Keep Praying...GOD is Moving!

You know that thing you've been praying about? Keep praying...GOD is moving! It's true. It happened to me just the other night. Now before you go and think that I was praying some kind of super, bolder than most, faith as big as a mountain kind of prayer...I wasn't. My prayers were mustard seed size prayers. And here's how it went down:

You remember my story the other day about my new friend, Ben, whom Anthony and I met while he was in the hospital? He came to church last Sunday and brought his friend/neighbor, Tina, with him. Well I invited Tina to our Wednesday night Women's Bible study, because c'mon...we are stocked full of some of the most awesome, kind, loving and caring women who love JESUS. 

Well I never heard anything else from Ben or Tina during the week. So on the way to Bible Study I told my friend, Tricia, to join me in continuing to pray for them. I said, in my mustard seed size faith request, "Well, I haven't heard from my new friends, maybe GOD just wanted us to plant a seed in their hearts and HE will have someone else water it. Let's keep praying that JESUS moves in their lives and hearts wherever that may be."

So here's where it gets good! We headed into church and right in the middle of singing, I heard someone call my name. As I turned around one of the leaders had Tina with her and said she'd looking for me! Seriously GOD? You answered my small little prayers in such a big and mighty way! Oh and there just so happened to be only 4 of us sitting in a row with 5 chairs...one spot perfectly waiting, open and available for Tina to join us. 

I'm so thankful for answered prayers! I'm thankful that even small, mustard seed size prayers are answered mightily! Friends, keep persevering in prayer...you never know when that "empty chair" will be filled. 

He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”~Matthew 17:20

Jump on the Thankful Train...what are you thankful for?

IT LEAKED OVER EVERYTHING!

I changed plans, instead of a nice day relaxing on the beach after yoga, I decided to take a walk deep into the wetlands. I stopped and picked up my favorite tri-tip/veggie bowl, threw it in my bag and headed off down the trail. I walked for quite a while before stopping at a quiet location with benches. It was time to sit and eat, bird watch and write. As I pulled my bowl out, I realized the delicious teriyaki juices had seeped out, right through the paper bag and into my backpack. It poured all over my Bible and writing tablet...soaking in from the cover to the pages.

Absorbing in.
The good stuff.
The flavor.
The very thing that makes it good.

I was struck by the comparisons to my life's journey. As I made a choice to turn from my old empty life and walk toward Jesus, as I made a commitment to read The Bible at least 10 minutes every morning, to pray daily, changes began. Small at first. My attitude...I wasn't always expecting the worst in my day. I felt hopeful...the good words of God seeping in. Trials would come, but they were no longer my undoing. Day by day, 10 minutes stretched into 15, 20, 30 minutes; the sweetness, the craving for more truth, absorbing into the deep recesses of my emptiness. My words, my actions, my desires...they all began to change.

How can it be that simple? 

Reading and praying, "Yes JESUS, have YOUR WAY in my life!" The truth. The good stuff of Christ being absorbed. 

Just like my leaking teriyaki sauce, that covered everything in my backpack, Jesus' truth, words, forgiveness, grace, love, and light will sink deep into your heart when you open The Bible. Pray. Ask Jesus into your life. He comes like a flood...a wave of rushing water to the dry, parched soul.

If you are at a crossroads, stop and ask Jesus which way to go. He is, He has, the answer you've been looking for. He will pour out His love. ASK HIM! 

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."~John 14:6

And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.” Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.”~Mark 9:28-29

"Turn at my rebuke; Surely I will pour out my spirit on you: I will make my words known to you."~Proverbs 1:23

"And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,
That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your young men shall see visions,
Your old men shall dream dreams."~Acts 2:17