Holding My Heart

My mom recently loaned me a box that holds precious family photos and keepsake items. My plan is to scan what I can into my computer.

 

Among those items, I found this poem.

 

School-Bound

By Alma Roberts Giordan

 

The little red kerchief

Goes bobbing along;

Oh, keep her safe, Lord,

Safe, Lord, and strong.

 

See how she loiters

And dances and dreams.

Lord, keep her spirit

From bursting its seams.

 

The little plaid book bag

Swings perilous wide;

Lord, send a guardian

To stay by her side.

 

Now out of my vision,

A world apart:

The kerchief, the satchel

Holding my heart.

 

This poem gives words to what is in a mom's heart for her child. Her prayer recognizes that even though her child is out of her own vision, the Lord still has His eyes on her little girl.

 

She also recalls to her mind what Jesus told His disciples concerning children, “I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 18:10 ESV)

 

Yet, we moms can become so overly anxious for our children at times that we won't let them out of our vision. We don't want anything "bad" to touch them—no discomfort, no pain. We try to control their lives. But by doing so, we choose to lean on our own understanding and our own power, weak as we are. Instead of allowing the Lord to work His will, our will for them becomes most important.

 

Paul reminds us that the Lord takes us from glory to glory, from faith to faith. (Romans 1:17; 2 Corinthians 3:18) He wrote that the hard things of life are what grow us to be more like Jesus. (Romans 8:18-30; 2 Corinthians 4:17) I heard a father recently say, as part of the growth process, sometimes kids have to skin their knees.

 

Our children will "skin their knees." It is not in our power to guard their every step. And sometimes we have to stand back and watch them struggle. After all, isn't that how they learned to walk? The one thing—sometimes only thing—that we can do to work powerfully for them is pray.

 

 

"It's hard to watch your child struggle through life. Keep praying."

Dr. James Dobson

Papa

Recently, when on a road trip, we saw a farmer moving irrigation pipes while his two dogs frolicked near him in the field. My husband commented, putting words in the dogs' mouths, "Whatcha doing, dad? Why are you playing with those long shiny things?"

To our dogs, my husband is "dad" or, more accurately, "Papa." Technically, he may be their master, but he is first of all their Papa.

 

Their usual habitat when not training or doing a field trial? That would be the house…and Don's recliner or the sofa.

 

 

 

This is not the case for all field trial dogs, though. Some spend most of their time in kennels. They are usually nice kennels, but they are still kennels, not a house with a sofa. Their owner/trainer may be their master, but he is not their "Papa." That's a big relationship difference.

Relationship makes a huge difference.

 

 

Jesus told His disciples, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are 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 7:7-11 ESV)

 

Are you a disciple of Jesus? Are you a child of God? If you have received Jesus—taken hold of Him as your own—then you have been given the right and privilege to ask, seek, and knock. Jesus tells us our Father will then give us good things.

 

The Hebrew word for good in the above Scripture is agathos. It means of good constitution or nature, useful, salutary, good, pleasant, agreeable, joyful, happy, excellent, distinguished, upright, or honorable.

 

Matthew Henry commented on this passage in Matthew 7 writing, "Prayer is the appointed means for obtaining what we need." He added that parents are ready to give what their children ask, but unlike parents who can be "foolishly fond," our all-wise God knows our needs and desires and what is "fit" for us. Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible defines it as what is "proper" for us. In essence, God knows what is good for us.

 

We pray for our children, our hearts desiring good things for them. We want what is pleasant and agreeable, for them to be happy. But, we also want them to live excellent, upright, and honorable lives. For those good things to be given to them, we pray, trusting our all-wise God to do what is fit and proper.

 

And when what we see with our eyes does not appear to be "good," we choose to settle our hearts in faith while we continue to pray, wait, and watch for our Father in heaven to give good things.

 

"Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart,

all you who hope in the Lord."

Psalm 31:24

"And It was So"

My Precepts group is studying the book of Genesis this year. One phrase that stood out from this past week's lesson in Genesis 1 was "and it was so." In context, it always followed, "Then God said…"

The Hebrew word is ken. It can be translated so, therefore, or thus or even right, just, honest, true, or veritable.

 

Gesenius' Lexicon notes that it is the same as speaking well—in the same manner it is spoken, it is done, even giving the sense of immediacy.

 

It answers one question that science has yet to be convinced of. That is, the speed of light, going one way from a star to the earth, is pretty much instantaneous. That has to be if Genesis 1:14-15 is true, and our God doesn't lie. There are even some scientists who have research that supports this.

