Are You For Real? » Healthy Habits

Can Sketching Enrich Your Prayer Time?

ru4real — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 14:04:33 +0000

Wouldn’t you agree that art makes our communication with others more vivid and realistic? I think it’s because it adds life and expression to our thoughts. If you enjoy sketching or doodling, then why not allow it to have a place in your prayer time? Our communication with the Living God should be vivid and expressive, not dull, stereotypical phrases.

I recently came across the following creative idea for enriching our prayer time with sketches:

If you think in pictures, and express yourself in drawing, it would be quite natural to take some of the promises of God and sketch them as you pray. You think of Jesus standing in a boat in a stormy sea and commanding the waves to be still. You sketch the stormy sea as you pray to the One who is able to still it, you write some of your deepest problems on the waves, picturing the fact that they are about to overwhelm you, and you bring them to God as things that only He can solve and ‘calm’. You sketch a boat, with a tiny figure of yourself (a stick will do) in the boat, and picture Jesus in the boat, too – remembering to thank God as you pray that He really is in the boat of daily life, in this stormy sea with you …

I often sketch mountains, with prayer requests of the most ‘impossible’ kind (humanly speaking) on the peaks, remembering that He has promised that as we ask with faith – faith as a mustard seed – we may expect to see mountains cast into the sea. A tiny dot of a mustard seed is helpful to picture in contrast to the mountain.

The Hidden Art of Homemaking
The quote in this post was taken from Edith Shaeffer’s excellent book, The Hidden Art of Homemaking, where she discusses creative ideas for enriching everyday life.

Edith encourages us not to allow our talent to remain locked up just because we have not been able to make a career of it, but rather to develop it for our own sake … and for enrichment in the lives of those in our circle of influence.

Keeping it real,

I’m SO grateful for godly women who take the time to share insight with those of us who long to have a more vivid relationship with Father God. Visit Grace Alone to see what others are thanking the Lord for in this week’s Thankful Thursday blog carnival.
Stop by Heavenly Home Maker to see what others are grateful for in this week’s GratiTuesday blog carnival.
Head over to The Lazy Organizer to see what everyone else is talking about in this week’s Talk About Tuesday blog carnival.

How To Use Blessings?

ru4real — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 14:21:46 +0000

I wonder why we so often thank God for His blessings, but rarely ask Him how He wants us to use them. I’m making a commitment to ask His opinion! What about you?

Keeping it real,

I am very pleased to list this post in the following blog carnival …

GratiTuesday @ Heavenly Home Maker
For more encouraging insight visit What Are You Learning? hosted by Chats With And Old Lady.

For more encouragement, visit some of the other blogs in this carnival and maybe even participate by writing a post about something for which YOU are thankful.

Working With Excellence

ru4real — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 19:25:11 +0000

I am wondering what I would accomplish today, if I were working with excellence … constantly striving to reach my highest potential. Isn’t that what Scripture indicates we should do?

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.
(Ecclesiastes 9:10a NIV)

So what would I do with excellence today? A few things come to mind:

I’d start my day with prayer and/or Bible study and contemplation.
I’d call my friend, who is celebrating her birthday today, and pray a blessing over her upcoming year.
I’d vacuum our house and clean our bathrooms, so guests and family will find it to be a cozy retreat from the rest of the world.
I’d arrange a coffee date with a friend who recently mentioned that she is struggling and needs a godly friend to discuss some things with.
I’d take at least one step toward getting the paperwork in order so we can file our taxes early this year.
I’d have a healthy meal ready and waiting for my husband when he gets home from work.

That’s a good start, don’t you think? What would YOU accomplish today, if you were working with excellence?

Keeping it real,

How To Pray During A Season Of Testing

ru4real — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:26:15 +0000

I LOVE the Model Prayer, often referred to as the Lord’s Prayer, and I pray it almost every day … not quote it, but pray it … so that it fits my life that day. But there is one line in that prayer that I ponder over and over … “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one,” (Mat 6:13). I decided I needed to know more, so I did a little research, and I learned the neatest thing!

The word for ‘temptation’ is the Greek word ‘peirasmos’. It is often translated as ‘test’, as seen in this verse…

And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not, (Deu 8:2).

Pray That God Might Prevent It

Peirasmos means ‘proving’ something by experiment, and it is talking about a season of testing … to try the heart. So Jesus is saying that we can pray that God would not put us through a season of testing.

Jesus used the same word here …

Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak,” (Mat 26:40-41).

