Ephesians 3:14-21

From Ephesians 3: 14-21

I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. Kizer. Graham. Hanau. Brown. Weigel. Cochran. Briody. All from Him.

All His children: Sara and Andy, Joey from BSF, Dad. These are people He loves. 

I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen me with power through His Spirit in my inner being.

So that Christ may dwell in my heart through faith.

And I pray that I may have power to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.

And to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that I may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 

So that I will see with His eyes, and love the people around me.

Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory.

What I've learned as a BSF children's leader this year
(A meditation on Ephesians 3:14-21)

I've learned that I must kneel before the Father, in order to serve the people He loves. I've learned to pray that He would strengthen me with power through His Spirit in my inner being. I pray for the power to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. I must, I need, I yearn to know this love that surpasses knowledge. I pray that I may be filled to the measure of it, the measure of all the fullness of God.

So that I will see with His eyes, and love the people around me.

On Tuesdays, my heart wants to kneel down and engage with the sweet little girls, who beam up at me during story time. They are four, most of them. Baby teeth. Dimples. Adorable little curls. I want to play princesses with them, let them tell me the names of each one. Which is Aurora? Which is Ariel? They take command, speak knowledgeably. "No, this prince goes with Snow White. This one goes with Cinderella."

But I don't linger with the sweet little ones. I drift over to the angry little boy, all of 5, who hits and pulls pony tails and disrespects everyone around him, including me. Especially me. The boy who makes "poor choices." I'd rather not sit with him. There will be conflicts when others try to join in. (He doesn't like to share.) But I do anyway.

This is why I must kneel before the Father, and ask Him to give me the power to see with His eyes. He loves the angry little boy, who isn't fun to be around. This is a love that surpasses knowledge. I pray that I may be filled to the measure of it, the measure of all the fullness of God.

My Father is refining me. He is softening my edges, which is arduous work. I'm still very sharp. We sing "Trust and Obey," and the little girls nearly burst with enthusiasm. They're keen to get the hand motions just right. The angry little boy flails his arms in the air, purposely getting it wrong. Defiant. 

My Father hears us singing. "Early in the morning, our song shall rise to thee." He's given me this advice, to trust and obey. What will happen, when I kneel before Him, and pray that I will be filled with His love, which surpasses knowledge? I pray as I sing. Help me be the gentle, loving person You made me to be.

It's not easy to trust and obey. You must believe in the supernatural. I love the idea of the supernatural. But tangible would be much easier. Something I can see, or grasp. Love this little boy, and you get a big slice of chocolate cake! This isn't how the supernatural works. It's more subtle, obviously.

But spiritual strength is so admirable. It's at the top of my bucket list! To love no matter what, even when others around me aren't strong. To be the strong one, myself. 

Lord Jesus, I pray and pray and pray for this love that surpasses knowledge. I pray that I may be filled to the measure of it, the measure of all the fullness of God.

Prayers for 1/6/14

Today's bible reading was Proverbs 6:20-23

My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:

6:21

Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.

6:22

When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.

6:23

For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life

Tim's message at yesterday's service was that we ought to keep in mind God's purpose, his glory, as we go about tinkering with our lives. 

Bind God's glory upon thine heart, and tie it about thine neck.

How to put this into practice? Lord, I pray that you will show me.

I pray that I will figure out how to walk with you. And listen.

I pray for Lee today as he faces a boss he's convinced doesn't like him.

I pray for myself, that I would figure out what it is you have for me to do next!!!!

I pray for the women of my BSF group, that each of their requests would be lifted up before you.

I pray for Sara and Andy.

I pray for my children.

Amen

12/18 prayers

Psalm 121 is so lovely.

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
    where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot slip—
    he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The Lord watches over you—
    the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
    nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord will keep you from all harm—
    he will watch over your life;
8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going
    both now and forevermore.

Yesterday I prayed that God's light would shine through me, and I pray it again. I can rest in the knowledge that He is watching over me.

I pray now for Lee, who is so ravaged by stress and the demands of his boss. I pray that he will remember you, Lord. That he will feel your supernatural peace, and your help.

I pray for God to hear the requests on my ASK list, and that each woman would feel his presence and understanding. Me too.

Lord, what next? What's my next step? What is the way forward?

I pray for Laura to find peace despite the cancer growing within her, and I pray for total healing.

In your son's name I pray,

Amen

prayers for December 16, 2013

I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ. I will ask first, What does God want me to do/say? I wonder what He has in mind for my next step. I put the question out there, and then I keep my mind open and look for the answer. 

How does God want me to handle time with Sara? In God's eyes the best way to interact with my family is selflessly. Consider my selfish desires unimportant compared to my role as God's instrument in their lives. Same goes for what I do next, professionally. What does God want me to do? How can I serve Him?

