Divine Promises

Sometimes I don't blog, because I feel like it needs to be long to be important... or at least a little longer than I have time for. But I still have thoughts I want to share, so I might try to post just little thoughts...

As you might know, I have been reading through The Valley of Vision ever since the Allume Fast I participated in back in June.  I kinda slacked off a little bit last week, but I jumped back in this week and continue to be blessed by the prayers and poems in the book. Such an encouragement to me and an example of truths to pray.


Just wanted to share another one with you today!

Divine Promises (p132)

Glorious Jehovah, My Covenant God,
All thy promises in Christ Jesus are yea and amen,
    and all shall be fullfilled.
Thou hast spoken them, and they shall be done,
    commanded, and they shall come to pass.
Yet I have often doubted them,
    have lived at times as if there were no God.

Lord, forgive me that death in life,
    when I have found something apart from thee,
    when I have been content with ephermeral things.
But through thy grace I have repented;
Thou hast given me to read my pardon in the wounds of Jesus,
    and my soul doth trust in him, my God incarnate,
    the ground of my life, the spring of my hope.

Teach me to be resigned to thy will, 
     to delight in thy law, 
     to have no will but thine,
     to believe that everything thou doest is for my good.
Help me to leave my concerns in thy hands,
     for thou hast power over evil,
     and bringest from it an infinite progression of good,
     until thy purposes are fulfilled.
Bless me with Abraham's faith that staggers not at promises through unbelief. (<-- tweet that)

May I not instruct thee in my troubles,
      but glorify thee in my trials;
Grant me a distinct advance in the divine life;
      May I reach a higher platform,
      leave the mists of doubt and fear in the valley,
      and climb to hilltops of eternal security in Christ
         by simply believing he cannot lie,
         or turn from his purpose.
  
Give me the confidence I ought to have in him
     who is worthy to be praised, and who is blessed for evermore.





Believe God's promises today and live like it!

The Family

 

I've been working my way through The Valley of Vision for all of June and into July... it blesses my soul, fills my heart, lovingly chastens me.  I've been sharing bits and pieces on twitter and facebook, but occasionally it just can't fit into 140 characters allowed on twitter, so today I want to share a whole Puritan Prayer with you.

 

The Family (p113)

O Sovereign Lord,
Thou art the creator-Father of all men, for thou hast made and dost support them;
Thou art the special Father of those who know, love and honour thee,
     who find thy yoke easy, and thy burden light,
      thy work honourable,
      thy commandments glorious.

But how little thy underserved goodness has affected me:
      how imperfectly have I improved my religious privileges?
      how negligent have I been in doing good to others!
I am before thee in my trespasses and sins,
      have mercy on me,
      and may thy goodness bring me to repentance.

Help me to hate and forsake every false way,
     to be attentive to my condition and character,
     to bridle my tongue,
     to keep my heart with all diligence,
     to watch and pray against temptaton,
     to mortify sin,
     to be concerned for the salvation of others.

O God, I cannot endure to see the destruction of my kindred.
Let those that are united to me in tender ties
     be precious in thy sight and devoted to thy glory.

Sanctify and prosper my domestic devotion,
     instruction, discipline, example,
     that my house may be a nursery for heaven,
        my church the garden of the Lord,
          enriched with trees of righteousness of thy planting, for thy glory;

Let not those of my family who are amiable, moral, attractive,
     fall short of heaven at last;
Grant that the promising appearances of a tender conscience,
     soft heart, the alarms and delights of thy Word,
     be not finally blotted out,
     but bring forth judgment unto victory in all whom I love.

What I Learned

Fasting as defined by Wikipedia is ... primarily the act of willingly abstaining from some or all food, drink, or both, for a period of time.

On June 1, I embarked on something new for me... a partial fast, and a blogging fast... You can read about my intentions here.

Here is how I did...

• I do know that I will be taking a bloggy break for the 21 days. (promise me you will come back after this?!)

  I took a bloggy break (did you miss me?)... I thought that I would take some time to do some writing, journaling, etc and even planned to take part in Jeff Goins' 15 Habits of Great Writers series, but I hardly did any writing at all, which was a little discouraging to me.)

