East Heights Prayer Blog

Devotions - Tuesday, May 13, 2008

East Heights Daily Devotional
Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Psalm 100
  Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
  Worship the LORD with gladness;
       come before him with joyful songs.
  Know that the LORD is God.
       It is he who made us, and we are his;
       we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
  Enter his gates with thanksgiving
       and his courts with praise;
       give thanks to him and praise his name.
  For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
       his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Music to God’s Ears

When someone says “that’s music to my ears” we know they mean it is good news and they are happy to hear it. Sometimes prayer is referred to as music to God’s ears. That’s because God is always delighted to hear from us in prayer. Occasionally I hear people complain that their prayer life seems stale and they feel that they pray the same prayers over and over. Others say that it’s hard to find the words to express what’s on their heart – sometimes the words just don’t seem to come.

I have spent some time lately making prayer shawls for Annual Conference of the Kansas East & West Conferences of the Methodist Church which occurs later this month.  Last week as I prayed for pastors and worked on a shawl, I found myself echoing these sentiments - I didn’t feel like praying and the words didn’t come easily but with Conference coming up soon, I should persist.  I decided to just be quiet for a while as I worked. After a bit I put on a worship CD and continued to work as I listened to hymns and songs of praise. A short time went by and all of a sudden I realized my spirits had soared and I was praying the words of these wonderful songs of faith. I was lifting up to God, words, phrases, and images, for our pastors. It was no longer an act of discipline, but a delightful time spent with God.  The words of the hymns had enriched and inspired my prayers and I was deeply moved and blessed by this time spent with God praying for his blessings, his wisdom, and his protection for our pastors.   

Not all hymns are prayers – some teach, testify, or inspire. But many are simply written prayers that need little or no alteration to be used as an aid to prayer. To start, select hymns that speak directly to God. You may want to speak the hymn instead of singing it. Some hymns lend themselves to personalization, so don’t be shy about putting yourself in there.  You may choose to meditate on a particular line or word of the song, or look for hymns that are drawn directly from scripture. The Psalms are found in our hymnal. Read Psalm 100 above as a prayer.

Prayer:   Pray these words of “Breathe on Me, Breath of God” by Edwin Hatch, repeating them several times. Allow yourself to be drawn deeper into the sentiment of the hymn as you pray.

Breathe on me, breath of God
Fill me with life anew,
That I may love what Thou dost love,
And do what Thou wouldst do.

Devotions this week are written by:

Beth Strickler
Director of Prayer  Ministries, East Heights United Methodist Church
Beth@ehumc.org / 682-6518
www.ehumc.org

Devotion - Monday, May 12, 2008

East Heights Daily Devotional
Monday, May 12, 2008

Ephesians 4:29
"Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers."

Encouragement – a Gift of Grace

Yesterday while shopping at SAM’S Club, my husband and I witnessed a scene where a customer’s credit card was denied – apparently due to a mistake on the store’s part. The offended customer really let the clerk (and everyone around) have an ear-full! Using gestures, body language, and loud voice, she made sure that we all knew that the store really messed up and they’d better fix it if they wanted her business.  I could understand her frustration, but her abusive and graceless attitude really stunned me as she continued to carry on. I found myself embarrassed as I wondered if she had any idea how she appeared. I wondered when I might have behaved in a similar fashion – perhaps without realizing it. It was uncomfortably easy for me to imagine myself that way as I know I would have had some similar thoughts were I in her situation.

When she had moved on to further express her anger at the Customer service desk, we approached the register. We encouraged the poor clerk with kinds words after his unfortunate encounter and he just smiled and said, “It’s okay, I’m fine, I don’t let it bother me.”

Afterwards, I began to contemplate God’s grace to us and how we might extend that grace to others. Are you a minister of grace?  Do you consider yourself to be an encourager?   

When I stop to think about it, I’d like to see myself as an encourager, but if I’m not careful, my natural bent is often one of critical analysis.  Rather than expressing appreciation for what someone is doing right, “helpful” suggestions on how to change or do it better frequently come to mind, and all too often find voice. There are situations where this is appropriate, but left unchecked or offered in a graceless manner, such advice is usually of little positive value and can often do great harm. Impatience, faultfinding, and slander were never part of Christ’s agenda for healing a broken world.

How can we become gracious like Christ?  Richard Blackaby in his book, "Putting a Face on Grace" has a few suggestions.

• Speak words intended to build up, not to bring down.
• Focus on their need rather than your own.
• Freely forgive.
• Swallow you pride and say, "I'm sorry", and "I was wrong."
• Live your life with a goal of "no regrets".
• Don't keep score of what is fair.
• Grace doesn't condemn or give up on people.
• Grace emphasizes mercy, not justice.
• Read 1 Corinthians 13 regularly.

Pick one from this list and ask God to help you offer his grace to others today.

Prayer:  Loving Father, your grace flows freely to your children no matter how many times we mess up. Allow me, by the power of your Spirit within me, to share your grace with those I encounter today.

Devotions this week are written by:

Beth Strickler
Director of Prayer  Ministries, East Heights United Methodist Church
Beth@ehumc.org / 682-6518
www.ehumc.org

Devotion - Wednesday, May 7, 2008

East Heights Daily Devotional
Wednesday, May 7, 2008

1 John 14-15
14This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

A number of years ago, as a young mother and a participant in the Mom’s group at East Heights, I realized one day that I didn’t know how to pray. Our group had begun to pray together and to talk about prayer and suddenly I realized that I had no confidence in my prayers or my ability to pray “correctly,” and my practice of prayer was mostly a Sunday morning event or a crisis solution when someone I knew had a problem I couldn’t fix. These were not wrong prayer practices, but it seemed that something was missing. In response, I immediately bought my first book on prayer.

