Why are times of sorrow, struggle, doubt times when we find ourselves up at odd hours of the night? We can't sleep, so we toss and turn. A new baby wakes every two to three hours. Children often get sick at night. I, for one, always find myself praying for dawn. All I need is light to give me that glimmer of hope, that whisper of a promise. When someone else is awake, I can cope a little bit better.
But the Lord never sleeps.
I am not going through one of these times. In fact, recently, my daughter has decided sleeping through the night is a pretty good deal, and I agree with her. But as I woke this morning, as I usually do these days, before dawn, I thought I would read through "The Night Watch," a prayer time that falls typically from midnight to dawn. I rarely read these prayers and readings because I am so literal. They are the midnight prayers, the night vigil, and I am up intending for my day to begin. I am glad I made an exception today.
Here are some of the words I read this morning:
Psalm 119:147-148
"I rise before dawn and cry for help; I hope in your words.
My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promise."
Why is the author awake? So he can "meditate on [God's] promise"! I rarely think about meditating on God's promises when I find myself awake against my will. But consider if I woke up ON PURPOSE to cry out to God and meditate on His promises during times of great struggle, doubt and oppression. What if we all did during those times for each other or our country?
My dear mentor, who is helping me, encouraging me, and participating with me to memorize scripture, has told me to take a line or a verse from the passage and focus on it all day. What does it mean? How does it apply to situations in life? Today, as I read through Psalm 63 as a part of this prayer time, I found myself reading four verses through again and again:
Psalm 63:5-8
"My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me."
Within these verses are promises remembered, refuge taken, praises sung. Notice the benefit for our souls when we meditate on the Lord "in the watches of the night": "satisfied as with fat and rich food." How hungry my soul has become over the years. Too often I neglect that which my soul needs in times of greatest need. It is the Lord who sustains and upholds me.
It is different for me to think of being up during the night as a time to seek the Lord's face and rest in His promises, meditating on all He is - in other words a blessing - but I pray I remember to do just that when it happens because He is not a God of day alone, but He created the night as well.
Showing posts with label pray. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pray. Show all posts
Thursday, February 14, 2013
2012
Ladies and gentlefolk, I greet you on this fine January 30. Another year has passed for the Christians, est. January 30, 2010, and we wish you, each and every one, a fine new year full of blessings and joys.
Our third year of marriage saw quite a few changes including a move (Verity got her own room), Paul's start in nursing school, my finish of six years of volunteer service in the high school group at church, Verity sat up, crawled, stood up, walked, spoke...she's had a lot of firsts this year, including her first birthday!
November also saw a beginning for me, as I relaunched my photography business, now Carey Christian Photography, after nearly a decade. Paul continues to work at Craig Hospital when he gets a chance between classes and studies. God has been very gracious in Paul's hours and pay as well as his schedule. We see a lot of him, which, of course makes us happy. There are days when he doesn't see Verity at all, but those are few. I continue my work at Southern Gables Church with few changes. Verity continues her work shuffling between grandparents' homes and being cute and lovable. She is gracious in the midst of constant change, although she is screaming, a habit we are discouraging at the moment.
She is eating all sorts of foods, green beans being the current and unexpected favorite. Butternut squash, avocado, black beans and chicken sausage also rank at the top. She is always trying to dress herself and telling the most delightful stories, although we cannot understand any of it.
We spent most of the year at home, though got visits from precious family. Verity and I went to Texas in November for the wedding of my cousin Christy. I enjoyed seeing family, though I did not much care for missing the wedding (and causing my mother to miss the wedding) due to illness. But the Lord was gracious and Verity was a saint on the plane going both directions.
As we look forward to all 2013 has to hold, including Verity's second birthday and Paul's graduation in December among other celebrations and challenges, we are thankful for the family that supports us. Both of our sets of parents sacrifice so much to watch Verity while I am at work and Paul studies. We can never fully thank them, so Verity does that for us. We pray they are blessed in abundance as God has used them to bless us in so many ways! We are thankful for our friends who encourage and pray for us. We wish we could see more of people, but when we do we enjoy every minute of connection and laughter.
May your 2013 be blessed with family and friends, hands to hold, words to encourage, voices to laugh with and so much more than we could ever imagine from our great God and Father. If you think of us, pray with us that Paul will be diligent in his studies, learn well, and be encouraged by his wife and daughter. Pray that he continues to enter into life at home openly and finds time to unwind as well as study. Pray for Verity's growth and health, schedule and personality. As she interacts with others, may they be blessed. Pray for me as I work at church, may I be a blessing to the people and ministries there. Pray for me as I hopefully meet new people through photography, that I will be a light shining in their lives, even if only for a brief couple of hours. Pray for me as a wife and mother, that I have the patience, grace, compassion and strength from God above to do everything I need to do and let go of the things I simply cannot do.
Feel free to send us your prayer needs so we can encourage and support you and yours this year!
Love from the Paul Christians!