God gives me gifts all the time. Just now after the girls were being hateful on the ride to school, Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas" came on. And I sang and felt joy and showed them my joy, and it was contagious. I turned and saw Isabel smiling and singing along. Life is about this, a celebration! Small moments of celebration. We hop from these, from one to the next and remember that another one is always around the corner.

I see myself as Lee's help mate, given to him by God and cheered on by God, guided to fill in the gaps where needed. Lee has room to grow, as do I, and I trust God to show me how to play my part in it. I see the coming days and weeks with family as an opportunity to serve God and be a beacon of light, like Emily Gilbert or Leigh Sain or Ellen Foster.

I am fully capable of doing the right thing, of banishing unhelpful thoughts, or encouraging the people around me. I pray with assurance that God is listening when I seek healing for Laura in my BSF group. 

I pray that God's light will shine through me and that I would be a light to those around me. I pray that I would experience his supernatural peace in the days and weeks to come.

God coincidence

I signed up for BSF this year without really knowing how I was going to pull it off, because I have a daily deadline of 12:30 pm (for iVillage). These first weeks, I've been rushing out of there ASAP and hurrying home to get my work done. Also: one day I hung back in the classroom after everyone else went to lecture, and basically hid in there doing my iVillage work, until I was allowed to sign out the lesson for the following week.

My plan was to make it work, through hiding out to get work done, or signing out lessons ahead of time, or rushing home early. 

Yesterday, out of the blue, my editor changed my work schedule between now and Christmas. It doubles up my Monday work, and more or less CLEARS my Tuesday mornings.

I realized that I haven't seen a God coincidence like this in a long time. When they have happened, it's often been related to BSF. I thought back on all the ways the BSF has shaped major directions in my life. I met Lee through friends I met at BSF. I found our church in NJ through someone at BSF. I found Laurie, my Christian (and only) connection in Georgia, through BSF, and through Laurie I found my mentoring group with Martha and though it, my current church.

But back to this latest God coincidence. In my BSF class, we talked about Rahab, the prostitute who helped Joshua's men in Jericho. Rahab was a woman who acted. She got things done, and not always in the "Christian" way. She heard that Joshua's God had parted the Red Sea to deliver his people, and that those very people were not bent on conquering Jericho. She had a decision to make: Who's side would she take? Would she put her faith in the strong-walled Jericho, or would she put her faith in the God who she'd heard had parted the Red Sea? 

She took a calculated risk, and chose the latter. Then she lied to and deceived her own authorities in order to protect Joshua. And God blessed her.

I'm like her. I didn't pray that God would ease the way for me to do BSF. I schemed and made it work. I wanted to be in BSF, even though I'd forgotten what it's like to experience God coincidences. All I remembered was that BSF is good. And then God cleared the way.

I'm an imperfect Christian, and I ought to strive to be better. But I can rest in the fact that I am, in fact, a child of God no matter what. And he's here and willing to interact with me.

In the notes this week, BSF asks the question: Will you thank God in advance for how he will care for you through your present difficulties?

My present difficulties are that I'm frustrated with Lee's reckless spending (we're still carrying $6000 in credit card debt and yet he bought himself nearly $1600 worth of electronics for his birthday). And I'm frustrated that when I went to Bible study on Monday night, I was the only one who shared honestly, and the big crowd just sort of blinked at me. TMI, apparently. Embarrassing. 

However: God is here and involved. Thank you, Lord, for how you will care for me through these circumstances. Change my heart for Lee. No more resentment, just love and support. I pray that someone would come into Lee's life to say the things I want to say. I pray that you would change me, give me peace and gratitude for him and for my life and all your blessings.

In light of you, what are money problems? Nothing.

In your son's name I pray.

Amen

The day ahead

The day ahead...

One post 

Meeting with Mrs. Hughes

Self magazine essay

Ellison play date

Dinner

Lee

Colossians 3:22-4:1

The Message (MSG)

^22-25 Servants, do what you’re told by your earthly masters. And don’t just do the minimum that will get you by. Do your best. Work from the heart for your real Master, for God, confident that you’ll get paid in full when you come into your inheritance. Keep in mind always that the ultimate Master you’re serving is Christ. The sullen servant who does shoddy work will be held responsible. Being a follower of Jesus doesn’t cover up bad work.

4 And masters, treat your servants considerately. Be fair with them. Don’t forget for a minute that you, too, serve a Master—God in heaven.

Hesitancy about Self magazine article...God's word: Work from the heart for your real Master, for God. Keep in mind always that the ultimate Master you’re serving is Christ.

The day ahead

The day ahead...

Two posts
Research what's next
Grace, Isabel, Lily
Lee

God's word...

Colossians 3:18-19

The Message (MSG)

¹⁸ Wives, understand and support your husbands by submitting to them in ways that honor God.