Prayer is so important!

Last night I couldn't sleep. I lay in bed from eleven thirty to four in the morning, tossing and turning and counting in my head and wishing I could get to sleep. Finally, I realized something: It had been days since I had *really* prayed. 

Oh, I had prayed quickly- "Lord, thank you for my family, I'm so blessed to have them. And please help my friend feel better with her illness. Amen". 

Those quick prayers are fine and good. I'm not knocking them. We need to be in constant contact with God throughout our day- praying quickly and often is good for us! 

Many small prayers throughout our day keep us in touch with the Lord.

Sort of like how you may not stop and talk to a friend for hours at a time, but, you text them a sentence or two throughout the day to keep in touch.

But a text to a friend now and again is not enough. You will be in the dark about many things going on in your friends life and you will not really understand her heart, unless you specifically and intentionally carve out time to really get to know her. To have long conversations and share eachother's hearts.

That is what I needed. That is what I hadn't done for several days.

I'd quickly spoken to God throughout my day, but I hadn't prayed kind of prayer where the time just flies by because your heart is so wrapped up in the Lord...the kind of prayer that, when you are finished, leaves you feeling like you just poured your deepest feelings with your very best friend. 

That is what I needed so desperately.

I try, when I pray, to follow the example Christ gave for us (The Lord's Prayer) by first praising the Lord and thanking Him, followed by asking for God's will to be done, then humbly asking for the things I need or want, and finally asking God to forgive my sins and be with me to help me turn from sin in the future. Following this example from The Lord's Prayer helps me to stay focused. 

As I lay in bed, I prayed. It could have been an hour or two, I don't know- I just know I was pouring my heart out, sharing everything that was inside of me, talking and talking and talking to Jesus as my best friend.

By the time I was "done" with my prayer, I felt the most incredible peace wash over me. I felt God's calming presence, and I knew the He was listening to His child. And talking to my savior must have been just the thing I needed, because as I finished my prayer, I immediately and easily slipped into a peaceful slumber. 

How many times must we toss and turn in our beds with the worries of the day haunting us, until we realize that we are not alone? Prayer is SO necessary to our hearts and minds. 

My grandparents always had a little plaque on their wall that said, "Have you prayed about it?" As a child and teenager and now an adult, it was always a good reminder to me that if I was worried about something, the very first thing I needed to do was pray. 

As you go to bed tonight, I would encourage you to remember to pray. Don't pray as a routine, or as a ritual that must be done with certain words and certain timing. Purpose to end your day with a heart-to-heart conversation with your best friend. 

Not only does He desperately long to hear from us, but, we SO need that time with Him. 

I believe that you will find yourself feeling lighter, sleeping better, and enjoying a sense of calm you didn't have before. Prayer is good for the heart, the mind, the soul, and the body.  

Sweet dreams!

I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety. -Psalm 4:8

Winter is a reminder of the fall of man

Today my mom and I spent a few hours raking and bagging leaves in our yard, no easy task since our yard is quite large. We wanted to surprise my dad when he came home from work, since he probably thought he would end up doing all the yard work- it is so much fun to surprise someone by getting work done so they won't have to do it!  While bagging up piles of wet, limp leaves (and seeing the gloomy looking bare tree branches) I was reminded of the fall of man. 

It would be easier not to have trees in our yard at all, so that in the fall and winter we wouldn't have to do all the raking and bagging of leaves. 

But if we didn't have any trees in our yard, we wouldn't get their shade and their beauty in the spring and summer. 

We have to work the ground in order to enjoy the beauty in the spring.

Before sin, man did not toil or labor in order to keep a pretty garden. God made the beautiful garden and kept it perfect for his perfect creation. Everything was the way it should have been, the way God wanted it. It didn't even rain back then- God caused dew to rise from the ground. Man simply ate from the trees and didn't know what hard work was. Imagine not knowing what hard work was! 

It was only after the first sin, after the fall of man, that man began to have to really work to keep his environment livable and sustainable. 

It was part of the curse, the punishment for sin. 

God told Eve that her punishment would be that childbirth would be painful. 

This is something that is unique to humans- those who work with animals have stated that animals do not experience the levels of pain that humans do when giving birth- animals are able to give birth with discomfort, but not pain (barring some unforeseen problem in birth). This makes sense, since animals do not have free will- they simply behave exactly the way God made them to behave! 

But humans, who have free will and chose to go against God's word, now experience pain in childbirth. 

What only animals now experience is probably how God originally designed childbirth to be for all creatures, but human women's childbirth was changed by God to be painful as punishment.

The other part of Eve's punishment was that she would desire her husband and he would rule over her. Some people think this means that originally God had Adam and Eve as more of equal partners, but after Eve caused the downfall of mankind, God stated to her that her husband would now rule over her. 

Adam's punishment was that things would no longer come easily to him- he would not be in the perfect garden anymore, and he would now have to labor and sweat, working the ground in order to make a life for his family. 

So, the bare trees lying on the ground and us spending hours raking and bagging leaves reminded me of how far we are from the garden of Eden and what God intended for us to have. All because of our sinful nature, to go our own way instead of following God's word! 

When we work to rake and bag the leaves, we can really feel the impact of the choices of Adam and Eve so long ago. 

But, the good part is that even though God has punished mankind with toil and labor and seasons of empty cold, He still chooses to bless his wayward children...every year God sends the springtime to us again.  Soon the barren trees will be full and beautiful, and we will be reminded of God's love for us. 

For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land. Song of Solomon 2:11-12