My friend and sister-in-Christ Jennifer and I will begin a Bible study this month called “Made to Crave” by Lysa TerKurst and I am so excited! It is my prayer that it will give us a healthy dose of conviction, lead us to repentance and keep us at the foot of the cross. That we would crave purity, holiness and righteousness, so if anyone is interested in joining us, let me know. I don’t want you to be left out in the conviction department.
I have loved the long quiet times in the morning dwelling at the feet of my Savior. Savoring His truths. Adoring His righteousness. Petitioning for a renewed spirit. For healing. For the spirit of adoption to be released in our families. These sweet quiet times have been coupled with my mate Darryl. I so LOVE to hear that man of mine pray!
I must confess when we started praying together it was one of dread on my part. Reading the Word wasn’t a problem, I love truth. I love the Word. It was the prayer time I was struggling with, not sure why, I use to pray all the time. However, work and time pushed it aside; at least that was my claim, but it was really just selfishness. Prayer was not a priority in my life. The enemy didn’t even have to work hard at putting negative thoughts and creating disillusionment in my mind of the purpose of prayer. It was much easier to just listen to my husband pray and agree. It was more comfortable to ride on the tails of his prayers than to pray myself. I felt like a little child hovering behind a big brother who is going to the father to ask a question. But not any more! I cherish my personal time at the foot of the cross.
This morning as we spend time together in prayer, individually worshipping and petitioning God our Father for the upcoming year, we were reminded that as we live second to second, minute to minute, hour to hour, day to day, week to week, month to month and year to year, with God there is no time. He always has been there is no beginning or end with Him. In fact to God, a thousand years are like a day (Psalms 90:4). He needs no alarm, no watch, no calendar.
We reflected on the innumerable blessings of the past year. We prayed that the church would love without hypocrisy, breaking out of our comfortable circles and extend love and acceptance to all, starting with us. We prayed that our boasting would be in the Lord and the Lord alone. That we would not mirror the world, but mirror Christ. We celebrated His faithfulness. We commissioned ourselves to carry the gospel to our community and beyond. We prayed that we would be intentional parents who take time to instruct and train our children in righteousness. Our final petition was for the New Year, not what can we do or accomplish, but that God would choose us, an ordinary man and woman, wretched sinners, saved by the glorious grace, sustained by His mercy would be completely obedient, walking in the newness of life, not on our own doing, but by His love and grace that He has lavished upon us. That as we purposefully put on the Lord Jesus Christ each day we would be set apart from this world and wait expectantly the immeasurably more that He will accomplish because He is faithful.
So today, I write my first blog of 2011, hoping time will allow for more because I love to write, to express, to document. I ate my black-eyed peas and cornbread, not for luck, because I don’t believe in luck. I ate them because of tradition and they taste good. I watched football. I hit some after Christmas sales. I have done my southern duty. So here is a start to a New Year, looking carefully as I walk, not as unwise, but wise because I want to proclaim His goodness. Happy New Year!
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