Our Daily Preparation
by Laura Davis
On my desk in front of me, I read my daily thought from Kim
Anderson…"Our hearts feed on love and joy." Right away I notice
something is missing! Not only do our hearts feed on love and
joy, they are nourished by prayer and Bible study, which
actually are the two things that give us pure love and unending
joy.
Often I find myself depressed or sad, discontented, and afraid
of the future. Finally I will realize that I had missed my daily
prep. time with God that morning! I’ve slowly learned that
strength comes only from this positive and up-building time in
my day. Everything always turns out much rosier…I’ve got
positive thoughts, lots of love to give away, and praise filling
my heart. I often forget about the future, realizing that it’s
all in God’s hands and He will bring about greater things in my
life than even I could dream of!
Sometimes we begin to depend on our ‘morning reunions’ as a time
of ‘getting’ (fortifying ourselves against the devil’s tricks
and increasing the stability in our lives), and we easily forget
how much God loves to commune with us! He waits for us to come
to Him and rejoices in our devotion. He gave and still gives so
much of Himself; it must make it all worthwhile to have one of
His chosen children praise Him, thank Him, and come to Him with
a listening ear.
Once I heard it said, "If prayer is the breath of the soul, then
praise must be laughter!" There is quite a difference between
breathing and laughing. Breathing is a calm, rhythmic action,
meditative rather than excited, concentrated on filling our
lives with vigor. It’s a good comparison…prayer fills our lives
in a calm way with life force from heaven. Now, if praise is
like laughing, it’s almost the opposite of prayer…you are
agitated and full of vivacity and enthusiasm. Our attitude to
prayer should be serious…after all, we are in direct
communication with the Lord. It’s a time of stillness and a time
of listening and meditation. God speaks to us in the quiet and
reminds us of our need. Prayer is our stronghold; our means of
strength, growth and wisdom from our Father. Having this
communication is our greatest blessing.
In my life, prayer is very important. My first purpose in prayer
is "not to get, but rather to be"(Richard O'Ffill in
Transforming Prayer). Prayer is communicating with God my
need for His power and wisdom in my life. The other evening, I
was remembering what my prayer life used to be like. When I was
about 10 years old, I would have horrible dreams usually with
bears chasing me, or fire consuming our home. I made it a habit
to pray every evening that God would ‘take all my bad dreams
away, Amen’. That would be it! Mine was a prayer of faith, but
not many words. Now, prayer takes me beyond human wisdom and
reasoning…it gives me a connection with Someone who can make me
into the person He had in mind all along. "You shaped me before
I was born; you put my bones together while I was still in my
mother’s womb. You saw my unformed body inside the womb. You
knew how long I would live even before I was born." Psalm
139:13,16 Clear Word Paraphrase It’s the only way I can
tell Him that I surrender my plans and dreams to Him. It’s the
way I let Him know my choice…commitment.
The Word of God is powerful. Most of the time God speaks to us
through His word. Prayer may be the life-giving oxygen in
our lives, but Bible study is the ever-flowing blood in a
Christian! The Bible gives us counsel, reproof, love,
instruction, peace, wisdom, everything we need for life and
godliness. This amazing book is actually a letter from our
Father...He wrote it to help us live for Him. His purpose in
writing it was to teach us His pathway, in the hopes that we
will follow it and meet Him someday in Heaven!
I have found it very difficult at times to get started in the
Bible...I always wonder where to start and how to get the insights
that I need right now. It’s such a big book; you never know
where your answer will pop up. So, I’ve found that the first
step to entering into this castle of knowledge is to ask Jesus
to be my guide. I ask Him to send the Holy Spirit to help me
notice special details and to make them fit me personally. As I
explore, I search for things explaining what God, and His son
Jesus are like. A few days ago, I was outside with my dad. He
was talking about one of the rams…it has a hot temperament and
is often rude to the others. He said he’d kill it for no other
reason than it’s bad attitude. Immediately I realized how
unloving we are compared to God. "He is a God who defends and
guides His children, doing whatever is necessary to draw them to
Him." (Tamyra Horst in A Woman Of Worth). Other times, I
read about people like Moses, Joseph, and Esther, amazed at the
way God lead them through all kinds of difficulty and trial, but
they kept continually close to Him. The number one thing that
has made Bible study more meaningful to me is taking everything
it says as a personal message to me. All the texts expressing
God’s love and understanding, I take to heart, knowing that He
meant for me to read them. Reading the Bible will become much
more interesting, because "it will be like a personal letter
from a father or lover." (Carrol Shewmake in Sensing His
Presence, Hearing His Voice).
Studying the Bible has given me a lot of encouragement in my
spiritual walk with God. I have learned to follow His counsel
and depend on His wisdom. I used to worry a lot about my future
and how I could prepare for the future roles I would take. I
have since decided to leave it in God’s hands and rest in His
promises. After all, "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor can
we even imagine the things that God has prepared for those that
love Him." 1 Corinthians 2:9 Not just in Heaven, but down here
on earth too. His plan for me is unbelievable, and each day He
is working in me "to will and to do of His good pleasure."
Philippians 2:13
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