself to find myself in Thee, the ground of my rest, the spring of my being. Give me a deeper knowledge of Thyself as saviour, master, lord, and king. Give me deeper power in private prayer, more sweetness in Thy Word, more steadfast grip on its truth. Give me deeper holiness in speech, thought, action, and let me not seek moral virtue apart from Thee.

Plough deep in me, great Lord, heavenly husbandman, that my being may be a tilled field, the roots of grace spreading far and wide, until Thou alone art seen in me, Thy beauty golden like summer harvest, Thy fruitfulness as autumn plenty.

I have no master but Thee, no law but Thy will, no delight but Thyself, no wealth but that Thou givest, no good but that Thou blessest, no peace but that Thou bestowest. I am nothing but that Thou makest me. I have nothing but that I receive from Thee. I can be nothing but that grace adorns me.

Quarry me deep, dear Lord, and then fill me to overflowing with living water.“

Amen.

Today I have been thinking much about prayer, so I spent much of the morning looking up quotes by respected “friends” (as C.J. calls them) and from Scripture, and formulating some thoughts.

Here ‘goes… (always start with the essentials: scripture!)

“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of him” (1 John 5:14-15).

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).

“…The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” (James 5:16).

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:18).

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express” (Romans 8:26).

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
Here’s what I gleaned from a brief analysis of those verses:

Because of Christ’s work, and according to the teaching of scripture, we have confidence that:

1. Prayer is mandatory:
   1. “do not be anxious… but… present your requests to God”
   2. “and pray in the Spirit on all occasions”
   3. “pray continually.. for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus”
2. Prayer is effective: (*note: when in accordance with God’s will – 1 John 5:14)
   1. “this is the confidence we have in approaching…”
   2. “the Spirit himself intercedes for us”
   3. “the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” (we are righteous because of Christ’s work on the cross)
3. Prayer is a HABITUAL action:
   1. “but in everything”
   2. “on all occasions”
   3. “pray continually”

The last point was the one which has fascinated me, and it’s the one I’d like to focus on. I think the necessity of habitual participation in the life of the believer in “presenting [our] requests to God” is much overlooked and undervalued in evangelical culture today.

In a wonderful message on prayer (the link is at the end of this post… I highly encourage a thorough reading of his words!) Spurgeon states:

“Shall God be expected to give to us that which we do not value?…Are we to treat him as though it were quite enough for him if we gave him a stray thought, or a half-hearted desire, now and then, as a sort of compliment?”

After reading Spurgeon’s sermon and doing some “research”, I was surprised to come to a beautiful and (I dare to say it!) life-altering conclusion.

Prayer is not only (see quotes below!) a means of communicating with God and a means for God to communicate with us( revealing our sin and showing us more of himself and his character); it is a posture of the heart, or—as Mueller puts it—

“Prayer is not merely an occasional impulse to which we respond when we are in trouble: prayer is a life attitude.”

In this message, Spurgeon also gives the illustration of a hunting dog pursuing a stag:

“We saw him rushing like the wind after his game, but this will not be enough if it only lasts for a little; he must continue running if he is to catch his prey. It matters not how fast [he] goes if after having kept the pace awhile he begins to slacken—the stag will escape from him…if prayer be the Christian’s vital breath, how can he leave off praying? We must maintain the ardour of prayer, we must be intense always. Prayer is not to be a thing of yesterday, but of to-day, and to-morrow, until it changeth into praise above…“That is difficult” says one. Who said it was not? All the processes of the Christian life are difficult; indeed, they are impossible apart from the abiding help of the divine Spirit: but “the Spirit helpeth our infirmities.” Now then, brethren, that we may be helped to keep up our fervency in prayer, please to notice that prayer must be continuous, because it is so singularly mixed with the whole gospel dispensation… “Behold, he prayeth” is the very mark of the individual Christian, and the unity, the life, and the spirituality of the church are best seen in prayer.”

You cannot divorce prayer from Gospel truth. In SO many ways, the Gospel message must, and will (if properly understood) – drive us to daily, consistent, and arduous “praying with our lives”…

A friend and I were discussing relationships a while back, and talking about communication “barriers” and the necessity of integrity and open communication in the foundation of lasting friendships, and especially marriages—and I was considering this morning how it seems so obvious to us that in order to love someone, you mustknow them. You must regularly seek them out and value their thoughts, counsel, character, and company. “True love” involves a constant and fervent desire to be with, learn from, and enjoy the very presence of another. It also involves dependenceand humility; acknowledging that you are incomplete without that individual. (speaking here of marriage relationships… I love the Mohler quote: “I cannot be who God made me to be without you…”)

If this is true, how much more so of our Lord and Savior!

