A Woman's Call to Prayer :: Chapter 10

Chapter 10:: When You Are Overwhelmed... Pray!

One groan,

one sight from a wounded soul,

excels and prevails with God.

-William Penn

First, when you are overwhelmed, you have the Bible, which is God's guidebook for dealing with all of life and its every challenge (2 Peter 1:3)

Second, you and I can thank our Lord that through the act of prayer we can seek the heart and mind of God in our difficult situations.  

 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

Romans 8:26-27

A word for you-- Again I say to you, "Thank God!" Thank Him that He knows your weaknesses, that He knows your heart, that He knows your suffering, that He knows your desire and your need to pray.  He also knows when you cannot pray, so He, through His Holy Spirit, comes to your rescue and prays for you! Thank Him that He has so graciously allowed this avenue of prayer, this whisper, this sigh, this groan of prayer by the Spirit, for those times when words and understanding fail you.  You can pour out the contents of your broken, confused heart as best you can, if you can(!)... and leave the rest of your efforts to communicate with God to the power and ability of the Holy Spirit.

Checklist for Prayer

• Do your best--Sometimes your heart cries out, "It hurts so much! It's so bad I don't think I can pray!" What are you to do when this happens?  First, remember such feelings are okay! They are normal.  They are common (1 Corinthians 10:13) This happens to everyone.  This is not an indictment against your spirituality.  You haven't failed.

Just begin.  That's your part.  God's part is to "join in and help" you pray.  He will perfect your fumbling attempts to do the right thing--to pray even when your heart hurts so badly that you are not sure what to pray or how to pray.  He will intercede and groan for you.  As explained by a Greek scholar, "The Holy Spirit lays hold of our weaknesses along with us and carries His part of the burden facing us as if we were carrying a log, one at each end."

• Try to pray-- At other times, we throw our hands up, turn our heads and hearts up to heaven, and say to God, "I don't know what to pray!" Once again, remember this too is okay.  It's normal. It's common.  It happenes to everyone.  Again, your confusion and inability are not indictments against your spirituality.  You haven't failed.

• Watch your heart--Don't worry about your words.  It's your heart that counts! But God is not as interested in your words as He is in your heart! Man looks--and hears--on the outside, but God looks at--and hears--the heart (1 Samuel 16:7)

Answering God's Call to You

Romans 8:

--The Holy Spirit intercedes for you (verse 26)

--God is for you (verse 31)

--Christ makes intercession for you (verse 34)

So my prayer for you at this moment is that you will let the prayers of your heart flow! When you are in pain... pray!  When you are speechless...pray!  When you are heartsick...pray! When you are suffering, beaten up, or beaten down by life...pray! When you are troubled or perplexed...pray! When you are overwhelmed...pray! Your heavenly Father knows what you have need of before you ask (Matthew 6:32)... so ask.  Use any fumbling words or wails you can muster up out of your hurting heart.  Just to be sure you pray... and leave the rest to God.

pg. 106-115

A Woman's Call to Prayer :: Chapter 9

Chapter 9 :: When You Are Worried...Pray! 

The way to worry about nothing

is to pray about everything.

God commands, "Do Not Worry!"

Did you know that over 300 times in the New Testament God commands us, "Do not worry" or "Be not anxious"? Just one of these occurrences, which we considered earlier, is Philippians 4:6-7:

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer

and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests

be made know to God; and the peace of God,

which surpasses all understanding, will guard your

hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 

The Command- "Be anxious for nothing"

The Scope of the Command- "Be anxious for nothing" I once heard a Bible teacher ask, "Do you know what 'nothing' is? It's a zero with the rim kicked off!"

The Solution- Prayer! "Let your requests be made known to God."

By Prayer- Prayer is not only worship but prayer is where all true worship begins... and all worry ends!

By Supplication- Do you have a need (Or, more accurately asked, Do you think you have a need?) Then pray! Petition God by supplication.  Boldly go before His throne of grace in your times of need...
and with your needs (Hebrews 4:16). 

We can ask and not worry... or we can worry because we don't ask.  It's one or the other--and the choice is ours.

With Thanksgiving- Praise, gratitude, and thanksgiving accompany all true prayer.

