Happy New Year!

I am so excited to write this blog post! So excited in fact that there will be a plethora of exclamation points! I feel that the exclamation point may be the single most important punctuation mark in all written language! It helps to emphasize the importance of the important statements not to mention that it points to the very dramatic side of my personality!! Carrying on...I lerve (new slang for something that you love infinitely: for example I lerve Mexican food. But not the same as I LOVE Jesus) new beginnings, it is one of the graces of God that I am most thankful for along with waking up to see that I still have 3 more hours to sleep before the alarm goes off! But seriously, I am so grateful that I only have 12-16 hours in a day to screw up before I can go to bed and start over again! Can anyone sympathize? There have been days when I just couldn't wait for bedtime in order to put that day to rest. Thankfully, those days are few and far between. I love the infinite mercy of a God who repeatedly gives us the ability to start over. It's like one of my FB friends said, "It's not like I have to wait for a new year to make changes, it just feels so fresh and new that way! It's a great trick!" Yes, indeed it is a great "trick" or as I would say, "a great grace." That is the character of a God that is longsuffering. Don't you love that characteristic? He suffers long with us! Oh, how my God has suffered long with me in His mercy toward me! Grace upon grace!

Like many of you I have pondered what things I would like to accomplish this year. I won't call them resolutions because I think the word automatically implies failure :). So, I will call them "things I hope to accomplish if I don't get off track and lose the vision before January 5th" for 2011. I try not to get totally carried away with this even though I could very easily redirect my entire life - it is tempting...Anyway, I have narrowed down my list to three accomplishments for 2011 and I hope to be able to report, if the Lord tarries, in 365 days that I have succeeded in seeing these things to completion: 1) Memorizing the book of James - just so happens to be one of my favorite books in the Bible and I can memorize two verses a week to get me through the entire book in one year. Plus, I feel like memorizing a whole book might lend itself to a more comprehensive thought instead of verses from different places. Thank you Thelma Shupe for the idea (she has memorized the entire book of Ephesians and I am JEALOUS!) 2) Running a marathon - which at this point is going to require much effort since I have maxed out at 10 miles thus far but I feel like I should do it before my body falls apart AND this may be the very thing that sends me straight to the doctor for a new knee, hip or both. Also, I know I am crazy for wanting to do anything for 26.2 miles except for drive and I realize this! 3) Ramp up my prayer life - this means actually praying in terms other than, "Dear Jesus, help me not to kill this child or Jesus take the wheel (and the brakes) because if I have the wheel I might run this person over!" This means making time daily, even if it's 5 minutes before my feet hit the floor in the morning, to commit my way to His will - verbally! Intentionally seeking Him in the quiet, alone, fervently petitioning His throne.

I have to confess that I have eschewed prayer in 2010 and I have no excuse that stands - IT IS SIN! But, if you will grant me, I would like to explain how I fell into this SIN in hopes that I can encourage and exhort you to perseverance in prayer! I have always known that prayer is commanded but I am a pragmatist to a fault. Combine that with a sinful nature and I'm heading no where good! I didn't really see where prayer "changed God's mind" or "got me what I wanted"(I'm just being honest) so I made it an afterthought. This usually manifested itself in a few sentences that were strung together before I fell asleep at night. Believing in the sovereignty of God, I felt like God was going to do what God was going to do and my prayers weren't going to change anything. On top of that, I had some very specific prayers I had prayed over the course of several months back in 2008, 2009 and parts of 2010 that had not been answered as I had prayed so I was angry, hurt and dejected. Of course I knew what the word of TRUTH commanded me to do but I didn't feel like being told "No!" anymore so I just prayed for very generic things: thank you for this, grow Your church, give so and so rest etc; I had gotten "gun shy" about praying specifics because I was afraid of being let down and like a stubborn rebellious child I wanted my way.

I found myself having this conversation with myself: "Stephanie, you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your own selfish desires (James 4:3). Yes, but doesn't the word say God will give you the desires of your heart? (Psalm 37:4). Yes, if your desires are in accordance with His will (Psalm 37:5). Well, what about the prayers of a righteous man availeth much?" (James 5:16). And so it goes but I knew deep down that prayer had to be a part of my walk with the Lord because Jesus prayed and He was GOD but He still submitted to the will of His Father in prayer. I tried ignoring it for a while but the Holy Spirit,thankfully, just kept pressing on me until I heard and read three specific things on prayer (I am paraphrasing):
1) If God says "no" it is always because there is a greater "yes" at stake. (Beth Moore)
2) Prayer is the means God uses to accomplish His will. (John MacArthur)
3) God is always doing a thousand other things at one time that we cannot see or do not understand. (John Piper)
4) In James 5:16 the word "effectual" in the KJV is translated "work or working" but it means it in the present tense of "working in the life of the one who is praying."(God)

Lightbulb! (They ought to have an "emoticon" for that in blog world!) You've heard it said that, "prayer changes me?" It is true! Or more accurately - it is TRUTH straight from God's word. Prayer doesn't really have to do with me changing God's mind or making Him see it my way. Prayer actually changes me! Maybe you knew that. Maybe you are a prayer warrior and I hope that you are! I am envious! But the lesson to be learned here is obedience. Just plain obedience whether we understand why or not.

So, maybe prayer is not your struggle but we all have something that needs a "new" beginning. Something that we need to repent of and stop testing God's longsuffering over it! Did you know that God placed dietary restrictions on the Jews first and foremost to teach them obedience? Do you think they understood why it was okay to eat a cow but not a pig? Do you think they understood the dietary difference between sea creatures that had fins and those that didn't? I doubt it! But they were called to "do the thing." So, in 2011 I just want to "do the thing!" I can't understand God. It is arrogant to even think I can when His word tells me, "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts (Isaiah 55:9). But you know what? Praise God that He is God and I am not! Praise God that we serve a God who is not "altogether like us"! He is infinitely superior, holy and just. His standards are high and glorious but He graciously tells us what he requires and then gives us the power to do it by the indwelling Holy Spirit! Amazing! Here's what you do and here is everything you need to accomplish it! How's that for a new beginning? Woo-hoo!

Let me leave you with this: In what area do you need to just "do the thing"? What is it in your life that God wants obedience and a new beginning for? It says in Acts 3:26, "God raised up His Servant (Jesus) and sent Him to BLESS YOU by turning every one of you from your wicked ways."

First prayer of 2011: Lord, grant me grace to pray faithfully because it brings you glory and changes me. Change me, my family and the world through the effectual, fervent prayers of the righteous this year! Bless us indeed, through Jesus, by turning us from our wicked ways. May you be glorified in our hearts and praised for the new beginnings you give us daily in Christ. Thank you for conviction. Thank you for repentance. Thank you for redemption. Thank you for Jesus! Amen.