Praying with Confidence

Tonight's post is from a devotional that I found in the Sprinkle of Jesus app. I chose to share this with you because I know that it can be easy to forget to pray with confidence. I hope this helps you, and really strengths your prayer life.

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God" (Philippians 4:6)

How do you pray with confidence? How do you know if God will answer your prayers? There are four key words to answer this question.

Abide

Abiding is the key to successful praying. In John 15:7, Jesus states, "If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, ask whatever you will and it shall be done to you."

Colossians 3:16 says, "Let the Word of Christ richly dwell within you."

Abiding means you want to stay as close to Christ as possible.

Ask

Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:7-8, "Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For every one who asks receives; and he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks it shall be opened." 

We can ask God for anything and He listens-He will answer. Ask specifically!

Someone has said when we get to heaven we'll find a lot of unopened gift packages with our name on them because we did not claim them through prayer.

Believe 

In Matthew 21:22 we read, "Everything you ask in prayer, believing you shall receive."

Faith, which is an attitude of believing, pleases God. With Him, all things are possible. Remind yourself of this verse when you pray.

Receive

If you are abiding in Christ and you have asked and believe, get ready to receive the answer. In other words, when you pray for rain, carry an umbrella. John 16:24 says, "Ask and you will receive, that your joy may be made full." 

Remember these four words to pray with confidence.

• abide 
• ask
• believe
• receive

Father, teach us to pray with confidence. To abide in Jesus, to ask, to believe You will answer our prayers and to be ready to receive Your answers. Amen. 

~ you are loved ~ 

Rejoice in the ruin

I think that one of the toughest things for people is to rejoice and praise God when times get tough. Whether things go good or bad, there are still so many things to be thankful for. For example, today we didn't have a very good practice at all. There are two main ways you can react to that. You could be negative and have a terrible attitude about it, or you can suck it up, accept that we sucked, learn from it, and still be thankful for today. There is something to be thankful for every single day. I think that God really tested me with that today. It has been a long day. I sat in an urgent care center for 2 hours and my appointment lasted 2 minutes. I could have let that determine my mindset for the day, but I didn't. If you know me very well, I am sure that you've heard me say that life is 10 percent of what happens to you and 90 percent how you react. The toughest battles are won above the soldiers. Our minds are so powerful, especially when you use them positively in whatever way that you can.

Job 22:19-23: The righteous see their ruin and rejoice; the innocent mock them, saying, 'Surely our foes are destroyed, and fire devours their wealth.' "Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this prosperity will come to you. Accept instruction from his mouth and lay up his words in your heart. If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored..."

I share that because the righteous see their ruin and rejoice. After rejoicing in the ruin comes prosperity and than the Almighty will restore you. Reading that and understanding that is super encouraging to me. Yeah a lot of things will not go your way and it's hard to find things to be thankful for when you're going through times like that. But if you still rejoice you will find prosperity through the Father. Yeah today might have been a little rough and I could hang my head and be in a bad mood but why would I want to do that or choose to have a mindset like that. It's so negative and that negativity is when things can go even more down hill. I believe that God puts us through some tough situations every single day to test us, and to see how you react. How are you going to react when Jesus is testing you? Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice in all situations!

I think there are a lot of important things to remember when dealing with ruin or struggles. I think one thing is that you should never take out your anger on other people, especially your friends. When things go wrong and you have friends chirping in your ear about something it is so easy to just snap right back, and when you snap back like that, most of the time you are going to say something that you are going to regret. I think that it sometimes seems like we are better at tearing people down rather than lifting them up or cheering them on. Things are not going to go perfectly for both you and your friends every single day, if you go deeper than the surface, you are going to find out about things that you're both struggling with. I was reading this story one time about a bunch of crabs. Put a bunch of crabs and a bucket and watch what happens. When a crab or two-the ones with the most adventurous personalities-attempt to climb out, the others who are below them will reach out and pull them back down. The bottom crabs will keep doing this so that no crab will ever escape. We might not be crabs but sometimes we share that same mentality. If I can't have something-that great job, the best classes, the most beautiful girlfriend, good grades-neither can you. Now this is something that I don't struggle with but I know that there are people who struggle with this every single day. It's the idea that if you are suffering you want others to suffer with you. It's not fair that life moves on for others when our world is falling apart. And sometimes, people around us, even those closet to us, drag us down for whatever reason. And that hurts! I think either way, we must make a conscious choice to avoid strife, jealously, and division. Jealous and comparison is the thief of all joy. We need to stop being deceived by the negative words others say against us. And we need to stop saying negative things about others. The criticizing, the name-calling, the complaining-none of this adds value, to others or ourselves.