He was encouraging the disciples to pray for the very same thing there in the garden that He had just taught them to pray in the Model Prayer. Jesus knew the guards would soon be approaching to take Him away, and He knew that the disciples were about to face a big test, so he encouraged them to pray that God might prevent it … in fact, that is the very thing HE had just prayed for Himself …

He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will,” (Mat 26:39).

Some Fall Away During A Season Of Testing

Photo courtesy of: dustpuppy

It is very enlightening when we see that that the same word is used here …

But the ones [seeds] on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away, (Luke 8:13).

In this passage, we see a new believer who, during a season of testing, fell away … God was proving their heart. Their roots did not go down into the rich soil of the Word, and they were not able to withstand the testing. This is why it is SO important to help new believers get involved in studying God’s Word.

So the first portion of our phrase from the Model Prayer, in essence, says … “keep us from a season of testing.” We know that He doesn’t ALWAYS answer that prayer by keeping us from testing, because in my example of Jesus in the garden, He didn’t remove the testing of Jesus. He still had to face the guards, the trials, and the cross, because it was necessary to fulfill God’s purposes. But sometimes He WILL protect us from a season of testing.

Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth, (Rev 3:10).

In context it is talking about faithfulness, and that fits with the second half of our phrase in the Model Prayer … “But deliver us from the evil one.”

Know That You Need Help

Deliver – RUOMAI means to rescue or free, but it is in the aorist middle imperative voice, so it carries with it the idea of personal involvement … an action by the individual making the request. It means HELP us free ourselves!

And ‘evil one’ is really only one word PONEROS, which has the idea of “evil which results in sorrow.” It refers to evil in general, not just Satan. Jesus is encouraging us to ask for help. He is willing to empower us [help us] to free ourselves from evil situations.

So the phrase “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one,” in essence says…

“Keep us from a season of testing, BUT if we do go through a season of testing, help us not participate in evil situations.”

How To Receive Help

How do we receive God’s help during seasons of testing? By submitting to the Holy Spirit’s leadership … God’s help is conditional to our obedience.

So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions, (Galatians 5:16-17 NLT).

I’m so thankful we have the Holy Spirit to guide us and empower us to walk victoriously through seasons of testing.

Want to know why others are thankful? Head over to Heavenly Homemakers and visit other GratiTuesday participants.

I am also pleased to list this post at …

Grace Alone’s “Thankful Thursday”

Rose-Colored Glasses’ “Thankful Thursday”

Keeping it real,

How a Simple Routine Can Help During Times of Emotional Stress

ru4real — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 16:04:21 +0000

Speaking of her season of grief, Elisabeth Elliot wrote,

“At such times I have been wonderfully calmed and strengthened by doing some simple duty . . . like a bed to be made or kitchen floor to be washed . . . Sometimes it takes everything you have to get up and do it, but it is surprising how strength comes. . . There is wonderful therapy in getting up and doing something. While you are doing, time passes quickly. Time itself will in some measure heal. . . . And in the doing of whatever comes next, we are shown what to do after that.”*

You may be familiar with the story of Elisabeth’s life. It was told in the movie The End of the Spear, a major motion picture released a couple of years ago. The movie included the heartbreaking details of the murder of her husband, Jim Elliot, and four other missionaries who were speared to death by the Waodani in 1956 as they attempted to befriend that Ecuadorian tribe.

In the years following the loss of her husband and her dreams of a life together with him, Elisabeth became a proliferate writer with a new passion and wisdom beyond her years. She learned some valuable lessons from her life’s experience, and she shares that wisdom through her books.

I have a great respect for those who have excelled in the face of adversity. As the old E.F. Hutton commercial used to say, “When they speak, I listen,” because I know that lessons learned from experience are as valuable as nuggets of gold – and Elisabeth is a storehouse of gold nuggets.

Where did she learn to handle emotional stress in this manner? From the example Jesus left as he endured the cross. She shares her understanding of his example in this quote,

“Our Lord did not halt all activity to brood over what was to come. He was not incapacitated by the fear of suffering . . . To the question, ‘What shall I do?’ (so often, for us the cry of despair) he simply answered, ‘This,’ and did what lay in his path to do at the moment, trusting himself completely into the hands of his Father.”*

Elisabeth has written many books, including these popular titles:

If you order any book from Christian Book Distributors using a link from my blog, CBD will donate a portion of the proceeds back to Are-You-For-Real. If you do make an order from them, I want to thank you for helping to support my ministry.

*All quotes used in this article are taken from Twelve Baskets of Crumbs by Elisabeth Elliot.

Keeping it real,