So I was going to launch a new meme today. But, evidently Someone has other plans.
I've been sick all week.
Yup, expecting #4 in May and the 'all-day-long' sickness started last Tuesday the 14th and has grown increasing worse over the last few days. To the point that I finally called in to get this magical Rx everyone was telling me about. Zofran.
They were right. It IS magical.
I haven't been able to do anything really all week and today I'm up, got my Morning Routine done already, took the kids to school, and am working on the computer. And I'm 'with-it' enough to realize my blog didn't do an auto-post like it should have! Then I remember, "Oh yeah, because I didn't have anything written for it to post!" haha
So as you can see, I have a bit of catching up to do now that I'm UP.
But I don't mind being behind.
At least I'm feeling better.
And that is blessing enough.
May you find something in your surroundings today that reminds you to spend a moment worshipping our God Almighty!
Blessings,
Amy
For more posts in this series click here.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Prayer Journaling: Starting to Pray
If you missed the previous post, click here.
Now that you have your prayer journal set up, it should look like this:
Prayer Schedule
loose-leaf paper
daily pockets w/prayer cards or other prayer starters
The simplest way to begin learning how to pray for an extended period of time and/or for many people is to use the ACTS acronym to help you remember the parts of prayer Jesus taught us in the Lord’s Prayer. I will discuss a more in-depth method later.
In case you’re not familiar with ACTS, we are talking about Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication. (I printed out the information listed right below here on a sheet for my 10 yr old so he wouldn’t have to be embarrassed if he had to keep asking what these words meant).
A
Adoration = profound love, admiration, or regard
‘to adore’ means to love
God I love you because… (pick 1 to start prayer)
You are ________________________
You have _______________________
You promised to _____________________
C
Confession = to admit wrongdoing
‘to confess’ means to say yes, I did this (whatever ‘this’ is for the day) wrong
God, I’m sorry I…(pick 1 to start prayer)
didn’t obey when _________________________
didn’t help when __________________________
did this __________________________________
T
Thanksgiving = to express thanks, thankfulness, give thanks
‘to give thanks’ means to say all the things you’re thankful for from the day
God, thank You…(pick 1 to start prayer)
for ________________________
that _______________________
when ______________________
S
Supplication = to humbly ask for help
‘to supplicate’ means to ask in a humble way for help or assistance
God, please help _______________ in this way…
What to do with all this:
Each day you pray you will use a new sheet of loose-leaf paper.
Write the date at the top of the page.
Write the A-C-T-S over in the left margin. My guess is you will find you probably won’t need very much room for A, a little more for C, even more for T and lots for S.
Then write out your ‘prayers’ for each step as you go through them.
When you get to the 'S', use your Prayer Schedule to determine who you're supplicating for that day.
An example prayer sheet could look like this:
A God Almighty you are powerful beyond what I can imagine. You can create winds of hundreds of miles an hour. You can shake the earth to a magnitude of total destruction. You can create whatever You want.
C Lord, I am sorry for spending too much time on the computer today. (had to put this in here – haha) Please forgive me for neglecting my kids and not being a good steward and taking care of all that you have given me. Please forgive me for not using my mouth today to bring glory to you.
T Father, thank you for: a washing machine that works, for friends who care enough to call/write, for living close to family, for eyes that can see Your beauty in everything around me, for a godly husband.
S I lift up my friends who are having troubled marriages. May You draw them closer to You through their pain. I pray for the health of a teacher who is battling breast cancer. Please give the doctors wisdom to treat the cancer and strength to her to get through the chemo.
The biggest thing about prayer is to not give up if you miss a day (or two or three). The devil would just LOVE if you started prayer journaling and then after missing a week, you gave up on it completely because it wasn’t perfect. The reason I have loose-leaf paper and not preprinted paper in there is because then you can write whatever the date happens to be when you come before God in prayer. Then you don’t get all stressed out when you miss a few days because you feel ‘behind’ (like you would when you missed a few days in a bible-reading plan).
This is a sress-free way to record your conversations with God. WHEN YOU ARE ABLE, sit down and record your thoughts/concerns/worries. And then as the weeks and months go by, you can look back and see what you have been praying about. You can see how God has answered your prayers. Or you can see that you still need to be patient because God has not answered a prayer yet.
Prayer journaling is a wonderful way to record your walk with God. Sometimes we get so focused on how much further we have to climb that we forget how far we’ve already climbed. Your prayer journal isn’t for anyone else but you and God. And He doesn’t expect you to do it perfectly. He just expects you to pray. Period.
