Prayer Notebook

Posted on July 16, 2013 by Sarah

“Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.” Colossians 4:2 (NASB)

prayer: (noun) A solemn request for help or expression of thanks addressed to God.

Prayer is petitioning. We’re usually pretty good about asking, but how often do we follow through with thanksgiving? Both the verse above and the first definition that popped up on google to define prayer include thanksgiving. It must be an important part of prayer.

Jesus Calling by Sarah Young has been both an encouragement and a challenge to me this year. Part of the devotional on January 11 reads: “When you bring Me prayer requests, lay out your concerns before Me. Speak to Me candidly; pour out your heart. Then thank Me for the answers that I have set into motion long before you can discern results. When your requests come to mind again, continue to thank Me for the answers that are on the way.”

The idea of thanking God after asking has stuck with me. Our Creator God is powerful. He spoke into existence the earth and all that is in it, He causes the sun to rise and the earth to rotate consistently, He sustains the balance that enables all of life to continue…yet He still values even the smallest details of my life and the cares of my heart. When I ask Him for something, He listens. He answers. The answer may not be in the way I expect because God’s thoughts and ways are higher than my own, but my requests are not taken lightly. Knowing the character of God, I am able to give thanks after praying to Him – because I know He has heard and will answer.

At different points in my spiritual growth, I have used different tools to help me focus my heart and mind on prayer consistently. This summer I am attending a women’s Bible study where we are learning about prayer. It was recommended to start a prayer notebook. So I bought myself a little flowered spiral notebook from Target and researched how to section it off in a way that would benefit my prayer time. I have some pages sectioned out at the beginning for specific people that I pray for regularly (family, close friends, etc.). Then I have a section a little ways in where I can simply write prayer requests as they come up. After each request, I leave a line or two for answers, so that I can “keep alert with an attitude of thanksgiving.” When prayers are answered, I use colors to record how the Lord has answered me.

Even though I just started this notebook several weeks ago, it has already become a precious part of my time with the Lord. As I flip through the pages each day, I am able to be faithful in prayer. I am able to see answers to prayer readily. I am encouraged to turn things over to the Lord. I am challenged to thank Him for His work in each situation, even when I don’t see results immediately. Ultimately, I am humbled as I remember the power and sovereignty of the God to whom I pray.

Categories: Prayer, Visible Faith | Leave a comment

My Father

Posted on July 15, 2013 by Sarah

My parents wanted us kids to experience a variety of places, so they planned many unique trips when we were little. On one trip, we followed the path of the Oregon Trail and saw famous landmarks like Chimney Rock, as well as places where the wagon wheel tracks are still visible. Another vacation helped us explore early American history as we visited the Liberty Bell, the Washington Monument, the location of the Battle of Gettysburg, and the changing of the guard at Arlington Cemetery. Every vacation was exciting. We traveled the railroad from Durango to Silverton and back. We rode a boat down the Chattanooga River. We visited hot springs where people received therapy for polio. We walked across the bridge into Mexico and bartered with the shop keepers before heading back to Texas. We enjoyed the beautiful scenery of Lake Powell and walked on beaches at sunset. We experienced the “Windy City” of Chicago. We climbed up and down the Great Sand Dunes and held baby alligators at a Colorado alligator farm.

When thinking back on these childhood vacations, I never remember feeling anxious. What I do remember: my dad’s careful planning of our vacations. Before our travels had even begun, he researched to find the best places to visit. He spent hours studying maps of our destinations. He calculated how long we should spend at each place and what order would make the most logical sense. He made sure we had enough money for food, lodging, and souvenirs. During the actual vacation, I never had a need to worry. Everything had been planned out carefully, and my dad was in control. Even if my dad got “lost,” he was not really lost. He would simply pull out his map and get us back on track. Because of this, I felt completely secure when traveling. My father had all the details of our vacation under control; all I had to do was relax and enjoy the experience.

