Prayer

Getting Tongue Tied — Changing Our Prayers and Getting Personal with God

/ Liz Herod / Leave a comment

You’d think speaking to God would be easier. I mean, He already knows what you’re going to say, right? So, why is praying so difficult? You know what I think? I think I find praying difficult because I have a tendency to get caught up in trying to use just the right words. I’m a writer and a perfectionist, so I fall into that trap ALL THE TIME when I write, but I never really thought about how similarly I treat praying.

See, when I get stuck on a word, I get S-T-U-C-K… or, at least, I used to. I’ve gotten better about saying, “Never mind, just get the idea down. That’s the important part.” Did you notice what happened? My focus shifted. I went from focusing on saying everything perfectly to focusing on saying what I needed to say in whatever words came first. I finally realized the PURPOSE was far more important than the method.

Guess what? The same principle applies to praying! God doesn’t care if we use big, frilly language that sounds like it came out of a poet’s pen or if you say, “Hey, God, I love you. I need your help with _____. I’m giving it to You. Do Your thing. You da best!” Now, that last part is not how I pray but not because it’s wrong. That’s just not how I talk. So, why’d I include it as an example? Simple: I have had campers pray a very similar prayers. God loved those campers’ prayer just as much He loves the fancy prayers we’re all so accustomed to; He may have even enjoyed it more for its honesty. The point is God wants to hear from you, and I mean the real you.

Yes, be reverent to who God is. He is your Heavenly Father, but that doesn’t mean you have to speak to Him like He’s some cold, cut-off stranger Judge to whom you always have to say “yes, sir,” “no, sir,” “I’m sorry, sir,” etc. There’s no need to be as stiff as you possibly can be. Yes, God is God, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, and the Ruler of All, but He is also:

  • Your FRIEND
  • Your FATHER
  • Your HEALER
  • Your PROVIDER
  • Your REDEEMER
  • Your COMFORTER
  • Your CONFIDANTE

He is everything and everyone you need. He is your God, your personal God. You don’t have to hide anything from Him, and you definitely don’t need to make yourself or your speech up to impress Him. He knows you. He loves you – just as you are. Say what you mean in words you understand and feel comfortable saying. Just talk to Him. He’s listening. He’s waiting to talk to you, too.

God bless!

Elizabeth

Finding Peace and Remembering to Rejoice: A Journey With Grief

/ Liz Herod / Leave a comment

“I will rejoice, I will rejoice, and be glad…”

I Will Rejoice/There Is A River

Even when it’s hard, even when I don’t feel I can be, even when my heart is broken and my soul is hurting, I will rejoice, I will be glad, in the presence of the Lord.

He is El Sheddai. He rules over every part of my life, every part of my world. The pain and the darkness may last for the night, but the joy of the Lord – MY Lord – will last forever (See Psalms 30:5). He restores my soul, and I will praise Him – through the storm, through the fire, through it all (See Psalms 23:3).

It’s been a hard week for me and for my family. Tuesday morning, I lost my grandma. gmaThe possibility had been there – she had been sick – but she had been getting better, and I just wasn’t prepared. I’ve been fighting to keep myself together, and I have lost that fight and gone to pieces more than a few times. Sunday morning, I broke down during service when we sang “Wonderful Peace” because I just have not been able to find that God-given peace. I can’t understand why. I know she has finally reached her better, and I know she’d tell me not to worry because all is well now that’s she’s with the King, but the truth of the matter is that it doesn’t matter how much I know these things, I also know that the pain of her loss is still heavy on my heart regardless of how much I know.

When I hit the altar yesterday morning, I told God how much I’m struggling to find His peace, and he reminded me:

“You are not in this fight alone. Lean on those who love you: your friends, your family, and especially your church. They are in place at my command to help you through.”

For these God-sent people, I am ever thankful.

My eyes are red and raw, but I will carry on with the strength of the Lord my God, my Keeper, my Provider, my ever-present help in times of need.

God bless!
Elizabeth

The Process of Self-Improvement: STEP 3

/ Liz Herod / 2 Comments

Step 3: Pray. Seek. Receive.

PSA: You don’t have to use fancy language in your prayers. They don’t need to be long and drawn out. You don’t need to talk to God like you’re addressing the Queen of England or the President or anything like that. He’s not going to ignore you for not being “formal enough.” Talk to God like you’re talking to a friend, your closest confidante. That’s exactly what He is!

Once I finally realized that, my prayer began to flow in a way I had never experienced. I used to struggle with prayer all the time. Often, I felt like I simply couldn’t pray. I didn’t know the words, and not in such a way that I needed the Spirit to intercede for me. I had this vision of God a huge king sitting on this massive throne that I was kneeling at the bottom of – a tiny ant at the foot of a giant. Let me tell you what: that vision is incredibly restrictive! Because of the way I viewed God, I couldn’t feel comfortable talking to Him. Only when I let go of that rigid, constricting vision of God did I discover how easily I can speak to my Father. My life hasn’t been the same since.

