Category: PrayerPoints

Simply Start

Sometimes I have such a grandiose plan that instead of starting simply I make it incredibly complicated to start at all.

I try to dot every i and cross every t and then I lose momentum to ever begin.

I am so thankful God knows me (He created me!) and knows this about me. When He nudges me down a path, He does not expect me to marathon it — He expects me to take the first steps on the path.

Simply start.

Step-by-step I will gather new info that will help me move forward. I don’t need to know all of the path before I make a move. It involves faith and trust. And it also requires action on my part. The best first action for me is to pray about it. And ask God to keep me aware of what I need to do next. Sometimes the opportunities just start making their appearance. Some I recognize right away, others I am a bit slow on noticing. God even builds in second, third, and forth chances!

Are you psyching yourself out by expecting to know the whole shebang before you even start? Ask God to direct your steps. And simply start.

PrayerPoints for 2025

Each year for at least 16 years I have been writing daily PrayerPoints during Lent.

I have grown to love this rhythm.

There have been times I have experimented with variations and adding on additional PrayerPoints during the year, but the Lenten season is always the right time for me for PrayerPoints. By this time of the year I am so ready to step outside of my regular day-to-day schedule and create PrayerPoints to share with you.

So, welcome to this season of PrayerPoints!

On a personal note: This year I have been reading through the Bible in a year using The Bible Recap and I love it. I am on Day 64 and it has been a while since I have systematically read through the Bible like this. I encourage you to check it out — it isn’t too late to jump on board! I started in January but you can read through the Bible in a year ANYTIME! I particularly like the daily recap as well as the overview of the books of the Bible. And, you can read on your own or you can choose to have them read to you and you follow along.

We continue to settle into our neighborhood. We have been getting to know our immediate neighbors better as well as the ones a block or two away. And, since we started picking up trash in our 8 or so block area, we have had quite a few neighbors stop us and thank us for picking up the trash.

Picking up trash is not quite a full time job around here, but almost. And how easy it is to draw a parallel with things of Faith.

Picking up trash is so much easier when it is one piece. If I see something big, I try to deal with it right away because if I leave it for another day, the chances are pretty high it will be smashed into many more pieces the next time I walk by. So, dealing with something sooner rather than later — like an offense, grudge, concern — is better than letting it fester and grow and spread. That can happen pretty quickly when things go unchecked.

I encourage you to sit for a moment and think about that junk in your life — things that need to be confessed to God. He delights to hear from you and He delights to forgive you. When you are in the habit of daily communication with God, you are giving Him room to direct your thoughts and steps. I don’t know about you, but left to my own devises and my own ideas, I can find myself surrounded by a lot of trash pretty quickly!

I am so thankful God takes all my trashy thoughts and ideas and transforms my heart, soul, and mind!

Have an amazing day!
Liz

The Empty Tomb

The empty tomb is full of promises kept.

Jesus fulfilled that which we could not.

From start to finish

From beginning to end

From now until forevermore

God makes the way by providing what we need for this life and the new life to come.

Come, Lord Jesus. Be our guest. And let thy gifts to us be blessed. Amen.

He is Risen!

He is Risen, indeed!

Alleluia!

What is to come

Sometimes we want to know how “it” is going to happen. Or when “it” will happen. But, mostly, it seems, we don’t get the heads up. Things happen and we are either ready for it or we are not and we need to switch gears.

Sometimes the anticipation is more anxiety producing than the event we are expecting or dreading.

God is there. He is here, now. And He is there, in our next steps. And He will carry us through in ways we mY not be able to put into words.

Some of our “to comes” are things we are dreading…things we don’t want to walk through, witness, or endure.

Even as we think about Jesus’ betrayal, suffering, and death — not something to look forward to experiencing. Yet, in that ugliness God gave us an unimaginable gift.

May we view our uncertainties and difficulties knowing that Jesus understands our pain and will lead us through them. God’s unimaginable gift is for us each and every day.

Heavenly Father — Thank you for Jesus’ sacrifice. It allows us the gift of everlasting life. Amen.

Take the time

Sometimes I want to get to “the other side” of an experience and so I try to bulldoze my way through it.

If it’s cleaning or a task or something that doesn’t involve human thoughts and emotions, it is usually doable.

I can power through laundry, shopping, cleaning….

But powering through things like a disagreement with someone I care for or working through a complex relationship situation or processing some difficult news is just not something to expect of myself or others.

These things take time.

We all need time to think, mourn, process, feel, understand, pray, and work through all of the emotions of difficult situations. Be sure to take the time to work through things and not just try to breeze through them. Sometimes, a good friend can be a great resource but don’t forget a pastor or a Christian therapist might also be an important resource.

Take the time.

And be confident in God’s work in you through the difficult circumstances. He loves you and is with you every step of the way.

Invitations

When we are invited to do something, we have an opportunity to decide if we want to participate in it.

God gives is plenty of opportunities to connect with Him — from sunrises to Scripture to intercessions to giving thanks to worship to Baptism to Holy Communion and more.

Each and every day He calls us — by our name — and invites us to be with Him and to join Him in the work He is doing.

May our ears and hearts hear the invitations and accept the gifts He offers us!

Overload

I love how God has wired us as humans.

We all have different capacities for different loads. One load is not better than the other. They are just different.

Our stations and situations in life differ wildly. We are spread out all over the globe. We might be single or in school or employed or retired.

While we don’t all travel the same path, as believers we are headed toward the same direction — growing in our relationship with Christ.

As for me, some days I am running joyfully in my spiritual life. Other days I am distracted and I wander off course. And sometimes I am just putting one foot in front of the other, burdened with the weight of struggles.

And when I hit overload, I can feel it. What are the demands I put on myself? Have I committed to too many things at once?

Now is as good a time as any to take stock of what things look like. If it is a short season — like a week — you might be able to stick it out. But longer then that and you likely need to reprioritize. What is sustainable? What is healthy? What is doable for you?

Ask God to give you the wisdom and discernment to know what are the things you should put down for a time as well as those things you should pick up. Call it a bit of spring cleaning — for your schedule.

There will always be needs around you. Ask God for discernment on those things that are really yours to do.

We can be so hard on ourselves…

Have you ever noticed that sometimes you are harder on yourself than you are on others?

Well, maybe you are also hard on others and you maybe should check on that.

Those voices that are in your head? Sometimes they aren’t kind at all. But, first you need to notice that they are there.

And those thoughts that are not loving and kind are not from God.

Does God love every thing we do and say? No, but He does not condemn us. So take note of the tone of voice floating around in your mind. Ok, it might not be audible, but there is such a thing as self-talk.

Negative thoughts make their appearance and take root at a variety of points in our lives. At some point we need to work through them and dismantle them.

But, spending more time in God’s Word and surrounding yourself with Scripture is definitely an important first step. I didn’t come up with this phrase but I think it can be helpful — it is hard to stand on Scripture when you aren’t in it.

You know how satan’s schemes. He distracts us and we even distract ourselves. Will we ever get to the bottom of it all? Maybe. Maybe not. But spending time with God, offering intercessions for others, expressing gratitude, and memorizing encouragement from Scripture is never a waste.

Write out your thoughts and prayers. Offer them up.

And give yourself the grace you are so inclined to give others!

May God grant you His perfect peace!