Prayer Journaling

Have you ever kept a prayer journal? while preparing a presentation at church, I've become an even more ardent supporter of prayer journals. Quiet time in prayer with God teaches you about Him and gives you the opportunity to practice listening to Him. Prayer is a deeply spiritual experience that needs time to grow and mature. Through prayer you learn to distinguish between thoughts that are yours and those that come from God. It's one of the ways the Holy Spirit speaks to us. Prayers can have a powerful impact on your spiritual life. However, there is something about writing down prayers that can make them feel more real or tangible. Prayer should not just a request line to God. We are dearly loved by God and He wants to spend time with us. That's why He created us, to be in fellowship with Him. By extending our prayer topics to things other than what we want, we are entering into fellowship with God.

A prayer Journal can take many forms, from a simple notebook to a more elaborate Journal with prompts and sections for different types of prayers. It's just up to you to decide what works best for your needs and preferences. Whatever format you choose, using your prayer journal to connect with God and document your spiritual journey is key.

Benefits of a Prayer Journal:

• Enhances & encourages a consistent prayer practice by making your prayer life more meaningful and intentional. This practice can lead to a stronger connection with God and a more fulfilling prayer experience.

• It increases focus during prayer. Writing down your thoughts and feelings helps you stay focused and engaged during prayer time, It encourages a consistent prayer practice by making journaling a part of your daily routine. You are more likely to stay committed to your prayer life.

• It offers clarity. Writing down your prayers and thoughts lets you see them more clearly and objectively. It also helps you organize your thoughts and identify the things weighing heavily on your mind so that as you write, you may also gain new insights or perspectives you might have missed had you not taken the time to reflect and document your thoughts.

• Allows reflection on God's blessings and the expression of gratitude to him. It allows reflection on God's blessing and the expression of gratitude to him. As you record the things you are grateful for, you will begin to see the hand of God at work in your life. Just as Thessalonians 5:18 says give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you.

• Helps you keep track of your spiritual progress and growth. It promotes self-reflection and allows you to reflect on past prayers, see how God has answered them, and recognize growth areas in your faith journey. This helps you identify areas where you have grown and where you need to focus your prayers more.

• Helps you overcome spiritual fatigue when you feel spiritually disconnected, journaling can be a powerful tool to help you process your thoughts and emotions. By reflecting on your relationship with God, you understand your walk with God and renew your faith. Keeping it prayer Journal can also be a helpful way to get out of your spiritual rut and find a new sense of purpose and meaning in your spiritual life.

The Discipline of Prayer

 A Couple Familar Things...

I recently read about the need to renew our minds on how to pray, how little time most Christians spend in prayer, and the reasons behind the lack of time spent in prayer.  After reading that some people feel that prayer is boring and that we just keep repeating ourselves, I realized that my prayer life needs a boost.

I remembered a method of prayer that Rev. McClendon taught it to us a few years ago in church. It involves praying with scripture! 

Turning the Word into prayer includes ACTS, adoration, contrition, thanksgiving, supplication. Using scripture in prayer ensures:

1. You'll never have to say the same ole' prayer about the same ole' things. Always fresh, always new.

2. God will respond, you can interact with God. He can say something and you can say something.

3. Your soul will be satisfied

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Oh Father, I want to thank you today that Jesus is my Shepherd. Thank you for the privilege of being one of your sheep. I pray that you will make me an obedient sheep. Oh God, make me a good shepherd of the the people that you have entrusted into my care. Prayer for other shepherds.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

Father I pray today that you might enable me to be led beside quiet waters, may my soul rest in you, Lord, satisfy my soul with you.

He restoreth my soul:

Lord, I know that so often I am prone to wander. I feel prone to leave the God I love, oh Lord restore me.

he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Keep me in the path walking righteously. Guide me along the path you would have me follow, not the path the world follows.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;

Lord, help me feel your presence daily as I walk in the world's shadows. Help me not to fear troubles I encounter.

thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Jesus, you are my shepherd, please help me feel your love and comfort. I love you for providing comfort in this world of trouble.

Thou prepareth a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

My cup is not just full but runs over with joy at the prospect of what you have prepared for me in heaven

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Lord, as a believer, I know that you will guide and protect me here in earth and when I live in perfect goodness with you in heaven. I'm so thankful to have you with me on my journey through life.

What I've Been Reading:

https://www.valmariepaper.com/7-reasons-prayer-feels-boring/

https://www.toolsformentoring.com/resources/small-group-helps/prayer-ideas.php

Luke and Matthew Beatitudes

Both start with a series of Beatitudes (Latin for blessing)

Luke 6:17 Sermon on the Plain

• may be Luke's account of the sermon that Matthew records in Matthew 5-7, or it may be that Jesus gave similar sermons on different occasions.

• called the beatitudes from the Latin word blessing describe what it means to be Christ's follower, give standards of conduct and contrast Kingdom values with worldly values, showing what followers can expect from the world and what God will give them. In addition, they contrast fake piety with true humility.

Matthew 5:12 Sermon on the Mount

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December 5, discussion 9, 11, 12 and music

December 12, discussion 14, 20, 21 and music

Since the book didn't cover all of Luke, we will spend the next two weeks with some great chapters that we missed along with some music.