My main hope for you is that next time things aren't going well, that you still rejoice and praise God for all things. Even when things seem to be going great continue to praise God and don't forget about him. He has a plan, you just have to have faith and trust it. Also, you cannot take out any anger on other people during these negative times, do the best to love others and encourage them in the midst of every situation that they are going through. None of us are perfect and we all struggle with things every day, so never feel alone. Offer a prayer up to God and he'll reply. If you have toxic friends or are in relationships like that, I'd recommend that you pray about it and get rid of all toxic things. Surround yourselves with positive people who will ultimately lead you closer to God. It's tough, but I encourage you to really sit down and take some time to think of all the people you have a genuine friendship with.

Here is a link to an instrumental by Elevation Worship, I encourage you to listen to it, and to take some time praising God for all of the blessings in your life. Turn it up really loud too...

~ you are loved ~

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zAIQjrKQos

God's Certainty

I have been reading through Hebrews the past couple of days and am learning new things every time I open up my Bible. One thing I can promise that you will experience when you start digging into your Bible is that moment when you open it up and you read a passage or see a verse that was exactly what you needed to hear. Yesterday I was debating on whether or not to workout once I finished my homework and reading. I sat down to read and opened my Bible to Hebrews 4 and that entire chapter was all about resting on the Sabbath. There was my answer God, so thanks! That is just a small example but it happens all the time. It is really the best.

Today I spend time reading and reflecting over Hebrews 5 and 6.

Are you ever at a point where you feel like you've prayed the same prayer over and over again and God has done nothing about it? I think it is safe to say that a lot of you have probably felt that way about something. I know I have prayed for things before and sometimes it seems like that prayer is never answered. It's tough to keep praying about it because it seems like God will never answer it. One of Jesus's characteristics from his prayer life is talked about in Hebrews 5:7-9: "During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect he becomes the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him." What reassures me after reading those passages is that Jesus was heard because of his reverent submission. I think that is a great lesson for all that even though a prayer might not be answered right away or never even answered that it is still important to pray about it and be persistent and resilient. I was taught a very important lesson about prayer back in the day. When I was little I had this little stuffed bunny that I have had since the day I was born and whenever I lost it and couldn't find it, my mom would tell me to pray and I would pray for it, and soon after I would always find my bunny. It was one of the best lessons that my mom had ever taught me. Even to this day whenever I lose something my mom always asks me if I prayed for it. I love it. Praying for something you lose is easy but when it comes to some pretty serious things it can be tough. I recently had one of my better friends tell me last night, that he was praying for this girl he really wants to be with. He told me that he has been praying every day about it since the summer. It may or may not happen-but only God knows-even in a situation where it seems like it might be impossible for him, he prays about it every single day. I think that we can all learn a lesson about persistent prayer in that aspect. I really like the end of that verse, when it says "he learned obedience from what he suffered." When we are suffering with things we pray about every day, we are taught obedience. Persistent prayer leads to obedience in our walks with Christ.

Now, to switch it up the topic a little bit. In Hebrews we are also warned about falling away. Hebrews 5:11-14: "We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil."

Sometimes when you are lead astray it may seem like you are not really given anything by God. It might feel like you get on a path that leads you to earthy things not eternal. No matter what happens, and no matter how far you might feel away from God it is impossible to not feeling anything. Hebrews 6 talks about how it is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back from repentance. When people think that, to their loss they are crucifying the Son go God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. Later on, Hebrews 6:9-12 says: "Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are convinced of better things in your case-the things that have to do with salvation. God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised." God is not unjust. He won't forget all of the good things that you do. He remembers every thing. We are called to be diligent during all times and that diligence will lead to what has been promise. It will also lead you to inherit all that has been promised.

There was a lot in this post tonight, and I pray that bits and pieces can be taken away and that the Holy Spirit uses some specific things to really lift you up and encourage you tonight. All of these things start with building good disciplinary habits and having faith in all the amazing things that God does.

~you are loved~

Guest Post: By Alanna Walsh

Be with me, Yahweh.

