Category Archives: a quick word

how might I pray?

People sometimes ask me how they can pray for me. Not often, but every now and again. I’m very appreciative when they do because I know there is deep sincerity attached to the asking. There’s something about having my name lifted before the throne of heaven that reassures me, connects me, attaches me to the Sacred in stronger measure.

Personally, I think we should ask the question more … be more available with our willingness and our petitions on behalf of one another. We’re good at “saying so”, but are we deliberate with our “doing so”?

Not always. Guilty as charged. My well-meaning isn’t always followed up by my well-doing; I’ve tried to be mindful of that before speaking my allegiance regarding my prayers. I know my human limitations and my frailty where prayer is concerned and, therefore, I try and not make prayer an “offering” of my heart to others unless I’m willing to back it up with my words.

That’s just what works for me. How does it work for you? Is your faithfulness to pray in keeping with your promises to pray? When we say that we will pray, but we don’t, what’s gained? Who wins? What’s the point?

Good intentions?

Our good intentions never land anyone’s needs before the throne of God, at least not from our lips. Saying we’ll pray has become a casual word-toss in our Christian circles. It fits with the rhetoric of a faith journey. But prayer is more than rhetoric. Prayer is the intimate connection between our hearts and our Father’s. Our prayers are the words that pave the road from our spirit to his. What we say to him matters; what we don’t matters as well. It’s all entwined together … our words and our silence. The truest truth of our heart weaves intricately in between the two.

I don’t write these words to lecture you. If anyone needs a good lecturing, it’s me. I simply want to do better in my prayer life; I want to operate my heart from a place of sincere understanding and willingness to stand in your stead in your time of need. I want the same in return.

We give one another a great gift when we move ourselves away from the computer screen, get down on our knees, and spend some time in intentional prayer for each other. Not only are our hearts refreshed, but there is movement that occurs in the heavenlies that might not otherwise happen when our words intersect with the heart of the Father.

And I, for one, could use some heavenly “movement” today. How about you? Are there some things in your life that need a special mention before the throne? I’m asking because I’m committing my heart to prayer in your behalf this week. If you’d like to do the same for me, here are my thoughts in keeping in line with the Apostle Paul’s…

Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. (Ephesians 6:19-20).

Do you realize that we’re all chained to something? If I’m going to be chained to anything, I want my chains to link directly back to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I want my words, my actions, my thoughts, my “going out” and my “coming in”, my lying down and my getting up to be fully entrenched with the ministry of the kingdom.

Sure, there are other needs that are ever-present in my life, but if I could request but one thing for the road ahead, this is it.

A mouth filled with the words of Jesus, fearlessly spoken on behalf of his good name and his good grace. This is how you can pray for me this week. How might I pray for you?

As always,

~elaine

PS: I’ll be MIA for the week, but I will be faithful in my prayers for you. Please leave your requests in the comment section. Shalom.

a gracious grace revisited…

a gracious grace revisited…

I want to tell you how I feel tonight.
That being said, feelings are sometimes a dangerous soil from which to write. Seeds planted there spring forth from the rawest point of the human condition, and I have not always found this to be the most profitable way to manage my emotions. I long to put parameters around my weekend, to somehow be able to express to you all that’s going on inside of me, but in doing so, I’m afraid my words will fail … won’t adequately capture the depth of what I’ve tasted.

I’m not sure I need to. Some moments are better left to the sacred sanctuary of our silence. But throughout the past forty-eight hours, and in the midst of my desire to bookmark this chapter in my life titled Little River UMC, I’ve come to a simple, yet grand conclusion about the weekend. A few words I’d like to serve as my “stone of remembrance” regarding the grace of God and just how far he has traveled on my behalf to bestow on me the gift of sacred participation in his kingdom work.

I love God and his Word more today than I did yesterday. I want to jump into the pages of Scripture and be part of the story. I want to bury my head in the midst of God’s truth until it spews out of my mouth and ears and hands and feet. I want to scour every inch of every word that’s been written in the Word until it becomes the final word behind my many words.

Why the passion? Why the urgency? Why the need?

Because yesterday God proved himself faithful … again. Yesterday, I stood as a living witness to the power and transformation of God’s Spirit existing within me. To be used by God and to know that this usefulness is happening as it happens is the greatest joy and confirmation I have ever known. It wasn’t the expressions on the faces of those who gathered that signaled to me my effectiveness; it was the impression I felt deep within my soul.

