ABC's and ACTS

Sometimes, in my life, I have a hard time starting my prayers.  I pray short prayers for people throughout the day as I think of them or if I read on FB that they are going through something, but when it comes to my quiet time with God I don't always know where to start.

These two things have helped me a lot.  I am posting them in hopes that they will be helpful to somebody else as well.

1)  When we were in Japan, I heard a sermon on the ACTS of prayer.  It is modeled after the Lord's prayer:

A - Adoration - showing God the glory and honor He is due "Holy is your name"
C - Confession - confessing our sins, forgiving others as He forgives you, asking for help in the areas you feel tempted
T - Thanks - giving thanks for your daily bread and your many blessings
S - Supplication - asking your desires, seeking Him for the needs in your life

Since then, I have also heard people add intercession - where you lift up other's needs/requests.

2)  At the beginning of the school year, I found this site with verses from God's Word for every letter of the alphabet.  It is for kids but both Lilly and I have learned the verses and memorized them.  We haven't made it to the end of the alphabet, but I find myself praying through them when I can't think of what to pray.  They are awesome verses that help remind me of God's promises and how Holy He is.  Examples:

A - Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened.
B - Be kind to one another.
C - Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you.
D - Do not be anxious about anything
E - Every good and perfect gift is from above.
F - For it is by grace we have been saved, through faith

Praying through God's Word, really helps me focus on talking to Him but also lets me "hear" Him as well.

Love it!

I absolutely LOVE how God uses people that we think couldn't possibly be used by God to do amazing things.  For example,  Rahab, a harlot - he uses her to protect the spies that Joshua sent and then she becomes the mother of Boaz who is a great, great, great, etc.. grandfather of Jesus Christ. 

I absolutely LOVE how God redeems situations without us ever intervening - that's how He lets us know that we can trust Him fully!  For example, my marriage - at the beginning it was very rocky - neither of us were saved and we were just living for ourselves.  Then, God brings us halfway around the world to Misawa, Japan to allow us to know Him and to begin to realize we need to serve the One who made us.  Amazingly, my husband and I were both saved at the same time w/o realizing it until afterwards.  Now, our marriage is awesome - all glory goes to God! 

Another is an example of a relative of mine who was in a situation that I thought wasn't the best - I prayed and prayed that The Lord would fix the situation - provide a way for this person to get out of the situation or provide a change of heart, something.  And, just recently, the situation has been fixed - all glory to HIM!  

 A third example is a time when I was in a Bible study where I didn't think the leader was acting in a godly way.  I thought I might have been the only one feeling this way so I didn't say anything to anybody else in the group.  I prayed that I might have wisdom to know whether to continue the study or to change to a different group.  Then, I get an e-mail saying that the leader had decided to step down from the position for personal reasons.  This was a Thank You, Jesus moment!  He had it covered.

A lot of times I don't know why I have to go through certain tough situations - not being able to have a baby when I want, being w/o my husband for a month at a time, etc - but I have to remember that God is in control and the plans He has for me are for good and not evil.  I have to remember to be content because what I have right now are amazing blessings and they come from the One who knows best.

Is God That Statue?

Recently, my daughter has learned that God is everywhere.  As we are driving in the car, she asks, "Is God the road?" or "Is God that sign?"  To which I reply, "He isn't everything, He is everywhere!"  So, now she asks, as she is pointing in the air, "Is God there and there and there?"  I reply, "yes, God is everywhere, always!" 

The other day we were reading about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the book of Daniel.  We were talking about how King Nebachadnezzer wanted people to bow down and worship a golden statue and the 3 men wouldn't because God is the only True God!  Lilly says, with a big smile, "That is so silly, God isn't that statue"  Then, she thinks about it some more and laughs, "That statue can't help you!" 

I smile and thank God for allowing her to understand this concept. 

Using SOAP to Study God's Word

Since I was saved in October 2006, I have been pretty consistant in reading God's Word.  I am thankful that my husband won't let us go to sleep at night unless we have read at least one chapter. :)  Sometimes, I just read it though - not really studying it or taking it in - just reading it.  In my on-line accountability group we have decided to study the book of James together and I have learned so much by just reading it and reading other's posts on what they have learned from the scriptures.  In Courtney's blog - Women Living Well - she talked about using the SOAP method. 


S - write down the scriptures
O - write down your observations
A - application of the scripture
P - prayers

Recently, my pastor at church has been leading a churchwide study on Reading the Bible for Life.  Two things I have learned from this study (so far):
1)  Understand the context of what you are reading - historical, cultural, literary, and theological
My study Bible has all this commentary about each book and the verses in it and sometimes it makes a huge difference if I take the time to read that information before I actually read the chapter.  I understand the verses in a whole new way.

2)  Try not to think about what God wants you to learn in the scripture first, but rather what you can learn about God's character.  Ask yourself these questions when reading the books in the Old Testament:  How is God at the center of each story?
                   What is the whole point?
                    What characteristics of God are portrayed?
                    What does God value?
                     What is God's agenda?

The last thing I am sure most people already know about is on-line commentaries.  I just recently learned about one that has helped me out a lot :  biblegateway.com

Though it takes time, I have really been able to study God's Word this way and what a blessing it is to know God's Word more intimately.