Have you prayed today?

Have you prayed yet today?

I haven't.

That is a true confession. I say it with regret, because I should have, but it is already 10am and I haven't had a good conversation with my King.

What a huge loss for me. We wonder why anxiety is increasingly present in young people and worry is rampant for all of us. How can we rid ourselves of these things if we are not in prayer with the Sovereign Lord.

Philippians 4:6-7 says, "Do not be anxious about anything but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the PEACE of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Lack of anxiety isn't a free gift. It is achieved thru prayer. Because when we are in prayer we are reminded that we are not in control. By giving our worries to the Lord we are able to take a deep breathe and know that someone else has taken them and begun to work on them.

Today, read Psalm 86. Then shut down your computer (I know this will be hard) and pray. If you don't pray often, pray for only 2 minutes. It will help, I promise. If you are an avid prayer, take a good 10-20 minutes to present your requests before the Lord.

Enjoy the peace that transcends all understanding!

All the right love, in all the wrong places

Does your heart crave being truly and purely loved? If you say no, you're a liar! I can only speak to the woman's perspective, but I do know that woman 12 and up are the most obvious examples of waiting and searching for this "unfailing love". I see that in the fact that our biggest insecurity is wanting a boyfriend or desiring a husband. I hear it from my middle school friends, my high school friends and my "my-age" friends. This is just the obvious example, we ALL women and men are living with a deep craving for unconditional love. Some of us do a better job of hiding it, but all of us, in some way, are much like a beggar holding a cup to each person we meet, begging them to fill it with a just a little affirmation or a teaspoon of love.

This is natural. This is how we are built. To desire love.

Though we all look for this love in all the wrong places, this innate desire is put in us so that we may be satisfied in Christ. We may look for love in boyfriends or girlfriend, husbands or wives we will not find fulfillment in this love. Oswald Chambers said,

"No love of the natural heart is safe unless the human heart has been satisfied by God first."

Isn't this the truth. We are built to be unconditionally loved and God offers us this love. Unless we are fully wrapped in it, we are looking for it... Proverbs 19:22 says, "What a man desires is unfailing love; better to be a poor than a liar."

So lean into the Lord today. Embrace his unfailing love and live in it. Feel how it completes you.

"Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the ways I should go, for to you I lift up my soul." (Psalm 143:8)

Believing in God vs. Believing God

Subtle. One little word, "in" changes everything.



It is easy to believe IN God. Even the demons do (James 2:19). Many agnostics believe in a God, most agree Jesus lived. Believing in God is the easy part. Believing God is where I struggle.



Believing God means that all his promises are true.


"Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is a faithful God keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands. (Deut. 7:9)"


"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the Last, the Beginning and the End... I Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the Bright Morning Star. (Rev. 22:13, 16)"



...and if his promises are true, then we have no choice but to act. We must choose him. We must obey his laws. We must choose to live as if he has the control.



This is the more difficult part. Believing in God is one of those things you can check off a list, you can wipe your hands clean after finishing and go on with your life. Believing God takes a response. It takes a commitment, because God's promises are big and they are life changing.

The challenge today is to reflect on what it would be like if you truly believed God... that everything He says and promises is true. How could that change your life?

If you are the Prince of Peace, what does that make me?

I love Sunday mornings. There is a peace about them. No one is in a rush, the suit coats and shiny shoes are left at home and families are laughing as they bask in rhythm of slowness. I love this Sunday morning, as I sit at a shaded table outside my favorite coffee shop reading The Word and watching the passer-byers. I feel peaceful. I am in comfy yoga pants, I have no agenda and my fabulous husband is a few tables away. What a good day!

Why can't all days be like lazy Sunday? Even in the midst of my Sunday euphoria, in the back of my mind I can sense Monday. Monday is Sunday's antithesis. Monday's include early morning awakenings, uncomfortable fancy-clothes, and an e-mail box full of to do's. I do not look forward to Monday.

I think Jesus wants for us a Sunday life-style. He says in Isaiah 9, "To us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (6)" That's right, He is not only peaceful, peace-loving and peace giving, He is the Prince of Peace. So if he is the Prince of Peace and I am His daughter what does that make me?

Did you know that Isaiah uses the word peace 26 times? (I knew I loved Isaiah for a reason!) Once we have received Christ, we receive His peace. If you are walking with the Lord, I know you have felt it. That time a situation looked hopeless and difficult...and you STILL felt peace. That wasn't you, that was the LORD! But let's be honest, in the hustle-bustle, achievement orientated world, peace doesn't come easy.

The key to peace is authority. To believe in the Prince of Peace and to believe that He has control and governs our lives from morning to night. Isaiah 26:3 says, "You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you." Isaiah 32:17 says, "The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever." Boy, does that sound nice.

So today, put down your work, take a deep breathe, choose a passage from Isaiah (may I suggest my favorite, 41) and drink in the Prince of Peace. Let him fill you on this beautiful Sunday afternoon, so then when the Monday's of life approach, remember He has control and as son's and daughters of the Prince of Peace, we can receive His Peace.

I leave you with this prayer, "May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you always." (2 Thess. 3:16)

Blessed Dissattisfaction

Does something gnaw at your soul? Even when things are looking up and you know you SHOULD be happy, is there a flicker within you that feels a little off?

This is called dissatisfaction and it is something all of us know, oh-to-well.

"The troubles of my heart have multiplied; free me from my anguish." (Psalm 25:17)

Today I am feeling anguish, and I have no reason to. Things are well in life, I have a great husband, a fun job and fantastic friends... Why do I feel anguish?

I know the answer too well. It is my longings for the LORD that are causing me to feel like I am trying to fit a circle peg in a square hole. I know God creates and activates a nagging dissatisfaction in all of us for an excellent reason. He knows we will forget how much we need him. Though, I like to think I don't forget, I do.

When I was at Frontier with my high school friends, many of them were asking for signs and wishing God was more obvious. Maybe this is him being obvious. The feeling of dissatisfaction has a blessed purpose; it is distinct and tough on the soul. I would argue that he is speaking to me, begging me for a response. It is much like this verse in the Psalms,

"O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul THIRSTS for you, my body LONGS for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. (63:1)"

So what do we do? Easy. Spend time in his presence. He is a God who fills. When we are walking closely with him, he will fill us. Like the women at the well in the Gospels, he offers us living water to quench our thirst for "something more." "Come to me, all who are weary," He says in Matthew.

So I invite you, to close Facebook, drop your summer reading, turn off the TV and say a prayer or open the Word. My response is the same. I woke up and opened my Bible and begin to bask in Him and feel the fullness of his presence in my life.

Check out Isaiah 50:4. It is the answer to dissatisfaction, be satisfied in Him!