Fishing

(part 1 of 5)

I am not a big fisherman but Don, my husband, always enjoys fishing. He enjoys being out in nature and mostly enjoys the challenge but considers himself just a recreational fisherman. A few years ago we bought Don a kayak so he could fish from on the water instead of next to it. Don has a few different poles and a tackle box full of lures and sometimes he even buys a tub of night crawlers. Don catches a few fish on occasion but he doesn’t keep any because he is a big catch-and-release guy. Here are the things Don takes into consideration when he goes fishing:

Licence: This let’s Don fish legally. He doesn’t leave home without it!

Location: Ideally, Don is trying to find hungry fish or at least ones who will “take the bait”.

Access point: Don has fished next to the water but wasn’t successful so he moved to “on” the water. Some people fish from “in” the water.

Equipment: Don has various poles he takes out when he fishes. He switches it up for variety but he also likes to have a “back up” in case something goes wrong with his favorite.

Lures: He’s got a tackle box full of shiny, tempting things.

Bait: Sometimes he will use minnows and earthworms but not very often.

Intention: Even though he is a catch-and-release guy there is no denying it, some fish do get wounded in this process.

Over the next few days we look at the tools of the trade for fishing from a different vantage point. For now, pray for those who fish for their livelihood. I imagine it can be a very dangerous job.

Adiós!

I’ve been thinking about bad habits lately and as I pondered one of my success stories, it was a wee bit creepy to look back at how I used to think about this certain thing.

I saved for you

I searched for you

I panicked when you weren’t available to me

I looked forward to our refreshing time together

I remember your presence at many of my life events – both large and small

I heard you had a negative impact on me but I just closed my ears… I didn’t want to listen

There were many days when I used you as a reward for getting through a negative experience

I often saw you multiple times in a day but towards the end I started limiting how much of my attention you would have.

Now I see you and….

I might give you a second glance but I don’t look for you any more. I am glad to say I hardly miss you though occasionally I do. I certainly am no longer your biggest fan. I don’t devote much thought to you at all. When I see you, I don’t have to have you.

Can you believe all of that was over diet coke? Crazy but true. I didn’t grow up with pop in my house. I really don’t remember when it became so important to me but it probably has to do with when I worked at McDonald’s. It was free so what the heck? How quickly something that is free can become something that is binding. There is no freedom in that. I look back at my “affair” with diet coke and I can see the big picture of it now and it encourages me to tackle some of those other bad habits I’ve adopted. It has probably been at least 2 years since I have been enamored with diet coke but I know my personality….something else has moved into that top spot. But my success with this issue gives me hope!

Is there something you suspect you have an unhealthy attachment to? Unfortunately, these days there are so many options! Is there something you have convinced yourself that you deserve or you find sneaky ways to get access to it? Find an accountability partner and talk about it. Ask for prayer to change your behavior. Ask God to change your perspective and give you the strength to overtake the stronghold in your life. Practice saying adiós to this “bad friend” until they are so out of the picture your heart doesn’t race when you are in the same room. You can do it!

Adiós, diet coke, you have been a bad friend!

Habits

Today’s PrayerPoint ~ Habits

Why does cultivating a good habit take so much conscientious effort when you can fall into a bad habit with such ease?

A repeated course of action carves a path in our brains and from there on it is like a rut in the road–so easy for us to fall back onto that path. Sometimes that is good news — for good habits, of course. Those pesky bad habits? Well, they are annoying and sometimes clearly destructive.

What habits have you developed through the years? Have you thought back to “the early days” of that behavior? Do you have one bad habit that seems to pursue you with great intensity? It isn’t true, of course, that it pursues you but if you have one, you know it is hard to shake it off. It seems to attach itself to you — it has a grip on you. The more I describe this the more I am getting creeped out. Initially it is something you invite into your life, you get “used to” it being in your life, it brings you “comfort” and then pretty soon your world revolves around it even when you want it gone.

The more you choose something the less of a choice in choosing it you have in the end. Exactly when does that happen in the course of the development of a habit?

And what encouragement do we give others to shake their bad habits when we don’t find success in ridding ourselves of our own?