By Requests- Present your requests to God with utmost confidence.  Keep nothing back, neither great nor small.  Withhold nothing--none of your concerns--from God.  He wants your everything, your every concern! So present them to Him. Leave them in the lap of the Almighty.

The Result-- When you and I are obedient to God's command to not worry, and when we're faithful to pray instead, and the peace of God comes to our rescue and "will guard [our] hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."  In other words, as a tribal missionary so beautifully and simply translated this truth, Jesus will make your heart sit down.

And once your heart sits down, peace keeps watch over it.  Like a soldier, God's peace guards your heart--and mind!--against anxiety, doubt, fear, worry, and distress.  And the result? The battle against worry is won!

Checklist for Prayer

• Don't...miss a day of prayer-- If you play hit-and-miss with your daily prayer time, you will most certainly discover that your worry level is higher on the days when you don't pray.  Prayer is God's surefire solution for elimination worry.  If you pray, then you won't be anxious.  If you pray, then you will experience peace of mind.  And the opposite is true, too.  If you don't pray, then you will be anxious.  If you don't pray, then you will not experience peace of mind. 

• Do... memorize Psalm 23

  Psalm 23

   ¹The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
   ²He makes me lie down in green pastures.
  He leads me beside still waters.
   ³He restores my soul.
  He leads me in paths of righteousness
     for his name’s sake.
   ⁴Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
     I will fear no evil,
  for you are with me;
     your rod and your staff,
     they comfort me.
   ⁵You prepare a table before me
     in the presence of my enemies;
  you anoint my head with oil;
     my cup overflows.
  ⁶Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
     all the days of my life,
  and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
      forever.

• Do... determine a "worry day"-- A man who was unable to put his troubles aside completely decided that the next best thing to do would be to set apart a single day, Wednesday, to do all his worrying.  When something came up that disturbed him during the week, he wrote it down and put it in what he called his "Wednesday Worry Box." When the time came to review his high-anxiety problems, he found to his great surprise that most of them had already been settled and no longer generated anxiety! He discovered that most worry is unnecessary and a waste of precious energy.

"The riches of His grace" (Ephesians 1:7)

an inexhaustible reservoir to draw from.

"The riches of his glory" (Ephesians 3:16)

an inestimable wealth to count on.

"The riches of His goodness" (Romans 2:4)

an unfailing resource to rely on.

pg. 94-103

A Woman's Call to Prayer :: Chapter 8

Chapter 8:: When You Are Worshiping... Pray!

The Prayers of True Worshipers

--King David--

Let my prayer be set before You as incense.

Psalm 141:2

He was pleading with God that his prayers would be as disciplined and regular as the offering of incense and burn offerings were required to be according to God's law (Exodus 29:38-30:9)

The Prayers of your heart--

  As New Testament worshipers, you and I don't kill and burn animals or incense as a sacrifice to the Lord.  But, dear one, we as women after God's own heart are called to offer up a different kind of sacrifice-- that of prayer.  We are to lift our prayers to the Lord.  We are to offer the "incense" of our prayers.  And as you and I both know, that calls for some sacrifice on our part!

Checklist for Prayer--

Sacrifice your carelessness--

Lax attitudes toward God and toward prayer have to go.  We must substitute "I'll get around to it ...I'll pray later...I'll pray when I feel like it...I'll pray when it's convenient for me...Catch You next time, Lord!" with a sober-mindedness about what prayer is and to do it with greater planning and more careful preparation.  David ordered his prayers, precisely laying them out.  And Zacharias prayed at a certain time and in a most reverent and mindful way--in worship!

Sacrifice your sin--

If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.

Psalm 66:18

The LORD is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous.

Proverb 15:29

One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.

Proverb 28:9

The Eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers.

1 Peter 3:12

Sacrifice your heart--

Prayer involves the offering of your emotions and tears.  It's a terrible, ugly thing, but when we don't pray, it's easy to become aloof, controlled, cool, and distant.  We are unattached, untouched, and uncaring about what is happening around us and about the pain in people's hearts.  But when we make the decision to pray, it costs us our hearts.  The only way I can describe it is to say that the act of prayer breaks our hearts.  Then...then!...our emotions spill over and our tears flow. We are burning the "incense" of our sincere prayers toward the Lord, offering up the sacrifice of our hearts.  Scripture tells that "the sacrifices" God is interested in "are a broken spirit, and a broken and a contrite heart"--a crushed heart (Psalm 51:7) Does that describe your heart?

