Nothing less than these...

"Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son."
John 14:13

"If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it."
John 14:14

"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you."
John 15:7

"You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you."
John 15:16

"In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you."
John 16:23

"Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full."
John 16:24

"Prayer not only teaches and strengthens to work; work teaches and strengthens to pray...
As you give yourself entirely to God for His work, you will feel that nothing less than these great promises are what you need and that nothing less is what you may most confidently expect."
Andrew Murray, The Believers School of Prayer, "Power for Praying and Working"

In this, we are reminded that prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ, and work, in the name of Jesus Christ, must go together. This is not "name it and claim it." This is not "prosperity gospel," promising us earthly riches and wealth. Rather, this is holding onto the promises that He gives us; that in His name, we may ask and expect "greater works." (John 14:12)

In Haggai 2:4, we read "...take courage,' declares the Lord, 'and work; for I am with you,' says the Lord of Hosts." In his Concise Commentary, Matthew Henry reminds us, "If God be with us, peace is with us." That is what we "may most confidently expect."

Press on, sisters. Pray, and work!

Bring him unto Me...

Looking at Mark 9:19, Spurgeon shares this...

Despairingly the poor disappointed father turned away from the disciples to their Master. His son was in the worst possible condition, and all means had failed, but the miserable child was soon delivered from the evil one when the parent in faith obeyed the Lord Jesus' word, "Bring him unto Me." Children are a precious gift from God, but much anxiety comes with them. They may be a great joy or a great bitterness to their parents; they may be filled with the Spirit of God, or possessed with the spirit of evil. In all cases, the Word of God gives us one receipt for the curing of all their ills, "Bring him unto Me." O for the more agonizing prayer on their behalf while they are yet babes! Sin is there, let our prayers begin to attack it. Our cries for our offspring should precede those cries which betoken their actual advent into a world of sin. In the days of their youth we shall see sad tokens of that dumb and deaf spirit which will neither pray aright, nor hear the voice of God in the soul, but Jesus still commands, "Bring them unto Me." When they are grown up they may wallow in sin and foam with enmity against God; then when our hearts are breaking we should remember the great Physician's words, "Bring them unto Me." Never must we cease to pray until they cease to breathe. No case is hopeless while Jesus lives.

The Lord sometimes suffers His people to be driven into a corner that they may experimentally know how necessary He is to them. Ungodly children, when they show us our own powerlessness against the depravity of their hearts, drive us to flee to the strong for strength, and this is a great blessing to us. Whatever our morning's need may be, let it like a strong current bear us to the ocean of divine love. Jesus can soon remove our sorrow, He delights to comfort us. Let us hasten to Him while He waits to meet us.

The tone of my life...

"Life is a whole. The pious frame of the hour of prayer is judged by God from the total frame of the ordinary daily life of which the hour of prayer is but a small part. Not the feeling I muster up, but the tone of my life during the day, is God's criterion of what I really am and desire. My drawing near to God is one with my relationship with men and earth; failure here will cause failure there."
Andrew Murray, The Believers School of Prayer, "Prayer and Love"

I think about that statement not just in the context of "men and earth," but also with my family. "Not the feeling I muster up," when I'm tired, when I'm not feeling well, when tasks from in and from out are pressing- "the tone of my life during the day."

I settle so easily into prayer, and lean into the peace of sitting before my Father, communicating, me! with the God of the Universe. But do I live as comfortably, with the same peace? Does my family recognize the peace, the joy, of my salvation?

My prayer echoes Mr. Murray's:
Lord Jesus, my blessed teacher, teach me to forgive and to love. Let the power of your blood make the pardon of my sins such a reality, that forgiveness, as shown by you to me, and by me to others, may be the very joy of heaven. Show me whatever in my relationship with fellowmen might hinder my fellowship with God, so that my daily life in my own home and in society may be the school in which strength and confidence are gathered for the prayer of faith. Amen.

Small Annoyances, Small Pains

Never let us reflect upon small annoyances, and we shall be able to bear great ones sweetly. Never let us think over our small pains, and our great pains will be easily endurable.

~~Charlotte Mason, Ourselves, p. 90

This spurs me on and re-aligns my focus. Oh, to let the small annoyances and small pains go...press on, friends!

Unanticipated

Unanticipated blessings of being the neighborhood home school family (& a couple happened just today!):

• when the kid down the street forgets his science book, he can come to your house for books to help him with his homework


• when the neighbors needs an emergency contact for day care or the public schools, we're available


• when the public school kid gets sick and his mom's at work, we're available


• when UPS needs a signature, we're home (and he knows what we're studying this year...)


• when the guy around the block is looking for his lost dog, he can stop and ask us if we've seen him


• when the traditional school kids are out of school for one of those teacher work days (man! isn't every day a teacher work day?) and need someone to play with by the end of lunchtime, we just might be available


• we entertain sales pitches for wrapping paper, cookie dough, candy bars, seasonal gifts and a host of other things, and might just buy one since we haven't had to sell it


• we can pray each morning for a house, and it's family, on the block


• we can tell others that there are lots of reasons we home school, but the primary one is so we can teach our kids about the Lord
  

Double is the blessing when you discover another home school family in your neighborhood. In one military neighborhood we lived in, the other side of our duplex, and two other families home schooled. Fun! An unanticipated blessing.

