Flat prayers

Do you ever pray and feel like the words don’t flow?

Have you ever felt muted? Like your mouth is moving, but the words are silent? Or like your prayers fall flat? 

My family loves to drink la croix or bubbly or other carbonated water beverages. 

They are crisp and refreshing, zero calories (win win!!)

Trials can cause a shift in our prayers.

I have been gutted through trials and I can get on my knees and feel flooded with peace. 

I have had moments of prayer with a girlfriend and the prayer flows and they seamlessly flow to God. 

These prayers are guttural, raw and it is as though the Holy Spirit put His stamp on it. 

But….

There are other times I feel my prayers have gone flat.

Flat, flat, flat…. 

Like a drink that was left over night and the fizz is gone.

 I share this because I am certain I am not the only one.

I love to pray scripture. When we pray God’s Word we are reminding God (and ourselves) of His promises and you can be certain praying a psalm is a beautiful encouraging way to pray! 

We groan

We sigh

We cry

We moan or murmur, or we might even scream…

These are all prayers and ways to express our heart to God. 

Just like a knife can get dull from overuse, our prayers can feel dull. 

I call them broken record prayers.

Here I am LORD, here is my request…

Here I go again with this same concern…

We might feel refreshed after unloading…. unpacking our heart to the LORD.

But other times we might not feel any different.

We might actually feel discouraged- again, flat prayers and we might feel as though God didn’t hear (A LIE!) 

We must press through, push forward and resist the temptation to stop praying. 

One thing that encourages me is asking someone to pray for me (and lift up my request) 

This reminds me of asking someone close to proof read a paper.  They have “fresh eyes” and they can see the situation with a new lens.

I love receiving prayer. This experience greatly honors God and refreshes me. Intercession takes the pressure off me to pray with the right words. I feel free to listen and not talk and simply enjoy the Holy Spirit praying through this friend. 

Lastly, God at times puts the pause on my praying for certain things and prompts me to “Just praise.”

Sometimes I am so close to the trouble, it can become almost an idol where I’m focused so much on the thorn and the problem and not truly focused on God’s character. 

I need to take a step back for a moment from my flat prayers and JUST PRAISE.

This blows my mind.

When we get to heaven, and all is accomplished as outlined in Revelation, there will be no more need for prayer -ONLY PRAISE. 

Praise continues on and on and will be our #1 job in heaven! 

This thrills me.

We get to come to the Lord and obtain mercy and help in time of need, YES, but if we lose sight of praise and worship, I fear we are treating God like Santa Claus and not Yahweh of Hosts/El Shaddai, the GREAT I AM, the King of Kings and LORD of Lords.

Jesus you are worthy! 

You said ask seek knock and we will not stop interceding until our last breathe.

Sometimes Lord, my prayers feel flat, but I reject my feelings and trust you Abba Father. You love to hear from your children! 

Please LORD teach us to worship! 

Take us back to the Cross.

May we stand in awe of you all over again!  May we remember, when our prayers fall flat, you live to make intercession for us and your prayer life Jesus is PERFECT!  

Hallelujah Amen! 

It's all ministry

 My husband and I had a really good conversation about "ministry."

He is a gifted teacher and I love to encourage.

However, with Isaac's health and disability related concerns being how they are lately, we find it difficult to even attend church. We can't serve.

Are you mad at us LORD?

Are we walking in our calling?

How can we serve you when autism and Isaac's needs are such a big part of our lives?
The LORD reminds me often "it is all ministry"

As I brush Isaac's teeth, help him get dressed for the day, pack his lunch, help him put on deodrant and all the steps of "getting dressed" as a 16 year old autistic young man, it's all ministry.

It does not feel like ministry at all.

There are no verses involved. There are no churches approving these tasks and assignments. 

Yet it truly is ministry.

Chuck and I are living examples of a "shift."

We used to record a podcast and talk about the Bible and encourage ourselves in the LORD at church and through small group studies too. We loved it! 

Now, we wake up at 5am or 5:30am and read our Bibles, (mostly quietly) then a pause to pray together and share a thought or two, and boom 6am, Isaac is awake. Our minds, lives and attention shifts to Isaac and his needs.

Ministry is super important but I think we forget what ministry means. We often think "the ministry" (serving in church or around God's people) is different than "ministry" whereby we serve at home, we serve our families, our community and it may not be under the umbrella of the church.

We want so badly to "do more" for the LORD. I blame this pressure-performance drive on the American culture and society always wanting you to "go big or go home."

Ministry can be quiet like ironing a shirt for your child or spouse, or giving a bottled water to someone, mailing a note of encouragement, praying over your child or loved one when they sleep. Ministry is weeping in the car because the worship song reminded you all over again how Good and Kind and Loving and Gracious Jesus is. 

Ministry is every where. Now, I am not being silly obviously brushing your own teeth, or tying your shoes may not be ministry per se but the Word says, "And whatever you do in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." Colossians 3:17

As a special needs mom, I know that serving Isaac is ministry and it is valuable to the LORD and certainly valuable to Isaac and our whole family.

But let's be real- sometimes our day to day tasks do not "feel" like ministry.

If you serve at a counter at church, or volunteer to open your home for a church event, you have a big smile and know that you are serving the LORD and He is pleased (if your motives are pure, of course).

However, the day to day tasks, the unnoticed tasks like picking up medication for a loved one, opening the door for an elderly person, smiling at someone who you can tell had a hard day, giving a compliment, etc. these are ways we can serve the LORD. 

The behind the scenes tasks of life do not go unnoticed to the LORD.

We see this in the Gospel. I love the moment when Jesus said He saw Nathanael still under the fig tree (John 1:48) or when Hagar calls God "El Roi" the God who sees. 

God sees you. The LORD Ominpotent, Ominscient sees you and sees me in our day to day tasks. I think one day in heaven we will be surprised at the LORD in how many times He smiled at us when we did the lowly tasks no one else wanted to do.

Jesus washed feet, loved on the outcasts and did many mundane tasks while He was here on earth. May we not get caught up in one "certain type" of ministry but realize- our whole life, our mornings and nights and moments in between can be ministry if we do them unto the LORD.

Be encouraged!

One day in heaven...

One day in heaven...

What a day it will be....

No more seizures affecting his brain...

No more struggles, no more pain...

One day in heaven...

Jesus' face will eclipse my eyes, faith will be by sight...

One day in heaven...

No more watching Isaac struggle in these autism walls...

No more fears of dangerous falls...

One day in heaven...

I can see your calloused hands from the Carpenter's Shop,

I can see the bottles and bottles of my tear drops...

One day in heaven...

No death, disability, divorce or decay...

No unkind word, no interruptions to worship...

One day in heaven...

I read the Word, the letters you left...

I see how in the Garden you suffered while the disciples slept...

What task is there left for me to do?

I often try to point others to you.

"Serve him my daughter. The disabled son to you I gave. See each day as a gift and stay in my yoke"

"Through the battles, the raging, the torment you see, 

A living sacrifice you are to me."

LORD I am tired can that one day be today?

No, not yet, there are others to be saved...

One day in heaven sounds so far away...

Until then I'll crave you, I'll long to be there and mourn sometimes too...

For until heaven, I can sit here, meditate, weep and praise...