Yesterday, I made a heartfelt offering to God. In my time of preparation leading up to the event, I promised to give him my best—to be a student of his Word and then to take my “learning” and to share it liberally with his children. Tonight, my heart longs to watch the seeds of that sharing blossom into something more … perhaps some of the reason behind my stirring emotions this evening. But yesterday’s sowing belongs to another … to hands that are better able to grow all things in accordance with a master plan that exceeds my efforts at cultivation.

Father God knows best the next steps in the journey … both theirs and mine. I must trust him with the “finishing” work. In the meantime, he tells me that we’ve got some finishing to do on my end. That I should fix my eyes on the road ahead, cast a glance in a forward direction, and continue my tutelage under his capable leadership.

I want to be prepared for more moments of having my heart stirred by holy impression. Whether they come to me through a group setting, a one-on-one encounter at the local grocery store, in my home or around the table with friends, wherever and whenever kingdom seed is called for, I want my pockets full for the sowing.

I don’t want to have to do research when the world comes knocking. I want to live the research that has come to me through intentional study and preparation. I want to prepared, in season and out to give a reason for the hope that I carry within my heart.

Thus, I get back to the Word this week. I keep learning, keep listening, keep bending to the leading of my Father’s initiative. He has something more for me, and I plan on jumping into the pages of holy writ in order to find it.

Would you join me in the search? Pull up your chair alongside of me in God’s classroom to see what he might want to teach you? Would you open up the good book to a good story and take your place as an active participant in the scene? All of God’s Word stands ready for our willing participation. None of it is null and void of purpose. It’s still breathing with authenticity, with life, and with the power to change hearts, move mountains, and bring us to our knees in absolute wonder regarding its worth.

I want God’s wonder this week; I want the same for you. All of us, every last one of us, are given a measure of influence upon this earth. Let’s invest our portion toward kingdom end, and let’s do so in remembrance and thankfulness for the grace we’ve tasted. As always…

peace for the journey,

PS: You might remember me writing about Mr. Calvin and the strong impression he had on me when I visited Little River last year (click here to read). That’s him in the picture above. He found me during a session break, and when I invited him to sit in on the last session with the ladies, he went home, put on a suit and returned. Truly, he is one of God’s most precious saints. I’ll see you again, Calvin.

 

a worthy entrance

“Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ tell him, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’” (Mark 11:2-3).

It occurs to me this night that as we stand on the edge of a new week with Jesus, we do so with the same words of instruction spoken over us that were spoken over the disciples nearly 2000 years ago.

To go ahead into the village and to find a colt for Jesus. Not for his possession, but rather for his procession. For his entrance into a world that needs to know its Savior cometh. That the long ago and faraway mention of a Palm Sunday parade is just as real and vital today as it was back then. Jesus is still in the habit of mingling with his children. The stage may have changed, but the stakes haven’t.

Eternity still hangs in the balance. There is yet a need for his exposure, for his truth to make entrance in the hearts of a generation whose hearts are hungering for the redemption of a cross and the resurrection from a tomb. Palms and waving branches are not meant for the isolation of a calendared Easter. They are the worthy proclamation of our faith. We may not carry them in the streets of Jerusalem, but we are called to carry them into the streets of our tomorrows.

Our workplaces;
Our homes;
Our schools;
Our hospitals;
Our meals;
Our phone calls;
Our e-mails;
Our churches;
Our meetings;
Our interactions;
Our interruptions.

Wherever our feet land becomes the worthy soil of our long-standing tradition. An ancient understanding that supersedes pageantry to become the stage where the King makes his entrance and where his disciples stand aside to allow him his moment in the light.

Go, my friends, make the necessary preparations in your heart to present our Lord and Savior to the world this day. We are the living conduits of his grace and mercy—the vessels he uses to make his entrance into the hearts and lives of those who fill our daily routine. It doesn’t make good sense to choose us, for I imagine that most of us have failed along these lines throughout our journey with Jesus.

