Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Close the Door Devotion and a Card Request!

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

 Praying that you are all having a blessed week, where you have had quality time with our Lord through prayer and His Word, and quiet time to listen to what He may be telling you personally.  And, of course, praise time!  He is worthy of all praise!  In the last post we talked about growing spiritually.  Changing our thinking, (if this applies to you), from asking "How much am I enjoying life?" to "How much pleasure is God getting from my life?"  Have any of you made this decision?  I'd love to hear of a way you are going to make a change in your life. 

We started off by talking about prayer time, and reading His Word and having quiet quality time with Jesus the Christ, our Lord.  The book Quiet Moments in the Presence of God published by Bethany House, has a devotion that shares about a special place to build on this relationship with Jesus.  It is great and I would like to share it with you today:

"When you pray, you should go into your room and close the door and pray to your Father who cannot be seen.  Your Father can see what is done in secret, and He will reward you."  Matthew 6:6 NCV

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Close the Door

"In the time of Jesus, every Jewish house had a place for private devotion.  It was a location where the door could be closed on distractions and interruptions.  Such a place was often a small room built on a flat roof, and people went there to draw close to God.  Sometimes it was a modest space raised a story above the rest of the house where people retired to nourish their souls in the reality and certainty of God.

You have such a place.  It is wherever you can go to be with God in a way you are unable to do anywhere else.

As you go to that place, you are excited about what will happen.  You know your time there with God will be rich and fruitful."

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"Call to me and I will answer you.  I'll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own."  Jeremiah 33:3 The Message

Do you have a place where you can draw closer to Him than any other?  A place where you are not distracted by children, telephones or TV or anything else?  A place where you can share with Him, and then listen in the quiet for His gentle whisper?  Are you willing to look around your home, and see if there is a corner, or part of a closet that you could transform into your prayer room?  Your personal prayer place?  Maybe once you have one...your children would want one.  And, they could learn at a young age about sharing and listening.  Any good basis for good communication.

"Be still, and know that I am God."  Psalm 46:10 21st Century KJV

For me the beach is my special place.  I live 42 miles from the beach.  It was such a short drive for me before I became disabled.  Now, I can not even walk a few steps on the sand.  I loved to just listen to the waves and watch the water.  And, I would feel so close to Him.  I felt that I wouldn't feel closer until I was in Heaven with Him.

To be honest, I do not have a prayer area in my home used only for prayer.  However, I am home alone all day long 5 days a week, and half a day on Saturdays.  I can pray without distractions, simply by shutting off my phone.  I find that I pray in bed (can't get up off of being on my knees on my own) before I even sit up.  I thank Him for this day that He has made, and begin petitioning for people's requests...after praising Him.  I take several little prayer breaks during the day. And, then read His Word and pray again before going to bed. Sometimes,  I turn the music on softly to this blog, and pray while it is on. So, I have many places where I can pray...and listen for Him.  For me, the quiet place is inside of me, where ever I go. I do like the idea of a prayer room.  I think I may try it out.  I may take a section of my art room, and put some pillows, and use the tables (with table cloths) to section it off.  I need to think about re-arranging things.  Some traditions are good ideas. I like the idea.  I will get back to you on this!  Where do you pray?  Do you have a special place to pray?  I am really curious if any of you have a seperate area just for prayer and quality time with the Lord?  Please just let me know. 

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Also, if any of you have tried to leave a comment in the comment section, and for some reason it hasn't worked, would you please email me a quick note and let me know? Thank you. To give everyone a chance to leave a comment...with it working properly, we will have the random drawing for the "Card of the Week" announced next Wednesday.  So, please leave a comment by Tuesday 8pm Eastern Time to be entered in the drawing!  And, if we have a minimum of 10 comments....including prayer requests...we will have 2 cards given away to 2 people!
 
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I'd like to thank those of you who sent in cards for the Card Drive for the American Cancer Society Fundraiser this week.  I will be counting them up and subtracting them from the sidebar announcement on Friday! 
 
Also, if anyone would like to volunteer to send a few cards for the He IS Able blog, they would be appreciated and used for the "Card of the Week," sometimes as a prize, or used to share the blog with other places.  We would love for the cards to have room for the recipient to share about the Lord inside---and have a decorative outside, hopefully with a Scripture...but that is not needed. Use any style...and even if you are new to cards...Your cards will shine with the Lord's love shared in it! They are all being used for His Glory!  Please also send 2 envelopes, if possible, for each card. (One envelope is used or me to mail the card to the winner, and the other card is sent to that person to send the card to the person that they would like to send it to!)  If you can not send 2 envelopes per card, please don't let that stop you from sharing your art.  Please let me know if your cards are for the Card Drive or for the He IS Able blog.
 
We would love to have some Easter cards, would you please consider making  it a Christ centered card?  (Rather than making it about candy or a commerical symbol of that day.)  Thank you so much!  Of course, we will be happy to use any of your precious cards, rabbits included.  And, we would love cards of all types.
 
Have a blessed week... Thank you for being here.  I hope you will let us know you have been here by leaving a comment or email! (side bar)  You are appreciated very much.  God bless!
 
He IS Able,
Traci S.
 
p.s.  I guess you want my address to send cards! lol  Here you go:
 
Traci Starkweather
116 Colyer Drive
Longwood, Florida 32779
USA

2 comments:

  1. Traci - really liked today's post! Thanks for sharing from your heart! :)

    M. Gallo

    ReplyDelete
  2. Traci- Our church has a room that is open from 5 Am-12AM. During those hours someone has signed up to be there. However, anyone is welcome to come and pray. At home, I can get my self into a quiet place even with things going on around me.

    Praying for all of you!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for leaving your thoughts, ideas,prayer requests and comments! We love to read them all! And, if you had a prayer request, the Prayer Team will begin praying for your needs today. God Bless!