Faith Nuggets
Begin the New Year with New Ears
Did you hear that?
My eyes widened as I listened to the noise coming from the backyard one morning.
“I wonder what it is,” my husband, Keith, replied. We looked in the direction of the backyard as it continued. “Is it an animal crying or is it a bird?” I asked. Neither of us could spot an animal or a bird; but I settled on it being the later.
That evening we sat down to visit; only to be disturbed again by the noise. “I’m sick of that bird,” I confessed to Keith. I was reminded of when my daddy used the term “sick and tired” to describe a situation he longed were different. Is there anything you’re “sick and tired of”? Perhaps the extra weight you carry that makes you sluggish. Perhaps you’re “sick and tired” of the guilt that weighs your heart. Or, maybe you’re “sick and tired of” the same marital, financial, or family problems you carry from one year into the next.
Keith responded to my being “sick” of the annoying “bird.”
“Are you sure it’s coming from outside? I think it’s mechanical,” he replied, looking upward in the house. I had no idea what he was thinking as he headed upstairs. However, he was correct. The solution to the problem wasn’t quieting a bird in the backyard. It took him going upstairs to find the solution.
New Year Resolution Revolution
This year, what if instead of flippantly making New Year resolutions to fix what we’re “sick and tired of,” we went “upstairs” for the solution? What if we prayerfully asked our Heavenly Father for His perspective on how we might change or attain goals? As we begin 2016, we might consider:
Is My New Year Resolution Coming from My Father
New Year resolutions can be earthly or heavenly. A heavenly resolution is a result of prayer when we ask our Father, “What do you want of me?” Or, if we already know an area about which God has convicted us, then our resolution is to follow His voice when He prompts us to turn from sin and toward obedience.
Will I Pay Attention and Obey My Father’s Voice this Year
Numerous voices vie for our attention. Noise can keep us from hearing God’s voice.
To hear God’s voice we need to be still. We need to listen.
I invite you to join me for two upcoming opportunities to become better spiritual listeners. The first is this Monday at noon at Hill Country Ministries, 1127 East Main, Suite 200. I’m holding a New Year Prayer Journaling Workshop.
What Is A Prayer Journaling Workshop
I’ll be sharing different ways to record not only the prayers of our heart that we voice to God; but also various ways to journal… when God speaks to us.
Does Our Heavenly Father Still Speak?
Yes, which leads me to the second opportunity. Saturday, January 23, 9-12, Trinity Baptist Church is opening its doors to the community for my conference; “Listen UP! 31 points about the Holy Spirit every Christian should know and how to better discern HIS VOICE. I misjudged what I thought was a bird. I don’t want to miss what my Heavenly Father says, and I bet you don’t want to, either. Join me January 4 for the Prayer Journaling Workshop and January 23 for the Listen UP! Conference. Let’s enter the New Year with our ears tuned upward!
“So choose life in order that you may live…by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him;” Deuteronomy 30:19b-20a.
Heavenly Father, thank You that You care about areas of our lives and sins we’re sick and tired of. Thank you for Your solutions. Help us take advantage of every opportunity to tune our ears upward to become better spiritual listeners.
I PRAY with an ATTITUDE of THANKSGIVING
“Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.“
Have you ever said of someone, “He’s got an attitude!”? Or said to a person, “You need a better attitude!” Thanksgiving, eucharistia, means thankfulness. If we can see other’s attitudes, don’t we realize God sees ours? How do we think it makes God feel when we pray with an ungrateful or negative attitude? Which of the following attitudes is reflected in your prayers?
- I don’t know if You’re listening, God.
- If You’re listening God, You probably won’t do what I’m asking, but just in case…
- I don’t know why I’m praying. It never does any good.
A few days ago I walked on the front porch and heard the loudest tweeting I’ve ever heard. I expected to see a gigantic bird and watched for the branches to rustle so I could spot the happy caroler. Instead, my eyes fell on a tiny little bird. It was the cutest thing I’d ever seen. It was stretching and straining, causing the bough to bend up and down. As I listened and found pleasure watching that little bird, I thought how much pleasure my heavenly Father must have when we stretch our tiny arms heavenward and praise Him. Does God see us? Of course He does! Does God note the one who joyfully comes to Him thanking Him for answered prayer? Yes!
A negative question from a negative loved one or negative co-worker doesn’t engage us as a positive question from a thankful one. For instance, there’ve been times when my husband has asked me to do something I wasn’t in the mood to do; but I couldn’t resist his engaging grin and playful big brown eyes. What does God see when we call on Him? A sullen, doubting saint or an expectant, hopeful one?
Heavenly Father, Thank You for who You are and all You are. Thank You that You are ever present for me to pray to You. Thank You that I can pray to You with confidence; knowing You hear and answer my prayers according to Your will.
Adapted from If God in In Control, Why Am I a Basket Case?
