Overwhelmed? Tired? Confused?

Life is busy. I do not have to tell you that! Practically every single person I know has the same lament - "I am too busy!"  I have too much going on!" Even in the summertime when we could be relaxing and taking a break, we find ourselves busy trying to get "it" all in.  What is "it" anyway?

Today I find myself at home, alone, Cool!  This is going to be such a nice relaxing day.   I decide to start off with a little exercise, get the blood pumping and the steps for the day in, so I hook up the dogs to go for a nice long walk through our lovely quiet neighborhood.  Of course, Daisy pooped.  Yes, I always have poop bags with me.  The poop bags I recently bought and tied to the leash, however, were defective. (Exasperated sigh goes here!)  They were not sealed on the sides or the end. Just really cute sheets of plastic and not very helpful. So, after our walk, I had to go back and pick up the poop with a real bag. My conscience won't let me just leave it there.  Moving on.  When I got home, I sat on the side of the tub to take my shoes off and slipped off the side of the tub landing on my tailbone, ouch!!  How did I even do that?  Next on the agenda, making dinner for some dear friends.  I thought I had everything I needed. Nope. So I hop in the car to go get sour cream and flour tortillas only to find when I got home that I already had both. (Seriously???)  Why didn't I double check in the garage frig?  I need a drink! No, not that kind of drink...a drink of water...I need a drink of water! So I grab the bottle off the counter and looking forward to being refreshed, I gingerly place the water bottle to my lips and tilt it awaiting the cool refreshment and... low and behold, I haven't taken the top off the bottle.  Duh!!!

When goofy things like this start happening to me, I know I am very near the brink of something...like maybe I am about to self-destruct.  More than likely, my brain is on overwhelm. Sometimes it is trying to sort things out and is just distracted. At any rate, I have too much processing going on in my brain and it just keep going and going and going, thinking and thinking and thinking and this wreaks havoc. Unlike the Energizer Bunny, however, my batteries do run out.  I don't like it, but it's true.  Do your batteries run out, too?

There is hope for those of us that get overwhelmed, tired and confused at times and our batteries begin running out.  His name is Jesus.  So today, in the remainder of my home alone time, not to be confused with the movie of the same name, I pull out my Bible and land in Matthew, Chapter 11.

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Matthew 11: 28-30

The yoke of Jesus here is meant as a spiritual aid. When we are in overwhelm mode, it is our very spirit, our soul, that is tired or distracted or confused and working overtime.  The function of a yoke was to couple the oxen to do the farmers work - the oxen working in tandem, side by side - together with the farmer.  Taking on the yoke of  Jesus couples us with Him to do the work He has for us - whatever and wherever it is. If we work, think and play or even spend time home alone in this way, the Bible promises whatever we do will be made easier and lighter.

Overwhelmed? Tired? Confused?  Head out to the barn and talk to Farmer Jesus.

Praying - anytime, anywhere, about anything

I believe it is God's desire for us to communicate with Him. Communicating with God verbally or in our thoughts is called prayer. His Word encourages us to talk to Him "without ceasing", and "at all times".

                                             I Thessalonians 5:17 "Pray without ceasing." 

Ephesians 6:18 "Praying at all times in the Spirit with all prayer and supplication to that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints."

I have charge of the Preschoolers in our church.  I can't imagine serving anywhere else. Preschoolers are so much fun and they learn through movement. Anyone with a 4 or 5-year-old, knows they love to move - A LOT!!  and practically all the time.  Anyway, one of the things we teach them when we are learning about prayer is that we can talk to God anytime (we point to our wrist, aka wristwatch) anywhere (we move our hands to each side of our body at about shoulder height) about anything (we reach our hands to the sky). This, of course, is a simple way to teach kids about talking to God and they totally get it.

But, as adults, prayer needs to go deeper still. Every occurrence, every occasion, every circumstance, every decision we need to make can become a stirring of the Holy Spirit within us to pray.  Prayer needs to become a habit. So much a part of ourselves that it is as frequent and natural as breathing.

I have read a book called The Practice of the Presence of God several times over the years. This book changed my thinking on prayer. The cover of the book invites us to read the spiritual secrets of a humble brother who enjoyed closeness with God.  Brother Lawrence was a Carmelite monk whose sole purpose in life was to remain always in the presence of God - no matter the task, no matter his circumstance - anytime, anywhere, anything!

