Prayer a two way conversation?

 

I have been thinking a lot about prayer lately! People who are in so much pain or need ask for prayer and I immediately say I will pray and I do there and then and then when they come into my mind. I don't kneel for hours on end in intercession! I often talk to God in snatches usually when I am in the car when I think to turn the music or radio off! I often pray when I am running or when I am washing up!!

 

Lately I have been asking God questions like " Have I learnt my lesson?" and 'How do you view that person God' ( a person who I struggle to love) I should ask this question more often ' What should I do?' He doesn't  answer in an audible voice but a strong impression comes into my mind.

I realise that often I just rant at God or not even talk to Him at all and I know I do not take enough time to listen to Him.

 

I am challenging my self to talk to God more often and then ask Him if He has anything to say to me! Not just coming to Him with a list of people or problems and make it a two way relationship!!

 

 

 

 



I recently went on a retreat and it was very different from what I expected the major thing I received from it was different words for Jesus. Jehovah Shammah the abiding presence of Jesus.
In Ezekial Ch 48 v 35 a city is named The Lord is there!!

I wonder if I am the only one who ever feels that God is not close or that you don't feel him near, I often rely on my feelings instead of the fact that God has promised never to leave or forsake us.

Well I got my reminder this weekend 'He is always there' in fact He is here there and everywhere!!

We often here the saying "We don't know what's around the corner" well actually its true we don't! but we do know who will be there, God!!

So many of my dear friends are suffering right now with illness or they or their families are suffering in someway. I know that when I pray I am praying to a God who is already there. He is there for us to talk to, scream at, be still with, cry with  pout with!! Rejoice with. We cant run away from him because He is always there!!

Jehovah Shammah everyone.

Loving one another

This morning I read the verse in John 13 when Jesus said "They will know that you are my disciples if you love one another" It started me thinking about what love looks like!!
Jesus showed how he loved by reaching down to those who were outcasts, sick, the rejected the untouchables. He spoke to them, touched them, healed them spent time with them.
Often our days are filled with meeting people who are hurting on the inside not so many on the outside so how do we love on those people?
Today I spoke to someone who couldn't forgive someone who had hurt her family years ago. She knew she should forgive as she was a catholic and her comment was "They haven't said sorry and I am not Jesus."
I shared the above verse with her and encouraged her not to let that person live rent free in her head and to let the past go! Did I love on her? Did she feel condemnation from me or compassion?
Love is not a feeling its more like an action,

 

Loving on people is serving its in the little things, love is in the listening, the caring, the going the extra mile its not always in the emotion.

 

So my challenge when I read that verse today was for me to love on people and only when I do that will others see that I am a Jesus follower!

Perfection is alusive as a rainbows end!

Its been a while since I blogged that's because I cant get on to the computer there is always little hands on it!! So if anyone would like to kindly donate a ipad to me just for blogging I would be sooo grateful lol!!!

So I have been thinking alot about perfection and what we as a society define perfection as!
Last week I was going to start by saying I am sat typing this with my dark roots down to my ears, my eyebrows are in such need of shaping that they are scarily becoming a monobrow and I am carrying 14 pounds of fat that I should be carrying!! But alas I now have blond hair again and I punished my eyebrows into submission last night!! But the pounds are still there!!!

I do not aim for perfection but I always want better so I must have that in my head to be slimmer, brighter better! The world surrounds us with photos of what we should be looking like half of the photos are airbrushed but do we still hanker for the worlds view of perfection.

The world is ugly there is hatred and hunger and loss and disunity and homelessness and we don't like to look at it, it makes us feel uncomfortable but its real and so not perfect. This is the world we are living in and I know that me striving for perfection is not going to change any of that what I want to do is accept the imperfect and love those who are imperfect just like Jesus would do and try and make a imperfect world a little better by loving and giving and sharing and reaching out to those who no one will touch.

I read this the other day its deep so stick with it!!
In out throwaway culture, perfectly good goods are
discarded because they have in some way become flawed , slightly broken, or simply no
longer of a desire colour. The waste is atrocious.