My earthly father has given me a small reflection of the care of my heavenly Father. My heavenly Father has all the details of my life under control. Not only has God studied the map of every step I will take, He created the map. Every tiny detail is under His watchful eye. He has also crafted the “events” that will unfold before me. I am His precious child, and as my Father, He delights in me. He has prepared treasures for me and molds both the positive and negative aspects of life for His glory and my good. The Lord is never lost. Even when circumstances surprise me, I am completely secure resting in Him, because He already knows. My Father has all the details of my life under control; my response should be to relax and enjoy the experience.

I can have faith in the One who is in control. When I begin to feel anxious about the details of the future, I need childlike faith to trust my Father. He has gone before me, and He goes with me as I take every step.

Categories: Fear/Anxiety, Spiritual Growth | Leave a comment

Notecard Reflection Packet

Posted on July 11, 2013 by Sarah

“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” Ephesians 6:11-13

The spiritual battles that we wage are continuous. Our enemy doesn’t take a break. “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Therefore, we must be prepared; we must be on our guard at all times – with the sword of the Spirit in our hand.

Just last weekend, I listened to a sermon that I desperately needed in order to fight the lies that Satan uses to deceive me. I loved so much of the sermon that I took 5 pages of copious notes. I realized afterwards that there were so many quotes and truths from God’s Word that I would like to have handy for times of temptation and struggle, but that returning to my journal in times of need would not be likely… so I created a Notecard Reflection Packet.

I took a stack of 3×5 notecards and wrote a powerful quote, theme, or passage from Scripture on separate notecards, then hole-punched and tied them together as a booklet. Now, those notes are easily accessible when I need to fight negative thoughts with the truths of Scripture. Having something tangible has given me a way to better fight the schemes of the Evil One.

Categories: Scripture, Visible Faith | Leave a comment

Visible Faith

Posted on July 10, 2013 by Sarah

Today I had a wonderful visit with a friend I have not seen in a year. We had so much to catch up on in each other’s lives, especially since we both had a difficult – but very spiritually rewarding – year! As I was sharing some of the ways I have grown in my faith through the trials I’m facing, my friend pointed out that I have some very practical ways of applying God’s Word and prayer to my life. She encouraged me to share them somehow because she thought others would benefit from them…so after some thought about it, I compiled a list of my “practical faith applications” and decided to write them here on my blog.

The title I came up with for these applications is “Visible Faith” – an idea which comes from Joshua 4:19-24. The Israelites had just crossed the Jordan River on dry ground, and they took 12 stones to set up as a memorial. Joshua said these stones would serve as a reminder for future generations “so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, that you may fear the LORD your God forever.” It was a VISIBLE, physical symbol so the people would not forget the power and deliverance of their God.

Many times, if I don’t write something down, it escapes my mind in the busy-ness of life. Over the years, I have developed some reminders for myself to help make my Lord and Savior an integral part of my everyday life. I do not think you should commit to doing ALL of these things at the same time, but they are things that have helped me greatly at different points in my life. I plan to post one idea every week, so be on the lookout! :) These practical applications will fit into one of three categories: SCRIPTURE, PRAYER, or THANKSGIVING. I would like to begin by giving a brief explanation of each category.

SCRIPTURE: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17 The Word of God is powerful. If you are in the Word, saturating your heart and mind, the Spirit will work in your heart. This section will contain practical ways to keep God’s truth at the forefront of your mind.

PRAYER: 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, “Pray without ceasing.” Having a relationship with God means we must be speaking to Him and listening for His voice. This section will not explain how to pray but will instead have ideas for physical reminders to pray and ways to hold yourself accountable in prayer.

THANKSGIVING: “For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.” 1 Timothy 4:4-5 God is sovereign over every situation in life – the good and the bad – and for those who trust in Him, He works all things for our good and for His glory (Romans 8:28). A thankful heart is one that acknowledges who God is and is able to praise and glorify Him, even amidst the trials and sufferings of life. Many books have been written on how to be thankful, and I am by no means an expert on thanking God in the middle of my trials. But I have set up some physical ways in which I consistently seek to develop a habit of being thankful, and that is what I will share in this section.