Sacrifice your time--

John Wesley, busy founder of Methodism, spent at least two hours each day in prayer.  He is famous for bringing us these challenging words: "I have so much to do that I must spend several hours in prayer before I am able to do it."

Samuel Rutherford, seventeenth-century theologian, rose at three o'clock each morning to "wait upon God."

Alexander MacLaren, English clergyman and scholar, wrote that he owed his "success" to the habit never broken of spending one hour a day alone with the Eternal.  It was this man who knew well the sweet savor of the perfume of prayers of worship, who wrote, "The Garments of those who pray smell of all the fragrances that grow about the feet of the King."

Martin Luther, German Reformer, testified, "Prayer is the most important thing in my life.  If I should neglect prayer for a single day, I should lose a great deal of the fire of my faith."

pg 85-93

A Woman's Call to Prayer :: Chapter 7

Chapter 7:: When You Are Hurting...Pray!

One of my favorite words in the English language is "bittersweet." This picturesque term also reminds me that many occurrences in life fall simultaneously into the glad-sad category, bringing forth both emotions at once.

We wonder, How can something be both bitter and sweet at once? It can only be so because of God's great power and grace! As you have probably already experienced, it is God and God alone who is able to sweeten what is bitter (Exodus 15:23-25), to make the one who is sad become glad (Psalm 30:11), and to turn something bad into something good (Romans 8:28)

Lesson # 1-- Cast your burden on the Lord.

He who watched over the infant deliverer of Israel in his cradle of rushes, who sent His raven to feed Elijah by the brookside, who protected Daniel in the lion's den, and kept Paul calm and cheerful in the hurricane, is the very One who says to us-- roll your anxieties over on Me, for I have you in My heart!

Lesson #2-- Resist the temptation to run away

You must stay and pray! You must stretch yourself out and strive in prayer!

And be assured, dear praying heart, that if a way of escape becomes necessary in your grievous situation, if the heat of battle becomes more than you can bear, God, who is faithful, promises that He will provide a way out (1 Corinthians 10:13).  He will deliver you.  He will come to your aid. He will rescue you.  He will see to it! You can depend on Him!

Lesson #3-- Believe that God will sustain you

-Psalm 55-

¹⁶But I call to God,
   and the LORD will save me.
¹⁷ Evening and morning and at noon
   I utter my complaint and moan,
   and he hears my voice.
¹⁸He redeems my soul in safety
   from the battle that I wage,
   for many are arrayed against me.
¹⁹God will give ear and humble them,
   he who is enthroned from of old,
                          Selah
because they do not change
   and do not fear God.

 ²⁰My companion stretched out his hand against his friends;
   he violated his covenant.
²¹ His speech was smooth as butter,
   yet war was in his heart;
his words were softer than oil,
   yet they were  drawn swords.

 ²² Cast your burden on the LORD,
   and he will sustain you;
 he will never permit
   the righteous to be moved.

 ²³But you, O God, will cast them down
   into the pit of destruction;
men of blood and treachery
   shall no live out half their days.
But I will trust in you.

Checklist for Prayer

 -Stay-

the wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion

Proverbs 28:1

-Pray-

Look up! When your soul is in sore straits, there is no solace and no cure comparable to prayer.  That's exactly when you must seek God on bended knee.  Resist, with God's help, the urge to emote. Refuse, with God's strength, to sink into a variety of emotion and/or sinful responses.  Refrain, with God's self-control, from self-pity, self-righteousness, anger, and depression.  Reject, with God's grace, the temptation to ask Why.  Don't allow yourself to rant, rave, disintegrate into a puddle, fall apart, or collapse.  Instead of fainting, pray (Luke 18:1)

Cast your burden on the LORD,
   and he will sustain you; he will never permit
   the righteous to be moved.

Psalm 55:22

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.

 James 1:2

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

1 Corinthians 10:13

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Galatians 6:2

See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no "root of bitterness" springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;

Hebrews 12:15

-Weigh-

And after all, where does humility grow? And trust? And faith? It grows in the crucible of the fire of trials...

pg.75-83

A Woman's Call to Prayer :: Chapter 6

Chapter 6:: When You Are Disappointed by Others...Pray!

