Prayful Mind

So, things are going great! I cannot really complain about anything these days, yet i still find that i do! But I guess Im human. School is good, my church group is great, my friends are great, life is just truly going well. I have officially changed my major now to Interdisciplinary Studies concentrating on Psychology and Child Development and Family Relations. I must admit I enjoy my Psych classes a lot more than the CDFR classes but thats ok. Im getting all new perspectives and learning more about the school systems which if I want to persue the School counselor liscensure then I will have to know it eventually I guess. Im also beginning to lean more towards the Grad programs at MTSU for school counseling. We will just see though, I dont wanna make too many plans because I want to make sure its what God wants me to do.

Speaking of, for Christmas this year I received a daily devotional book called Lord Teach Me to Pray, and I must say I will recommend this book to anyone!!! It has already done wonders for me just in the last two weeks. I feel as though I finally understand the importance of taking time to read my Bible on my own. Growing up in the Church and at a Church of Christ school Bible reading was school work just like any other book. I know all the stories forwards and backwards because I had to be tested on it. I felt like I knew the Bible and that praying daily would be suffice. I think I knew deep down I should read the Bible, but growing up the way I did (not that it is an excuse) just kinda made me feel I didnt need it and that there wasnt anything interesting left to read about. I guess I just thought of it has another text book and I hate reading texts books!

So anyway, this devotional book makes you get into the Word and study and it picks apart prayer and gives verses of prayers throughout the Bible and how others prayed. It is very interesting! One point the author made I found insightful was that in looking at the Lord's prayer she has broken down each sentence and has made the point that this is a model prayer. The first line Our Father in Heaven hallowed be Your name shows us that first of all that God is OUR father and prayer then begins with worship to Him. Your Kingdom Come is our allegience to Him. Now when the author discussed this I couldnt help of think of certain friends that honestly do not pledge their allegience to God. Many times people acknowledge God and worship Him like they should but in their daily lives they may cuss, or be overly concerned with their school work, or getting ahead in their jobs, even putting their family or leisure activities first. Little things that may not be sins, but are not in alignment with God and His Kingdom. Why? Why cuss? Why have one drink? Why go to that party where inappropriate things are happening? Why? I used to say all the time I should study my Bible more... what I was really saying is but I have better things to do! Not anymore I dont!

Another point the author made was about effective prayer. The Lord's prayer isnt something to memorize and repeat over and over again. Jesus says, Pray, then, in this way. He also said When you are praying do not use meaningless repition. So then it is clear that Jesus did not want us to recite something or pray simply from memory. It is so much more than that. This got me thinking, what about the songs we sing. Many of them are repitious. The author makes a point about our lack of Biblical knowledge even in our songs. How many of them are one idea repeated over and over without a strong Biblical substance. She states that in the early days the idol worshipers worked themselves into excited frenzies repeating phrases of worship to their gods. But she says that with the children of God you find them rehearsing the character of God and His ways instead of repeating things. Also she says this, "Our worship should be founded - rooted, grounded - in truth, not emotion. Worship should not be based on the fervency of our words or the loudness of our voice, but on the faithfulness of our God. Emotion is natural, but genuine emotion follows truth!" I just found all this interesting. I totally agree with her. She references a young man Isaac Watts and his song Behold the Glories of the Lamb whcih he wrote when he was 19 years old because he was dissatisfied with the dismal singing. The words are good.

I have known some of these things deep down, but presented in this way takes on a whole new meaning. The author is appling them to life, asking questions about each idea, and using verses to back up her every word. Its all very intersting, I wish everyone I know would read this devotional book!!!!! I know it will open everyone's eyes to something!

Well, I guess I have written a WHOLE LOT! haha I guess some of these new ideas about prayer are on my mind and I just wanna share them, but maybe I should just buy the book for everyone I know. Well, it is a lazy saturday and I dont have plans until this evening which is so nice! I needed a day just to myself to get everything in order for the week to come.