Pray without ceasing. I know that sounds like a daunting task, but it really isn’t as impossible as it seems. Did you know you can “text” with God? Praying isn’t about these big, long, fancy prayers you so often hear in church. You can pray in even the smallest moment in so many ways: thank Him for providing a close parking spot when it’s raining, thank Him for keeping you safe on your way home, ask Him to help you get through a tough day, or simply acknowledge the beauty of His creation. All it takes is a short, “Hey, God, I just wanted to say you’re awesome.” The important thing is to constantly maintain communication between you and the Father. Relationships don’t build in silence.

This is probably where I struggle the most. It is so easy to let life overtake everything. I don’t know how many times I’ve gotten so caught up in the stress and chaos of the day that I’ve woken up the next morning to realize I didn’t even speak to my Father once throughout the day. I’ll be the first to tell you that finding the time and making the effort to pray even in the tiniest of moments feels like work at first, but I will also be the first to tell you what an amazing difference keeping that open line of communication makes.

My days, even the worst of them, are so much easier to get through when I’ve spoken to God. My toughest moments are not as tough as they used to be because I’ve built a strong bond between my everyday life and the comfort and peace of Jesus. Once I took the time and made the effort to strengthen my day-to-day relationship with God, I found depending on God for the peace, strength, and comfort He has always promised became significantly easier. Now, where I used to constantly panic in the face of my anxieties, I breathe deeply and remember that all my anxieties are already in His hands; I have absolutely nothing to worry about.

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT)

Seek God with all of you. Imagine you are in desperate need of a washing machine. You know your friend has one, but you never come over to use it or even bother to ask her if you can use her washer. Imagine that that friend all the while has been sitting next to you virtually yelling, “I have one for you, not just to use but to have! All you need to do is come get it!” And yet, you still don’t come. You just sit and complain about not having a washer and how badly you need one.

Well, that’s how it is with God when we need something but we don’t come to Him – and I don’t mean just saying, “God, I need this. Thanks,” and expecting that to be it. I mean putting forth the effort not only to voice your need to Him but to seek His help with all your heart. God doesn’t work half-heartedly, so we shouldn’t give Him half the attention or the effort. When we fully seek God and His will in our lives, beautiful and amazing things will happen. God has a fantastic plan for each and every one of our lives; we just need to seek Him to find them.

Receive whatever God has for you, even if it’s not what you expected. Prayer is not only about expressing our needs and our voices. It is a two-street of communication between God and us. That means in all our prayers we need to take time to listen for God’s response.

Have you ever someone talk at you instead of talking to you? You know how frustrating that feels? Well, when we forget to listen to God because we spend all our prayer time asking Him for things and telling Him everything that’s wrong with our lives, that’s exactly what we’re doing: talking at Him. I’m pretty sure He doesn’t appreciate it any more than you or I do. Remember to be quiet and listen during your prayers so that you can receive any word the Lord has for you.

We pray with expectation that God hears and answers our prayers. We must be careful not to restrict that expectation to mean we expect God to answer prayers exactly the way we want Him to answer them. Our will is not His will, and we should desire His will to be done above all else. Our greater is coming, but we cannot easily receive our greater if we decide we’d rather cling to the mediocre we can already grasp. The easy choice is rarely the best choice for us. In all things, pray for His will to rule over your own that you do not miss out on everything He has prepared for you.

God bless!
Elizabeth

Related:
The Process of Self-Improvement: Learning to Lead By Example
The Process of Self-Improvement: STEP 1
The Process of Self-Improvement: STEP 2

The Process of Self-Improvement: STEP 2

/ Liz Herod / Leave a comment

Step 2: Spend time in His presence and ONLY His presence every day.

This is a BIGGIE. You can only go so far in a relationship if you never spend time with each other, so take a break from your crazy life and look to the one who has allowed you to experience another day, another minute, another breath.

Get rid of the distractions.

Turn off your phone.

Close out Facebook/Twitter/Tumblr/etc. – any website that will steal your focus. Turn off your computer completely if you need to.

Remove everything that will keep you from giving all your attention to God.

Set a minimum time.

I usually try to spend at least an hour focusing on nothing but Him, but I will never spend less than 30 minutes. Sometimes I get so lost in His glory that what feels like 30 minutes turns out to be closer to 2 hours. Let the Spirit move in you.

Welcome His Spirit into your space.

Yes, He’s already there because He is always with you, but taking the extra step to specifically welcome His Spirit into your space is an intimate invitation for worship, rest, and communication. It is a way to open yourself up in preparation for what God has for you in that moment. I do it as a way to focus myself on what I’m doing and as a way to say, “God, I’m all yours.”

Have a plan to get you started, but don’t be surprised if that plan goes right out the window when the Spirit starts moving.

I like to start my time with prayer to bring in my focus and to open my heart to God’s guidance and desire initially, but after that I like to use a devotional unless God immediately leads me in a different direction. Lately, I’ve been working through The Message//REMIX: Solo. Every now and then God completely sidetracks me from my plan, and that’s perfectly alright with me. Truly, those are the best moments. There is nothing so sweet as completely surrendering to God’s will.

Keep a Bible Journal.