We are nothing without our God! And if this is true, should it not drive us to constantand fervent desires to be with him, learn from him, and enjoy his presence?

Should we not, in acknowledging our dependence, regularly seek Him, valuing above all else His thoughts, counsel, character, and company?

You cannot be in love with God if you do not know him. And I’ve often heard it said that if your love for God seems to wane, it is “because you know Him not”.

Oh, that I may posture my heart always to be ready to run to, to speak with, to depend upon and seek my Savior! I want to walk out my day as if he stands beside me, and in all things – acknowledge His presence by communing with Him…

“Certain thoughts are prayers. There are moments when, whatever be the attitude of the body, the soul is on its knees.” ~Victor Hugo

Prayer (as you will see if you read Spurgeon’s sermon) is the very lifeline of the Christian… prayer will ignite in you a passion for the Word, a love for the church, a greater sensitivity to sin, a greater joy in living for Christ… and so much more!

Here are some magnificent quotes concerning prayer:

“Prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays.” ~Søren Kierkegaard

“When you pray, rather let your heart be without words than your words without heart.” ~John Bunyan

“Before we can pray, ‘Lord, Thy Kingdom come,’ we must be willing to pray, ‘My Kingdom go.’” ~Alan Redpath

“Any concern too small to be turned into a prayer is too small to be made into a burden.” ~Corrie ten Boom

“God will either give you what you ask, or something far better.”~Robert Murray M’Cheyne

”The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, and prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray.” ~Samuel Chadwick

As for being convinced of the truth of the vitality of prayer in the life of the believer—although I’d like to delve deeper into this topic, I can’t— so read this:

http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/1480.htm

I promise it will either alter your perspective of the necessity of prayer, or ignite new passion in your heart to make prayer a daily, hourly, moment-by-moment element of your walk with God.

Friend, as you walk out your day today, and as you live your life – may your soul always be postured upon it’s knees—ready and willing to commune with God.

Recently, I’ve been thinking about and pursuing application of scriptural principle and mindsets when it comes to my day-to-day, mundane activities; those activities which do not seem to fall into the “spiritual” category.

I don’t know about you, but once I get in a routine (get up, eat, go to work, get home, eat, go to bed; get up, eat, go to work, get home, eat, go to bed… etc.) which only varies on weekends, it’s easy for me to get into a “float through the week” mentality where I just half-heartedly “do my duty” Monday through Friday and “live for the weekends”. I lose my eternal perspective, and wind up questioning, when I am weary: “Why am I here? Does this really matter?”

This perspective does not honor the Lord.

Col. 3:17 “and whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

Col. 3:23 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”

Eph 6:8 “Serve wholeheartedly as if you were serving the Lord, not men.”

A study of these verses and some commentaries has led me to infer the following:

1. Our work, as Christians, is set apart for the Lord. Many of us work to support ourselves or others, but our work really is meant to be more than just a practical step to provide for physical needs. Work is an opportunity for us to bring glory to God, and to enjoy Him. (The two essential things which make up our purpose in life as Christians!)

2. A certain type of work is not specified. In other words, there isn’t a distinction between “spiritual” work (i.e. working in a church, in missions, or something along those lines…) and secular work. If we are motivated to serve the Lord, all work is “full-time Christian work”. In our choice of career, God desires that we seek to best use the gifts and talents he has given us, rather than pursue a certain field because we believe it to be more “spiritual” than another.

In other words, we can “sanctify the ordinary” by purposing to recognize and use what the Lord has given us (think the parable of the talents…) in creative, diligent, and faithful ways.

Another important thing to realize is that if all Christians worked in strictly religious work environments, we would not be serving the purpose stated in Matthew – there would be no salt and light in the world. Working in a secular environment puts us in an opportune position to witness and minister to unbelievers. When God calls you to work, that is good work. Your perspective of what may be worthwhile must be dictated by how you have sought God and seen his call on your life.
In secular work environments, you also have the opportunity to be responsible, to treat employees and supervisors and students with righteousness and fairness; these are opportunities to represent God’s character to a world that is blind to who He is.

Col. 4:1. “Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a master in heaven.“

It is obvious that our work is one area where we must pursue a spiritual mindset, which lends significance and purpose to our activities and relationships in those atmospheres.

