Your Prayers are Heard

No degree required. Heaven is not closed to you because you don´t have a degree. Or maybe you have 10 degrees and a Phd to boot.

It doesn´t have any impact on how accessible God is to you and your prayers.

That is the beauty of spirituality, of knowing the God of the Bible.

People, in their humanity and ¨unique" status in life, may take great pains to exclude some folks, to build fences and complex alarm systems to make sure only those they choose ....to have access to their lives.

Take heart, my friends, my brother and sisters in the Lord. Be good to all, no matter what their station in life, as much as you can, with the energy and the motivation and power that God gives you.

You think that nobody is watching? There is always someone watching....and usually someone listening too.

God knows your heart. His Word says in James Chapter 5:16b ¨The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.¨

What does that mean? It means...if God considers you a righteous person and you take the time to pray in earnest and with perseverance, that you are going to accomplish a lot with these prayers.

Why? Because God answers prayer.

Don´t waste time wondering if He hears. Keep moving forward. Don´t second yourself. Never question if the time you are spending in prayer is wasted time. NEVER. Prayer time is an excellent expenditure of your time on this earth. Period.

Prayer time is golden time, platinum time, angelic time and miracle time.

You are not missing out on anything that you have sacrificed in order to spend time in prayer. God will, in his timing and wisdom, reward you accordingly, of that I am certain.

Are you asking....well Carla, if prayer is so important .....what should I be praying about? 

Well, I would start by looking at how Jesus addressed his Father in the Lord´s prayer( see Matthew 6:9)....

Jesus said we should pray like Him...... And He addressed His Father in prayer like this....using the plural ¨Our Father which art in Heaven¨

Prayer builds community. We are a ¨WE¨ congregation. We have a mutual father, who is Father God.

We pray  as community minded Believers when we state ¨Our¨

Father in heaven. 

Sometimes, I am grieved by all the individualization that has occurred in the modern church. Instead of thinking communally, we have talked about our own individual testimony and our ¨personal¨ relationship with God. But my understanding of the scriptures leads us to OUR, not to my. We are an interconnected Body. WE are a WE body. Many parts of one whole.

This is why prayer is so deeply important. Pray for your brothers and sisters in the Lord. Pray for those who are rich and those who are poor. Pray confidentially. No one needs to know who you are praying for.

Pray for those who are old and those who are young. Pray for those who are succeeding in life and those who are struggling. Pray for those

 who are hurting and those who are healing.

Your prayers are powerful. Your words matter.

Would you allow me to thank you? Thank you for praying for me. I am deeply grateful.

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you.

Peace,

Carla.

Simple Luxuries

I know folks are struggling. But in the midst of the juggling....sometimes it´s helpful to enjoy the simple things that give you joy.

Simple mushrooms fried with salt and paprika and vegetable oil over the stove.....the most basic appetizer, but loaded with yum.

What are somethings you enjoy in their most simple forms? Scrambled eggs? Without milk or other spices....just eggs scrambled with some salt?

Or a toasted bagel with butter?

Or a spoonful of peanut butter  straight from the jar?

Come on folks, don´t let the hard times steal all your happiness.

There is so much good left in the world, so many kind people, honest people and hardworking people who share the fruits of their labor every week with their families, churches and causes they believe in.

Don´t ever feel like things can only go from bad to worse. Things can get better. We do not know the future, but we do know what to do. We know to continue to do the basics, to work hard, to spend within our limits and put something aside for investing and savings. We know to share with those who have less than we do, and we know how to give to God.

We know how to be honest. We know how to earn an honest day´s wage.

The rest is up to your imagination and the the Lord above. Don´t give mankind access to all your emotions. Don´t let the newcasts of the day cause you to feel like life is terrible. Turn that news off sometimes, when you need to get a hold of yourself and reframe your mindset to that which is productive.

You are smart. You are kind, you are generous. You know good people.

Pray for your friends. Pray for your clients, Pray for those who run things in your region. They need your prayers right now. Tell yourself your prayers are important and powerful.....because they are.

You may not see the result of your prayers instantly, but every now and then God will allow you to see how powerful a change your prayers bring about.

Remember that Spirit is always greater than Flesh and live accordingly. I know I know....easier said than done, but know that God loves you....with open arms and great patience.

