Luke 5:16 Friday

But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places AND PRAYED. Luke 5:16

Since the word for today is prayed and so many of us have been touched, as several of you have told me, by Vivian McClellan’s comments this week, I want her words to be the comments for today’s meditation.

August 30
There are many different times in my life that I have learned more about faith and what true faith is. But I guess the biggest jump in my faith came when I started trusting God to know and meet my needs and I basically stopped praying for my wants and needs. I now spend most of my prayer time in Praise. My faith changed when I started spending 98% of my time in praise and almost none on asking for anything. I thought David praised God because he was a man after God's own heart, until I learned that David was a man after God's own heart because he Praised.

September 1
If you try Praising and not asking for a few days, you will be amazed how much more clearly you see His will in all things. While I am a firm believer in the healing and therapy that comes from taking our needs to God, there is a line in which the focus becomes our needs, instead of the focus on the One that can meet our needs.For several months now, I have "fasted" from praying for my needs and I am convinced this has allowed me to see opportunities for His will, I would have missed before.

September 2
I have that verse/prayer "just enough" in my bathroom to read each morning, and I love it!....Being able to see the power and majesty of God and to feel secure in that power to truly take care of us, becomes much more real when there is "fasting from asking" and more "raising the praising."end quotesI have heard the words “fasting from asking” and “raising the praising” over and over again in my head since reading them the first time. I think they need to be written on our foreheads and doorposts like Moses told the Israelites to do in Deuteronomy. (Thank-you so much, Vivian, for saying them).

Today while Ruth and I were on the treadmill, "justawalkin’andatalkin’," I asked Ruth if she had tried “fasting from asking” and “raising the praising” since she had read Vivian’s comment. And she told me she had; she did it yesterday, and then she added it was very hard. And I agreed. Then I asked her if she had asked God for anything, yesterday, regarding her sister Marilyn’s illness. And she said “no” but that you could turn any request into a praise like this: “God I know you know about my sister’s illness and I thank you for being able to heal her. And I accept that your will will be done.” And she's right.

I want us to try “fasting from asking” and “raising the praising” for just three days and then report back on Tuesday, after the long Labor Day week-end is over, about how we were affected. Would you please do that with me?

And finally, here is the verse/prayer that Vivian referred to. I suggest we read it too, like she does every morning.

Just Enough
I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.
I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish you enough “Hello’s” to get you through the final “Good-bye."