But our call to keep our perspective focused in this way includes more than just our work.

“Let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your father in heaven.” (Matt. 5:16).

“Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – which is your spiritual worship.” (Rom 12:1)

Work is definitely a part of this call, but these verses and many others speak of a life that brings glory to God through a service to the Lord that extends over all of our life: demonstrating an excellence of character and commitment in our relationships as well as integrity and diligence in all we do. “In short, the call to serve the Lord requires a life where faith and career and faith and relationships are integrated, not isolated.”

As a Christian, you are called to examine what being excellent means for you.

Excellence, as the world defines it, is associated with superiority, competition, and sinful striving for recognition and “self-esteem”. Verification of this type of excellence comes from comparisons made between people, things, or institutions using some external standard.

Excellence as defined biblically can be described as “being of the highest quality” or exceptionally good. Here, the standard is still external, (and must be determined according to scripture) but is non-competitive and not secular in nature or outworking.

Phil. 4:8: “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

We could also note that 1 Cor 12 speaks of the many parts of the body, of spiritual gifts, and is followed by 1 Cor 13, the famous love chapter, which is introduced by “and now I will show you the most excellent way.”

These verses speak of seeking to integrate excellence into one’s life as defined by God’s standards, not according to men.

Our pursuit of excellence for God’s glory forces us to establish priorities and make choices concerning how we are to best spend our time so that we can be excellent in the most important areas of our life. As Christians, we must be careful not to sacrifice relationships for ambition. We must establish a balance in our pursuit of excellence in work, relationships, and extracurricular activities which is informed by God’s standards laid out in His word, as well as by the counsel and wisdom of others.

“It must be clear that we can neither neglect our work, as we are working unto the Lord, not unto men, nor become one-dimensional perfectionists at the expense of the rest of our responsibilities. We must never use our Christianity as a rationalization for poor quality work. Also, we should never use our work as an excuse for neglecting our relationships with family, friends, and students.”

We want the world to see what we value. This must be purposefully and specifically defined by each of us; we must seek to determine how best to set an example, to be ambassadors for Christ in every area of our lives. Do your coworkers and fellow students know that you have a different perspective on life: different goals and priorities? They may know you are a Christian by the more blatantly “religious” actions and words which characterize you, but do they know more of God by their observation of you in the “secular” or “ordinary” elements of your life?

Paul said: “Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last. But we do it to get a crown that will last forever.”

Is our pursuit of glorifying and enjoying God limited to our religious activities? Or is it obvious that in all we do others can see that our vision and purpose is fixed upon and motivated by an awareness of God’s call and the joy we take in using our gifts and talents to pursue true excellence?

As Christian we should see excellence “as the state of being of the highest quality as measured by the standards of God. There is no necessity for superiority of one person over others and no particular virtue in being labeled No. 1.” We need to see our lives as the integration of faith with work and relationships and day-to-day activities.

Your spiritual life may shine, but “being No. 1 in one area alone does not justify being a zero in everything else.” We are called to do all things as unto the Lord.

Do you have eyes to see the “spiritual” side of all you do? You will know by two things: a) your joy (or lack thereof) in every area and activity of your life, and b) your definition and prioritization of excellence.

Well do I know pain;

Sorrow, my close companion;

Fear, my constant.

Surely am I familiar with grief;

Comrade to despair;

Friend of suffering.

Vulnerability my mainstay;

Confusion my counselor;

Weakness my default.

And yet He says “rest”.

How does one rest in anguish;

Dwelling in uncertainty,

Wallowing in discontent?

How can surrender be sweet

Which leads no straight and certain path to freedom?

How can growth rise

From barren lands

And ashy ground?

In a land of all questions

And no answers,

What hope supplies for want;

Consolation for emptiness;

Comprehension for ignorance?

What shall supply strength;

Impart joy;

Minister courage,

In a place of no water

And ceaseless thirst?

and yet, God answers me with Job 38-41 every time. if you haven’t gone there, check it out:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=job%2038-41&version=NIV

Ephesians 5:19-20 says “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” In light of this command, I felt it would be my joy to post something simply highlighting God’s amazing goodness, mercy, wisdom, and faithfulness.