Exactly–we don’t!

What is that pesky bad habit you want to be a distant memory? Have you prayed and asked God for His help? Do you have a person or two for accountability? Have you mapped out a deliberate strategy? Ask God to pester you about this until it is something you overcome. The Holy Spirit will surely nudge you with gentle and not-so-gentle reminders. What is holding you back?

I don’t know about you but I am asking God to help me carve new pathways in my brain!

Where Am I?

PrayerPoint 2.18.13

Have you ever visited someplace and awakened in the middle of the night, when it was very dark, and wondered “Where am I?” I have slept many places and I usually do ok but if I am overtired or stressed I have been known to get disoriented. I usually lie there a long time blinking my eyes with my mind racing to put together the place and the circumstances that led to where I am. And then I remember how it is I got there.

Have you ever lived a period of your life making some crazy selfish choices and then, one day, you “wake up” to the consequences of your actions and wonder “Where am I and how did I get here?”

Sometimes it is plain ugly to come face to face with the destruction of our situation and even uglier to remember it was done by our own hand! How can this possibly be redeemed?

There are several ways to respond. Here are a few options with varying degrees of success:

Abruptly change course and run as fast as you can. Occasionally there are still some things that might hang onto you but breaking free and high-tailing it out of there are actually pretty good moves depending on the situation.

Accept your penalties and wallow in self-pity and self-deprecation. This is an easy way to drive people away from you. If you want to be lonely, chart this course.

Try to hide your past so that no one knows how stupid or misled you were. Spend a lifetime hiding your embarrassing actions. Pretend you have never done them. Criticize others who have made the same mistake so others wouldn’t ever suspect you yourself have done such a thing. Not recommended.

Study your past ad nauseum (to a ridiculous degree) so you cannot see anything past yesterday. In theory, this plan has some merit. It is a wise move to avoid making the same mistake twice. But if you keep looking in the rearview mirror you can’t see where you are going if you are trying to move forward!

Take an honest assessment. Admit your failures. Ask God for forgiveness. Ask God for His help in putting the pieces back together. There may be a difficult lifetime of consequences for a single selfish act but it is an important and God-sized work that something begun in selfishness be transformed and redeemed into a blessing. Only God can do that. He has done it for me and He can do it for you!

As we all grow toward maturity in Christ we are hopefully less impulsive and much more attuned to following God’s lead the first time. Then when we wake up and wonder “Where am I?” We can remember “Oh yes, I am right where He wants me to be!”

CrossRoads

Today’s PrayerPoint ~ CrossRoads

Every day I find myself at intersections where I am called upon to choose how I will respond to my day and to my circumstances. Are there challenges? Of course there are. But I do not want to be accused of blowing momentary troubles out of proportion by whining and complaining. Much of what I deal with is momentary. It’s just that some moments last longer than others! Every day I see heartbreaking stories of really difficult circumstances. I have lived through a few myself as I am sure you have. Life on Earth has joy and pain. Thankfully, as we trust and serve an amazing God we also have the opportunity for His perspective and His life transforming work in our every day.

We all come up against crossroads. Sometimes we travel through accident-prone crazy intersections and some of our journeys take us to easy and relaxed places but each crossroad leaves us with a choice — not necessarily in the outcome of a situation but our response to the circumstance. Unfortunate and disheartening struggles are common in this life — death, disability, abuse, job loss, unplanned pregnancies, critical illness, violence, financial crisis, family feuds, etc — and while they may shape a perspective, they do not have to define a person. It is understandable for it to take time for people to work through difficult situations ~ grief and healing are not processes to race through. God’s work in my heart is more like a crock-pot than a microwave. It takes time for me to work through things.

Here is how I would ultimately like my crossroads to define me ~ that I would be found trusting and relying on my Heavenly Father to meet my every need. That I would follow His lead, rest in His love and provision, and let Him infuse any circumstance with His forgiveness, grace, mercy, and peace.

Do you know someone at a crossroad that needs prayer? Have you considered quietly but deliberately praying for them and their decision-making during this time? Sometimes we see people at a crossroad before they realize they are there. If you have been given eyes to see that kind of situation I would encourage you to lift them up in prayer!

