Night Prayer

This week and next week, I will be leading a study "PRAYER: Whispers, SHOUTS, groans! for my church's women's ministry program. We will spend two sessions discussing the meaning and purpose of prayer, kinds of prayers, examples of prayer in the Bible and conversational prayer. Prayer takes many forms but it is always a spiritual communion with God, a two-way conversation, both speaking and listening required. The language of prayer is full of whispers, SHOUTS, and groans! Thomas Merton's reflection on prayer is this: "Prayer is an expression of who we are... We are living incompleteness. We are a gap, an emptiness that calls for fulfillment."

 As you contemplate "prayer" and what it means, ask yourself a few questions. Is my prayer life satisfying? Do I sense the presence of God in your prayer time? What is necessary for me to develop a richer prayer life? As I have pondered these questions recently, I find room for a deeper relationship desired but sometimes neglected. I encourage you to keep a devotional/prayer journal. Any size or style that fits your personality will do. I use mine to record devotional thoughts, to keep words or phrases or quotes I read in my study time, and as a place to write prayer requests, mine and others. Sometimes I write out my prayers, not always. This week I share a prayer I wrote several years ago infused by one Scripture verse. Praying God's word is always prayer! - dho

I get up in the middle of the night to thank You;

    Your decisions are so right, so true - I can't wait

    till morning!  Psalm 119:62

Loving God,

    The night sky is filled with luminaries that light the darkness.  Angels whisper evening songs to my weary soul. I do not notice. As sleep gently calls, I forget that I have breathed the morning air, listened to laughter, seen the evening sky appear. Another day! 

     Something disturbs the rhythm of my sleep, summons my soul.  In these sleepless moments, the Holy Spirit is waiting and listens for my response. Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!  

    Father, when I fail to see the beauty of Your day, remind me with a glorious morning to take my breath away, a soul laugh that only a listening heart can find, and a night sky crowded with stars like diamonds that demand a lingering look. My heart should burst with unmeasured thankfulness! These are Your ordinary gifts! I simply miss them in the hectic hours and scheduled chaos and saturated time. 

    Give my heart the desire to breathe, to listen and to see the ordinary with extraordinary intention. Grant my soul the desire to breathe, to listen and to see Your Extraordinary Gifts of Love, Grace, and Joy! Let me find Your extravagant gifts in every day! Let me say Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

    Refresh my spirit! Refine my faith! Restore my love! Renew my strength! Rebuild my trust! Reclaim my soul!  Amen.  ~dho

Love's Healing Hands

"Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep 

consciousness of God..." 1 Peter 1:18 The Message

Within the past week I heard this song, new to me. The words flow from a place of knowing loss, a heart that has experienced grief and loss, but a soul that finds its source of hope in God. Take a moment to listen to the song; its lyrics are included in the video. Everyone has either experienced losing or will - the words "shattered" and "words fall short" and "tell your heart to beat again" become a balm of understanding that gently touches deep, invisible wounds; a "thousand pieces on the floor" affirms that grief marks us with a new identity, another way of living, a different kind of being. The "you that used to be" no longer remains. "Beginning" reminds there is more to come, that "Love's healing hands" can reach through the brokenness. Loss writes its own story, a different story for everyone. Grief becomes a part of you, another chapter in your God-story. The journey varies for each person, but there is one commonality - we are forever changed. Tell your heart to beat again! ~dho

"Tell Your Heart to Beat Again" by Danny Gokey  (video link)

UNplanned Places!