Your journal can be in whatever form works best for you. I’ve used a regular college-ruled notebook, a binder, a composition book, graph paper, a small spiral notebook, and (finally) a moleskin sketchbook. I just began this most recent journal about two months ago, and it is one of the best things I’ve ever done. I’m taking an entirely new direction in my journaling after I discovered the art of Bible journaling. I’ve always doodled my thoughts, but it had never occurred to me that I could so perfectly incorporate that concept into my faith journey.

This is a journal entry that was inspired by Day 5 of The Message// Remix: Solo.

This is a journal entry that was inspired by Day 5 of The Message// Remix: Solo.

That’s why I finally chose the moleskin sketchbook as the perfect canvas on which to document my walk with God. It fits perfectly in my purse or my Bible case, it’s nicely bound, it lies flat, it has an elastic band to hold it closed, and it has no lines which leaves the layout of each page completely up to my imagination and the leading of God.

I actually ordered a journaling bible to work in alongside my journal when the

Spirit really moves me on a verse. I’ve always been so particular about what marks I put in my Bible, but having a Bible that is specifically for my doodle-like notes that really identify what stands out to me takes that particular weight off my shoulders. Without that weight, my journaling flows, and I am far more comfortable in my exploration of the Word.

Be persistent.

“Old habits die hard,” and new habits don’t come alive much easier. Don’t give up because you forgot to take time one, two, even three days – or weeks or months. It’s never too late to try again. The important thing is to keep doing it. Every time you do it, it’ll get easier, it’ll become more natural, and then you’ll find you can’t wait to spend that time with God and nothing else.

Once you begin to rest daily in the arms of the Father, your life will never be the same.

God bless!
Elizabeth

Related:
The Process of Self-Improvement: Learning to Lead By Example
The Process of Self-Improvement: STEP 1
The Process of Self-Improvement: STEP 3

The Process of Self-Improvement: STEP 1

/ Liz Herod / Leave a comment

Step 1: Wake up early.

I have to be at work by 7:45am. Considering how long it takes me to get ready and how much I love my sleep, I rarely had time to do anything but get ready in the mornings. I never took the time to just focus on God, and my life suffered for it. I was only making it that much more difficult to have the best day possible because I wasn’t dedicating my day to the only one who deserves all of my time.

Now, I’m trying to be awake by 5:30am every day, if not before. It gives me an hour not only to fix a real breakfast and truly enjoy it but also to spend reading and resting in the presence of the Lord. I find those early morning hours to be freeing and incredibly peaceful. The rush of the day hasn’t begun yet, and I feel I can truly rest in His presence before trying to face the chaos of my everyday world. (Trust me – when you spend 8 hours every weekday running around with up to 16 two-year-olds, you enjoy every extra moment of rest and peace you can get!) There’s no better way I can imagine beginning my days than with my devotional, my Bible, and my journal, with my God leading my hand and my heart every step of the way.

Maybe 5:30 is a little too early for you, but I highly suggest that you try to get up a little early each day so that you can breathe in the glory of God.

God bless!
Elizabeth

Related:
The Process of Self-Improvement: Learning to Lead By Example
The Process of Self-Improvement: STEP 2
The Process of Self-Improvement: STEP 3

The Process of Self-Improvement: Learning to Lead by Example

/ Liz Herod / Leave a comment

Good mornings start with a good breakfast and an even better cup of tea before the sun’s even come up. Better mornings start with quiet time with the Father and a renewed spirit of joy and peace.

I’m trying to start a new routine to better my days. I want to strive daily to make my life better – to improve myself in such a way that improves the lives of others because the only way I can even begin to be a light to those around me is to take the time and make the effort to cultivate that light in myself. The journey to leadership begins where I begin, and I want my beginning to be in the one who began it all: God.

So, how have I been going about this “self-improvement” with The Father?

Well, for me, it’s a four-step process, which I will be taking you through over the next week. STEP 1 will be posted bright and early tomorrow morning!

God bless!
Elizabeth

Related:
The Process of Self-Improvement: STEP 1
The Process of Self-Improvement: STEP 2
The Process of Self-Improvement: STEP 3

God is Great, Even When the Road is Dark.

/ Liz Herod / 1 Comment

Y’all, God is just SO good. I’m wrapped palpably in His presence right now. He’s doing some great things in my life. I don’t know where I’m heading, but I know I have a trustworthy guide to lead me to my new destination. There’s a quote by E. L. Doctorow that says, “It’s like driving a car at night. You never see further than your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” That’s kind of how it is with God. We can’t see the whole plan, but we can see enough to take the next step. All we have to do is trust our road, which is the path God has laid out for us. It’s when we stop following the road that we start wrecking.

I pray guidance and clarity over each and every one of you that you will be able to see the path ahead of you, that you will pay attention when God reveals to you with his light like Moses paid attention to the burning bush. I pray peace and trust into your spirit that you will have no doubt in your steps, even though you can’t see far ahead of you. But, most of all, I pray courage into your hearts that you will keep going when the path gets steep, when the path gets bumpy, and when there are so many twists and turns you think you must be lost. He’s got you! So long as you hold onto Him and keep your eye on His light and His road for you, you will not ever be lost.

God bless!
Elizabeth