May your conversations with God have renewed purpose and clarity now that you have a plan and something to guide your thoughts as you spend time with your Father in prayer.
Glory to God!
Amy
Now that you have your prayer journal set up, it should look like this:
Prayer Schedule
loose-leaf paper
daily pockets w/prayer cards or other prayer starters
The simplest way to begin learning how to pray for an extended period of time and/or for many people is to use the ACTS acronym to help you remember the parts of prayer Jesus taught us in the Lord’s Prayer. I will discuss a more in-depth method later.
In case you’re not familiar with ACTS, we are talking about Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication. (I printed out the information listed right below here on a sheet for my 10 yr old so he wouldn’t have to be embarrassed if he had to keep asking what these words meant).
A
Adoration = profound love, admiration, or regard
‘to adore’ means to love
God I love you because… (pick 1 to start prayer)
You are ________________________
You have _______________________
You promised to _____________________
C
Confession = to admit wrongdoing
‘to confess’ means to say yes, I did this (whatever ‘this’ is for the day) wrong
God, I’m sorry I…(pick 1 to start prayer)
didn’t obey when _________________________
didn’t help when __________________________
did this __________________________________
T
Thanksgiving = to express thanks, thankfulness, give thanks
‘to give thanks’ means to say all the things you’re thankful for from the day
God, thank You…(pick 1 to start prayer)
for ________________________
that _______________________
when ______________________
S
Supplication = to humbly ask for help
‘to supplicate’ means to ask in a humble way for help or assistance
God, please help _______________ in this way…
What to do with all this:
Each day you pray you will use a new sheet of loose-leaf paper.
Write the date at the top of the page.
Write the A-C-T-S over in the left margin. My guess is you will find you probably won’t need very much room for A, a little more for C, even more for T and lots for S.
Then write out your ‘prayers’ for each step as you go through them.
When you get to the 'S', use your Prayer Schedule to determine who you're supplicating for that day.
An example prayer sheet could look like this:
A God Almighty you are powerful beyond what I can imagine. You can create winds of hundreds of miles an hour. You can shake the earth to a magnitude of total destruction. You can create whatever You want.
C Lord, I am sorry for spending too much time on the computer today. (had to put this in here – haha) Please forgive me for neglecting my kids and not being a good steward and taking care of all that you have given me. Please forgive me for not using my mouth today to bring glory to you.
T Father, thank you for: a washing machine that works, for friends who care enough to call/write, for living close to family, for eyes that can see Your beauty in everything around me, for a godly husband.
S I lift up my friends who are having troubled marriages. May You draw them closer to You through their pain. I pray for the health of a teacher who is battling breast cancer. Please give the doctors wisdom to treat the cancer and strength to her to get through the chemo.
The biggest thing about prayer is to not give up if you miss a day (or two or three). The devil would just LOVE if you started prayer journaling and then after missing a week, you gave up on it completely because it wasn’t perfect. The reason I have loose-leaf paper and not preprinted paper in there is because then you can write whatever the date happens to be when you come before God in prayer. Then you don’t get all stressed out when you miss a few days because you feel ‘behind’ (like you would when you missed a few days in a bible-reading plan).
This is a sress-free way to record your conversations with God. WHEN YOU ARE ABLE, sit down and record your thoughts/concerns/worries. And then as the weeks and months go by, you can look back and see what you have been praying about. You can see how God has answered your prayers. Or you can see that you still need to be patient because God has not answered a prayer yet.
Prayer journaling is a wonderful way to record your walk with God. Sometimes we get so focused on how much further we have to climb that we forget how far we’ve already climbed. Your prayer journal isn’t for anyone else but you and God. And He doesn’t expect you to do it perfectly. He just expects you to pray. Period.
May your conversations with God have renewed purpose and clarity now that you have a plan and something to guide your thoughts as you spend time with your Father in prayer.
Glory to God!
Amy
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Tuesday Tunes: Legacy
What will they say when I'm gone,
in words that are written in stone?
Under my name, what will they claim about me?
Oh, I want to leave a legacy to be remembered
More than just a memory that fades away
Because we only, we only get one life
Free me, my hands are tied
I'm so tired of wasting time
These endless inventions steal my attention from real life
And when it's done, when it's over...
Oh, I want to leave a legacy to be remembered
More than just a memory that fades away
Because we only, we only get one life
And will the world see Christ when they look at my life?
Oh, will the world see?
MMM, come on, give me, give me, give me real life
And no more, no more, no more wasting time
Because we only, we only get one life
By Sanctus Real.
To read what lead singer, Matt, and his family have been going through after having a baby born with heart problems click here.
For more posts in this series click here.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
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