Lord, please let her feel your mercy and grace today....
Eyes open wide as cat jumps on counter, again..must get those dishes washed and out of that sink..and oh, must remember to feed the cat...
she goes in at 10:00 this morning, You know what she needs right now...
left eye peeks at clock.
Already 9:30?! so much to do before I have to pick the boys up from school...
Be with my oldest son today, Lord, I don't know if I can handle another phone call from the principal...
Be still, and know that I am God~Psalms 46:10
I better leave early enough to pick up the kids so I can drop by the grocery store first...I hate having them with me when I'm trying to shop...
Make our money last until we get the next paycheck please...it's getting harder and harder to make it last...
prayer bench beckons...
...as I pass by with laundry laden arms.
I can't stop. I'd like to. Someday I hope to have enough time to pray... like Jesus and like the all Jews did throughout the centuries. The fixed hour prayer of David , the set prayer times like Daniel...
"Now when Daniel... he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before." -Daniel 6:10
It's time to stop to pray, but I don't have enough time as it is before the kids come home...
This basement is such a mess, wasn't it clean for company only a few days ago? ~sometimes the lack of virtue and character in my children really scares me.
I stop short...I did address my Lord in that thought, didn't I?
Father God, have I deluded myself into thinking my self-talk qualifies as legitimate prayer? What is missing... is You. I have been having a conversation with me!
"The only thing that prevents me from praying more is me." "It's my own inflated sense of self-importance, the elevation of my work, of my agenda, that keeps me from prayer-communion."
~ Ann Voskamp
Martha wasted an amazing opportunity. And many times, so do I. She let the demands of every day overshadow the call of the divine. In fact, in Luke 10:39-42, Jesus gently chided Martha, and affirmed Mary's choice to sit and spend time with Him in the middle of all the work that had to be done.
Now as Jesus and his disciples went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me." But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her." In [Luke 10] vs. 42, Jesus told Martha her sister did what was "needed." So in Jesus' mind, whatever Martha was doing wasn't needed at that moment…whether it was to impress, pamper or comfort Him. Jesus just wanted Martha to sit down and spend time with Him.
~ (Commentary) John MacArthur
Martha's busyness was a distraction from the "one thing" that was really needed-listening to Jesus.
If prayer is conversation with Almighty God...when do I ever listen?
Realization sinks in....I am squandering the time my Lord has given to me..these hours without having to attend to the needs of my children could be spent with Him. Even a tenth of my free time, would be more than I have given back to Him...
And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD.
~Leviticus 27:32
but Prayer is a lifestyle and a relationship, not a duty or obligation...
Prayer is a heart longing to unite with the holy purposes of God for their accomplishment...
~John MacArthur
Slow down...choose wisely...give back my time...
Humbled, knees bend at prayer bench as human spirit is quickened, moving toward the throne of Grace that connects heaven and earth. Tears ensue, dripping hot with shame, as Holy Spirit convicts heart of idolatrous sin that chose inflated sense of self importance, that elevates a day's agenda, over Him. Even when children arrive home, midst the chaos, moments could be found to give back to Him.
The extent of prayer in one's life is a direct function of whether something else has been set up as more important than God.
~Ann Voskamp
Familiar warmth floods body...and I pause exalting God...basking in His forgiveness, and the beauty of His Glory.
How could I have ever have thought that a prayer muttered here and there, as I pursue the business of the day was enough for Him...
and for me?
Next to the wonder of seeing my Savior will be, I think, the wonder that I made so little use of the power of prayer.
~D.L. Moody
Always Seeking Higher Ground,
Nora
Join me as I embrace Ann Voskamp's "Walk with Him Wednesday" Community @ Holy Experience, and "slip out of bed into a fresh year" of cultivating Daniel's spiritual discipline of scheduling 3 set times for stilling in the presence of the Almighty, and choosing the "one[better] thing" of.... listening.
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