keepin' it real... again...

There is a danger in compartmentalizing life. But sometimes compartmentalizing life blocks out fears, questions, doubts, or confusion.

Last week I received beautiful prayer requests from people across the globe. Some were funny and others serious, but each one spoke honestly and from the heart.

In the midst of writing down post-it notes for people, I paused when I read the ending comment from Steph, How can I pray for you????

I couldn't respond at that moment because I'd probably have the longest comment. Ever. But after a few days of processing and opening up the public and private compartments of my heart,* I realized I need to keep it real.

So, this is me. My private world unveiled and raw through supplications for prayer. Please don't judge me--I don't have the luxury of anonymity.

• We need a revolution for our generation. Hearts need to turn back, minds need to be cleansed, and lives need redemption. I want to be part and parcel of changing our world for the better. I just need to figure out how...
• There's a strong possibility I'm going to be a step-mother. I don't want to be Cruella DeVil or Cinderella's step-mother, so pray for love, patience, and understanding of a child's mind.
• I want to get off the weight roller coaster, but it's the never ending ride. I desire contentment above a certain illusive weight. Pray for acceptance of my body.
• I don't know how I'm going to afford living and supporting a family doing ministry. I want to share and teach, wherever, whenever, but I know I have rent to pay and bills to manage. Pray for a simple lifestyle that lends itself to ministering the Gospel.
• I want to be faithful like David, but I'm a sign-seeking Gideon. I want signs for signs. What I really need is faith. More faith.

So my dear blog friends, I shamelessly solicit prayer. I'm a coward in my private prayer life because I'm afraid to open myself and ask for prayer. But Lord knows I need it!

*This is also because a dear friend who anonymously reads my blog told me she was going to boycott my blog if I didn't start having more faith. She told me I needed to ignore my blog until I started believing what I was preaching. Ouch! But her prodding caused me to keep it real.

post-it's and prayer...

Small, colorful, adhesive pieces of sheer goodness scatter my office. Some are notes or to-do's, but lately, I have a ton of Post-It notes in my offices with names of people I care about. They serve as reminders.

See, I've never been the greatest prayer warrior. I try to set time aside, but inevitably I get distracted by a phone call to make, an email to return, or a meeting to attend. Hence, prayer is neglected.

But if I have small, colorful, adhesive pieces of sheer goodness to remind me, I will remember!

It started with Kyrene in Australia. Then Annie in Oregon. Then Melinda in Orange County. Then Markus in Germany. Then Dana in DC. I wrote down names of people who needed miracles in their lives onto Post-It notes on my office window. I told them I would pray for them. And now I am committed to it.

The names listed above (and the others decorating my wall) serve as reminders to pray. I believe prayer changes things. I've seen the miraculous. Just ask Kyrene. Just ask Melinda. Just as me.

So join the Post-It Revolution and let me know how I can pray for you. You don't have to spill the dirty-dirty, but keep it general and simple enough to fit on a 3x3 square :)

How can I pray for you?

If you have two minutes, check out my favorite short-film:

crying out...

Proverbs 2:3 ...if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding...

I was moved yesterday by a conversation with a friend that caused me such ache and pain. My friend had been falsely accused, draped in lies, and a victim of libel. This morning I was on my knees crying that Truth triumph over lies, honestly over vindictive slander. I read the conditional promise in Proverbs 2, but focused on verse 3, if you cry out. . . . The Bible makes a clear distinction between “prayer” and “crying out to God.” Have there been times in life that seem so hopeless, that even crying seems pointless? This is the exact setting God wants to move in to demonstrate His loving care and powerful hand of protection.

Crying out is a humble reminder of our total inability to accomplish anything significant for God. God’s promise to the prophet Jeremiah years ago is true even for us today. Call unto Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know (Jeremiah 33:3). The creator of the universe wants intimate, loving fellowship with the people He created. But a vital component to fellowship is an actual voicing aloud to Him our need for Him.

There are several Hebrew words that describe calling out, but there is one specific verb which generally connotes the action of calling out or crying out loud with great volume.The Hebrew verb is qara and it is the verb used in Jeremiah 33:3. King David used this verb often as we see in Psalms 50:15, Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me, and Psalms 145:18, The Lord is near to all those who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth.

But what inhibits us? If crying out is a natural impulse, why is it so hard? Many of us find it humiliating and difficult to cry out for help in times of trouble. We prefer to be self-sufficient. We would rather endure tenaciously in the face of insurmountable odds and conclude with pride, I did it! But God works opposite to our lines of reasoning. He wants us to come to the conclusion, God did it! He asks that we recognize our weakness in order to experience His strength, so we can say with Paul, When I am weak, then I am strong. It takes a lot of humility to cry out to the Lord in our distress. But humility before the living God is what we precisely need!

Are you in a in desperate moment? Have you lost your job, persecuted by a professor, in bondage to sin, falsely accused? When Peter walked out to the Lord in Matthew 14:30-31 he was in desperate need for a miracle! If we need God to help in a desperate moment, I pray you call out like Peter: he cried out, ‘Lord save me!’ Immediately the Lord stretched out his hand and caught him.

Whatever your station in life, God wants to hear you cry out unto Him. He will show Himself faithful! “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”