A heartfelt encouragement from Hebrews 5:7 reminding us that Jesus knows what it’s like to weep, to wrestle, and to pray through pain. When we cry out with raw honesty and surrender, Heaven hears. You are not alone—and your tears are not wasted.
Tag Archives: prayer
Sacred Spaces And Reflection Places…
One of my favorite ways to begin the day is outside. And I always try to begin my day with some time spent in meditation and prayer. This combination of some quiet time out in nature allows me to do the inside work that is so important to helping me not totally cave in or explode completely apart. It is often a fine line and time in meditation, contemplation, prayer and reflection is a vital part of my daily process that allows me to keep on keeping on, even and especially when I don’t want to.
This morning I headed out to one of my special spots that I call my prayer rock. On my way, I decided that in this new year, I wanted to use my physical copy of the scriptures during this time, rather than my electronic device. I love my iPhone and am very blessed with my iPad. They help me to research, write and share in incredible and amazing ways. They are tools which make tasks quick, efficient and a lot easier. I just thought it would be nice in the new year to go “old school” and actually hold “THE BOOK”, flip the pages, look up the scriptures and feel it as I allow it to fill me with His presence and power.
Now, I’m not looking to get into a debate about which is better, because I think that our Creator is more than capable of communication through whatever and however He chooses. This is just about me, what I like and taking some steps back to something very familiar, healing and encouraging to me. To each his own and my Grandaddy taught me: “There is more than one way to skin a cat!”, but that is another blog for another time.
The important a thing to grasp here is that we: 1.) Take Some Time To Do The Inward Work Of Thinking and Thanking. 2.) Discover & Utilize Special Places Of Peace, Relection And Meditation. 3.) Embrace What Is Special To You And Keep It Special. Below are three ideas with some of what works for me:
TAKE SOME TIME TO DO THE INWARD WORK OF THINKING AND THANKING! You can do this anytime you want, but I want to encourage you to take time everyday to: 1.) Spend a little time in the inspirational and encouraging scriptures found in our Bibles. God’s Word is powerful and once it is taken inside of our mind and life, it begins a work that stays with us for all eternity. I try to write at least one verse or passage in my journal everyday that I am considering and thinking through… 2.) Think about all you have to be grateful for and express that gratitude in some “out loud” way. I do this by saying “THANK YOU”, writing at least three things I am thankful for in my journal everyday and practicing a gratitude meditation where I just basically take time to speak thank your out loud for many of my blessings by making them.
DISCOVER AND UTILIZE SPECIAL PLACES OF PEACE, REFLECTION AND MEDITATION! I have places inside and outside. I have places at home and away from home. I am discovering new places all the time. Everyone needs a place to escape to. It may be a special room in your house. It may be somewhere in the backyard. It could be a special chair on your porch. It can be a bench in the park, a blanket on the ground or even the quietness of just sitting in your car. Just find you a place and use it as a sacred space for you to spend time with your SPIRIT to find peace as you reflect and meditate on what really matters.
EMBRACE WHAT IS SPECIAL TO YOU AND KEEP IT SPECIAL! This is one of the big secrets: Once you have figured out what, how, where, who and when is special and sacred, then make sure to protect it and utilize it. We have such wonderful, amazing and supernatural tools that our Creator has put at our disposal, but we often leave the tools in the box, the books on the shelf, the ink in the pin and the pages in the journal… Make sure that you use it, so you don’t lose it!
It really is the simple things that have the potential to have the biggest impact on our lives and living, so I encourage you to invest a little time to rediscover the simple things that are so special to you and you know what? I bet, you’ll be glad you did!
JOYJOLT!
We look for joy, but can never seem to find it. If and when we do find it, then we can’t manage to hold onto it. Joy is that miraculous and fulfilling gift that the Holy Spirit flows into our lives that enables us to face whatever life throws our way with hope, optimism, confidence and excitement. Joy is that special gift of God that everyone wants, but that so few are willing to really work and live for.
It may be that your biggest problem is not that you are not looking for joy, but that you are looking for joy in all of the wrong places. We try to find it in our achievements, goals and ambitions, but no matter how hard we try or what we accomplish, it just never seems to be there. We often look to others and what they do for us or what they do not do to us for our joy, but this often leaves us worse off than when we began. We sometimes even look deep within ourselves, only to discover that this is not the place, even though it sounds good.
Joy is found in one place and one place only. Joy is found in the presence of God. Psalm 16:11 says “You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.” Joy that is bigger, better and stronger than any other thing in your life can only flow from one source and that is the pure source of His presence. If you want joy that will allow you to face and overcome even the worst that life will throw your way, then you must journey into and learn to stay in His presence.
Sometimes when I am really wanting to show my “mad skills” on the grill, I will take a piece of meat and marinate it in some liquid and spices. I literally leave the meat in the liquid for a long period of time, so that it can soak up all of the flavor that makes such a difference. In the cooking world this is known as “marinating” the meat.
We need to marinate in God’s joy by living our lives in His presence. We do this by 1.) Making it a priority to invest time in God’s Word everyday. One of the tools that I use to help me with this is youversion.com, this online Bible has a whole series of reading plans that help me to get in the Word, stay focused and enjoy His presence. 2.) Worship God Who is more than worthy on a regular basis. I have an iPod nano that I have programmed with some of my favorite music and I have a section of songs that immediately take me to a place of worship, where I can enjoy sweet communion and fellowship with my Creator. 3.) Spend time in prayer. This is a great gift that God has given to us, but it is also one of the most unused gifts. Prayer is simply having conversation with God. It means that we talk and listen. This conversation is evidence of His presence and joy can’t help but flow through it into and through our lives.Time spent is God’s Word opens the door for worship. Real and genuine worship brings us into His presence. In His presence we have the opportunity for conversation, which will fill out lives with His joy. Hope you enjoy the joy of His presence today!
Michael Joe Harvell 