Sitting Down With God

Thought Questions: *What is prayer? *Why do I pray? *How do I pray? *When do I pray?                     Recently, I have had several situations occur that have brought the four above questions to my mind.   Every day we come across people in our lives that need our intercession.   You know we don’t just pray for ourselves.   But, even when we are praying for our own personal needs the above questions really matter.           What is prayer ?   The American Tract Society Bible Dictionary defines prayer as being, “ the offering of the emotions and desires of the soul to God, in the name and through the mediation of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ .”   Isn’t that beautiful? The offering of the emotions and desires of our souls to God.   I don’t know about you, but I know my soul desires many things.   Some good, some...

Drawing: “Falling Down the Stairs to Save Time” by Sam Brown   www.explodingdog.com                   What is a friendship?   If you define friendship, it is the state of being friends; friendly relation, or attachment to a person or between persons; affection arising from mutual esteem and good will; amnity; Kindly aid, help, assistance , unity, conformity, harmony , etc.   I bolded the last three words because when you are around someone for long periods of time you become close with one another.   You don’t find many people just spending time with people that they have nothing in common with.   Don’t get me wrong, all of us have friends that are complete opposites of us, but there is some common ground that unites us.           The reason I am bringing this up is because of two things on my heart.   The first, being the popul...

Brother Don shared a powerful message with us at church yesterday morning. It really made me think.  He talked about how so many Christians go around telling people how to be Christians.  That we put such a "religiousness" to it that people shy away from wanting any part of church or God.  I had to look back at my blog and see if I was doing this too. I think he caught me before I did anything to crazy.  His main point was that God is LOVE!!!!!!  We should love God, love Christ, but even more we should love each other.  God wants us to live a righteous life but if you love everyone as Jesus loves you then you are making a very big step.

I have became a volunteer of Be-A-Voice network.  It is a network that lets you know the prayer needs of persecuted Christians worldwide.  They send you prayer bulletins and ask that you spread the word of the need for prayer for the men/women/ and children that are losing their lives and/or are being imprisoned for the Love of Jesus and the spreading of the Gospel. I encourage you today to join me in praying for our brethren under persecution.  I ask that you join with me and lift your hands up to our brothers and sisters in Christ that need to know that our God is a merciful, loving God.  Pray that they be strengthened in their trials.  That their families be provided for during their imprisonment and after their deaths.  I encourage you to visit the sites enclosed with this post. Please open your eyes, ears, and hearts and take a few minutes to pray for others.  Love in Christ,  Kristine http://www.prisoneralert.com/ http://www.pe...

    I have a question for myself that might apply to you too.  Do I truly trust God with all I have?  This means trusting Him when everything is going wrong.  Do I trust Him when my car won't start, when it looks like rent won't get paid, when a family member gets sick, when I get sick, when I am layed off of my job, when my grades aren't what they should be, when the lights are going to go off and my bank account is sick?  Do I trust Him with everything?     Trust has many definitions: 1.) the assured resting of the mind on the integrity, veracity, justice, friendship or other sound principle of another person 2.) confidence 3.) reliance 4.) to give credit to 5.) to risk     1 Corinthians 2:5 states, " So that your trust might rest not on the wisdom of man, but on the power of God."  If I am looking at it from a world view;  No, I will not be able to pay my bills without money, or pass a class that I am...

    I read something today that really made me think.  In the book of Genesis, Jacob describes his son Reuben as, “turbulent as the waters.”  The New Living Translation goes on to dissect this statement further by saying that water has no shape of its own, except for when it is frozen.  But, my way of thinking is that even when frozen, the water still conforms to its container or its environment.  It never really gains its own shape.      The Bible was talking about how consistent we are in our personal lives as opposed to how we act in the public view.  Human nature runs the show most of the time and I know for myself that my personal life is not always up to par to what I would like those in my “public” life to be aware of.     I have been battling temptation recently and I find myself trying hard to live the life that God wants for me.  I want to live up to his standards.  I want my standards to r...

                             “I appreciate all that you do for me Lord, but that is not what I prayed for.”   Have you ever prayed with all your might for something?   Have you ever spent hours on bended knee, crying your heart out to the Lord for help, relief, or change?   I think everyone has a defined moment of when they came to God in such submission, full of hope and knowing exactly what you want God to do for you.                 I mean think about it.   You listed out everything you needed.   You mapped out for God just how to deal with your problem and how He can fix it for you.   Because don’t you know your way is best. Then God answers your prayer, to a point.   He deals with the issue, just not how you wanted Him to.    ...

    I was doing my bible study today and a thought was put before me.  The question was " How often do you take a shower?"  How does this pertain to a bible study? Ha ha, I know what you mean.  I was like,really?  What kind of question is that?  But, as I read on in my study the answer was so clear.  I bathe everyday.  I take a shower sometimes twice a day depending on how dirty I get in the course of my day.  So if I bathe daily or more than once a day; why am I only going to the cross every now and then?     Doesn't sin make you feel unclean?  This is a good question.  If sin makes my soul unclean and dirt makes my body unclean.  Then why am I bathing my body and not my spirit?  I have really been trying to have a better walk with God and I need encouragement daily to keep myself strong in my personal convictions for a better life.  However, I find myself knowing that even though I do my bi...

Dear God,    I know I am a back-slider.  I know that I sin everyday and that I fall short all the time.  I pray that you forgive me my sins and that your mercy fall on me.  I know that your love endures forever.  I know that your son, Jesus Christ, died for my sins.  I know that at Calvary all my sins were paid and that from that day on I was given the opportunity of eternal life. Thank you, God!  Thank you for loving me so much.                          Love,                            Kristine