Sooooooo????

I checked. I have over 2,000 blog posts. 2,000. Perhaps not much according to those with a great deal more... maybe slightly impressive to those who are just beginning their blogging journey. One bit of advice ... or 2. Make whatever you are doing - yours. Don't listen to critics, naysayers, advice givers or any of that ilk. Once you are 'established' then you can listen. Some of the advice is really excellent, some is trash and can easily be discarded. Some will be a kind of 'hmmm' some might send you on a rabbit trail. But first and foremost your blog has to be YOU.

Quite honestly, I do enjoy creating blog posts. When I realized that I didn't have to produce a blog every x number of days I experienced a great sense of freedom. I could now write when I wanted to say something rather than feeling 'forced'. So that's my pattern now. I also have a variety of 'inspirational' sources to tap into. I find that sometimes my posts are basically tongue-in-cheek (great fun when this is recognized), some I feel have more 'worth' because it's seems to be a message that the Lord is teaching me (presumptuous - don't think so) - I especially enjoy sharing (in a iron sharpening iron sense - Isaiah) my discoveries, hoping for a dialogue to ensue. Rarely.

I didn't start out a blogger - have to credit my nephew on his suggestion. And when it came to journaling, I can't count the number of times I started doing that, which typically lasted about 2 weeks. Rob's suggestion that I write some of these thoughts (good, bad, indifferent, boring, challenging, etc.) and share them in the format of a blog. After that came a good friend, Todd, who thought I should turn them into books. I did. I then discovered I had absolutely no understanding about 'marketing'. There are 17 books languishing for want of readers. Ah well.

Bottom line, point: if you are reading this and have gotten this far... do you like to put your thoughts 'out there' for others to react to? If you have the gift of teaching, I think the answer is - yes. Blogging will challenge you on everything you think you believe and why. Remember - a challenge only becomes a threat when you view it as 'personal'. Don't go there. Let the challenge reinforce what you believe or cause you to rethink or refine. Never stop yourself from growing.

If your gifting is not teaching - you still have a voice and I always believe a voice should be heard... just not the unabridged yelling or a closed mind. A yelling voice always says to me that the 'speaker' may not really understand what they are saying ... nor why. Never forget the admonition of 'come, let us reason together' [Isaiah 1:18 taken slightly out of context]. Voices should always have an ear. And, NEVER say you have nothing to say - we all have a reaction, something to add to the conversation. Never, never silence your voice. If you have no listeners... then blog.

help?.

I have a question… one that I’ve mulled over countless times, but still without an answer. The question: why do so many of us have difficulty asking others to stand with us in prayer about something or someone? Do we see asking for someone(s) help sound like we aren’t trusting a loving Father and we don’t ever want to seem to be doing that! Is asking sound like doubting? If you believe that then you are forgetting that Jesus took His top 3 disciples when He went to pray before His betrayal! 

Perhaps the problem/issue doesn’t seem perilous enough to warrant ‘help’? And where does the Word say that your need has to be life threatening before it is 'legitimate' to ask? OK then maybe the problem is that you don’t know who you can trust to be discreet and who will actually stand with you? Also there is the issue of vulnerability, ours. 

You do realize that reaching out places your own expression of you at a disadvantage when you need help when you have appeared to 'have it all together' or you are mature enough not to need others? Do you realize that when you attempt to express either of those figments of imagination that we limit ourselves but also limit a blessing on someone else who will stand with you? 

An open outstretched seeking could be misconstrued. But You do realize that the person who takes hold of your hand is also vulnerable - yes!? Because when they do take your hand they are now responsible to stand with you - this is definitely a 2-edged sword. Committing to stand with another is not a rushed act because if you haven't discovered what you are standing with them on, it may not be what you thought. Never agree lightly and always find out what the other person is seeking in their asking - not the why.

Obviously my belief lies more in the category of your personal experiences in asking for help. Because - we are told to bear one another’s burdens. I also think that we all are novices when it come to prayer. Somehow, if we’re Christians, praying comes through some form of osmosis and we automatically are prayer warriors. Not!

When you accepted Jesus as your Lord and were born again - did anyone teach you about prayer? I think the answer is nearly unanimous in being - no. Look to the Word - what does it say about prayer? And remember that the disciples came to Jesus asking Him to teach them how to pray. Did, do you? I believe prayer has 2 major ‘benefits’: relationship and learning more about that the weapons of our warfare against the devil. Do you believe, have experienced the weapon of prayer? This is a weapon against our enemy - not other people. 

If prayer wasn't important then why would the apostles ask Jesus to teach them to pray? (You did see the word 'teach'?) Why would the Lord say: 

   "Take this most seriously: A yes on earth is yes in heaven; a no on earth is no in heaven. What you say to one another is eternal. I mean this. When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I’ll be there.” [Matthew 18:18-20, MSG]

Where 2 or 3 are gathered and in agreement... see the power? Can you get answers when you pray alone - absolutely. But there are times when we really need the help of a brother or sister in the Lord. I would argue that ALL of us needs at least 1 prayer partner that we trust and can turn to so that we double the power of the prayer. Never forget Deuteronomy 32:30.