In our throw away culture, perfectly good people are
discarded because they are presumed to be in some
way flawed, in some way broken , or the wrong colour.
The waste is abominable. Even insurance companies
will refuse life-cover for some of these.

The presumption is perfection against which judgements
are made discarding decided. But perfection is as elusive as a rainbows end.
And Jesus, broken by the brutality of the cross, showed in his life the broke
openness of compassion to those beyond any margins  we dare impose.

God is bigger!!

Happy New Year!!
So Christmas is over for some households but we are clinging to our green christmas tree and the lovely lights becuase when they all come down and get put away we know the holidays are over!!
One more night looking at the lights!!

This last week  I have had insomnia as soon as my head has touched the pillow my mind has gone into overdrive so many thoughts of all sorts of topics have not stopped whirring through my mind! Things that I really didn't think I was worried about became gigantic!! I would get up take a walk through the house smile at the black bird who didn't realise that it was night time and was singing away at 1.00a.m!! I would check on line and chat with another friend who is going through a tough time and couldn't sleep, then I would try again and lay my weary head down to no avail!!
I would try and pray! I tried thinking of scripture then the thoughts would come back grr! Once again I would get up and this time take a duvet downstairs get cosy and start reading.

What do you do when you cant sleep? Last night I started to think that God is bigger than any thought, worry or problem I, or anyone will ever have to face so through the list of whirring thoughts I placed that thought next to God and asked the question 'Is it bigger than God?' every time the answer was 'no'

Its hard to picture God isn't it? so now I picture a huge mountain that I believe He created so I measure anything against that mountain!!

So at the start of 2013 for all of us that are facing problems big and small this quote is for you!!

I guess all those who know me will know that I am into 'Eucharisteo' the art of giving thanks.jA while back  I started writing a list of all that I was thankful for.

This idea came from the amazing book '1000 gifts' by this wonderful woman called Ann Voskamp. If you haven't read it get it on your Christmas list! 
I realised that daily I had so much to be thankful for or on the days when it was a struggle if I thought about my day I still found at least one thing to be thankful for. 
This last month I have got out of the habit and guess what? I am not as joyful!
Gratitude therefore must plant joy and constantly finding things to be thankful for then must water the joy and make it grow.
I don't know if any of you my friends journal but I have been doing it for years and I often look back to last year's journal and realise I was in the same place as I was then as I am now! God is soooo patient with me!
So I want to start planting joy in my joyless self so am going back to writing my thankful list
These are a few from a week where I have been really struggling with a painful mouth and not wanted to look for things to be thankful for!!

1. Lovely friends surprise parcel that made me laugh outloud!
2. Gorgeous smelling roses from my hubby
3. My oldest making tea
4. My youngest constantly looking after me and giving me hugs

There I have started again!! I read this quote this week " Grattitude opens the gates of heaven!"

Anyone going to join me in a Thankful List?

Seasons of the soul!

 I once heard it said that our souls go through seasons and I am starting to think that it is so!
I love living in England where we get all four seasons I can't really pick my favourite but I love the colours in Autumn.

I was blessed to have a days retreat in a lovely quaint house that had a beautiful garden the Autumn colours mesmerised me and I spent most of my day looking out the window and reflecting at what I saw.

I was watching leaves fall from a huge strong tree and on one branch remained a stubborn bright orange leaf, it would not let go!! It made me think what do I stubbonly keep hold of? I wrote a few down to remind me to work on letting go!! Unforgiveness, selfishness, these two is what I battle with I know all I need to do is just let go and I would free fall into God's arms of grace.

I then watched a lovely lady try and rake a huge lawn of leaves I asked myself Why? She would have been there all day and what for just to do it all over again the next day as that tree certainly had a lot of leaves to fall off!!
I realised that a pile of leaves blocks what is underneath just like this path the wet leaves would be treacherous for anyone to walk on them but look how clear and safe it looks when all the leaves have gone!


Thats just like my life I can easily ignore the pile up of stuff that
is blocking my walk with God or I can rake them up and ask
God to work with me on cleaning up my soul so that I can
walk through the seasons of life not bogged down by mulch of dead leaves. I want to grow so things need to be got rid of for that to happen.

Happy Autumn Everyone