Praise and Prayer - Jan. 3, 2013

Today, my praise is for the way God meets us where we are.

A mean god, a dictatorial god, would stand on his holy hill and simply require his followers to climb up to his level. But Yahweh reaches down to pull us up to His level. Yahweh humbles Himself and comes to get us. He counteracts our weakness with His strength. What a good God!!

Last night, I was discussing with my best friend how I felt like something God gave me might not come to pass. I was telling her that I was tired of fighting for it. And a few hours later, the Lord sent me a sign that I should keep the faith. He didn’t have to do that.

Today, my prayer is for my teaching job.

I pray that the Lord would continue to decrease me and increase His presence in my life.  I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that if I stop walking with God, I will fail my students. I have accepted a position that is just outside my natural ability to persist. God has to make up the difference and He promised that He would. So I just pray that He would continue to focus me, continue to give me the grace, the power to lean on Him and therefore excel. I told my friend last night: “I can’t wait to tell people, ‘It was all God!’” I want God to do something miraculous in my classroom so I can brag on Him and His power.

Praise and Prayer - Jan. 2, 2013

Today, my praise is primarily for the opportunity that God has given me to minister.

He has given me two very important and very big jobs - women and girls, and high school students in their (English) language arts classes. It comes directly from the relationship I have with Him. Because I KNOW Him to be a selfless and righteous lover and because I know the Lord to be a personality who wants to receive love as much as - even more! - than I do, it has changed my life.  Because the Lord loves me so completely, I don’t have to long for the affection or even attention of men who don’t love the Lord. Because I know this, I can live this. It is difficult (although not impossible) to live something that you don’t fully understand. So when we understand Who God really is, we can live for Him.  Or a better phrase is: we can live with Him. This is my ever-relevant message to women and girls. When we live with God, we don’t have to live with certain pains and sins and problems. Our problems become more outside of ourselves, our sins become less life-threatening, and our pains become duller. God took my relentless, painful, idol-worshiping lust for human romance and replaced it with the chance to give love to a group of students who categorically don’t receive as much love as they need.  He taught me to love words and the Word, and how to manage emotions and thoughts through creative expression. That’s what I intend to teach. As soon as I surrendered my struggle and my intention to the Lord, He gave me back two huge chances to minster to the world around me. Praise Him!

Today, my prayer is for Divine inspiration THAT WILL LAST.

Many of us have made New Year’s resolutions. Even those of us who haven’t know that there is something in us that needs to change. I don’t believe that all diligence or drive come from pressure or expectation. I believe that sometimes, the best motivator is pure inspiration - look at how she did it, look at what God did there, look how beautiful, what a huge task! how did she do it?  And that inspiration can last longer than the fear of punishment or the pain of semi-slavery. So I pray that whatever needs to change in our lives, the Lord (in His mercy - because He does not have to do this, because of His love) will present us with bits and pieces of inspiration to keep us going.