 

 

[Photo via Internet Resources.]

 

But, what does this have to do with prayer?

 

When God speaks, His words have power beyond comprehension. When His words go forth, nothing can stop their effect. Their power is immediate to do whatever it is that He sent them out to do.

 

Let me tell you, my words don't even come close! What about yours?

 

But I can trust the Lord God that when He speaks, it is as good as done. And that is why I find speaking His words over my children powerful, so much more powerful than any words I can speak.

 

As the Lord told Zechariah, "Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit." (Zechariah 4:6) Nothing I can say or do has the power of the Lord unless it is through His Spirit.

 

Yet, as I abide in the Lord and His words abide in me, I can ask in His name and in His promises through His Spirit, and I have His assurance that He will act. (John 15:7)

 

So, when I pray God's breathed-out, written words, a mountain shall become as flat as a plain, as the Lord goes on to say in Zechariah 4:7. That is the power of the Word of God. It may tarry, as He told Habakkuk, but it will surely come to fruition. (Habakkuk 2:3),

 

Praying moms, we pray and then we wait, living in faith, for the Lord's "and it was so."

 

We can hang our hope on His words and not be disappointed. That is because in His words we know truth, salvation, strength, and life.

 

Amen! So be it!

 

 

 

The Cost of Prayer

This year I am reading through Oswald Chamber's Devotional Bible which includes selections from his writings inserted for each day of the year. His words on the cost of prayer were poignant.

"What makes prayer easy is not our wits or our understanding, but the tremendous agony of God in redemption. A thing is worth just what it costs. Prayer is not what is costs us, but what it cost God to enable us to pray. It cost God so much that a little child can pray. It cost God almighty so much that anyone can pray ... It cost God everything to make it possible for us to pray."

Oswald Chambers

 

How often do we really consider what it cost God to make it possible for us to come to Him in prayer?

 

Without the cross, without even the promise of the cross, we wouldn't have a prayer!

 

But this begs another question. How often do we devalue the cost of prayer by not praying?

 

Prayerlessness is one thing in the Gospels that awakened indignation in Jesus' heart—prayerlessness in His Father's house.

 

"And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”

Matthew 21:12-13

 

The other Gospels echo Matthew's story in Mark 11:15-17, Luke 19:45-46, and John 2:13. Given the context of these accounts, it is entirely possible that Jesus did this more than once. John's account, which possibly occurred at a different time than the incident the other Gospels write of, includes that Jesus used a "whip of cords." Now, that's a bit more than just tipping over tables.

 

But, considering that the money changers were using up the space meant for prayer, not only were they not praying, they were actually preventing others from praying. No wonder Jesus was filled with indignation!

 

Knowing the cost to God to enable us to pray, our prayerlessness cheapens "the tremendous agony of God in redemption." And prayerlessness goes further to reveal our desire for independence of Him and our preoccupation with other things.

 

In fact, failure to pray is counted as a sin against the Lord according to the prophet Samuel.

 

"Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way."

1 Samuel 12:23 (ESV)

 

As priests in the Kingdom of God, we are called to pray and not just for ourselves. A priest is one who intercedes on behalf of others.

 

So, one last question to consider—what are we allowing to use up space meant for prayer?

 

May we follow Jesus' example whose living purpose is to always intercede for us. (Hebrews 7:25 ESV)

Pala'

My daughter's cat's name is Pala. In Hebrew, it means to be marvelous, be wonderful, be surpassing, be extraordinary, or be separate by distinguishing action. Considering the hissing I'm hearing from the hallway, though, I think our older cat, Sadie, would disagree that Pala lives up to her name.

 

This is Pala helping me with my Bible study.

 

In Genesis 18:14 (AMP), the Lord asked Abraham, "Is anything too hard or too wonderful for the Lord? At the appointed time, when the season [for her delivery] comes around, I will return to you and Sarah shall have borne a son."

 

The word pala' here has been translated "too hard or too wonderful." We can rephrase it by stating the fact that there is nothing too hard, too wonderful, to marvelous, to surpassing, or too extraordinary for the Lord to do. He is separate by His distinguishing actions, His wondrous works. The Lord did return and Sarah, who judged God faithful, received strength to conceive and give birth to Isaac—life from those who were as good as dead, according to the Hebrews 11:11-12.

 

The Amplified Bible commented on Genesis 18:14, "Nothing is “too hard or too wonderful” for Him when He is truly made Lord."

 

That last phrase is important—"when He is truly made Lord." Sarah "considered [God] Who had given her the promise to be reliable and trustworthy and true to His word." (Hebrews 11:11 AMP) The Lord God was her Lord. Her faith was evidence of that.