This simple prayer is one that I have repeated over and over again throughout this season of life. A prayer I find myself whispering in the still of the night or amidst the commotion of a busy day. These four words came to me initially as I was practicing the spiritual discipline known as breath prayer. I first heard about this practice in the book Sacred Rhythms by Ruth Haley Barton. She describes breath prayer as “an expression of our heart’s deepest yearning coupled with the name for God that is most meaningful and intimate for us at this time.”  Barton continues to explain that you don’t try to think up your breath prayer on your own, but rather you discover it by tuning in to your deepest longs and desires in God’s presence.

Be with me, Yahweh.

Why were these words my deepest longing at this time? I began to unpack my breath prayer to attempt to figure out what my soul was trying to tell its Creator.

Be with me

Three words so simple on their own, but when strung together, a desperate plea of one who feels utterly alone.

This season of life has been one of change. I just transferred to a new college that is 300 miles from home. This is the longest period of time I have ever been away from my family. I’m attempting to maintain the relationships that mean the most to me now from a distance. I’m diving head first into the wonderfully complex field of ministry. I got a new job. I’m forming new friendships that will supposedly “last a lifetime.” I am constantly being refined into the person God created me to be.

And yet, even among all of these new and exciting experiences, I found myself feeling incredibly lonely. I simultaneously loved where I was at, but wished I was somewhere else. I loved the people I met, but wished I was back with my people at home. I loved the challenge of my classes, but wished I was back where I felt comfortable. I loved the idea of a fresh start, but wished I was back where I felt known. I was living in a paradox. I didn’t know how to be fully here when I wanted to be there. I didn’t know how to embrace the now when I wanted what was.

I told myself over and over again to be present, to live fully right now, but no matter how hard I tried to convince myself, I just could not shake my longing for familiarity.

Eventually, God opened my eyes to see the problem. I was trying to juggle this alone. I pridefully attempted to tackle this on my own, meanwhile my Heavenly Father waited patiently for me to surrender it all to Him. As I approached His presence, the only words my soul could find to say was Be with me. I wanted God to be where I was. But really, I wanted to be where God was. I wanted Him to captivate my every thought, dictate my every move. I realized the only way I could truly find peace in the now was to invite God in, fully and presently.

Yahweh.

Yahweh is the name of God revealed to Moses at the burning bush in Exodus 3. It is a Hebrew word meaning I AM.

¹³ Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” ¹⁴ God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

I had heard Yahweh used for God before, but I never knew the significance of the name. Yahweh. The One who was, is, and is to come. Absolute truth. Absolute reality. Never ceasing. Never beginning. The Great I AM.

Immediately before the revelation of God’s identity to Moses in verses 13 and 14 stands verse 12 where Yahweh makes the promise, “I will be with you.”

I realized that the longing of my soul, Be with me, Yahweh, in itself contained the very response to my plea:

I AM. I am always with you. I have always been with you. I will always be with you.

I want to encourage anyone reading this to hold tight to that promise. Yahweh is always with you. He has always been with you. He will always be with you.

This truth is so beautifully restated by Jesus to His disciples just before He ascends into Heaven:

“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:20

Experience of a Lifetime

I am going to switch it up a bit. Instead of a post about encouragement, I am going to tell you the story about my experience of a lifetime. That experience being the opportunity to play the 14th best team in the country-The Notre Dame Fighting Irish on their home court for the first time in school history-I can't forget to mention they're three miles down the road.

I remember when Coach Ryne Lightfoot first told us that we were going to play Notre Dame in a meeting that we had right around the time that class started. Going to Bethel and being so close to Notre Dame my teammates and I have always wanted a chance to play against them. I was excited from the very second he told us. From the time we were told about the game until the game last night, the motivation for it was in the back of my mind during every workout, practice, and lift. I knew that we had a chance to compete with them and a shot at winning. During conditioning back in August, our focus was always Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Notre Dame. Ryne reminded us that we couldn't forget about the two opponents we played before them, or all of the opponents after. Which I didn't, but my mind was still focused on fighting the Irish. 

