hindering prayer

How's your prayer life?
Our prayer life is a direct indication of our relationship with God. We cannot get closer to Him unless we spend time talking to Him. How would our best friend feel if we did not share our lives (details) with them? Why do we so often pick up the phone to call a friend before we pray about a frustration, disappointment or joy? Wanna grow deeper? Spend time in prayer!
Listed below are five specific things that can hinder our prayer lives. When our prayer life is hindered, so is our ability to grow closer to the Lord.

SIN
Proverbs 28:13
He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.

MOTIVE
James 4:2-3
You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.

UNFORGIVING SPIRIT
Matthew 5:23-24
Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

LACK OF PERSISTENCE
Luke 11:9-10
So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

LACK OF FAITH
Hebrews 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Let's rid ourselves of these obstacles and cultivate our desire to know God on a deeper level!

contest

Don't have much time to blog, but wanted to pass along this giveaway:

"How would you like to win $50 to spend in a vintage children’s store? Kailani of An Island Life is holding a giveaway to Warm Biscuit Bedding Company. Stop by before September 28th for all the details."

first camper experience (sorta)

My inlaws came to visit this weekend and brought my hubby's grandfather along as well. We have a three bedroom (small) house and so granddad slept in our guest room and since my inlaws have a (air conditioned) pop up camper and we have a large yard, they brought the camper and slept outside. My daughter had a ball! She called it the "little house." "Let's go play in the little house. I want to sleep out in the little house. Etc." Cute. She did sleep outside in it last night and had a blast. I never camped growing up (except at girl scout camp) and thought the idea was neat as well. Who knows, maybe we'll take a family trip and borrow their camper for a weekend! Hubby would be excited at my desire to go camping and "roughing it.";-)

lyrics that make you go hmmm

Heard this for the first time yesterday and wanted to post the lyrics as a recommendation to go check it out. True, huh? How many times do we ignore God in our lives - by not listening to Him or by not even including Him in the first place? Have you talked to Him yet today?


Funny

It’s funny how a big ol’ fish can hear Your voice
Find one man in the whole ocean and swallow him whole
Because You said so
It’s funny how a little plant can hear Your voice
And grow as big as a tent to give that man a home
Because You said so

And You speak to me all the time
And I can’t obey You to save my life

Well, I can but I don’t, and I want to but I won’t
And I don’t do what I want to
I do what I don’t mean to
And I’m confused
It’s funny how a fish can obey You but I can’t

It’s funny how the bright ol’ sun can hear Your voice along its way
Stop in the middle of the sky for an entire day
Because You said so
It’s funny how a donkey can hear Your voice
And talk instead of bray to set Your child on His way
Because You said so

And You speak to me all the time
Lighting my path with Your words of life
But I can’t obey You no matter how hard I try

It’s funny how a fish can obey You
How a plant can obey You
How the sun can obey You
How a donkey can obey You
Seems like everything can obey You, but I can’t

Written by Todd Agnew
©2007 Ardent/Koala Music (ASCAP). All Rights Reserved.

wowee

5 Minutes for Mom... a pink Dyson... check it out...

church

My new job puts me in contact with churches, and being an active part in my church (youth pastor hubby), I've seen churches offering all sorts of programs. One church I know even has it's own gym, pool, school, sports teams, afterschool program, etc. Wow. Talk about a busy place. What concerns me is when too many of those programs overshadow the first calling of a church. A church is a body of believers, true. That simple definition could be extended to include "a body of believers that... work out together, play sports together, etc." But, in order for us to grow deeper that's got to include "a body of believers that... study the Bible together, that worship together, that praises God together." Acts chapter 14 is so energizing to read - Paul racing through the cities, converting unbelievers to a saving knowledge of Christ Jesus, then in verse 27, "they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles." Despite persecution and setbacks (Paul getting nearly stoned to death, the people continuing to worship Zeus, etc), God's church grew and they stopped to give Him praise for it, gathering and sharing together. Praise God for His saving grace and power then and now. I encourage you to get involved in a Bible-believing church that "keeps the main thing the main thing." If it's got other cool perks, wonderful, but take time today to find a church or thank God for giving you one... a body of believers that worships our one, true, amazing God.

a faithful few

Wow, got my stat report and although I've been gone for-ev-er, I've still had a few hits. Well, thanks for visiting! Unfortunately, this part time job is zapping all free time that I had to hang out in blog-land and in trying to keep my priorities straight, the free time I have left has been devoted to family, home and church. But, here I am today with time! I just balanced the checkbook (er, I won't go there), it's a beautiful day (so the window next to me is open), and my daughter is taking a rest (which doesn't happen much anymore!) so I am on my blog again. How fun!

Gap or Union Bay for me

Jeans, jeans, jeans. What a fun contest! Give Megan a suggestion, get selected, get a gift card. Hmm, just for bragging on your fave pair of jeans. Head on over and brag on your jeans!

back from vacation

...and more busy than ever. It's amazing how it takes about 2 seconds for my brain to kick into back-at-home overdrive once I get home from a vacation. We got home about 1 am on Saturday, slept in, then actually had a nice yummy big breakfast before I got started. Yesterday I did 5 loads of laundry, dug into some boxes that were still stacked in our bedroom from when we moved here six months ago, ran to the grocery store, balanced the checkbook/paid bills, and managed to stay current on the football games my hubby was watching (he did help some too, while he was watching) ;-) Today, being the Lord's day, will be a restful afternoon (except for some laundry I still have to fold), however we start up a new year of youth worship tonight, so I'll be back at church this evening. We had a great vacation and I'm missing the sand and surf today, however it's nice to be back and organized before the work week (and dear daughter's first day of 4 year old preschool) begins tomorrow!

the desired "zero"

Ugh - hubby and I are taking Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University through church and we're on the chapter on budgets, or as he calls it a "cash flow plan." Well, that's exactly it b/c our cash is flowing and the end of the plan does not equal the desired zero (or a positive for that matter!) Great advice and we're loving the class, but just a little frustrated tonight at our lack of balancing. Hope your expenses are matching your incomes tonight!

shoes and shoes

giveaway - more shoes... this time for the kiddos! Check it out here.

had to do it today

...for the first time. I guess, really, since darling daughter is four, that's a pretty good statistic. We had to leave an Adventure/Water Park after only 30 mins of being there. She through a huge fit about having to wear a life vest (which was required for all young kids on every ride & pool besides the kiddie pool). So, our 25 min. one-way drive, $6 for parking, praise-the-Lord free tickets, were all lost/wasted because of this temper tantrum. Hubby had at least ridden two water slides and I had gotten my feet wet at the kiddie play area, but that was it. Oh the frustration! But, I hand it to my hubby b/c he made the threat then we followed through with it (and he's a huge fan of water parks and pools). So, our daughter has not been happy this afternoon b/c of the time-out when we got home and loss of tv the rest of the day. Why does it seem these punishments punish us parents worse...