But the gift of a new day is knowing that we’ve been given a few more moments to live our faith better, to wave our palms higher, and to present Christ bigger. When the world asks us (for there are almost always a few questions surrounding an unexpected parade) why we are doing this, may the answer of our hearts, speak the courage of our belief…

The Lord needs it, and we need to do it for him.

For him.

Let the branches of our celebration wave in honor of our King. Carry him well, share him liberally, and celebrate the entrance of his love into your life with all the fullness your heart can hold. May the hosanna of your witness and the hosanna of mine blend in chorus to be the sweet music of heaven announcing Christ’s arrival to his created people. I’ll meet you on the streets of Jerusalem this week. As always…

peace for the journey,

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come and worship…

come and worship…

Do you know why I love running so much?


Not because of the cardiovascular benefits.
Not because of the endorphin release.
Not because it feeds a twenty plus year obsession.
Not because I hold any illusions of ever being a size 8 or even a size 10 again.
Not because it’s an escape from my children.
Not because it puffs me up.
Not because of the great outdoors.

Not because of any of these reasons.

I like running for many of them, but the reason I love running is that when I am running, I experience a closeness with Jesus that I don’t experience at any other times during my week. When I run, my heart feels most ready and most willing to meet him. Most amenable to the idea of the sky splitting wide open and of my running home to be with him forever.

Perhaps you’ve known this feeling. I imagine it comes to each one of us in different ways via different venues … at least I hope it does. When God meets us in an intimate forum, on familiar ground and with consistent measure, we cannot help but want more of him and, therefore, move our hearts toward him.

Whatever gets you to the feet of Jesus this weekend, do it. Meet him where you’ve met him before, and should the sky split open and your faith catch a glimpse of your glorious forever, cradle that moment in your heart as a sacred gift from a gracious God who loves you.

Who came for you. Who waits for you. Who longs for you… just you. Come and worship your King this day.

As always…

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whispers of home

whispers of home

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.” (Psalm 19:1).


“Look at that, mommy. I think God made it beautiful just for us.”


Those were my daughter’s words as we exited Wal-Mart not long ago. I’ve learned to keep my camera in my purse for moments such as these … times when God shows up and shows off just because he’s … well … God.

The pictures don’t do our beholding any measure of justice. The pinks were rich and deep and amply encased in the sky above us. Even before my daughter put thoughts to her vision, my thoughts stirred in the same direction.

Sometimes God paints a vivid explanation point to his presence; sometimes we take notice. Not all will give credit to the painter, but many will, knowing that such extravagance speaks a language beyond human understanding. Each and every day we’re presented with the handiwork of our Creator. His language is rich with a beauty that cannot be replicated in full. Words that…

Bloom a flower.
Paint a sky.
Stir an ocean.
Spark a fire.
Blow a breeze.
Bend a tree.
Wet the earth.
Ice the ponds.
Strip the trees.
Scorch the desert.
Dew the mornings.

Indeed, creation speaks a language all its own; in doing so, you and I are given the invitation to take notice. To see beyond the constraints of a civilized tongue and to accept God’s summons to converse at a deeper level. A holier level where our words are few and his are on display adding chapter and verse to our limited vocabulary.

Sometimes it takes the brilliance of a night sky to capture our interest, our notice and our acknowledgement. Sometimes it takes the heart of child who better understands her Father’s intention behind a vivid painting and who isn’t afraid to voice her praise along those lines. Sometimes it takes a trip to Wal-Mart where the contrary nature of such an expedition speaks in stark opposition to what is waiting for its customers beyond its doors.

Regardless of the methods God uses to get our attention, he intends to do so. He is worthy of our notice and is pleased with our acknowledgement regarding his creative genius—his goodness because of his “God-ness”.

This week will be filled with such occasions for each one of us. Times when God will pour forth his language via his creation. He will tailor make an invitation to suit our contrasting lifestyles and busyness. Most likely, it will be unexpected and unforeseen. But God will speak; there is nothing unexpected in his promises to do so. The unreliable factor regarding the “hearing” lies with us. Therefore, let us not miss the grace of God as it arrives; instead, let us open our ears, our eyes, our hearts and our minds, to believe and receive God’s language of invitation this week.

God is making something beautiful just for us. Notice him and find your praise.

The whispers of home are calling your name. As always…

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PS: I will post the winner of the Bebo CD with my next post; happy Labor Day!

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