Fastforward 9 weeks later: 3 weeks of conditioning, 6 weeks of practice, 1 scrimmage, and two games later and it's November 2. I am starting at November 2 because we had the awesome opportunity to practice at Purcell Pavilion on Thursday night. I was so excited for that practice and very thankful that we got to practice there. I remember pulling into ND in the Bethel vans and I was already ecstatic. It's not every day you get to practice in a place like that, let alone play a game the very next night. We entered the Joyce Center and were escorted to our locker room. I got ready as fast as I could because I wanted to get out there and get some shots up. I remember walking through the tunnel onto the court and I was going to try and keep a straight face, but that didn't happen. I walked out onto the court and had the biggest smile on my face. From ear to ear, I couldn't stop. I felt like I was a kid living his dream. I went through my warm up shooting routine and then I just kept taking it all in. I sat down in one of the nice court side seats and couldn't help but look up into the rafters at all the banners. I remember shooting free throws and looking down to dribble right before I shoot and seeing ACC on the court...we were about to play a team in the ACC. One of the top teams in the ACC and one of the best teams in the country. Not to mention, they have the pre-season ACC player of the year in Bonzie Colson who is also the pre-sesaon national player of the year, which is a huge honor. One of the things that made it so different, was how bright it was on the court. It was hard to see the ball on rebounds and shooting from any spot besides the top of the key was a little tricky because of the bright lights in the back ground. It was so cool. The practice that night had a different energy to it, adrenaline was already kicking in. We played music the entire time and we got after it, it was a lot of fun. Practice went by so fast that night and I walking off the court into the locker room and I could not wrap my head around the fact that we finally got to play there the very next night. After practice that night it was like any other night for me and my friends, we got back to Bethel and Paul and I got up some shots, took and ice bath, and then me and some of my buddies went to Chick-Fil-A. Then we chilled in the room and played Little League World Series on the Wii and went to bed at a fairly decent time. Going to sleep Thursday night wasn't that hard. What made it tough was the level of excitement that was built up. Not fear, we were not scared. 

Game day. It was finally here. Friday was pretty normal too. Nothing too out of the ordinary was going on. There was a certain buzz around campus of excitement. It may have not been talked about a ton but I could feel it. People were wishing me and my teammates good luck all day. It was a lot of fun. It was funny because this game didn't even count on our record. It meant a lot to me and my teammates. My phone kept blowing up all day from friends and family wishing me and the team good luck. I was so excited. I try to get a nice power nap in on game days and this nap was not as long as it could've been. I woke up at 2:30 and headed to the gym. I love to get a good lift in every day with our manager, Will Abbit. So I walked over the to the gym with him and we got in a great lift and got a couple of shoots up as well. We didn't have our pre-game meal until 4:30 and the locker room was filled with a bunch of guys by 3:50. Everyone was excited for sure. I remember walking into the coaches office to get some coffee and seeing my man Mike Werner all dressed up in a fresh looking suit and that got me even more excited. The encounters I had throughout the day with my friends and coaches are what made me even more excited and even more thankful for so many things in this life. It's now 5 o'clock and it was time to head over to ND. Music was blaring through all of our headphones as we pulled up and excitement was out of this world. 

We arrived at the arena and were escorted into our locker room again. I felt famous, I felt like those big time players you see walking through the arena all swaged out for the game, on their way to the locker room. As soon as we stepped foot into the locker room I noticed all these coolers and there and they were full of so much Gatorade. That was super cool too. It's the small things some times. Again, I started getting changed and I could not help but get ready quickly. As I walked through the tunnel onto the court, the music was blaring and chills just shot through my body. My dream was always to play college basketball and I know that I accomplished that and am so happy about it, but that moment yesterday was like reaching that dream that you have the bar set so high for. It's almost like the impossible dream, which I hate to say, but ultimately somewhat true. Remember though, anything is possible. I remember getting on the court around 5:40 so that gave me about 20 minutes to take everything in before we started our 60 minute warm up at 6:00. I remember going through our dynamics and looking down to the other end of the court and seeing The Irish warm up. They were some big, strong, and athletic dudes. As time clock kept winding down, more and more people started filling the seats. I read on Twitter that it was the first Notre Dame Men's Basketball exhibition game to sell out since 1985. At 30 minutes till game time we always go back into the locker room to have a little talk before things get going and when we ran back onto the court and the arena was even more filled up I was even more jacked out of my mind. This was by far the most people I had ever gotten to play in front of and I was not going to take this opportunity for granted. This might be weird but I love doing it, whenever we have games I love to look in the crowd at my friends and family just to see who is there. All of the parents had tickets right behind the bench so they had some pretty nice seats. I was only able to find them and the B3 boys. The lights on the court were so bright that it was hard to look up and find people. It was so surreal. Every single moment of it. I tired to recognize some people but all I could see was a sea of blue way up top in the bleachers. The warm up clock struck 0:00 and it was game time. We lined up for the National Anthem and I love to pray during the Anthem and I closed my eyes to pray and as soon as the singer finished I opened them and I had forgotten where I was at during my prayer. It was one of the most surreal feelings I have ever felt. It was game time. Going out there and playing against a great team like that was so much fun. I won't get into much of the details about the actual game. It was the most fun I had ever had playing in a basketball game. I can't put into the words the emotion that I felt last night while playing. It was so much fun. We may have lost, but we put up a great fight and being down by 9 with 11 minutes left was a great accomplishment. I fell in love with the game yet again. Going in, we wanted to play Bethel Basketball and we wanted to earn respect from the community and also the Notre Dame players and coaching staff. We did that too. Each and every player and coach had a positive thing to say to me my teammates after the game when we shook hands. It was an incredible experience. 

