The four steps are reading the Bible (taking a bite), meditating on it (chewing), praying (savoring the word), and contemplating its applications so it becomes a part of one’s life (digesting). This method seems to require the biggest time commitment at one sitting, so give yourself at least 30 uninterrupted minutes per day this week as you explore this different pattern of prayer.
1. Reading. Read the passage slowly. Pay attention to the text. Read it several times. Underline sections that catch your attention.
2. Meditating. Try to grasp the meaning of the passage, be aware of God’s presence in your life.
3. Praying. Respond to God, converse with him about the passage and his will. Open your heart to God. Share your heart, not a laundry list of needs or things you think you ought to pray about.
4. Contemplating. Focus on God, rest in his presence, and commit yourself to living out his will, especially as reflected in the reading.
For more information, a simple google search of the name will yield a wealth of further reading on the subject.
This week, let’s implement yet another new pattern of prayer – The T.R.I.P. Method. This seemed like an abbreviated pattern very similar to last week’s P.A.R.T.S. pattern. Like the P.R.A.I.S.E. method, I enjoyed starting my time with God thanking Him for what He has already done. It positioned my heart for the next section, which is perhaps what I appreciated most about this particular pattern of prayer – the section on “regrets.” That is a category that I can relate to! Unlike “repentance,” regrets encompasses mess-ups that don’t stem from intentionality, but burden me, keeping me stuck in those moments. I appreciated this new aspect of talking through the times during the day that I missed the mark. It was unburdening to approach the Lord with these burdens, gratefully dumping them at His feet and being able to move forward – both in prayer and with my day. I feel that beginning with those two prepared my heart to intercede, praying for His will more than my own. And then ending by praising Him for His answers, whatever they will be.
This week, let’s have our prayers focus on the P.A.R.T.S pattern, another new pattern of prayer for me. This prayer pattern didn’t flow for me as easily as the P.R.A.I.S.E. pattern did, but I appreciated the addition of “repentance,” as that is one area that I tend to forget amongst all the needs I find myself praying for more often. I also liked the “sharing” addition, as too often I keep my prayer & devotional life private. It challenged me to open up more with people and share what the Lord was actively teaching me and I needed that.
Our focus this week will be on the P.R.A.I.S.E. pattern of prayer, the first of many that were completely new to me. I particularly enjoyed this prayer pattern because it began with thanking God for what He has already done. I found that this opening act positioned my heart for all that followed. It “flowed” well with how my heart and mind are wired, so to speak. Another element that I appreciated was praying His Word, however He illuminated it to me that day in my morning devotional. (The way my day unfolds, I spend time in the Word in the morning and time in prayer in the afternoon so there was time to savor & ponder what He had shown me before praying it.) I also enjoyed the time at the end to just enjoy His presence, to “be still and know that He is God.”
In April of this year, my class was encouraged by our beloved Sunday School teacher {and DTS Professor} to branch out of our norm to explore various forms of prayer. We focused on this first one since it seems to be the most widely known. It was a very interesting week as I practiced new patterns and definitely took the routine out of approaching the throne.
Like he did, I want to encourage you during this month to step out of your prayer routine and explore various patterns of prayer. This first week, let’s focus on the famous A.C.T.S. pattern of prayer.
For a very in-depth look at this popular pattern of prayer, go here.
When You don’t move the mountains I’m needing You to move;
When You don’t part the waters I wish I could walk through;
When You don’t give the answers as I cry out to You –
I will trust, I will trust, I will trust in You!”
Oh my. This song has reverberated through my mind several times a day, every day, for several weeks now. I relate too-readily with the sentiment in the chorus. My heart is too ready to wallow in the feeling of God’s abandonment when anything is too tough or too long or too unpleasant or too uncomfortable.
Do I trust in Him when He doesn’t move the mountain in front of me? When He holds out His hand, offering instead to walk with me over the mountain, guiding me, helping me, do I eagerly take it or do I cross my arms and walk off in a huff, agitated and resentful?
Do I trust Him when He doesn’t part the waters I wish I could walk through? When His wisdom dictates a more difficult or seemingly perilous route, do I drop to my knees – not in worship, but in a tantrum of two-year-old proportions?
Do I trust Him when He doesn’t give me the answers as I cry out to Him? When He lovingly answers instead, “wait,” do I accept that as an answer or rebel against His not performing on cue?
Because that’s what is at the heart of this ongoing issue of trust I continually struggle with – believing He knows best when it conflicts with what I think I know is best. Trusting His plan when it doesn’t match mine. Surrendering to His will instead of arrogantly clinging to my own.
“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
PONDER: What mountains or waters or questions are you facing right now about which God is asking you to walk with Him in trust?