Bite Size Bible Study

Shortly after retiring, I discovered this blog and was immediately captivated. The author, Gail Burton Purath, has a talent for being brief and to the point while still imparting deep truths about God and scripture. I've continued to read her blog over years, often finding passages that spoke to my sould and answered my questions.  

Gail Burton Purath: who is a former missionary with a Master's degree in Discipleship and Evangelism from Columbia Biblical Seminary. Since 2011, she's been posting five Bible Love Notes each week, and periodically she posts a Bible study on her sister site: Bite Size Bible Study. It's a short study "so you don't bite off more than you can chew."  Her first book was published in 2023. It's called Wisdom for Life and it features one-minute devotions from Psalms and Proverbs.

Blog: Bite Size Bible Study: https://bitesizebiblestudy.blogspot.com/

Blog: Bible Love Notes: https://biblelovenotes.blogspot.com/ 

Book: Wisdom for Life: https://www.bhpublishinggroup.com/wisdom-for-life-devotional/ 

New Study on Luke Beginning September 12

As a non-jew and outsider, we should not be surprised that Luke writes to highlight those seen as outliers and outcasts, those deemed misfits and unfit. Tim and time again, Luke takes conventional thinking and just flips it on its head. He takes the least of these, the unlovely, the impoverished, the invisible, and he brings all of them to Jesus, who embraces them with a deep, visceral, active compassion that changes their lives forever.

If you have ever struggled with feeling like you aren't quite good enough or maybe you don't fit in, then this beautiful book is for you! You're invited to run into the arms of Jesus and experience the fullness of his gut-level compassion unlike any other love you will ever know.

Each study guide comes with individual streaming video access (instructions found on the inside front cover). Each member of our group will have full access to watch videos from their chosen device at any time - for missed group meetings for rewatching, or for sharing teaching with others.

FAQ

• Do I have to subscribe to StudyGateway? NO, if you sign up for StudyGateway for the first them using studygateway.com/redeem, you will not be prompted to subscribe, then, or after.

• Do I set up another account if I do another study later? NO. The next time you do a HarperChristian Resources study with FREE streaming access, all you need to do is enter the new access code and the videos will be added to your account library.

There is a short video available, walking you through how to access your streaming videos. You can choose to show the video at your first meeting or simply direct your group to the HarperChristian Resources YouTube channel to watch it at their convenience.

HOW TO ACCESS FREE STREAMING VIDEOS

Fall Bible Study

 Beginning September 12

Winner of the 2024 ECPA Christian Book Award for Best Bible Study

Lean in and linger in Jesus' embrace. Perfection is NOT required.

Many women believe that we aren't good enough to meet other people's expectations. Maybe you can't wrap words around why, but lurking beneath the surface of the carefully curated public mask that you wear. The great news woven throughout the Gospel according to Luke is that perfection is not a prerequisite for a deep and personal relationship with Jesus. Join Lisa Harper in this Bible study of a literary masterpiece that doesn't celebrate the elite, but embraces the outliers, outcasts, and overlooked!

The Luke: Gut-Level Compassion Study Guide plus Streaming Video includes:

• The study guide itself-with discussion and reflection questions, video notes, and a leader's guide.

• Personal study of Scripture and context.

• Scripture memory cards and coloring pages.

• An individual access code to stream all eight video sessions online. (You don't need to buy a DVD!)

• Video Sessions and Run Times:

• Outliers, Outcasts, and the Outrageous Mercy of God (26:00)

• Worship in the Waiting (25:00)

• Uphill Glory (29:00)

• Gut-Level Compassion (27:00)

• The Tender Heart of Obedience (32:00)

• A Beautiful Unbending (31:00)

• A Most Radical Restoration (31:00)

• A Tale of Two Rooms (31:00)

Lisa Harper is a respected Bible teacher and popular public speaker who addresses audiences at events and churches all over the world with engaging anecdotes and comedic wit. Her vocational resume is comprised of 30+ years of church and para-church ministry leadership, . She formerly served as the director of Focus on the Family’s Women’s Ministries and created the Renewing the Heart women’s conferences, which were attended by almost 200,000 women, as well as a decade of touring with "Women of Faith," where she spoke to over a million women about the unconditional love of God. Lisa holds a Masters of Theological Studies from Covenant Seminary in St. Louis and recently completed her doctoral studies at Denver Seminary. She has authored several books.

A master storyteller and sought-after Bible teacher and author known for her authenticity, Lisa Harper's writing and speaking overflows with colorful pop culture references that connect the dots between the Bible and modern life. She combines sound scriptural exposition with relatable anecdotes and comedic wit. Lisa is a mother to Missy, who she adopted from Haiti.   

Deuteronomy 30

 Author: Moses

Original Audience: Israel 

Prosperity After Turning to the Lord

30 When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord your God disperses you among the nations, 2 and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, 3 then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes[a] and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. 4 Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back. 5 He will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors. 6 The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. 7 The Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you. 8 You will again obey the Lord and follow all his commands I am giving you today. 9 Then the Lord your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The Lord will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your ancestors, 10 if you obey the Lord your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

Romans 11:26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.