-Pray for Others-

Moses prayed for his brother Aaron...

Moses prayed for God's people...

Deuteronomy 9:12-20

Job prayed for his friends...

Job 42:8

When You Are Disappointed By Others...Forgive One Another!

 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Ephesians 4:32

  Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

Colossians 3:13

 Bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.

Luke 6:28

When You Are Disappointed by Others...Watch Your Heart!

Oh, how I pray that you and I, as women who are called to pray, will follow in the honorable, righteous, forgiving footsteps of these three who belonged to God's noble army of intercessors and pray-ers! Because their hearts were clean, guileless, right, praying, and forgiving, they could pray for others... even those who had disappointed or personally harmed them.

When You Are Disappointed by Others... Offer a Helping Hand!

We must help them! We must set aside our disappointment, forsake the lectures, forsake the judgment, forsake the shock, and go to work helping and praying for others, taking heed lest we fall (1 Corinthians 10:12)  Sure, correction, instruction, restoration, and rebuilding may come later.  But when a person has failed and is in trouble, we are to pray and offer a helping hand.

Love your enemies,

do good to those who hate you,

bless those who curse you, and

pray for those who spitefully use you.

Luke 6:27-28

Are you doing kind deeds for those who have harmed you or let you down? Are you speaking kind words to and about those who have slandered or verbally attacked you? And are you praying for those who have hurt or disappointed you? Look to God for His most able and gracious help, and then do what He says you must do to love your enemies.

Pg. 65-73

A Woman's Call to Prayer :: Chapter 5

Chapter 5:: When you are in Trouble... Pray

Lingering in God's presence will

increase our faith,

provide a place for us to unload our burdens,

remind us that God is always near, and

help us not to panic.

To ask the question, "What is prayer?" is to ask a 

question of such depth that it is beyond our lim-

ited human understanding to ever fully answer.

The question probes not only the mysteries of

what it means to be a human being, but even

inquires into the mystery of God Himself....

Because it is a topic too deep for the human intel-

lect, it requires that we look to God as our 

teacher.

-Terry Glaspey-

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out!

Romans 11:33

From the earliest times, prayer has been an integral part of the worship of God.

We are to implore Him for our needs.  And we are to do so earnestly and humbly.

...men always ought to pray and not lose heart...

Luke 18:1

Praying instead of fainting refers to the words, attitude, and devotion of supplication that looks expectantly to God in times of trouble.  Such prayer keeps us from caving in.

When the going gets rough, we're not to faint, lose heart, give in, give up, and cave in.  Instead we are to pray, to ask God in supplication, to trust Him and move forward.  It's true that "he stands best who kneels most."

My friend, in times of trouble...when you can't do anything at all...just pray and pray! That's supplication-- turning to God in prayer in the tough times, when you don't know where else to go or what else to do.

He must fight my battles (Psalm 60:12) He must judge and makes things right (Psalm 37:6) He must act on my behalf (1 Peter 5:6) He must deliver me (Psalm 143:9) and help me to go on in the presence of my enemies (Psam 23:5) And prayer is my way of handling the trouble I cannot handle.

Prayer is a means of asking God to do what we cannot do.

So I pray God's message to your heart is crystal clear.  When you're in trouble...pray. When you're helpless...pray! When you've done all you can do but you're still in need of help...once again, pray! You are to ask God in supplication, dear child of God.  God's call and instruction to your heart is to remember to pray in times of trouble.  Don't lose heart! Pray from the heart!

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.

James 5:13

pg. 54-63

A Woman's Call to Prayer :: Chapter 4

Chapter 4:: Ten Reasons Women Don't Pray- Part 3

If you want a life of prayer,

 the way to get it is

by praying.

-Thomas Merton

7) Faithlessness- We don't really believe in the power of prayer.  We don't think that prayer makes any difference.  We don't believe that things might have different outcomes due to faithful and earnest prayer... therefore we don't pray.

Whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.

Matthew 21:22

Enjoy the devotional thought that follows regarding this wonderful promise from Jesus... and then, in faith and by faith, draw the bow, shoot the arrow, and in prayer send your heart's message upward to heaven!