Our third year of marriage saw quite a few changes including a move (Verity got her own room), Paul's start in nursing school, my finish of six years of volunteer service in the high school group at church, Verity sat up, crawled, stood up, walked, spoke...she's had a lot of firsts this year, including her first birthday!
November also saw a beginning for me, as I relaunched my photography business, now Carey Christian Photography, after nearly a decade. Paul continues to work at Craig Hospital when he gets a chance between classes and studies. God has been very gracious in Paul's hours and pay as well as his schedule. We see a lot of him, which, of course makes us happy. There are days when he doesn't see Verity at all, but those are few. I continue my work at Southern Gables Church with few changes. Verity continues her work shuffling between grandparents' homes and being cute and lovable. She is gracious in the midst of constant change, although she is screaming, a habit we are discouraging at the moment.
She is eating all sorts of foods, green beans being the current and unexpected favorite. Butternut squash, avocado, black beans and chicken sausage also rank at the top. She is always trying to dress herself and telling the most delightful stories, although we cannot understand any of it.
We spent most of the year at home, though got visits from precious family. Verity and I went to Texas in November for the wedding of my cousin Christy. I enjoyed seeing family, though I did not much care for missing the wedding (and causing my mother to miss the wedding) due to illness. But the Lord was gracious and Verity was a saint on the plane going both directions.
As we look forward to all 2013 has to hold, including Verity's second birthday and Paul's graduation in December among other celebrations and challenges, we are thankful for the family that supports us. Both of our sets of parents sacrifice so much to watch Verity while I am at work and Paul studies. We can never fully thank them, so Verity does that for us. We pray they are blessed in abundance as God has used them to bless us in so many ways! We are thankful for our friends who encourage and pray for us. We wish we could see more of people, but when we do we enjoy every minute of connection and laughter.
May your 2013 be blessed with family and friends, hands to hold, words to encourage, voices to laugh with and so much more than we could ever imagine from our great God and Father. If you think of us, pray with us that Paul will be diligent in his studies, learn well, and be encouraged by his wife and daughter. Pray that he continues to enter into life at home openly and finds time to unwind as well as study. Pray for Verity's growth and health, schedule and personality. As she interacts with others, may they be blessed. Pray for me as I work at church, may I be a blessing to the people and ministries there. Pray for me as I hopefully meet new people through photography, that I will be a light shining in their lives, even if only for a brief couple of hours. Pray for me as a wife and mother, that I have the patience, grace, compassion and strength from God above to do everything I need to do and let go of the things I simply cannot do.
Feel free to send us your prayer needs so we can encourage and support you and yours this year!
Love from the Paul Christians!
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Relationally speaking
I have been given the opportunity, along with a fellow youth worker, to field questions from the boys in our youth group regarding relationships. This will round out a series the youth pastor has been doing on dating, marriage, sex, etc. In thinking about Sunday, I cannot be sure of the questions we will be asked or how we will get the ball rolling on the discussion, so I keep coming back to these questions:
What do I want my daughter to know? How do I want her to behave? How do I want her to treat herself?
What do I want the boys and men in her life to know? How do I want them to behave? How do I want them to treat her?
What did I want?
What do I wish I'd known?
What have I learned from my relationships and experiences?
Is there anything I wish I'd done differently?
There is so much! What follows is but a fraction... I'm writing a book on the subject...or I was. Targeted to girls, of course. In fact, this is the first time I've thought about it in terms of guys because of what I could get asked on Sunday. All we can really do to prepare is pray. God is the one in charge, after all :) I just have a strong desire for these men and women to recognize that God is the author and perfecter of everything good in their lives and they do not need to chase after the world to get what they think they want when God has all they would ever need.
Girls, you are precious in God's sight and His opinion is the only one that truly matters. You can have a healthy, growing relationship with someone that doesn't involve physical contact. Whether you know it or not, you are a temptation to boys in your life. Respect them, respect yourself. You have such power you wield with your words, your looks, your body. Be aware. The words "I love you" are precious and hold more weight when used with care. Your body is the temple of God and He dwells within You. Guard your heart. Don't feel the need to tell everyone everything. The more you grow in your love and knowledge of the Lord and who He has designed you to be, the more you will be ready for life, no matter what that holds for you. Contentment cannot be bought or found in a relationship, it is a choice that is made by placing all of our hopes on the One who can make them reality. No man will fulfill your every wish and dream. They are imperfect. Only God gives you exactly what you need because only He knows exactly what you need.
Boys, you are powerful and hold such potential for harm and for good. You are a son of God and He loves you and His opinion is the only one that matters. Your actions can promise something you never intended. Be aware of how you treat the girls in your life. Those girls will grow up to be wives someday, and they will not all be yours. How do you want your wife to be treated? Girls are emotional beings. The more you ask of them and the more you tell them, the more they feel a part of your life and heart. Physical contact is not necessary, in fact, it is dangerous. Respect yourself. Respect the girls in your life, even if you have to do it by requesting they stop doing something that makes you uncomfortable. God is the source of all you will ever need. He has such plans for you that you cannot even imagine. Give Him the time and energy towards preparing you for His purposes. Guard your eyes. Fill your mind with what is true, pure, right, good.