 

This made me think of another occurrence of the word, one of my favorites, where David wrote in Psalm 31:21 (AMP), "Blessed be the Lord! For He has shown me His marvelous loving favor when I was beset as in a besieged city." My Bible titles this Psalm as "The Lord a Fortress in Adversity."

 

As you read Psalm 31, it is clear that David was writing while suffering opposition. Yet, he was praising the Lord for His marvelous favor. Evident from his words, David had made the Lord truly Lord of his life. He trusted his life—physically, emotionally, and spiritually—to the Lord's care.

 

As we pray for our children, first of all it is important that in Praise, using the truth of God's Word, that we make the Lord truly Lord of our lives. That is the place where we gain understanding and trust, like Sarah and David, that there is not one thing too hard or too wonderful for the Lord to do in our own lives and in our children's lives.

 

Then we will join our voices together with theirs to declare—

 

"Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders which You have done,

and Your thoughts toward us;

there is none to compare with You.

If I would declare and speak of them,

they would be too numerous to count."

Psalm 40:5

Sometimes It is All in the Tool

Recently, as I watched a television landscape improvement program (my yard needs lots of help), the female homeowner was trying to break through the plastic covering around the root base of a tree. She just couldn't get the shovel to split open the casing. Thinking she wasn't strong enough, she gave the shovel to the male host of the show to give it a try. He couldn't do it either. He dropped that shovel and reached for a different one. The new shovel broke through the plastic immediately. The host told the homeowner that sometimes it's all in the tool and has nothing to do with personal skill.

 

Praying moms, that is so true! Sometimes it is all in the tool.

 

When we need a breakthrough for our children, Scripture is the tool we should use. God's Word is much more powerful than any words we can muster up. After all, it is the tool Jesus used against the enemy.  Remember? "It is written…" was what Jesus repeated in the face of Satan who wanted to destroy Him.

 

Our words are just not powerful enough to knock out the enemy. But by praying Scripture, we put an "It is written…" punch in the enemy's face.

 

Matthew Henry made two particularly good points when he commented on Matthew 4:1-11.

1.   Jesus is "the eternal Word, and could have produced the mind of God without having recourse to the writings of Moses; but He put honour upon the Scripture, and, to set us an example, He appealed to what was written in the law; and He says this to Satan."

2.  "The Word of God is the sword of the Spirit, the only offensive weapon in all the Christian armoury (Ephesians 6:17); and we may say of it as David of Goliath's sword, None is like that in our spiritual conflicts."

 

The Moms in Prayer International Booklet notes that as we pray Scripture for our children, "the power of God's Word drives out anxiety and fear, and produces faith in us." So, not only is Scripture the breakthrough tool to use for our children, it is a tool that helps us moms stand firm, "strong in the Lord and in the power of His might." (Ephesians 6:10)

 

 

"Pray at all times (on every occasion, in every season) in the Spirit,

with all [manner of] prayer and entreaty.

To that end keep alert and watch with strong purpose and perseverance,

interceding in behalf of all the saints (God’s consecrated people)."

Ephesians 6:18 AMP

 

 

Sometimes it is all in the tool.

It is Just a Matter of Where the Light Shines

Our ice maker has a tendency to not drop all the ice in the chute into a glass. Often, moments, even minutes, later another piece will suddenly fall and usually ends up on the floor. The small clear piece of frozen water can be difficult to spot, unless the light catches it just right.

It is just a matter of where the light shines.

 

Where the light shines always makes a difference. We think our windows are clean, and then the sunlight hits the glass. Sigh.

 

Matthew writes of Jesus at the beginning of His ministry as fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah—

 

"The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,

and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned."

Matthew 4:16

Jesus said of Himself, "I am the light of the world." (John 9:5) Then, He proceeded  to heal a man who was blind from birth. This man testified to those around him, "One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see." (John 9:25)

 

 

Praying moms, this man was born blind physically. But all humanity is born blind spiritually. That includes our children. Philip Bliss began his famous hymn, “The Light of the World,"—"The whole world was lost in the darkness of sin." Yet, the second verse begins, "No darkness have we who in Jesus abide."

 

Our heart's desire for our children is reflected in the chorus—

 

Come to the Light, 'tis shining for thee;

Sweetly the Light has dawned upon me;

Once I was blind, but now I can see;

The Light of the world is Jesus.

 

The hymn's third verse tells hearers what to do, just as Jesus told the blind man—

 

Ye dwellers in darkness

With sin blinded eyes,

The Light of the world is Jesus!