Since that time, prayer has become a large part of my daily life.  I love to pray, alone or with others. I still gravitate towards books on prayer and learn much from exploring God’s word concerning prayer. But I also continue to struggle at times with my own desires to have it my way.  Many times I hear in my prayers a desire to have God bless what I want without even asking Him to show me His will in the situation. Sometimes my compulsion for books on prayer seems to be driven by a desire to find the right formula – to satisfy my intellect and quest for knowledge of prayer and thus finally “get it right.”

Some time ago, I acquired another new book on prayer called “The Prayer God Loves to Answer,” by Don Nori. The premise of this book is that by saying “Yes” to God, we will pray according to His will and insure that we have prayed a prayer God will always answer. Praying in God’s will is praying in the Spirit. This kind of prayer releases God’s power within and through us and affirms the word that came to Zechariah long ago: “This is the word of the Lord… ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts.” Zech. 4:6

For Prayer & Reflection:  How is God calling you to say “Yes Lord” to His will and purposes for you today?

Devotions this week are written by:

Beth Strickler
Director of Prayer  Ministries, East Heights United Methodist Church
Beth@ehumc.org / 682-6518
www.ehumc.org

Devotion - Tuesday, May 6, 2008

East Heights Daily Devotional
Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Romans 1:11-12
11 I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— 12 that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith.

“Seasons of Change”

We receive many a visitors in the program office of our church.  I remember one woman was here for a meeting of some sort and came into the office asking for information about the times of our church services. I was happy to visit with her and give her the requested “Welcome” brochure about the church as well as sample worship bulletins. As I answered some questions she had and told her about a few of the opportunities at East Heights in this brief encounter, she shared that she has recently lost her husband and now finds herself adrift. She professed restlessness and fear that she has lost her faith. While she is a long-time member of another church, she said she is “church shopping” and was somewhat apologetic about it. Even as she talked of her loss of faith, she expressed a deep sense of longing to be more connected to God than just attending a service now and then. I offered words of encouragement that God is with her in this confusing time and asked permission to pray with and for her. Judging by the look of surprise on her face, my offer caught her off guard. As I lifted her up with a brief prayer, she choked back tears, thanked me and left as quickly and quietly as she had come. In the past few days she has come to mind frequently and I ask God to reveal his love to her in her time of searching and to guide her to the place He wants her to be.

This searching heart is not unusual in seasons of change. It is in these times of life change that people are most open to Christ and to the church.  But it’s not about church; it’s about Jesus. In this deeply personal time of searching for faith, the church can help make Jesus real to people by reaching out as God directs us.

Prayer:  God of love and grace, reveal yourself to searching hearts through your church – your children. Help us tell the story of Jesus as we live out our lives in faithfulness to your call.

Devotions this week are written by:

Beth Strickler
Director of Prayer  Ministries, East Heights United Methodist Church
Beth@ehumc.org / 682-6518
www.ehumc.org

Devotion - Monday, May 5, 2008

East Heights Daily Devotional
Monday, May 5, 2008

Matthew 22:37-40
37 Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.

Inside Out

Each summer our youth and sponsors head out to Tennessee for a week of missions work with the poor through Mountain T.O.P. (Tennessee Outreach Project). Each year Mountain T.O.P. has a theme based on a bible verse and a logo reflecting that theme is printed on their T-shirts.  One year the logo was very simple: the word “Be” printed inside an oval and the word “Out” printed outside the oval.  I am no good with puzzles, so my children (who inherited their dad’s knack for puzzles) were quick to reveal its meaning to me. It refers to the call we have as Christians to “Be Inside Out” – in other words to live out of what is inside us – hopefully that is God’s love. This logo (and it’s theme) has gone down in Mountain T.O.P. infamy as the most misunderstood logo ever.   

When I came across two different writings referring to this same concept, it caused me to pause and reflect.  One of these writings is a book called Leadership from Inside Out, by Wesley Granberg-Michaelson. This book on changing leadership styles calls for people in leadership roles to pay close attention to their spirituality and ask themselves the question “What is presently defining my life?” 

The second is a book called Forty Days to a Closer Walk With God, by J. David Muyskens. This is a book about Centering Prayer. Two purposes of this book are to first encourage deep communion with God through centering prayer, and secondly to live a life motivated by the divine Presence at the center of our being.

In a life that is sometimes chaotic and unfocused it is necessary that we become oriented to our true center, surrendering to Christ who dwells within us. As we do so, we are able to live from the inside out, directed by Christ to serve. The Christian life is meant to be lived from the center, not at the center. We can’t just commune with Christ and ignore the world, but we can take Christ into the world.

If Christ doesn’t define our lives, then something else will. “The world will ask you who you are, and if you don’t know, the world will tell you.” (Carl Young) Ask yourself today: Does Christ define my life?

Prayer:  Open my heart to the gift of your presence today Lord. Guide me in this spiritual journey that I might be defined by Christ’s love.

If you would like to be in ministry with our youth as a Youth Prayer Partner while they are on Choir Tour, Middle School Mission Trip, Mountain T.O.P., or other summer youth ministries, please email paige@ehumc.org or beth@ehumc.org and let us know. Our youth will benefit greatly from your prayers.

Devotions this week are written by:

Beth Strickler
Director of Prayer  Ministries, East Heights United Methodist Church
Beth@ehumc.org / 682-6518
www.ehumc.org