Manna Monday- A Beautiful Mind

One of the things I have been asking the LORD lately is to give me a beautiful mind. "Please give me a mind that is more like Christ, than more like myself, God!" I pray. I desire for my mind to be a reflection of His Word, not my sinful thoughts. I yearn, for His thoughts to become my first thoughts. And, as much I want it, it doesn't happen just by going to Bible study or church each week. It simply does not happen. SIGH. Why? Because I leave my thoughts to well, my own thoughts which are sinful because I am naturally born into sin (Romans 8:5).

 

By the time Monday morning comes along, every thought about the sermon, Sunday school lesson or bible study has left my mind like a balloon floating away into the deep blue sky, taking me back to the comfort of my old habitual thought patterns. UGHHHHH!!!!!

 

"Enough," I said.

 

Recently, I have been resolved, determined, to get back to memorizing Scripture.

It has been an amazing journey this past month. I have memorized five Scriptures.

FIVE!!!!

 

Yes, you CAN memorize Scripture. You just have to do one thing: do it!

 

Here is what I do:

Find a Scripture. Write it down on a note card. Study each word. Ask myself questions about the verse like :

• What does this Scripture mean?
• What new truth am I learning from Scripture that I have never thought about before? 
• What new thing am I learning about God? Is there something I am learning about how my response should be toward Him?
• What is God telling me to do in this Scripture?
• Is there a sin I need to confess?
• What encouragement from Scripture am I receiving this morning?

Then I write a prayer on the back of my scripture praying the Scripture aloud. This is a picture of one of the verses:

 

As I go back through each Scripture, I am in awe of God's love for me, and in awe of how I am changing. The key to changing is discipline. It's not going to happen overnight. But it DOES happen day by day! May we become like the Psalmist in Psalm 119 who was in love with the Word of God:

 

"My soul is consumed with longing for your laws at all times." Psalm 119: 20

Praying this encourages your you wherever you are in your walk with the LORD this Monday!!!





 

Just for Women Wednesdays: Praying Deep

 

This is how I pray everyday.

 

It's hard to be so bold dear sisters, but I have to ask you a question, "Are you praying deep?"

 

Are you praying beyond yourself? Beyond your own limited vocabulary? Have you come to a place where you don't even desire to pray much, or if you do, do your prayers sound stagnant and boring, like a repeat of an old song? Have your prayers become like a two liter bottle of Coca-Cola that looks good on the outside to everyone else in a group setting, but when at home and opened, tastes awful due to it's lack of fizz? Is this your prayer life, dear one? It's OK if it is, because every day you have a new opportunity to come back before the throne of Grace (Hebrews 4:16) and pray.

 

This was the question I asked myself recently because I don't just want to pray words anymore, I want to pray scripture. I had gotten out of the daily discipline of praying God's Word and I wanted to get back to that discipline. I don't want my prayers to be shallow, I want to pray DEEP. I want to pray beyond my fleshly self. I want my prayers to go beyond my limited vocabulary and fleshly will and go deeper into God's vocabulary and will. I want my prayers to speak His language back to Him. I want His words, to become my words. The only way for that to become a reality is for me to pray beyond myself and to pray scripture.

 

The prayer I prayed today is Psalm 31:3. It's in the picture above this post. I write it down, search it out in study and then memorize it. It's my journey back from praying with fizzle to praying with fire.

 

As a student of the Bible, I love to understand each word. My question this morning was, "what is the difference between 'lead' and 'guide.'" There is a difference. Did you know that?

 

lead- "bring, put, to go in a direction of, turn eyes toward."

guide- "to lead or guide to a watering place, bring to a place of rest, refresh. "

 

Like David, my prayer is that God would lead me in His direction, not my own, and that He would guide me to a place of refreshment. I am so desperate for Him, for his rest, for His Words to water my dry life. Aren't you?

 

If you find yourself  today just like me, I pray that you too, would be encouraged in your heart that there is a better way to pray.

 

Pray beyond yourself.

Pray God's Word.

 

I am so thankful for being able to serve you as I write this post. I am praying this blog continues to inspire, encourage and bring you much joy in the faith.

 Thank you for coming by today! I love you in the LORD!!!!