"God is seen in the places we didn't plan." Valerie Burton

"God is gracious - it is He who makes things right, our most compassionate God.
God takes the side of the helpless; when I was at the end of my rope, He saved me.
I said to myself, "Relax and rest. GOD has showered you with blessings.
Soul, you have been rescued from death; Eye, you have been rescued from tears; and you, Foot, were kept from stumbling." I'm striding in the presence of GOD, alive in the land of the living!
I stayed faithful, though bedeviled, and despite a ton of bad luck, . . .
I'm ready to offer the thanksgiving sacrifice and pray in the name of GOD.
I'll complete what I promised GOD I'd do, and I'll do it in company of His people"Psalm 116:7-10, 17,18 The Message

A few years ago a friend lost her wallet which had a significant amount of cash inside. Within a few hours of losing it she received a call from the Sheriff's Department; someone had turned in her wallet after they found it in a parking lot, AND, all the money was still there! According to the Sheriff's clerk, the person who turned it in did not want to leave a name, just hoped it would be returned. The most unusual thing is that my friend's phone number was not in her wallet. Her driver's license was there but she does not have a land line phone, and her cell phone is an unlisted, disposable phone to which she keeps adding minutes. We still aren't sure how they found her number! God's angels are all around!

When difficult and unexpected craziness interrupts our days, when disappointment and unexplained chaos interferes with our weeks, when deception and uneven cracks intersect our way, we must remember it is God who is gracious and loving! In God we find rest and peace! Offering a sacrifice of thanksgiving ~ a praise, a Hallelujah, a 'thank-You, Jesus' should be our frequent response, our faithful reply! God, who is always gracious, desires our obedience to Him and our praise! Be alert! Be alive in the land of the living! God is always present ~ don't miss Him in the crazy, unplanned places of this world! ~ dho

New Year, New Possibilities!

Your very lives are a letter that anyone can read by just looking at you. Christ himself wrote it - not with ink, but with God's living Spirit; not chiseled into stone, but carved into human lives. 2 Corinthians 3:3 The Message 

What will 2016 bring? As this new year begins, each of us stands before new opportunities and beside endless possibilities. Uncertainties and unknowns lay waiting, too! So - how shall we live? Begin now to answer this question by reading God's word and seeking His response to you. Find your Scripture verse for this year; the Holy Spirit will lead you. Let it be your spiritual map for the year, a guide through the unknowns, an assurance for the journey, a rescue in a crisis, a witness to others along the way. In following Christ, we become living letters written by the Holy Spirit. This coming year, let's choose to live fully and love completely for the glory of God. ~dho

Christmas Day, 2015

LIGHT the CHRIST candle EVERY DAY!

Wishing you and your families a Merry Christmas! On the day we celebrate the birth of our Savior, remember to light the Christ candle - today and every day! ~dho

EXPECT... Christ is Coming! - Advent 2015

Jesus promised: Behold, I am coming soon!... I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Revelation 22:12-13

"We must practice living to the glory of God."  Tozer

Christ is coming! God's promise echoes throughout the Old Testament in times of obedience and  oppression, in bondage and brokenness, in rebellion and rescue. Christ is coming! "For unto us a Child is born...and His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6) Scriptures and scholars  confirm the birth and death of Christ. Skeptics walked the same dusty roads, welcome the same amazing miracles, witness the same teachings as the disciples. Discontent and fear grows while political powers denounce Jesus. On the night before His crucifixion, Jesus tells His disciples, "I will see you again..." EXPECT!

The world strikes discords of injustice, failure, hate, dishonesty and feeds temptations for these weaknesses. From the time of Jesus' resurrection until now, wars and famines and natural disasters fill the pages of history. Many believers have identified these as signs of the last times, have predicted the arrival of the Messiah. Most of these predictions have passed.In the words of the angels said as Christ ascended, "Why do you stand looking into heaven... Jesus will come in the same way you saw Him go into heaven." (Acts 1:11) Holy Scriptures tell us we will not know the time or day Christ returns, but Christ is coming! EXPECT!

Throughout history - wars and rumors of wars are unceasing along with inhumanity and wicked schemes. The days on earth are full of hostilities and marked with rebellion.  From the 1st Century to the 21st Century - Christians eagerly wait Christ's return within the chaos. So with eager expectation we prepare our hearts to share the Gospel story. In the sacrament of communion, we take the bread and cup in celebration of Christ's victory of death and sin, and in celebration of His coming again. Bread of Life chooses us in love and calls us to love each other. Christ is coming! EXPECT!