I am a fan of the apocalyptic genre. I don’t read or watch it exclusively, but this has been a summer of reading and watching rather a lot of it. Need proof? Over these short summer months, I have binge-watched The Last Ship, Containment, Survivors, Fringe, 12 Monkeys, Primeval: New World, and Zoo. I recently began reading Station Eleven since one of my friends suggested it based on my like of the aforementioned binged show Survivors. And if that isn’t enough to convince you, our family read-aloud has been Battlefield Earth, a quasi post-apocalyptic gem. Needless to say, it’s been a rough summer of near-annihilation for the human race all within the confines of my own head!
I share this about myself to help you understand my doomsday mindset while we were recently on our annual Labor Day Weekend Campout with our youngest kids in the breathtaking panhandle canyons of northwest Texas.
This naturally made crevice in the rock was much explored during our recent visit to Palo Duro Canyons State Park. Climbing to, in, through, and on it was a highlight of our trip!The family explored the nooks and crannies of this magnificent fortress in the cliffs.Simon and the kids couldn’t resist climbing down into a ravine and then through this natural “tunnel” under our hiking trail. If you look closely, you can see Simon’s head in the center for scale. While they were exploring, they talked about making a Western in which the hero used a place such as this as his hideout.
With a mixture of both imagined images (due to my favored genre of late) and real images (due to my current locale) floating through my mind, I was primed with a mental slideshow as I read these Words early one morning –
“Enter into the rock and hide in the dust from before the terror of the Lord, and from the splendor of his majesty.” Is 2:10
“And people shall enter the caves of the rocks and the holes of the ground,[b] from before the terror of the Lord, and from the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth.” Is 2:19
“to enter the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs, from before the terror of the Lord, and from the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth.” Is 2:21
As you can imagine, these words & images reverberated through my apocalyptic mind all day long as we hiked and explored the caverns! Later, I went back and reread Isaiah 2, which I admit was rather discouraging the first time through, and that time God illuminated the {more encouraging} beginning of the chapter –
“and many peoples shall come, and say: ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.’ ” Is 2:3
Where am I going with this? Too many times I stumble on the negative. My mind dwells on the half-empty glass. I focus on the fears. I cry out in despair when the Lord doesn’t move the mountains I want Him to move or part the waters I wish I could walk through. And yet, His purpose for me isn’t to make my journey easy or smooth, but worth the effort, worth the struggle. As I go to Him each time I face a mountain or have to cross a sea, He teaches me more of His ways and I learn to walk in His paths.
What about you? What obstacles is the Lord eagerly waiting to teach you His ways as you walk His path with Him?
“I want to be in the Light
As You are in the Light
I want to shine like the stars in the heavens
Oh, Lord be my Light and be my salvation
Cause all I want is to be in the Light
All I want is to be in the Light.”
Morning One – I helped Jesse get his kayak and gear into the water, turned right and was treated to this spectacular sunrise.Morning Two – En route to the fishing spot Jesse had selected, we saw this spectacular sunrise. Though it looks like the sun rising from an African savannah, it is actually over the still-dark canyon behind our campsite.Morning Three – Unobscured by nearby trees, the sunrise was blindingly bright and beautiful at this morning’s fishing spot.
In recent years, we have started a new tradition of taking the younger kids camping over the extended Labor Day weekend. It is a much-anticipated time of getting away from the busyness of our life in the city to enjoy the slower pace of an unplugged, back-to-the-basics existence. This year, we headed to the canyons hidden within the panhandle of Texas.
A true angler, Jesse woke at the crack of dawn to fish each morning. I served as his chauffeur, being a morning person myself, and we left the night owl to enjoy his slumber a little longer.
While Jesse tempted the occupants of Lake Theo with his tasty bait each morning, I spent my time walking with the Lord through His Word. On the second morning just after the sun had crested the canyon, I read,
“Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun.” Ecc. 11:7
That verse struck me in a completely new way that morning. While I love camping, love the family togetherness, love seeing new sights, love getting back to the basics, love cooking over a campfire, etc., I do not love bugs and creepy-crawly things. In my head, the dark belongs to the evil creepy-crawly things. For this reason, I greet the morning light as eagerly as our resident angler. For fishermen like Jesse, light IS sweet. It IS pleasant for the eyes to see the sun because that’s prime time for catching.
Something to Ponder: As a child of God living in a dark world where the enemy is creeping and crawling around seeking whom he may devour, do I shine? To the eyes of the fallen who desperately need to see the Son, am I a beacon of His light?