Well, the introduction of my sharing has come to a close. My plan is to post the first practical idea of “Visible Faith” in the next couple of days, so keep your eyes open. In the meantime, feel free to give feedback or ask questions in the comments section.

Categories: Visible Faith | 1 Comment

Obedience: A Lesson from My Cat

Posted on June 17, 2013 by Sarah

I think I have the most well-behaved kitty on the planet. ;) I don’t mean that she is perfect – she has her fair share of naughtiness – but she LISTENS when I discipline her.

Lily loves to sit on the window sill by my open window every morning – so many things to watch and hear and smell! This morning at 5 am, she decided to try to sit in the window sill…even though the window and blinds were both closed. She jumped up and got herself stuck in the blinds, so I hurried out of bed to “rescue” her. After carefully pulling her out, I took her to the floor, held her down on her back, and told her no. She lay there for a minute in submission before getting up to play. She knew her place and that she had done something wrong. As I went back to sleep, I heard her racing around the room, running through her “tent” and playing with her toys. I smiled.

After a while, she climbed up on my couch by the window again. She reached out her paw and touched the blinds. I opened my eyes and said, “Psst!” while snapping my fingers, which is what I use to caution her not to do something. She paused to look at me and then hopped down off the couch. What a good girl! Three more times this morning she jumped up to touch the blinds, but each time at the sound of my discipline noise, she hopped down to obey.

It may seem annoying that I had to keep after her all morning, but isn’t that how we are with our Lord? Time and time again, we are tempted, we falter, and we show our sinful nature – but the Lord is always patient to teach and forgive us. How well do we LISTEN and obey?

Categories: Just Life | Leave a comment

Grace vs. Anxiety

Posted on June 3, 2013 by Sarah

Have you ever tried to understand the complete meaning of grace? I mean, really wrap your mind about everything that is included in God’s grace?

It is everything we don’t deserve.

It is every good thing the Creator gives us in our earthly life: Friends. Breath every day. Health. Flowers. Music. Sunshine. Kittens. Chocolate. Children… That is grace. It is everything the Most High God is to us: My Savior. My Rock and Refuge. My Strength and Shield. My Salvation. My Sustainer. My Father… That is grace. It is everything our Eternal God does for us: He is ever present with me. He delights in me. He delivers me from sin. He loves me with His steadfast, faithful love – regardless of my performance. He strengthens me with His power in my weakness… That is grace.

The mind of an anxious person is always looking ahead into the future. In his book, Running Scared: Fear, Worry, and the God of Rest, Edward T. Welsh calls worriers “false prophets” because worry constantly tries to predict the future. “Anxiety asks for more information so it can be prepared for the coming apocalypse. It also asks for more information so it can manage the world apart from God.” This is a scary reality. An anxious mind doesn’t trust the Lord. An anxious mind wants to be in control.

“There is one bit of data that worriers never factor into their false prophecies. It is this: We will receive grace in the future.” Anxiety forgets that God gives us grace for each day. We have grace for each moment today, and we will have grace for each moment tomorrow. God always provides exactly what we need right when we need it. When trying to predict the future, we don’t imagine the grace that will be given.

But bad things can still happen. “God does not promise grace that removes hardships.” But He does promise in 2 Corinthians 12:9: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.”

Today, I cannot try to figure out what God’s grace will look like tomorrow.

“When we try to imagine grace in some future situations, we might still be resting in ourselves. We want specific confirmation that there will be grace, and we want to calm ourselves by not trusting in the Gracious One but in seeing the future.” When we try to imagine grace for tomorrow, we limit God to the size of our own imaginations.