Prayer is the bow,

the promise is the arrow:

faith is the hand which draws the bow, and

sends the arrow with the heart's message to

heaven.

The bow without the arrow is of no use; and

the arrow without the bow is of little worth; and

both, without the strength of the hand, to no

purpose.

Neither the promise without prayer,

nor prayer without the promise,

nor both without faith,

avail the Christian anything.

What was said of the Israelites, "they could not enter in

because of unbelief,"

the same may be said of many of our prayers; they

cannot enter heaven, because they are not put up in

faith.

8) Pridefulness- Prayer reflects our dependence on God.  When we fail to pray, we are saying that we don't have any needs...or worse, that we are choosing not to ask the one Person who can help us.  Our prayerlessness defiantly declares, "I'll take care of it myself, thank You!" 

So let's be quick to humble ourselves and pray and seek God's glorious face.

The self-sufficient do not pray, the self-satisfied will not pray, the self-righteous cannot pray.

The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.

Psalm 34:18

9) Inexperience- We don't pray because we don't pray! And because we don't pray, we don't know how to pray...so we don't pray.  It's a vicious cycle.  Yet prayer, like any skill, becomes easier with repetition.  The more we pray, the more we know how to pray.  And the more we know how to pray, the more we pray.  It's as simple as that.

Lord, teach us to pray

Luke 11:1

If we are willing to take hours on end to learn to

play the piano, or operate a computer, or fly an

airplane, it is sheer nonsense for us to imagine

that we can learn the high art of getting guidance

through communion with the Lord without being

willing to set aside time for it.  It is no accident

 that the Bible speaks of prayer as a form of

waiting on God.

10) Laziness-

First, I put my personal principle of "head for bed" into action as soon as the evening meal was done and the kitchen cleaned up.  No, that doesn't mean that I went to bed at six o'clock. But it does mean that at six o'clock I began to get my daughters bathed and into their pajamas.  I would also shut down the house, wash my face and brush my teeth, check the schedule for the next day and begin a to-do list, and get into my own pj's.  Then I set out my prayer notebook and Bible in the place where I would (Lord willing!) have my devotions the next morning.

Second, I put my prayer principle of "something is better than nothing" to work for me when it was actually time to pray.  I had to dispel the myth of the desired and hoped for "sweet hour of prayer" and try for something more manageable and realistic for successfully getting the discipline of daily prayer into place.

Checklist for Prayer

Access your faith-quotient- Do you believe God answers prayer? Or do you fall into the category of those Jesus addressed as "O you of little faith"?

Lord...help my unbelief.

Mark 9:24

Take time to think- Really think about what keeps you from praying.  Hold each of these ten reasons for failing to pray up to God in prayer.  Lay your soul before God, and submit your heart to Him for scrutiny.

For instance, ask in prayer:

God, is there too much of the world in my life and not enough of You?  Am I like Martha, too focused on the busy details of daily life and failing to see the big picture, the necessity of prayer? Am I living out the definition of a fool by allowing what is insignificant to rob me of the most significant use of my time- time spent praying about my life?  Have I allowed anything to create a distance between us, Lord? Father, am I neglecting to ask of You in prayer because of a failure to understand Your magnanimous nature? Or is it due to some area of sin in my life that I'm refusing to deal with? Or is my failure to pray a faith issue, a lack of trust? Or pride? Or do I just plain ole don't know how... or am I just plain ole lazy?

Desire to answer God's all- You see, you and I can know we need to pray, and we can learn the skills involved in praying.  Yet if we never desire to pray, our knowledge and skills mean nothing.  Praying will never become a habit or a discipline because the one main ingredient is missing.  My friend, it's imperative that we desire to pray!

Prayer is so simple;

It is like quietly opening a door

And slipping into the very

presence of God,

There is stillness

To listen to His voice;

Perhaps to petition,

It matters not.

Just to be there

In His presence

Is Prayer.

Pg. 42-51

A Woman's Call to Prayer :: Chapter 3

Chapter 3 ::  Ten Reason Women Don't Pray-Part 2

Prayer is one way God has provided

for us to commune with Him,

and when we accept His invitation

to commune with Him,

He will transform our hearts

and change our lives.