• I do know that I have 2 things specifically that I will be praying about, for God to show me what the next step is...

  I discovered I really don't know much about prayer (more on that later) and I still feel a little lost in the 2 areas in which I am looking for a breakthrough...

• I do know that I will be doing a partial fast... I read and like the idea of the hours of 6AM to 3PM for a partial fast. (not from all food, but definitely something)

  I did a partial fast from 6AM to 3PM and I chose the Daniel Fast... Fruits and Veggies and Water. I missed my morning coffee immensely... but that did lead to some morning prayer. Some days are harder than others... like SUNDAY when the big meal is before 3PM. It did show me a lot about my eating habits. So often I was tempted to snack while meal prepping for my kids, or finishing their uneaten plates, etc. Licking my fingers, munching here and there, sneaking candy or whatever! Mostly, I did well on this part. Occasionally I choose to break the fast, but I felt grace in those moments (does that defeat the purpose?)

• I do know that I'm a little scared... and afraid of failing!

  What exactly does failing look like?  
  

The last 3 weeks have been like every other day in my life in that there were successes and there were failures; there were accidental breaking of the fast and intentional breaking of the fast; there were strong moments and weak moments. I learned much... but not enough!

I also know that fasting is supposed to be a private thing, but I also want to share some of what God is teaching me.

A friend on Facebook posted this on her page last week... and it hit me right between the eyes!!

You can pray without fasting, and fast without prayer. It is when these two activities are combined and dedicated to God’s glory that they reach their full effectiveness. Having a dedicated time of prayer and fasting is not a way of manipulating God into doing what you desire. Rather, it is simply forcing yourself to focus and rely on God for the strength, provision, and wisdom you need.

To be honest, I don't think I truly understand the power of prayer. I do a lot of sentence prayers, talking to God in the moment, knowing that He hears me, but not truly getting on my knees and begging Him for answers. While I did improve my focus on prayer during this 21 Day Allume fast, thanks to The Valley of Vision (a book of Puritan Prayers), I by no means touched the surface of what the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man really is. 

I could use my kids as an excuse, but to be honest, more often than not it was just me getting distracted. Thinking about the next thing that needed to be done, my wants, my cravings. Not really praying, believing! And in that, I'm discouraged, but not despaired.

I would love to try this again sometime (probably more privately). But before I do, I want to learn more about prayer, so I'm asking you.  
Do you understand prayer? 
Do you know how to pray? 
Is there any book you would recommend on the subject of prayer?

I've missed blogging and the community that comes with blogging... so I'd love it if you would take a moment to share your thoughts/experiences on prayer (and/or fasting)!

And yes, it is one day short of 21 days, but I wanted to join in with the lovely ladies over at Write it, Girl for their surprise summer link up!! 

In the Valley

On top of struggling to get back into blogging, I also fell behind on my regular reading of The Valley of Vision. I missed a day or two, and got busy with stuff, and then just didn't know how to get back into the schedule.  Well, last Monday, I read the following Puritan prayer and wanted to share it with you. I should probably read/pray it every day!!

A Disciple's Renewal (p. 184)

O my Saviour, help me.
I am so slow to learn, so prone to forget, so weak to climb;
I am in the foothills when I should be on the heights;
I am pained by my graceless heart,
      my prayerless days,
      my poverty of love,
      my sloth in the heavenly race,
      my sullied conscience,
      my wasted hours,
      my unspent opportunities.
I am blink while light shines around me;
   take the scales from my eyes,,
   grind to dust the evil heart of unbelief.

Make it my chiefest joy to study thee,
     meditate on thee,
     gaze on thee,
     sit like Mary at they feet,
     lean like John on they breast,
     count like Paul all things dung.

Give me increase and porgress in grace so that there may be
      more decision in my character,
      more vigour in my purposes,
      more elelvation in my life,
      more fervour in my devoiton,
      more constancy in my zeal.

As I have a position in the world,
   keep me from making the world my position;
May I never seek in the creature
   what can be found only in the creator;
Let not faith cease from seeking thee unitl it vanishes into sight.
Ride forth in me, thou king of kings and lord of lords,
    that I may live victoriously, and in victory attain my end.