Categories: Fear/Anxiety, Spiritual Growth | Leave a comment

The Power of a Thank You

Posted on May 24, 2013 by Sarah

At the end of January, many of my students were well below grade level in reading. I decided it was time to hit them hard with the reality that their reading future was in their own hands. I gathered the students around my rocking chair. When I asked how many of my 23 students actually read outside of school, about 4 hands went up. That’s what I thought. I talked with my students about the importance of reading and explained that I was very concerned about their success in middle school.

Together as a class we developed a Reading Challenge. The students committed themselves to reading at least 30 minutes 6-7 days a week outside of school, in addition to reading in every spare minute at school. In order to document their reading, we instituted a new classroom job: the police officer. Every morning, the police officer walked around the room with a clipboard and pen to document whether or not students had read their 30 minutes. Why a police officer? Because you cannot lie to the police officer.

The class Reading Challenge had a rough start for some students. Isaac, in particular, fought me on it. He never reads outside of school, he said. He doesn’t have time because he has to watch his little brother. He doesn’t even like reading. What’s the point if he works hard while he’s at school?

He was so upset, in fact, that his mom called me (on my birthday) and yelled at me for making him feel humiliated. “He has an A in reading. Why are you telling him that he’s below grade level when he has an A in reading?!” I calmly explained that Isaac is a very hard worker and does very well on his assignments, but he is not reading at the level he should be at this point in the year. He needs to be reading every single day outside school.

“Miss Agee, do you read 30 minutes every day?” Isaac challenged me one morning. I told him that yes, in fact, I do. I read every morning. “Oh, you can read in the morning? That counts?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said. “Any reading outside school counts.” Suddenly, this task seemed more feasible to him. He began to read his 30 minutes every day, meeting the reading challenge nearly every week.

My class never let me forget about “rocks” on Thursday mornings. This was when I would look over the chart from the week and see how the students did. For every day that the students had read 30 minutes, they got to come up and put one rock into the glass jar on my desk. When the jar was full, I brought in a special treat for the class: brownies, cupcakes, cookies, candy… All the while, the students kept reading.

This afternoon, May 24, my students took the end-of-the-year reading test. Before taking it, I had a talk with my class. I reminded them of the day we looked at our reading levels and created the reading challenge. I reminded them how much they have been reading and told them that today we would get to see the results of all their efforts for the past 4 months. At the end of 5th grade, which is now, the students should be at least at level 700.

“Miss Agee, I’m so nervous!” Isaac said to me as we lined up.

“Isaac, why are you nervous? You have worked so hard since January, and you have been reading so much! Just do your best. Even if your score increased a little bit, it will be worth it.”

It was a computerized test that gave the students their reading level as soon as they finished. I sat in the corner of the room with a list of the students’ January reading levels. As they completed their tests, they came up to me to share what their new score was. I wrote it down next to their old one so we could see how much they had improved. One by one the students came up to me, and one by one, I was amazed. Their scores were jumping 100-200 points! I congratulated each one, and their faces lit up with pride in their accomplishment. Not every student reached 700, but every student grew tremendously.

When only a few students were still working on the test, I took the rest of the class back to our classroom. Isaac was taking his time at his computer, and I was anxious to see how much he had grown. While we waited, I gathered the students around the rocking chair to read aloud to them. Then Isaac burst into the room. His face told it all. His smile was from ear to ear as he proclaimed to me that his reading level was 750! In January, it was 430. He had grown 320 points in four months!

The entire class sat in shocked silence for a moment. Then we erupted in cheering and celebration. Isaac ran to his friends and started to jump up and down with them, but then he stopped.

With tears in his eyes, he turned to me and said, “Miss Agee…thank you.”

“You have earned it!” I exclaimed.

“But you are the one who encouraged me to read,” he said.

I was astounded by his maturity in that moment and how the simpleness of a thank you makes up for all the difficulty it took to get there. I could tell in each of my students’ eyes that they realized the same thing. The struggle and the effort was all worth it. Each one of them has reached their own level of success.

Categories: Teaching, Thankfulness | 2 Comments