In his 7th letter to an unnamed friend, Brother Lawrence wrote, "The least little remembrance will always be acceptable to Him. (God) You need not cry very loud; He is nearer to us than we are aware of."  God is always available - just a thought or even a whisper away.

The book goes on to talk about S. Clement of Alexandria. He was a gifted teacher of new Christians in the church at Jerusalem.  I can easily identify with Clement on several levels. You might want to look him up and read about his life. It is quite interesting.  Back to topic...around 190 A.D. Clement wrote the "Stromata" in which he described a man that might be very much like Brother Lawrence. He wrote, "the great business of a philosopher, that is, a wise Christian, is prayer. Such an one prays in every place, at every time, not indeed using many words, or thinking to be heard for his much speaking, but in secret in the depths of his soul, while walking or conversing with his fellow-man, or reading, at the table, when at work. His praises rise to God unceasingly; not only in the morning, and at noon, but in all his actions he glorifies God as do the Seraphim."  Anytime, anywhere, about anything!  Unceasingly in thought, word and deed!  

These types of prayers are called breath prayers; they are short, simple, heartfelt, meaningful, spontaneous, important and valuable. Examples might be when you are watching your child quietly play - you speak a blessing over your child, or pray for their future. When you see a beautiful flower, thank God for the gift of nature. When someone you know comes to mind, ask God to give them the desires of their heart. Short, simple prayers that keep us communicating with God, and in His presence all the time.  Breath prayers can be prayers of praise, worship, love, needs, thanksgiving, blessing, help and so on and so on. Anytime, anywhere about anything! 

Today might be a good day to begin practicing breath prayers and perhaps, like Brother Lawrence, they will become a habit in us leading us to remain always in the presence of God.  I pray it is so!

Breathe in - "Father", breathe out - "draw near to the persons reading this blog today."  

There are many good articles on Breath Prayer. Following is a link to just one.

Guideposts article on Breath Prayers

Be Prepared

Time and time again, scripture tells us how the Israelite people of the old testament rejected God's ways and followed their own.  And over and over, God gave them chance after chance to get it right.
After Solomon finished having the house of the Lord built, he dedicated the temple to the Lord praising God and pleading for God to hear his prayer on behalf of the people.  In answer to Solomon's prayer, beginning at 2 Chronicles 7:12 we read,  "Then the Lord appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him, "I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice. When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, ..." The next verse, verse 14 is the second or third or fourth chance God gives them.  It says "...if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."  (There are so many 'if" 'then' statements in scripture!)

What I read in the words of verse 14 is, 'if I (God) have a people that know Me and trust Me and obey Me, then, there is no limit to the times I will forgive them and do great things for them.'  Now let's make those words more personal. Go ahead hear these words as if God were speaking them to you. Take them to heart.  'If you know Me and trust Me and obey Me, then, there is no limit to what I will do for you and no limit to what I can do through you for all things are possible with Me in your court.'   (See Philippians 4:13)

Know Me. Trust Me. Obey Me. A tall order for sure. For in our humanness you and I want control. We want what we want, our way, in our time, as we planned.  Guess what? That's not knowing and trusting that God has our back. That's not being obedient to what He wants. Don't shoot the messenger on this, I just call 'em like I see 'em and it is humbling.

You and I need to relinquish control and know that God's ways are not our ways. "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55: 8 & 9  If we are asking God for direction or clarity in a matter, we need to be prepared to step outside our comfort zone and do things His way. Remember His ways are higher, better and maybe harder.  And that's a good thing! We can't wait twiddling our thumbs for an answer hoping to hear God tell us to do it our way. No! God will challenge us. A challenge needs trust. A challenge needs obedience. A challenge forces us to look at who we know God is. I believe that is what God wants from us.

Recently, I prayed and prayed and prayed for an answer to a matter. I just wasn't hearing from God. (I thought.) I finally realized I was waiting to hear Him tell me to do what I wanted to do. To do what I thought was right. But I learned, the hard way, that what I thought, was not what He thought. He wanted to do something way better. And I missed out on that and am suffering the consequences.  I didn't come to Him asking for what He wanted, I was praying for what I thought He might want.  There is a huge difference. Now, I am in the same boat as the Israelites and must go to Him humbly asking forgiveness and praying that He will heal my land. In other words, fix my mess.

When we count on what we know of God, when we trust Him and obey Him, His ways will challenge us to do more, to be better, to live righter (Is that a word?). His ways, His methods, His purposes - so, be prepared - for 'if' we do this, 'then' He promises great and mighty things.

"So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it." Isaiah 55:11