What do I want my daughter to know? How do I want her to behave? How do I want her to treat herself?
What do I want the boys and men in her life to know? How do I want them to behave? How do I want them to treat her?
What did I want?
What do I wish I'd known?
What have I learned from my relationships and experiences?
Is there anything I wish I'd done differently?
There is so much! What follows is but a fraction... I'm writing a book on the subject...or I was. Targeted to girls, of course. In fact, this is the first time I've thought about it in terms of guys because of what I could get asked on Sunday. All we can really do to prepare is pray. God is the one in charge, after all :) I just have a strong desire for these men and women to recognize that God is the author and perfecter of everything good in their lives and they do not need to chase after the world to get what they think they want when God has all they would ever need.
Girls, you are precious in God's sight and His opinion is the only one that truly matters. You can have a healthy, growing relationship with someone that doesn't involve physical contact. Whether you know it or not, you are a temptation to boys in your life. Respect them, respect yourself. You have such power you wield with your words, your looks, your body. Be aware. The words "I love you" are precious and hold more weight when used with care. Your body is the temple of God and He dwells within You. Guard your heart. Don't feel the need to tell everyone everything. The more you grow in your love and knowledge of the Lord and who He has designed you to be, the more you will be ready for life, no matter what that holds for you. Contentment cannot be bought or found in a relationship, it is a choice that is made by placing all of our hopes on the One who can make them reality. No man will fulfill your every wish and dream. They are imperfect. Only God gives you exactly what you need because only He knows exactly what you need.
Boys, you are powerful and hold such potential for harm and for good. You are a son of God and He loves you and His opinion is the only one that matters. Your actions can promise something you never intended. Be aware of how you treat the girls in your life. Those girls will grow up to be wives someday, and they will not all be yours. How do you want your wife to be treated? Girls are emotional beings. The more you ask of them and the more you tell them, the more they feel a part of your life and heart. Physical contact is not necessary, in fact, it is dangerous. Respect yourself. Respect the girls in your life, even if you have to do it by requesting they stop doing something that makes you uncomfortable. God is the source of all you will ever need. He has such plans for you that you cannot even imagine. Give Him the time and energy towards preparing you for His purposes. Guard your eyes. Fill your mind with what is true, pure, right, good.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Enlighten my eyes!
I am currently studying Psalm 13 with my mentor. In it David prays to have his eyes enlightened. This terminology has occurred before in our studies, in Psalm 19:8b- "the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes." I wasn't fully sure what this meant. What does it mean to have my eyes enlightened? A dying man's vision grows dark. So in a sense it is to regain life? Psalm 13 is about God forgetting us, but this is not the truth, merely our view of our circumstances. I like what the author of the book we are using says:
"I believe that David is suggesting that the problem of a forgetting God is in our view of Him. When we feel that God has forgotten us, then we need Him to answer our prayer, which we learned to pray from God's servant David: 'Enlighten my eyes!' We need to have our eyes refocused on the character of our God."*
"God has answered the prayer of David. He has 'enlightened his eyes' by providing a new view of His character....In our own day of distress it would be a mistake to look for a new revelation of God from a priest, a prophet, or any other source. For we have a complete revelation in the Scriptures of God, something David had only in part. We need not new words, but a new insight into and a fresh understanding of the old words. Our problem often is not a lack of revelation, but a failure to appropriate the revelation we have. ...We look for a new level, or a fresh reminder, or a new understanding in the Scriptures of God."*
The Word of God is living and just what we need. I am thankful for it, though I do not show my gratitude well. The promises of Psalm 19 are uplifting: "The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever." It is not trite to say "pray and read your Bible" when we are going through rough times, it is the best prescription we can be given. All we need is to go into it with a contrite heart, ready to hear what the Lord has for us.
*Quoted from Praise! A Matter of Life and Breath by Ronald Barclay Allen
"I believe that David is suggesting that the problem of a forgetting God is in our view of Him. When we feel that God has forgotten us, then we need Him to answer our prayer, which we learned to pray from God's servant David: 'Enlighten my eyes!' We need to have our eyes refocused on the character of our God."*
"God has answered the prayer of David. He has 'enlightened his eyes' by providing a new view of His character....In our own day of distress it would be a mistake to look for a new revelation of God from a priest, a prophet, or any other source. For we have a complete revelation in the Scriptures of God, something David had only in part. We need not new words, but a new insight into and a fresh understanding of the old words. Our problem often is not a lack of revelation, but a failure to appropriate the revelation we have. ...We look for a new level, or a fresh reminder, or a new understanding in the Scriptures of God."*
The Word of God is living and just what we need. I am thankful for it, though I do not show my gratitude well. The promises of Psalm 19 are uplifting: "The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever." It is not trite to say "pray and read your Bible" when we are going through rough times, it is the best prescription we can be given. All we need is to go into it with a contrite heart, ready to hear what the Lord has for us.
*Quoted from Praise! A Matter of Life and Breath by Ronald Barclay Allen
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