As one friend commented, “you have good knights – in shorts!” And we did! Simon and Jesse set up our camp perfectly while Chloe & I reclined in the tent on air mattresses.Our sweet home away from home for 5 glorious days at Caprock Canyons State Park. Chloe and I sold everything we could get our hands on from the garage to buy a big 3-room tent and two oscillating fans. It was worth it!Sunrise and sunset were my favorite times of day…so beautiful. So peaceful. What an awesome experience to walk with God in His beautiful creation during these times of the day.
After setting up camp, Jesse walked down to Lake Theo and began catching (and releasing) these little guys. He is an angler to the core.(deep, contented sigh…muscles relaxing…soaking in God’s presence)I looked up from my Bible to this sweet sight – my boy on the lake, early morning, fishing in his kayak that he saved and bought off Craigslist.I discovered how to use the panorama feature on my iPhone this trip. LOVE this feature! This is a panorama of our campsite. It is the most private, spacious campsite we’ve ever had! Seemed like we were the only ones around!Raccoon (whom we named “Oscar” because of his location) stuck in the dump, so he decided to take a nap. Someone put a log in there for him to climb out on and he was gone by evening.Saturday – Palo Duro Canyons State Park was breathtaking! It is the second largest canyon in the U.S. We explored it’s nooks and crannies all day.
Spent a LONG time here, hiking in/out/over that cave.Can you spy Simon and Chloe?Great memory-making day exploring God’s magnificent creation.It was mesmerizing watching Jesse fish with his net for bait fish. I took wayyyyyy too many photos for a sane person, but come on…it’s poetry in motion.
Spent the day at Copper Breaks State Park. Unanimously, we do not recommend this park. This shot reminds me of Huck Finn, so I thought I’d share it.On our way out, we did enjoy some time with some longhorns the park keeps.The second of MANY up close and personal encounters with the bison herd back at Caprock Canyons State Park. This pic is taken through the open door of our Suburban. He’s not even a really big one, either!Ribs and salad kind of night…yum!Another early morning on the lake with Jesse as he enjoys his favorite past time.As our vacation progressed, our interactions became closer and closer with the resident bison herd. They were around every corner, literally.This was the day we explored every nook and cranny we could at Caprock Canyons State Park. I cannot state clearly enough how you should visit this gem of a state park. It is beautiful. It is clean. The weather is COOL, believe it or not. The campsites are PRIVATE and it is hands-down our favorite campground to date.Fun with panorama selfies! Can you see all of us?That blue sky…This is right before we discovered Cedar Flies…and their tenacity…and the fact that they bite…hard. This is the canyon behind our camp site.
LOVE this shot of the three of them watching the bird flying high above the canyon.Simon and Jesse heading out on a 2 mile trail. Chloe and I picked them up on the opposite side.This is what Chloe and I did while the guys were hiking…
…and they are back!
The photos just don’t convey the vastness, the depth, the beauty of Caprock Canyons SP.The guys loved the 2-mile trail so much they took us back on it. We discovered a great natural bridge/tunnel. Obviously, it needed to be explored.
Sunsets were a daily ritual for us and so breathtaking.Last night – (decaf) coffee before bed for this modern-day knight of mine.En route home, we stopped at a fourth state park (gotta love those state park passes, right?).The guys fished while Chloe and I played Rummy and Whist in the Suburban. This place boasts a prairie dog town, but Simon said it was more like an infestation. We all agreed.Brave. Boy. I shudder to imagine how many snakes are in there with Jesse, but he’s a wild-at-heart kind of manling like his dad, so…Bonus – Jesse asked if he could make dinner when we got back, so he used stuff on hand (plus some kale I went to buy) and made this ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS SOUP from scratch! It’s his own creation, people. He’s 16!
Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. – Proverbs 19:21
I’m a planner. I delight in planning memory-making times for others. Upcoming big events, family vacations, get-togethers, parties – just the mere thought of getting to plan, to control these special times from start to finish, truly floats my boat. I’m also a planner of another kind – constantly planning scenarios and running through possibilities in preparation for a time when life will take an unexpected left turn. If I have already run through the scenario, it can’t catch me unawares when it comes to pass, I think. I have already thought through all the possibilities. In essence, I shoo Jesus off the throne of my life while I try to order things according to my plans, which indicates a lack of trust in the only One that truly has control. It’s a self-preservation way of thinking that stems from my lack of wholehearted trust in God.
PONDER: What circumstances are you facing in which you struggle between truly trusting God and attempting to control the situation? Are you ready to trust Him wholeheartedly?
PRAYER: Father, I confess the tendency in my heart to want to rule myself, to take control and run things according to my own understanding. This is, at its core, an issue of trust. Please forgive my lack of trust and help me in my situation to fully trust You to lead me, to direct my path.
