Growing in Prayer this Year

When I led women’s ministries in churches, the position of prayer coordinator was often difficult to fill. Most of us (and I include myself here) have a mental image of the ideal pray-er, and we are aware of our own inadequacies. The women I approached often expressed their surprise at being asked to shoulder such a responsibility and their belief that almost anyone else would be better equipped for the role.

What is it about prayer that makes us feel so inadequate? What steps can we take to move forward?

Your Personal Top Ten List of 2011

Looking back at the ending year makes me thankful and more conscious of how I need to change in the next year. What has God done this year? What do I need to work on next year? With all the Top Ten lists coming out this week, I thought I would make a list of Ten Top things in my life this year.

Here are the categories/questions I used. You may want to consider them when you have a few minutes today or the next week or two as you begin 2012. Enjoy the memories, but also be open for God to speakJ

Christmas Carols Rich in Meaning

Last weekend my husband and I were blessed to attend a concert here in Dallas by the Orpheus Chamber Singers. Although we were not familiar with most of the music, we so enjoyed the quality of the group’s voices in a church built for sound without microphones. I was thankful for the printed program which included the lyrics to the unknown carols. Once again I was reminded of how much theology is present in Christian music of ages past. Although I enjoy contemporary Christian music, often such depth is missing.

As I listened, I allowed the truth of the words to pour into my heart. Beautiful and often deep, they brought home the true meaning of the season. Here are some of my favorites:

Blown Away by the Incarnation

On December 1, we received a wonderful Christmas gift—our first grandchild. I was blessed to visit the family for eight great days, including lots of time loving on her. Because of her birth’s proximity to Christmas, I often thought of the baby in the manger when I held her, and my mind was blown away by the truth of the incarnation.

How can God become a baby? How could he remain God and yet be totally dependent and helpless? How did Jesus grow in wisdom and knowledge like other children when he is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end? How can the Creator be enclosed in a created body?

Thankful in Everything? Really?

Each year I ask God for verses to pray for myself for the next twelve months, focusing on some weak area in my walk of faith. During 2011, I have prayed 1 Thess. 5:16-18: “Always rejoice, constantly pray, in everything give thanks. For this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (NET). Apparently, all three of these commands are included in the statement that it is God’s will for us. The terms always, constantly, and in everything mean that these responses are to be part of our daily lives.

As we approach the celebration of Thanksgiving here in the U.S., many of us consider the good things for which we are thankful, and that is appropriate and good. It may be, however, that we should spend time being thankful for the other circumstances and even heartaches for which it is difficult to rejoice and give thanks.

How can we be thankful and joyful in everything? Here are some things that I have learned to do.

Processing Herman Cain and Joe Paterno Stories

The fact that the world is broken has once again been confirmed by headline stories this week. Someone is lying in the Cain saga, and many are guilty of failing in their responsibilities at Penn State. Some reactions to the stories surprise me, too. Our world is broken by sin, affecting our actions and our thinking. I am trying to process these messes. I would love to hear your thoughts after you read mine.

Kim Kardashian and the Minute Marriage

Explaining her divorce filing from NBA player Kris Humphries after only ten weeks of marriage, reality star Kim Kardashian released this statement: "I hope everyone understands this was not an easy decision. I had hoped this marriage was forever but sometimes things don't work out as planned." Court documents cite irreconcilable differences as the reason behind the divorce. Humphries seems upset by the filing, saying he is “devastated” and willing to work on the marriage.

Apparently, they had plenty of time to plan an elaborate made-for-television wedding, spending lavish amounts of money, but they don’t have time to plan their marriage and discuss the issues that are now irreconcilable.

What thinking in our culture has led to the “minute marriage” or even those that last longer but get no more effort to fix the problems than this one? What attitudes that devastate marriage are flourishing even in the church? Here are three thinking patterns I hear when I listen carefully.