May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13
Matthew 6:7-13
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think
they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for
your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
“This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’”
I went to dinner with my daughter, Sara, and her family one evening. My granddaughter, Ella Cate, offered the prayer for our food. Sara reminded her to address God at the beginning of the prayer, then end the prayer in Jesus’ name. As we ate, Sara and I talked about why she taught Ella Cate to do that.
We address God because He is the creator of all mankind and
our Father. We end asking in Jesus’ name because He is the one who restored our
relationship with God after Adam and Eve disobeyed.
God made me, He breathed life in me, and He is the one who hears
every prayer of every person. The beautiful thing is—He wants to hear from us.
When Adam and Eve failed to listen to God in the garden, they
broke our bond with God. But Jesus restored it. He connected us back to the
Father through his sacrifice on the cross.
When I pray, I want to address God and seek Him. Then, I
want to speak the prayer in Jesus’ name. The Holy Spirit is in this too. The Spirit
speaks when I can’t. He carries my prayers to God.
As Jesus teaches in the Lord’s prayer—Speak to God in
reverence, seek to be a part of His kingdom. Do the tasks and touch the lives He
lays on your heart. Ask for provision and forgive others. Seek protection from
the temptations in this world, and be covered with grace, so the devil stays
away. All of this in Jesus’ name.
Hebrews 13:8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.” -The Serenity Prayer
This past week, I spent a couple of hours pulling expired
black-eyed Susans out of my flower bed. Their brown eyes winked at me and said,
“We’re done.” As I popped them out of the ground, I felt the muscles in my legs
pull.
As I ripped the stems from the soil, I found room to move
one of my lavender plants. I had planted the English lavender too close to the
French lavender, and the French version took over the English one. After
digging up and dividing the English lavender, it now has plenty of room to
grow.
Change isn’t easy, but it needed to happen in the flower
bed. The dead plants needed removed and the lavender needed space to flourish.
I’ve never been great with change. As I’ve grown older and
hopefully wiser, I’m a little better, but at times uncomfortable and uncertain.
The uncertainty is what stirs my anxiety. The not knowing why a change
happened, or why I should make a change. I’m sure you get it. I don’t know many
people who embrace a shift in life and roll with it, without struggle or
question.
In the flower bed, the process gave way to growth. Removing
the dead stems and moving the lavender allowed the garden to grow again. Even
though my leg muscles ached, the rearrangement of the garden was good. Most of
the time, change leads to personal growth, even when I don’t like it.
In life, I’ve had to accept the things I can’t change and
place them in God’s hands and trust Him with all my heart. I’ve had to muster
the courage to change what I could, still trusting God with the results as I prayed
for understanding.
I’m thankful Jesus never changes. He stays the same, no
matter what, and I can depend on Him.
Pray about change and trust God.
Luke 22:25-26
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you
cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
“Worry is worshipping your problem. Prayer is surrendering your problem.”
I remember the day I walked Sara to the huge yellow school
bus at the end of the short driveway and handed her over to ride the bus to
school. The next year, I repeated the act with Maggie and a few years later,
with Hannah. For a young mom, it wasn’t easy sending my babies to school. I
wanted to go with them and watch over them.
Looking back, now that all the girls have made it into their
forties, they were prepared for their first steps toward independence. They all
succeeded and two of them went on to work in the education field and one in
non-profit.
As a young momma, I spent time worrying when I should have
been praying. Over the years, those worries did turn into prayers. I still ask
God to watch over my kiddos every day. Plus, all the people we’ve added to our
family along the way.
Jesus wants me to trust him instead of fretting over
something I have no control over. Yes, I prepared my kids for school and moving
forward, and that’s all I could do, except pray and be available.
In Luke, Jesus speaks to the people and asks how worry can
add a single hour to their life. If anything, worry tears away at us. Worry
produces stress, which causes health issues and doesn’t take me anywhere but
into a tailspin.
Jesus’ wisdom speaks into my heart as I’m reminded not to
worry and instead to pray.
When worry niggles at
you, seek Jesus, pray, and trust Him.