I want to express my thanks to everyone who came out to the game as well. Thank you to my awesome family and friends for coming out. I know that being in college a lot of students don't have too much money so to see so many Bethel students meant so much to me. You didn't have to spend money to come watch us play, but you did. I am so thankful for all of the fans who came out from the community as well. It was a humbling experience to be able to play in front of so many people. I also want to thank all my friends and family for the good luck texts and good game texts as well. Those are always so encouraging. 

You can say that this was just a game...but it was way more than that. 

I hope that switching up the blog today was cool with you and I hope you enjoy reading about the experience of a lifetime. I know that some day I will definitely be telling my kids all about the night on November 3, 2017. 

Courageous Conversations

I think that it is safe to assume that for most of you, criticism hurts. It's hard to hear words of criticism from people you might never meet. It is probably harder to hear criticism from a trusted friend. It's important to note that there are times we need to listen and pay attention to things that others might say that we may not like. You don't really have to pay attention to the things the people you have never met have to say, but the things that people say who knows us best, like a group of friends, a boyfriend or girlfriend, coaches, and even parents. If you have a trusted friend tell you that it is best that you don't do something because it will negatively affect you down the road, then you should probably not do it and listen to them without taking offense. When a friend gives you the straight up hard truth it stings a bit, but its better to deal with a bruised ego than a lifetime of regret. If you think about it, the people who know you you best may see our circumstances with more clarity than we do. Honestly, we all need those friends in our lives because we all need help.

Proverbs 27:5-6 tells us, "Better is open rebuke than love that is concealed. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of the enemy."

When the people around you question what you say or do, it is important to understand their character as well.

Ask yourself, are they coming from a place of sincerity and love? What are their intentions? Are they saying something that will benefit them in some way? Or are they truly looking out for my best interests? 

It's about discernment, the ability to differentiate between who is supportive, loving, and telling you the truth and who is not. I know that in my life, I know that my closest of friends truly want what's best for me. They have been there over and over again for me. They have told me that when they want to talk to me about something that it is hard for them, they don't always know what to say, but they something. I think you get to that point of maturity too where you know which people in your life truly want what is best for you and will whole heartily help you get to that point.

Sometimes the hard truth needs to be told, whether you are doing the telling or someone else it telling you. When the hard truth is offered it will change your life for the better. It takes a lot of courage to have conversations with so much meaning and purpose behind them.

I understand that nobody wants to be judgmental, and nobody gets excited about having to tell a friend something that might initially hurt them but might make the person better for it. I am not good at it and telling the truth with love is something that I try to work on everyday. It is so important to affirm your love for that person before you bring the subject up, during the conversation, and when it's over. We must let our love for others be there reason they listen and the truth be the reason they change.

It really comes down to love. Do you love the people in your life enough to tell them the hard truth? And do you have the types of people in your life who want what is best for you. If you don't, I think it is time to watch who you surround yourself with.

~ don't be afraid, it's all out of love ~

Living as Those Made Alive in Christ

This evening I will be sharing 10 verses with you from Colossians 3. I am sharing these with you because I think that Christians often forget how to live as those being made alive in Christ. I think there are a couple of reasons for that. Christians don't know how to live like that and Christians choose not to live like that. I am not going to say much else other than this: I hope that this passage can encourage you and remind how to live as someone who is made alive in Christ. This isn't me telling you how to live, rather it's me giving you scripture that tells you how to live.

Colossians 3:1-10: Since, them, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthy things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in the knowledge in the image of its Creator.

Read through that a time or two and something new will stick out to you every time. I hope that you recognized some things that you might be doing wrong, because I know I did. I hope and pray that you can take this advice and live as you are made alive in Christ.