See you at the CrossRoad!
Liz

“On-the-spot” Prayer

God has surrounded me with some very prayer-full friends during the course of my adult life. I am so thankful God has placed me in an several communities with people who can boldly pray one-on-one or in small groups. This is something God must be developing me because over the course of time He has allowed me to rub shoulders (and dirty my knees) with some awesome prayer warriors! I have one particular friend now who, if she knows of a concern, will pray with me over the phone. It seems to be her first reaction if I share a concern. I have other friends who, when I share a prayer request, will say “Well, let’s pray together right now about it.” I am getting used to it. I even like it. Their insistence reminds me: Why tuck an important request away for a later time? There is no time like the present!

The first time I felt called to pray in a very unusual place was in the old Walmart in Seward, NE. A gal I hardly knew was there with her kids and I was with mine. When I greeted her and asked how she was she was visibly stressed and told me she had just come from the doctor with some scary news. As the kids visited we snuck to a different aisle while she explained the situation in hushed tones. I was overcome with the impression to pray for her right there in the aisle. I am sure no one else in Walmart knew what was happening there because it wasn’t a loud or disturbing ruckus–just two moms quietly praying for God’s protection and provision during a time with many unknowns. I am sure God used that situation to calm her anxious heart. He used it to grow my faith in Him and as another stepping stone in my developing prayer life.

I wish I could say that I offered prayer on-the-spot every time I felt impressed to do so. I haven’t. Sometimes I am just too distracted or caught up in the moment to step out in response. I know I need to be more attuned to prayer as my first response–wherever I may be!

My prayer for you is that you practice having prayer be your first response and that if God asks you to pray in an unusual place or circumstance that you respond with a “YES!” Prayer is a powerful weapon…which is why we often run into roadblocks in our prayer life. Satan knows prayer is powerful and does anything he can do interrupt this precious line of communication with our Heavenly Father!

Pray On!

Liz

Just One Word

When someone shares a prayer request, I am thankful for the opportunity to pray and the situation is often on my mind at various points in a day/week. And while a friend may ask for prayer on a specific thing, my mind always wanders and broadens the prayer. Sometimes knowing more about a situation is helpful as I pray but it isn’t necessary. Sometimes people like to explain their requests which is fine. And sometimes people are at a loss for words (or the needs are very private) so to make things easier for them I might say “just give me one word and I will cover it”. I can pray quite a bit off of one word because I just try to cover all the bases. When I am at a loss for words or direction, I just remind God that He knows the situation and knows the need and I ask Him to take care of it/them.

Here is an example of me covering the bases on just using a name:

Heavenly Father, Bless ______ today. Bless their finances, their work/school tasks and their work/school relationships. If there are medical concerns, bring them to light. If the challenge is financial, please make provision for them. Be with their family and family relationships during this time. Help this time of struggle be a time when their relationship with You is strengthened and they come to depend upon You for their every need. If they are headed down a difficult path, continue to give them warnings and give them eyes to see the warnings and a spirit that responds. You know their needs and You love them much deeper than I so I trust them and their circumstance into Your Hands. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

When someone asks for prayer, it immediately deepens my connection with them. I appreciate their willingness to be vulnerable with me but it is also precious that they know God wants to hear prayers from them and on their behalf. So often we look at prayer as a last resort — after we have tried everything else! This week, consider asking someone to pray on your behalf with a request large or small. It might feel awkward in the beginning but I do believe it has a tendency to strengthen your relationship with that person. Your willingness to request prayer might open the door for them to also share a request with you. And those are the types of relationships that help sustain us while we navigate life on Earth!

Lifting you up!

Liz

Listening to God

Today’s PrayerPoint ~ Listening to God

I am currently studying the life of David. There are two chapters of I Samuel you should probably read for a greater understanding of this PrayerPoint: 1 Samuel 24-26.

The quick summary of where I am in this study of David’s life is this: Saul is the king. David actually is chosen (by God) as the next king. While Saul is king he is jealous of David and pursues David’s life relentlessly. David is in two situations when he could kill Saul but does not do it. Instead, David let’s Saul live.

