Double Miracles

There are so many things we pray for that require another parties participation.
When we pray are we considering how our prayers will affect the lives of others outside of our direct circle?

The miracle that we pray for may require someone else to also take a leap of faith.
The miracle that we pray for may require someone else to suffer a loss.
The miracle that we pray for may be a blessing for both parties.

I pray for a friend to sell her home so she can live closer to her family, but this may require another family to move further away from their family.  I have added to my prayer request to also pray for the family that God places in her home.

I think it is easy to forget that our prayers may affect the lives of others when God answers them.

ASAP

Is ASAP our attitude with our prayer life?  We live in a society where most everything is instantaneous.  It can be difficult to be patient and wait for anything, this includes answers to prayer.  When we have to wait we start to plan how to accomplish it on our own, and if it takes to long we will probably try our plan versus waiting and continuing to pray.

I agree with Mark when he stated "I have a tendency to mishandle the blessings that come too easily or too quickly."

I think if God answers our prayers to quickly we are more likely to take credit for the accomplishment or to feel like it was going to happen anyway.  

What do you do to give God all of the glory for answered prayer?

Do you think that you give God all of the glory when the prayer has been circled for a longer period of time?

Life Goal List

"Setting goals is a practical way of dreaming big."

This section was crazy!  Just take a look at the first one on the list!  Milk a poisonous snake??!!

Do any of you have a life goal list?

I do not have one written out, but I know that I do have some life goals.

• Celebrate 50 year wedding anniversary.
• Celebrate one of our anniversaries on a world cruise
• Go on a missions trip with my Sunday School class
• Go to Machu Picchu with Richard
• Walk where Jesus walked with Katie
• Take a train trip in Alaska with my family
• Get down to my ideal weight of 120 lbs
• Read the Bible within 1 year
• Go cave spelunking with Richard
• Go to Egypt and see the pyramids

10 steps to goal setting

Prayer

Check your motives

Think in categories

Be specific

Write it down

Include others

Celebrate along the way

Dream big

Think long

Pray hard

My goals seem so insignificant compared to the goal lists in the book.  I do not think I am dreaming big.  I am selecting things that I mostly think I will be able to successfully do.  

What would I write on my goal list if there was nothing off limits?  I will need to rethink about my list.

What do you have on your list?

Do you have a list? 

Daniel Fast

"Fasting has a way of fast tracking our prayers."

I have been very curious about fasting.  I have never fasted.  There have been times when I have thought about fasting, but was concerned that others would think it was bizarre and not necessary.  

We have many social activities in my family that revolve around food and it would be difficult for me to fast in secret.  There are many places in the Bible that talk about fasting being private and secret.

In  doing research for this post I found there are lots of different ways of fasting.  

The first Daniel fast was vegetables, fruit and water for 10 days.

The second Daniel fast was similar but also eliminated leavened bread, wine and sweetener.
In Esther the fast was 3 days with no food or drink.
There is a partial fast where you may be called to give up specific foods.
A Juice Fast
Regular Fast - most people still drink during this type of fast

The book says "Some miracles are only accessible via prayer and fasting."
I am not really sure that I agree with that.
I think fasting is more to put us in the correct frame of mind.
To make us more reliant on God.

What are your thoughts on fasting?

"Fasting gives you more power to pay because it's an exercise in willpower."

Prayer Experiment

"The Game with Minutes"

"We try to call Him to mind at least one second of each minute.  We do not need to forget other things nor stop our work, but we invite Him to share everything we do or say or think.  Hundreds of us have experimented until we have found ways to let Him share every minute of our waking hours."

This called to my mind Proverbs 3:6

" In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

If we were calling God to mind every minute of the day he would be definitely be directing our path.  

Our relationship with Christ should be like our relationship with a new love!  

You think about the new love so much.  

Can you commit to calling God to mind every minute?  I am not sure that I can.  I am not very good at multi-tasking.  My husband is not allowed to talk to me when I am working on our business accounting because I can not think about 2 things at once.    

I would love to be "God-intoxicated"!

How about you?  Do you want to be God-intoxicated?  

What are you going to do to accomplish it?

Larks and Owls

"One of the reasons that many people don't feel an intimacy with God is because they don't have a daily rhythm with God."

What is your intimacy level?

In the past I felt like there was no intimacy.  That being said, my prayer life consisted of my desires or my wish list.  It was not about worship and praise.  

Neither Lark nor Owl is better.  If you are a lark you begin your day by praying, pray throughout the day and end the day with prayer.  If you are an owl you just start later and close later.

Do we work at making time for our Savior?

I am going to try to get up earlier each day to read my Bible and pray.  My prayer life is always at a time that requires no planning or commitment, whenever it is convenient for me.  

"Praying hard is hard."

I sometimes do not start my day with prayer.  As most of you know, I work from home so I tend to make my coffee and depending on what is going on with my business, I sometimes go right to work.  My day should always be primed with prayer.  

I thought the study about priming was so interesting.  When I was a teenager I worked at McDonalds in the drive-thru.  My hours were the breakfast hours.  Looking back I am so glad that I always was cheerful with the customers.  Maybe I helped prime someone to have a good day!

Be sure to make your own routines and rituals for prayer and growing your relationship with Christ.  

Proximity

"Proximity creates Intimacy."

Have you ever felt like you were supposed to place your hands on someone while you prayed for them?

I have. .  . . . confession time . . . . I did not do as I felt God was leading me.  

I was so fearful of what the other person might think of my behavior.
What if God really was not telling me to do it?
All the "what if's"

What miracle may I have missed but not doing as I felt led?

I recently read a book . . . I wish I could remember which book this story comes from.  If I remember I will post the name of the book.  It was also a very good book!

It tells a story about a speaker at a youth conference.  He is speaking and a woman walks down the center isle of the church carrying a young child.  She tells them that she was told by God to bring her child to them and they were going to heal him.  The pastors spoke among themselves unsure how to handle the situation.  They decided that if God sent this woman that they would do their best.  They advised the teens that if they did not believe the child could be healed that they should leave.  Only people who believed that the child could be healed stayed.  They placed their hands on the child and prayed.  They prayed hard and with boldness.  Well, after the prayers were done nothing obvious had changed.  The child was still cripple.
Years later the speaker ran into the same woman.  He asked about her child and as they were speaking a child ran up to his Mom!  It was that child. A very short time after they laid hands on the child the child's legs straightened and he was able to walk, with no medical intervention.

Was the healing due to proximity?
 I do not know, but it surely can not hurt!

When you pray do you face anything in particular?
Do you think facing something changes the result of your prayer or does it make your heart more receptive?