(art credit: Neighborly by Swallowfield)

The All Comprehensive Gift

Therefore, I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Ephesians 4:1-3

In looking at this passage in Sunday School last week, we were asked, “what is the unity of the Spirit?” We considered those fruit, the gifts of the Spirit, that unite those who believe in the saving work of Christ.

That question was even more clarified for me yesterday as I read a lesson on “The All-Comprehensive Gift,” on the role of the Holy Spirit in prayer. Andrew Murray reminds us to consider the names the Spirit bears:

The Spirit of grace- to “reveal and impart all of the grace in Christ Jesus.”
The Spirit of faith- to “teach us to begin and go on and increase in believing.”
The Spirit of adoption and assurance- ‘who witnesses that we are God’s children, and inspires the confiding and confident ‘Abba, Father!’
The Spirit of truth- to “lead all truth.”
The Spirit of prayer- “through which we speak with the Father in prayer that must be heard.”
The Spirit of judgment- “to search the heart and convince of sin.”
The Spirit of holiness- “manifesting and communicating the presence of the Father’s holy presence within us.”
The Spirit of power- “through whom we are strong to testify boldly and work effectively in the Father’s service.”
The Spirit of glory- “the pledge of our inheritance, the preparation and foretaste of glory to come.”

Imagine! All of that, that entire, all-comprehensive list, available to us that call upon Him! I am struck today of those implications- of what our prayer and study and service, of what our lives, would look like if we walked confidently in those truths! Talk about Giant Faith!

Lord, You are Sovereign, and exceedingly full of compassion and love, in measure beyond what I even understand. Thank you for your perfect plan. Thank you for the gift of the Spirit, that all-comprehensive gift. Forgive me Lord, for those many distractions that keep me from knowing the fullness of your Spirit. Oh how I long to put them aside! Indeed, I pray fervently, continue to teach me how to walk in a manner worthy of that calling you have so graciously extended to me. I pray confidently, knowing that is Your delight, and that it is mine as well. Amen.

(photo credit: The Face of Peace by Pablo Picasso)

Friction

"The problem of speeding up the movement of a vehicle is that of applying power to overcome friction.' This is a quotation from a book called Quest of Speed. What hinders our spiritual speed? If there be anything in which my will is not in accord with God's will, then there is friction, and that keeps me back. I cannot fly in spirit ('mount up with wings as eagles'), I cannot 'run, and not be weary', I cannot 'walk, and not faint', till my will is content with God's will. As I though over this, I knew that the only way to end the friction is the way shown in that wonderful verse in Isaiah 40.31: 'But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings of eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.' 'Wait' means expect, look for, hope. God has something much better for us than the thing we naturally desire. As we wait with all the desire of our mind fixed on Him, the thing we naturally long for becomes less pressing, the friction ceases, and so we are set free to go on. God knows there are few things more difficult to do than to give up our own desires. It is not a thing we do once for all, it comes again and again as Satan tries to make friction between our will and God's. Our dear Lord knew this trial of spirit and He gloriously conquered. He can make it possible for us to do what He Himself did in the Garden of Gethsemane. 'My grace [the grace that was His then] is sufficient for thee.'

It helps often, when we feel things most impossibly difficult, to turn from everything and just look at Him. As we look at Him we love Him. We cannot help loving Him, and where love is, there friction is not."-- Amy Carmichael, Thou Givest...They Gather

As a child...

We speak often of living in seasons, and I believe that is true. But even in the midst of those measured times, some things endure. As I have been meditating and studying prayer (oh, and yes, praying too!), I am learning, and re-learning, and learning yet more, how crucial prayer is. Prayer MUST endure! This prayer of Andrew Murray echoes mine today, as well:

Teach me that the worship in spirit and truth is not of man but only comes from you; that it is not only a thing of times and seasons, but the outflowing of a life in you. Teach me to draw near to God in prayer with a deep awareness of my ignorance and my having nothing in myself to offer Him, and at the same time of the provision that you, my Saviour, make for the Spirit's breathing in my childlike stammerings. I do bless you that in you I am a child and have a child's liberty of access, that in you I have the spirit of Sonship and of worship in truth. Teach me, above all, blessed Son of the Father, how it is the revelation of the Father that gives confidence in prayer. Let the infinite Fatherliness of God's heart be my joy and strength for a life of prayer and of worship. Amen.

Whatever?

"Ideas matter. Emotions matter. Dreams and goals and values and ethics matter. And if all these things matter, then fiction -- which deals with all these things, and more besides -- most definitely matters." Gina Dalfonzo, "Fiction Matters," The POINT blog, August 26, 2008

This post has lingered in the back of my mind for a few days. It was written in reference to a series of fiction books now out and popular, especially among teens. The series is about vampires. I know many who are reading them, though right away I should say, I have not.

I really appreciate what Dalfonzo writes- and I think it's something to be mindful of as we guide our children's choices in reading and in literature, goodness- in any media, and as we make our own. A lasting memory I have is listening to a dad respond to his young teen's question of "but Dad, what's wrong with it?" with the reply of "but what is RIGHT with it?"

So then it's back to Philippians 4:8, not the worldly "whatever...," but rather,
Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."