Spurgeon says in Morning and Evening that “The truth that we are sinners is painfully with us to humble and make us watchful; the more blessed truth that whosoever believeth on the Lord Jesus shall be saved, abides with us as our hope and joy. Experience, so far from loosening our hold of the doctrines of grace, has knit us to them more and more firmly; our grounds and motives for believing are now more strong, more numerous than ever, and we have reason to expect that it will be so till in death we clasp the Saviour in our arms.” Oh, this is so true! The older I have become the more I have seen my sin, and by God’s mercy the bigger he has become in my eyes. It’s like every year I shrink a little more, and he gets twice as big.

I want to continue in this way, until he fills my gaze and I see life only through the lens of my big God, and my very small self! (hopefully that makes sense). I love the part in that quote about experience knitting us more and more firmly to the doctrines of grace. Far from weakening my faith, I have seen trials and circumstances over and over bring me nearer to Christ, bringing me deeper in fellowship with God. I cannot wait to see my Savior face to face. Until then, I have grown step by step in my confidence that trials and experience are truly knitting me firmly to the doctrines of grace. God’s providence, goodness, wisdom, foreknowledge, faithfulness, power… the list goes on and on.

Spurgeon also says of our Christian walk, and of going deeper with God, “We would sooner glean in his field than bear away the whole harvest from any other.” How precious this truth has become to me. So very precious. It’s like Martin Luther said, “I have held many things in my hands, and have lost them all… but whatever I have placed in God’s hands; that, I still possess.” God has been shaping me and forming my heart to be more attuned to who he is through every trial. I never want to dwell outside of his “field”… I want to “glean” there, and there alone. I want to place every moment and circumstance; every disappointment, trial, emotion, failure… all of it, in his hands. There, they are sure to be well taken care of.

God’s hands have held me through my illness and through huge changes in my life like moving for a church plant after 18 years of blessing and familiarity at CLC. He held me through losing my scholarship when I could no longer stay at Hood for financial and health reasons. He held me when I walked through false diagnoses, one after the other, and through the beginning stages of treatment. He held me through the pain and confusion of seeing several doctors who really did not know what to do with my disease, and held me through the far more intense heart-pangs of watching my sister walk through this on an even deeper and more painful level. He held me through months of illness, through a few months of blessed recovery, and then again through the ups and downs of Lyme’s unpredictable, destructive, confusing attacks… over and over he has held me; nurturing my soul, he has filled my gaze with who he is. And again, he held me as I walked through moving to fairfax and throwing my heart and energy into plans which in the end, were not what he had for me. But in that process, he was still allowing me to glean in his field, and to be knit to those doctrines of grace.

I am able to reflect on the past year with so much joy, because he has brought to my heart and soul the “peace that passes understanding”, which can only be attributed to his grace. There is no other way to explain the confidence that I feel in him and in his step-by-step plans for my life, however hard they be. In moments of deep grief, sadness, illness, or fear, there is yet a solid, steadfast trust that the Lord is working to make me more like Christ, and has my greatest joy at heart. “He does not treat us as our sins deserve, nor repay us according to our iniquities. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us”.. THAT is the most beautiful, incredible, transcendent truth over my life.

If nothing else, I can say with confidence that he is MY God, MY Father, and above all, my Savior. My greatest need has been met. How can I not trust him to then provide every good thing for me? I am so grateful to my God and to my family and friends for helping me to cling to Jesus when life has been at times very difficult this past few years in particular.

I know I have gone deeper with God in trial. My soul “cries nearer, nearer” to the Lord. I have seen him prove his faithfulness to me again and again, and hope that even as I see my sin more and more, his grace fills my heart to overflowing with awe that he would stoop to care for a sinner like me. If there is one wish I would have for this coming year, it is to be able to tell and impart to more people the amazing blessing of confidence in God’s perfect, sovereign plan for our lives. This hasn’t meant happiness and peace and ease according to the worlds standards, but it those elements can be present above and beyond circumstances which would claim otherwise, when our view of God’s character overshadows our view of the present, and the things which will fade away… or the trials which are intended to bring us nearer to him, and more aware of our need for him, not to allow us to spiral into depression and fear and confusion. Friends, he has been faithful. He will continue to be faithful.

He is dear to me, my Savior, and his precious love and mercy towards me gives me faith for the next step. This year may continue to be filled with pain and difficulty… but my God is with me. I cannot limit his abounding love and mercy to my limited view of my circumstances and experience. God is so much greater than my mind can fathom.

“Human love may change. The friendship of last year has grown cold. The gentleness of yesterday has turned to severity. But it is never thus with God’s love. It is eternal. Our experience of it may be variable, but there is no variableness in the love. Our lives may change, our consciousness of his love may fade out; but the love clings for ever, the gentleness of God abides eternal.”