You and I must desire to pray, decide to pursue it, determine to keep at it and, of course, do it!

4) Distance-- If you know people well, you can usually talk easily with them.  But you probably have difficulty talking to a stranger.  And the same thing happens in our communication with God. When you and I don't have a close enough relationship with God, we find it hard to "talk" to Him.

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

James 4:8

What are some of things that can create distance in our bond with God?  Here are a few answers: Neglect. Bitterness. Laziness. Procrastination.  Sin. Distractions. Pride. I'm sure you could add to this list.

5) Ignorance--We don't understand or grasp God's goodness or His desire and ability to provide for us "exceedingly abundantly" (Ephesians 3:20) and to "supply all our need" (Philippians 4:19) Therefore, we don't ask or pray. 

What man is there among you who, if his son asks

for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for

a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, 

being evil, know how to give good gifts to your

children, how much more will your Father who is

in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

Matthew 7:9-11

God is good. And God is a giving God.  but God also wants us to ask Him,  In the words of Charles Spurgeon, famed preacher-of-old, "Whether we like it or not, asking is the rule of the kingdom."

Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.

Jeremiah 33:3

You ask and do not receive because you ask amiss.

James 4:3

Ask, and it will be given to you...for everyone who asks receive.

Matthew 7:7-8

6) Sinfulness-- Oh, dear friend, we simply cannot forfeit our ability and our opportunity to pray for ourselves, our family and friends, and those in need because we are too proud or stubborn to deal with sin.  Too much is at stake--and at risk-- to hold on to secret or favorite sins.  Keep short accounts with God when it comes to sin.  And what is the best way to treat sin?  I've often been advised to deal with any sin as it comes up-- on the spot! At the exact minute that I slip up and fail!

Checklist for Prayer 

~Examine your relationship with God

Number One excuses you are allowing to keep you from prayer.

neglect    bitterness

laziness    procrastination

sin    distractions

pride    other reasons

 ~Write our verses to memorize--
Begin with Jeremiah 33:3, James 4:3, Matthew 7:7-8.

Write the verses on cards,

Write them out ten times, and

Write them on the tablet of your heart.

By having your verses on cards, you are seeing them.  By writing them out ten times with pen and paper, you are touching them.  And by writing them "on the tablet of your heart" (Proverbs 3:3)-- by saying them over and over--you are internalizing them until they become yours.

~Search your heart for sin

Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my mind and my heart....Search me, O God and know my heart...and see if there is any wicked way in me.

Psalm 26:2 and 139:23-24

...to guard against distance, stay close to God,

...to guard against ignorance, stay close to God's Word so you have a better understanding of how you should be praying, and 

... to guard against sinfulness, stay close to God by pursuing a godly life.

pg. 32-40

A Woman's Call to Prayer :: Chapter 2

Chapter 2 :: Ten Reason Women Don't Pray-- Part 1

No praying woman accomplishes so much

with so little expenditure of time

as when she is praying.

--C. E. Cowman

1) Worldliness- We live "in the world" (John 17:11) and are effected by our worldly surroundings more than we realize or think.  There is nothing in the world that encourages us to pray.  There are no voices in the world admonishing us to be spiritually minded.  And prayer is a spiritual exercise. But prayer and praying give us a measure of immunity against the world.  For instance, I've noticed that when I get up early and make prayer a priority and take the time to seek God through His Word and prayer, a fire of passion for Him is ignited, fueled,  and fanned until its flame is brilliant.

My thoughts, my heart, my concerns, my focus, my desires all become more noble when time is taken to lift my heart heavenward through prayer. ( This is SO true!!)

He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness

Psalm 107:9

2) Busyness-- Another reason we don't pray is because we don't take the time to pray. And usually the culprit is busyness. 

We must learn to stop in the midst of all of the busyness and to stop all of the busyness... and pray.  A woman who is too busy to pray is simply too busy!

3) Foolishness-- Whenever we become consumed with what is foolish and trivial, we will also surely find ourselves failing to pray. It's a given! (And I am sure we would both agree that failing to pray might well be the ultimate act of foolishness for a woman of God!)