Go, wash, at His bidding,

And light will arise.

The Light of the world is Jesus!

 

Through the power of God and His living Word, the Light of the world will dawn sweetly into our children's lives. Jesus put clay on the blind man's eyes and sent him to wash. We, instead, use the washing of the Word in prayer (Ephesians 5:26)—

·     for God to open their eyes that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may thus receive forgiveness and release from their sins and a place and portion among those who are consecrated and purified by faith in Jesus. From Acts 26:18 (AMP)

·    for God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” to shine in their hearts to give them the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. From 2 Corinthians 4:6 (ESV)

·     for the Lord to bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and disclose the purposes of their hearts so they can receive commendation from God. From 1 Corinthians 4:5 (ESV)

·     for them to walk in the light, as He is in the light, so they will have fellowship with one another, and be cleansed from all sin by the blood of Jesus God's Son. From 1 John 1:7 (ESV)

·    that the fruit of Light, what is good and right and true, be found in them. From Ephesians 5:9 (ESV)

 

The Light of the world is Jesus!

 

 

 

You Gotta Read the Rule Book

Since my husband's retirement, he has kept busy doing dog field trial training and tests with our three Labradors. Here they are having some fun in the Snake River. Those are "bumpers" they each are bringing back—fake ducks.

 

 

Recently, my husband began judging some of these field trials. As a judge, he helps set up the tests, the trial, that the dogs and handlers are to go through. Those who are successful receive rewards, usually in the form of ribbons and qualification of a standard reached.

 

The way each test is judged successful is whether the dog goes straight. When I asked, "Why?" he said so as not to disturb unnecessary cover—places where, if on the hunt field, prey might be hiding. It would also be proof the dog follows directions and does not give into distractions, like frogs, which are Belle's trip up. She's the yellow lab in the photo.

 

He also told me, "It's in the rule book. You gotta read the rule book."

 

Hmm. The dogs can't read the rule book, but the dog handlers are responsible to do so.

 

Our Rule Book, the Bible, is what keeps us from disturbing others unnecessarily and from distractions. It is what keeps us going straight.

 

"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable

for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

that the man of God may be complete,

equipped for every good work."

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (ESV)

 

Praying moms, sometimes our children aren't reading the Bible. Sometimes they can't being too young to read, so we can read it to them. Other times, and more often, they have the skill to read, but have chosen not to do so. As moms, we give them opportunities to hear, but the responsibility to read the Rule Book is theirs.

 

Of course, our children are not like field trial dogs. But we, as moms, are not too unlike their handlers. Even though our children have to walk through their tests on their own, we can be persistently and fervently backing them up in prayer, particularly covering their lives with the Word of God. Our prayers at the Throne become like a voice in their ears to help them go straight and stay on the path, or to encourage them to drop the frog, get up and run forward to complete the test.

 

That is a key reason for using our Rule Book, the Bible, in prayer for our children.  We are taking "handling" of our children to another level. Our prayers will help them go straight, successfully through the tests.

 

 

Overflowing with Abundance

When I was in college, I worked summers at a cannery just a block from downtown. Seasonal produce was trucked in from local farms. Many of these trucks, particularly the spinach trucks, were filled to the top. Produce would fly and tumble out onto the roads and sidewalks. Walkers, if they so desired, could gather up enough produce for a family meal. These trucks overflowed with abundance.

Just recently, we noticed something similar with trucks hauling large bales of straw. As the semis traveled on the highway, if you were behind them, you would want to make sure your windows were rolled up. Thousands of pieces of straw were flying from the bales, sparkling in the sun. Those pieces ended up in little piles blown to the sides of the highway. These trucks were also overflowing with abundance.

 

King David of Israel said the same thing about our God who hears prayer.

 

"You crown the year with your bounty;

Your wagon tracks overflow with abundance."

Psalm 65:11 (ESV)

 

David declared earlier in Psalm 65 that by awesome deeds, our God answers us with righteousness, that He is our salvation and hope whose deeds cause those who dwell at the ends of the earth to be in awe.

 

What awesome and wondrous deeds are you joining the earth in shouting and singing together for joy?

 

"For You have made me rejoice, Lord, by what You have done;

I will shout for joy because of the works of Your hands."

Psalm 92:4 (HCSB)

 

Are you in awe over what the Lord has done in answer to prayer?

 

"We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks, for your name is near.

We recount your wondrous deeds."

Psalm 75:1 (ESV)

Make your voice be heard!