Bribery and Jesus

It started on a whim.

One morning on the way to school, my youngest child, Paul, recited a verse he had learned in Kraze. His sister, Madison, knew it, too.  Then she rattled off another verse she happened to know, which Paul repeated.  They were pretty impressed with themselves for knowing two verses.

On our way to school the next morning, I asked one of them to pray out loud, and then, out of the blue, they both recited their verses again.  I taught them one more for good measure, and so began our newest tradition: praying and memorizing bible verses on the way to school.

When they had mastered 8 verses, I dangled a carrot in front of them: $10 for 10 verses.  Yeah, I know, bribery might not be the wisest avenue to take, but they took the bait, and today they earned $10 each! Here are the verses they’ve memorized:

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Exodus 20:3 You must not have any gods but me.

Isaiah 6:8 I heard the voice of the Lord.  He said, “Who will I send? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am.  Send me.”

Psalms 39:7 Where should I put my hope?  My only hope is in You.”

Psalms 119:27 Help me understand the meaning of Your commandments, and I will meditate on Your wonderful deeds.

Proverbs 11:27 The generous shall prosper. Those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

Philippians 4:19 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. 

James 1:19 Understand this, brothers and sisters: All of you must be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.

James 3:2 For indeed we have all made many mistakes.  For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and able to control ourselves in every other way.

Pretty awesome, huh? It may look like a lot, but it literally takes us about 5-6 minutes to pray and recite the verses. I especially love when they explain the verses to me.  Understanding is more important than memorization.

Want to know the best part? As they’ve recited those verses each morning, I’ve learned them, too.  Score!

Today, I’m one proud mama….especially because the kiddos just found 2 new verses.  They want to tackle another set of 10!

If you are looking for an easy way to disciple your kids, give this a shot.  You just might find you disciple YOURSELF in the process.

 

Loud Whispers

I love the way God speaks.  He’s so soft-spoken, yet so loud.

He uses circumstances in my life to remind me of what’s important or confirm a task He has for me.  He often speaks through other people to encourage or challenge me.  When I’m praying, I often sense Him guiding my thoughts or emotions.  Some of my most powerful moments with God haven’t been in worship services or revivals, they’ve been in my private prayer life.  God also speaks – consistently – through the Bible.  Yep, while I read Scripture each morning, God never fails to remind me, caution me, convict me, comfort me, teach me,….speak to me.  In all of these ways, God quietly speaks to me.  But, here’s the loud part: He often coordinates all of these ways to speak to me all at once.

Like, this week.  Sunday’s message at MLC was all about our great need to give and show love.  God whispered to my heart how important love is.  I was recently reminded of the consequences a Believer faces when we fail to love God with all of our heart.  As I watch this friend struggle through the aftermath of his sin, I remember how important it is to keep my eyes on Jesus.  I’ve also been reading through Kay Warren’s book, Say Yes To God.  God used her words to remind me that my service to God and people should be based on my love for and humble submission to my Lord.  And, then this morning, I read these verses:

1 John 3:18-19 “We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.  Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God.”

John 13:35 “By this everyone will know you are My disciples, if you love one another.”

So, God is teaching me about love this week…this season in my life.  Why?  I’m not sure, yet.  But, I’m taking it all in.  I’m writing down what He says.  I’m connecting the dots.  I’m positive I’ll need this lesson in the future, and I’m going to be ready for what God requires of me.

I don’t know if you ever sense God speaking to you, but I know He does.  He quietly whispers to all of us all the time.  And, if you learn to connect the dots between your prayer life, your Scripture reading, and your circumstances, those whispers will get very loud.

What about you?  What is God teaching you these days?  Are you listening?

Refreshing Reminders: The Power of a Praying Wife

Back in September, I had the honor of spending a few days with 16 other Pastor’s wives (PW’s) from across the country at a retreat called Refresh.  We worshiped, laughed, shared ministry tips, and stayed up way too late each night.  The retreat was hosted by my friend, Holly Furtick, wife of Pastor Steven Furtick of Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC.  We spent two and a half days sharpening each other regarding our own personal growth, our family life, our positions in our churches, and especially our friendships.  It did my heart a world of good to hang out with my friends.

The first night of the retreat, Steven shared a message with us entitled, “What Your Husband Needs.” He had contacted a few of our husbands and posed that question to them and then compiled their responses (of course, some of us were a little nervous)  into a message directed right to our hearts.  But, what he had to say didn’t apply only to PW’s!  Every wife could benefit from his words.  So, over few Wednesdays, I’ll share more of what he had to say.

This week I wanted to focus on this point: “I Need You To Pray For Me.”

That struck me.  I pray for my husband, but I needed to be reminded how crucial my prayers could be in his life.  I know my husband faces spiritual warfare.  I know my husband bears the weight of the world on his shoulders at times.  I know my husband feels the pressure to lead our family and provide for us.  Who better to pray for him than me?  I know his weaknesses.  I can destroy him, or I can pray him into power.

So, I came home from the retreat and created a journal just for my hubby.  In it, I’m pleading with God on Shawn’s behalf.  I’m praying his weaknesses into power, and I’m praying his strengths into victories for the Kingdom.  One day I’ll share it with him.  Until then, it’s between me and God.

Your husband faces battles and decisions that are heavy on his heart, too.  He needs you to pray for him.  Pray him into power!

A Peek At My Prayer Life

Yesterday, I told you about the latest message series at Mountain Lake Church, Angels and Demons.  Check out the cool intro video.  My husband taught us that, as Believers, we have two INCREDIBLE weapons at our disposal to defend us against all kinds of spiritual attacks – our Bible and prayer.  We tackled the Bible yesterday. Today, the spotlight is on prayer.   As promised, here’s an inside look at my prayer life.

Have you ever caught yourself falling asleep while you were praying?  Does your mind ever wander to completely unrelated subjects while you pray – like the grocery list, the meeting you will attend later in the day, or some TV show you forgot to TiVo?  Or, do you find that you just don’t know what to pray about?  Uh, me too.  It’s called being human.  Welcome to reality.  I used to beat myself up about my lack of focus and my lack of a desire to actually talk to God.  That is, until I started keeping a journal.  Writing my prayers down keeps me focused on the task at hand and, even better, provides me with a written record of God’s activity in my life.  Here are a few of the questions I ask myself before I pray:

1.  What Scripture has God used to speak to me lately?

2.  How have I experienced God lately?

3.  What adjustments do I feel God is calling me to make?

4. Who needs my prayers?

Then, I simply talk with God.  No “thee’s” and “thou’s”.  I just ask Him to explain things to me and talk with Him about what He wants from my life.  It’s not rocket science.  It’s not even very eloquent. I don’t put on any airs.

Sometimes I write out my prayer.  Other times, I just make bullet points.  Every few months, I find it incredibly helpful to look back over my journal.  You’d be surprised at what you see.  I have been.  Often, I don’t see the forest for the trees.  Reviewing my journal entries gives me a bird’s eye view on my relationship with God.

That’s my prayer life.  My mind tends to wander to all the things I want to accomplish in the day, so I need a way to focus my attention if I want to “stay alert and be persistent” in my prayers, like Ephesians 6:18 teaches.  So, my trusty journal helps me sharpen my prayer life.

So, what holds YOU back from a prayer life that you could be happy about?  Figure it out and develop a solution.  It’s worth it…..and you NEED it!