Know that you are not alone. You are loved and you are needed. Maybe you don´t feel this way right now. But it´s ok to feel whatever you are feeling whether passive or productive.

Just know that you are great worth in God´s eyes. Don´t give up on getting what you need.

Sow some good seeds into someone else´s life today....you never know what God will do for you  in return.

Peace in Christ,

Carla

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To Pray or Not to Pray

Perhaps you are wondering if prayer is a waste of time or not. 
I want to help you understand that prayer is one of the most powerful tools a human being can hold in their hands.

I was thinking this week about how to put this into words based upon my own experience. 

I have experienced that prayer determines my life and path. Life is not the boss of you. Your prayers literally create and direct your timeline and experiences. If you choose to not pray, you are allowing other forces to control and direct your destiny. Wouldn´t you rather be in the driver´s seat? Wouldn´t you rather see God move in your life and in those for whom you pray?

Never believe that lie that prayer is wasted time. Prayer is one of the most valuable expenditures of time in the universe. Prayer moves promotion. Prayer moves healings into place. Prayer moves protections into place. Prayer removes temptations.  Prayer provides opportunity for growth.

I want to add one more thing if you are deciding to invest some precious time into prayer. Be aware of who you are praying to. Pray to God the Father in the name of 

Jesus. It is the best way, in my humble opinion.

Don´t be afraid to make mistakes in prayer. God appreciates your willingness to try and communitcate with Him. He will welcome your presence before Him with open arms. Allow Him to bless you in this area of life and you will begin to see other people get blessed too, when you take the time to pray for them by name.

Thanks for listening.

Carla

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J'ai besoin de ton Avis

I finally found out what that means....it was a phrase that has been kicking around in my soul for months...on the wisp of the wind in French no less..... I have a very simple functionality in the French language, and so sometimes I will think in French. And so it was this phrase that has been circling my mind for the past few months....


"J'ai besoin de ton Avis".


And now today I finally realized what it means:


 "I need your opinion".


One of my pastors  ( yes...I need more than one...) has a wonderful habit of bringing the "Christian" life down to our earthly level so that we mere plain vanilla church attenders can actually fathom what it means to try to be a Christian in our real daily dusty lives.


He has a habit of not painting things in black and white, but rather a million different splendiferous colors, not assuming anything about people's basic goodness or the lack thereof, never show boating the success of his ministry and doing what he can to enable our ability to serve God here and now in our community. To say his ministry is refreshing would be an epic understatement.


And so, in some mystical fashion, I hear the cry of my own heart and those of other Christians around me crying out to God ...and the plea is simply this....this simple quiet prayer in the dark sent up to heaven..... "I need your opinion".


God, I need your opinion....desperately....urgently, kindly and persistently. Please listen to me God, I need to know that you are hearing me, hearing my heart, hearing my life...
thank you God for listening. Phewph! I feel that you are listening now. I feel that you can hear me now. Thank you for loving me. For loving us, this 'thing' they call the Body of Christ, with all it's
frenetic and occasionally peaceful motion. You love us. You hear us. Amen.




C.








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What is Frightening about Prayer

I've come to a conclusion today....that what is actually frightening about prayer is not that it is hard or unfruitful or arduous, but rather quite the opposite.
Lately my experience with prayer has been that not only is it easy, but it is soooo fruitful, so very fast and excessively kind, loving and generous that the simple abundance and kindness of God is just so hard to wrap my brain around.

I love God. But sometimes it is just hard to comprehend how very generous and patient and kind He really is. When I spend time in prayer, however briefly or lengthy period of time I spend, it has begun to astonish me how quickly God answers my prayers. His door is sooo open. He is so very welcoming and listens so attentively.

I write these things, not to cause confusion or to invalidate any other kind of experience that you may be having or have had in the past regarding prayer to God. I have had, and probably might have in the future seasons of time when God seems oddly quiet....as if He is waiting me out to get me to do some of my own thinking and make some of my own decisions. God doesn't babysit us forever. There are times He lets us stand alone, for our own good and for the health of our relationship with Him. Mature folks learn how to stand, and kneel and sit and run and play and work and think and write and gallop......shall I go on? ")

There is room for all of your experiences, past and present, with God. He can handle all your fears, frustrations and confusion. He can heal your mind. He can heal your body. He does well for you.

Let it be that this day, you see the hand of your God at work in life today.

Peaceful productivity,
Carla





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