Have you ever been targeted by someone personally or professionally and placed in a perfect public position to retaliate and let the moment pass without acting on it? Can you imagine the self-control that would require? David would have been justified (humanly-speaking) if he had killed Saul. In fact, it could have even been viewed as God giving Saul over to David by placing him in the perfect situation (even twice) to take Saul’s life. By all accounts it looked like God was delivering Saul into David’s hand except David knew God’s heart on the matter. What are the baby steps of self-control that lead up to that level of maturity? Not all of these relate to this exact scenario but they do all relate to self-control…here are a few I came up with but I am sure there are more:

not insisting on my own way
turning away from things that look good “in the moment”
honoring God in “little” things (which are really big things)
deferring to another’s idea
saying no to “good” things because there is a “better” or “best” choice
not looking at every open door as a place to enter
allowing someone else to be honored
a very solid relationship with God

You simply do not know when you will be placed in a position when you need to discern what God would want of you but practicing self-control now as well as deep relationship with God certainly will place you in a better position. Now, keep in mind that David will be making some really poor decisions when he is king so even though he is walking closely with God during this scenario with Saul, David obviously does some drifting as the years go by. A sobering thought.

Golden Moments

Do you notice those times when either exactly what you needed was provided or you were in the right place at the right time to provide for someone else? They are powerful moments – particularly if we recognize them. I anticipate they are going to happen because they seem to often enough and I don’t want to miss them when they do. I also don’t want to miss out of the opportunity to recognize (and thank) WHO is behind it.

It is so easy to write up my list of things to do and forget to first thank God for His provision and faithfulness for yesterday and ask God to bless my today. If I am in the habit of recalling what He has already done for me then my eyes, ears, and heart are tuned into His work and I see those golden moments much more clearly.

As you journey through this season of Lent, I encourage you to look forward with positive anticipation at the work God is doing in and through you. Take note. Give thanks. Trust Him. Sometimes His way of providing is something we would never have been able to imagine (for example, Jesus’ provision for us on the cross) but He delivers in ways beyond our understanding.

Heavenly Father, Give me eyes to see You and faith to trust You even if my eyes are unable to see. Thank you for your past provision. I look with anticipation to the future.

Not Fit for Company!

The last several days I have been honked off about any number of things. Have you had a day, week, month or year like that? What comes to my mind is something my cousin often says: “I don’t like people!” I usually do like people, so for me, this is an unfamiliar place to be.

After 72 hours of being annoyed, agitated, and frustrated by multiple things I mentioned to my husband last night that I wasn’t really fit for company. The desire to speak my mind is so strong right now that I need to be tucked away until the feeling passes. He chuckled and then probably his mind raced around trying to figure out how to keep me squelched or at least pacified enough that I didn’t blow up. Thankfully, the issues aren’t between me and him!

I sense this cloud of frustration will be settling here for a while. I know sunshine helps. I know exercise helps. And I know that burying my head in God’s Word will help the most! I am in the midst of studying the life of David in a small group Bible study. I am so thankful for the freedom and the opportunity to be in Scripture. Breathing in God’s Word and perspective makes a big impact on my words and my perspective. I plan on inhaling deeply so my every exhale is laced with His grace and mercy and love.

Breathe in. Breathe Out.

Inhale. Exhale.

Psalm 141:2-4 NIV

²May my prayer be set before you like incense;
may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.

³Set a guard over my mouth, Lord;
keep watch over the door of my lips.
⁴Do not let my heart be drawn to what is evil
so that I take part in wicked deeds
along with those who are evildoers;
do not let me eat their delicacies.

It is time for some deep, LIFE TRANSFORMING breaths! I am counting on the Holy Spirit to nudge me when my mouth should open and when it should close. Pray for me so I respond appropriately!

Taking deep breaths,

Liz

Wednesday is the beginning of Lent and 40 daily PrayerPoints by Liz posts until Easter. As you travel through this season of Lent in preparation for God’s glorious resurrection may God’s Word sustain your feet on His path and focus your eyes on His cross.