We lose sight of the primary thing in life-- our relationship with God. We foolishly and frivolously begin to spend our very limited and priceless time and our already-insufficient energy on wrong and inferior things.  We fail to "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness" so that all the other things we need in life can be added to us (Matthew 6:33)

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.

-Jim Elliot-

Evaluate your heart-- Identify three things you can do to turn your back on the world and your heart toward spiritual things, toward the heavenly, toward the eternal. 

Now, how can you "turn your eyes upon Jesus" so that the things of this world will grow steadily more dim?

Evaluate your lifestyle--Think about your daily routine and not the multitude of ways you spend your God-given time (some of which is meant to be spent in prayer). 

Now, how can you make time for "the one thing" that Jesus pronounced most needful, for "the one thing" that shall never be taken away from you? How can you make time for prayer? How can you make your desire to pray become a reality?

Evaluate your priorities-- Ask God to show you areas of foolishness in your life. ( I know, we hate to admit it, but it's true--they're there! Pray this prayer: "Lord, please reveal those things in my life that are secondary to a life committed to prayer.  What less things are wasting my time and energy? What foolish things are wasting my time and energy? (Prov 28:13)

pg. 22-30

A Woman's Call to Prayer :: Chapter 1

I picked this book up at the local Christian book store and have been telling myself that I must read it... after I finish the other book that I am reading.  Well, ladies and gentlefolks, I have finished Passion and Purity by Elisabeth Elliot ( a MUST read) and am now a happy reader of A Woman's Call to Prayer by Elizabeth George.  I am but 2 days into it, 2 chapters into this wealth of knowledge and I feel as though I have grown already.  I am so excited beyond words about reading this book.  I long so deeply to become a woman of prayer.  A woman so devoted to God and to prayer that everything else that I do fails in comparison with it.  I want a flame for Christ.  A flame that cannot be quenched with worldly desires.  I want to be a Woman after God's own heart...

So, what I am going to try to accomplish is a post a day on the chapter that I read that day.   I don't know what kind of a post it would really qualify as, so I am just going to call it highlights-from-my-morning-devotionals.  :) Okay, so maybe that won't work, but that will be the gist of the goal.

I am going to encourage you ladies to go and find this book whether on Amazon,  CBD, your local book store or wherever you are able to find this book and buy it!  Maybe you already have it, maybe you have already read it, but whatever the case I would like you to go along with me on my journey as I desire and strive to become a woman of prayer.  I will jot down the parts that really catch my eye for you all to see.  If you are reading it or have read it and there is something that caught your eye that I didn't post about, let me know! I would LOVE to see what you got out of it.  I want to grow but also I want you to grow with me.  It's a journey that cannot be walked alone.    If you don't want to do any of what I have asked, then by all means don't!  But please do read and admonish and encourage me when needed.

Most importantly I want ALL the glory to go to God.  He alone is responsible for any growth that we receive in our lives.  He alone is worthy. 

Chapter 1:: Beginning the Journey into Prayer

Imagine what kind of  transformation would occur in our hearts if we spent time (or more time) each day drawing near to God through His Word-- time spent on something of eternal, life-changing value!

As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God.... My soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You

--Psalm 42:1; 63:1--

Let's embark on a joint journey of learning more about prayer.  Let's seek a life lived "on bended knee." 

We just don't arrive one day at the point where we can mark "learn to pray" off our to-do list! It's as my Jim always says,  "If you want to humble the mightiest Christians, ask them about their prayer life."

Pray Now-- Put your book down, grab your kitchen timer, and go somewhere where you can shut the door or be alone.  Then pray for five minutes.  Use these initial golden minutes to share with your heavenly Father your heart's desire to answer His call upon your life to  become--and be!-- a woman of prayer.

Get Organized--Round up some kind of notebook.  Whatever it is, do what you can to make your choice personal, pleasing, and inspiring. Just choose something that will aid you and inspire you to take your first beginning steps down the path of your journey into prayer. 

Look Ahead-- Look over...and pray over...the next week on your calendar of events. Pay particular attention to the pattern of your life--of your daily routine, of the needs of those in your family or those closest to you.  Then mark on each day for the next week the exact time you will designate as your payer time.  "There is no right or wrong way to pray...except not to pray!"

He who has learned how to pray

has learned the greatest secret

of a holy and happy life.

Pg. 13-21