“This is the resting place, let the weary rest; and this is the place of repose”— ”But You remain the same.” Psalm 102:27

Deuteronomy 31:8, “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

He does not promise us ease. But he promises to be with us. This has been my fortress and stronghold in the midst of many trials and suffering this past few years. I want the same for you all.

The following is precious to me, and worth reading. It is from Spurgeon again (can you tell I like him??) and is from Beside Still Waters…

The Lord’s Presence (gen 28:16)

The Puritans believed in an ever-present God. Oh, to be able to feel God everywhere, in the little as well as the great, in our rising up and our sitting down, in our going out and our coming in. I cannot imagine a life more blessed or a spirit more related to the spirit of the glorified than the mind and heart of the person who lives in God, who knows and feels that God is ever-present! If you are in personal danger, or in the midst of a storm, or facing illness, and if you hear a voice saying “Surely the Lord is in this place,” you will be perfectly at rest. The anxious air grows pure if He is there. Lightening cannot strike you, or if it does it will be joy. The storm cannot devour you, nor can the hungry ocean engulf you, or if one does it is happiness if God is there. There is no need to fear. Nervousness is wickedness when “the eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms; He will thrust out the enemy from before you” (deut 33:27) You may be in great poverty. Your walls may be bare and your furnishings scant. And still you may say, “Surely the Lord is in this place”. Remember the old Christian’s exclamation, “What, all this and my God present with me?” Better to have poverty and feel His presence than to own the world’s riches and not know that He is here. Some of you are in deep affliction. Your difficulties are so great that you do not know where things will end, and you are deeply depressed. But remember, “Surely the Lord is in this place.” Some of you are called to some extraordinary duty and do not feel strong enough. Follow that call, for surely the Lord is in that place. He will help you.

——-

Yes, and Amen. And to God be the glory, forever and ever! Thank you Lord for 22 years of faithfulness and sovereignty. I know you will be with me as I continue to walk with you.

So recently, I’ve been having this totally wacko craving for ice chips. I have been eating them like water… which I suppose is a very poor use of that colloquialism, since ice is actually water… anywho, you get the drift. 

I decided to consult google for a diagnosis, because I was fairly sure that ice-chip cravings indicated a vitamin deficiency.

Sure enough, I quickly found out that ice-chip cravings indicate low iron levels… not a surprise, because I already knew my iron was low. Luckily, however, finding out that it had dipped lower (thus my ice cravings) allowed me to implement further dietary and supplement changes in time.

So for all of you out there who love chewing ice chips… you may want to get checked for anemia or iron deficiency.

Speaking of ice… when exactly did winter decide to hog fall’s slot, too?!

‘For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee’ (Isaiah 54:10). “

“This is the resting place, let the weary rest; and this is the place of repose”— ”But You remain the same.” Psalm 102:27

“But in what ways may this unchangeableness of God be regarded as a ‘Palm of Elim,’ imparting a sense of rest and refreshment to those encamping under its shadow? Comforting doctrine, it undoubtedly is. It leads us, among other reflections, to feel assured of His certain foreknowledge of all events—that whatever happens to us must be ordained by Him; and that the fitful changes in a changing world—our relations to one another, our domestic and social ties, our joys and our sorrows, are ordained, watched, and controlled by Him, who sits enthroned alike amid the radiant sunshine and above and behind the cloud-lands of life; bringing good out of seeming evil, order out of apparent confusion; overruling all (ALL), for His own glory and for the best interests of His Church.”

http://www.kame.com/crackers_snacks/seaweed.shtml

benefits of seaweed in your diet:

Treasures of the Sea Yield Natural Cures

Why Would Anyone Want to Eat Seaweed?

Where’s the Evidence

How Seaweed Offers Cancer Protection

Healthy Thyroid Function

Nutrient Prevention of Birth Defects

Cardiovascular Disease

Seaweed for Stress Relief

Seaweed also has been proven to provide support through stressful situations by supplying not only magnesium, but pantothenic acid and riboflavin–two B-vitamins necessary for energy production. Pantothenic acid is especially important for the health of the adrenal glands. The adrenals control many body functions and play a critical role in resistance to stress. When supplies of necessary nutrients like pantothenic acids are inadequate, stressful times can exhaust the adrenal glands resulting in chronic fatigue, reduced resistance to allergies and infection, and a feeling of being overwhelmed or overly anxious.