Category: prayer

Imagination: Creative Ability

 
And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.”
And it was so. 
(Genesis 1:14-15 ESV)
 
 
“Can you celebrate the unknown expanse of God’s imagination?”
(Rachel G. Hackenberg)
 
 
 
As I contemplated the above question, and the truth that everything belongs to God, two poem prayers flowed from my pen.
 
 
celebrate
 
 
stories untold
parables unfold
 
worlds above
kingdoms below
 
horizons expand
frontiers to explore
(borders, boundaries and limits)
 
transport us to lands unknown
 
 
 
 
everything belongs to God
 
the universe
the imagination
the narrative
the explanation
 
the soul
the seed
the expanse
the ground
 
the mind
the soil
the thoughts
the ideas (the toil)
 
the body
the fruit
the womb
the child
 
the strength
the growth
this miracle
called life

Posted on by kelrohlf 2

Love Letters


But I trust in your unfailing love.
I will rejoice because you have rescued me.
I will sing to the LORD
because he has been so good to me.
(Psalm 13:5-6 NLT)


 
I thought writing love letters to God would be easy. The frustration occurs when I attempt to write lovely letters, rather than true expressions of my heart, like Lynn D. Morrissey encourages in Love Letters to God: Deeper Intimacy Through Written Prayer:

It is the gift of the whole heart that God most desires-a heart without pretense and posturing; a heart in all its honesty, beauty, passion and brokenness; a heart pulsing with love, joy, sadness, delight, doubt, pain, anguish, even anger. True love expresses all emotions, and true love-God’s true love for you-accepts them. 



I don’t know why, but I feel awkward with God lately.

Am I struggling with accepting His love for me, yet again?  

So, I start thinking about the word, beloved, again. If I break the word apart it says, be loved.

Be. Loved.

The Spirit whispers, “Let Me love you. Don’t shrink away. Don’t listen to the lies that you’re not measuring up.” I whisper back, “Okay.”

A Prayer of Response:

Beloved-
Here we are! Another day! Me curled up in my chair, with the cat next to me, pen in hand, ink on paper . . .I am listening. I am seeking. I pore over words looking for a phrase to move me toward and forward to Your heart, Your will, Your way . . . my heart is clogged with worldly angst. Desire for relief, comfort, even nothingness.

Yet You have all this existence surrounding me, begging me to exist, breathe, live and move within it. Sometimes I feel so alive, I could burst. Other times everything falls flat.

Help me to put aside my agenda for today. I just want to rest in Your presence. Imagine what it was like for you to become “word made flesh.” You understand my fears and insecurities. Grant peace. Immerse me in your love. Let me be soaked with your love, joy, hope, peace, purpose and grace upon grace.

Your beloved- Kel



Posted on by kelrohlf 10

Beloved: Dearly Loved; Dear to the Heart

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
This is love: not that we loved God,
but that he loved us and sent his Son
as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
(1 John 4:9,10 NIV)
 
 

I started writing love letters again. I have been writing at God for quite a few years now in my journal, but for the next forty days, I sensed my Beloved invite me to write him letters.

A dear friend, Lynn D. Morrissey, wrote a book about this idea: Love Letters to God: Deeper Intimacy through Written Prayer.  I picked up the book to read in sips, a few pages a day as I journey toward the most heart wrenching love story ever.
 
 

The story of a man, who used to live in heaven, and then took on flesh to live among us. A divine man loved by the Father.  The same Father who loved you and me so much, who gave his one and only to become sin for us. And Jesus not only took on our sin, but also suffered the penalty of sin: death.

A death that demonstrates the best love ever offered. To be called His beloved is to be treasured beyond compare. So I am attempting these days to write daily love notes to this God-Man-Spirit. The funny thing is I’m not sure how to address Him. And I’ve told him so. I’ve tried “Dear Jesus” and “Father God” and “Dear Friend” or “Lord Jesus” and they all are familiar, but not quite clear enough, when speaking to a Triune God.

Then today, this word “beloved”, was offered. And it seems to encompass the Father-Son-Spirit love that I long to express to HIm.

Beloved- I have been thinking of you today and how much you love me. I am yours and amazingly, you call me your own. Intimacy is frightening, yet to be close to you is really my heart’s deepest desire. I love you. I look forward to rekindling our love through letters. Love you-Kel
 
 
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Posted on by kelrohlf 12

How to Pray for an Hour

“It rinses the soul, prayer does.”
Paul Mariani


I love to delve into the topic of prayer. Being in a prayer group has helped me grow more in love with God. I have asked Jesus to teach me to pray and I have taught others about prayer. But actually praying on my own takes discipline.

I know that prayer is talking with God, but it helps me to have a pattern to follow, kind of like the ACTS format, I shared last Saturday.

Recently, I found a classic book on the topic of prayer: The Hour That Changes the World by Dick Eastman. He recommends twelve areas to pray over…5 minutes for each type of prayer, which adds up to an hour of prayer.

He starts and ends his hour with Praise. Then in between, he Waits on God, just letting God’s love sink into his soul. Which leads to Confession, admitting his faults and sins to God. He prays through a Scripture. He Watches for the Spirit’s next initiative in the prayer time.

Following this preparatory time, he then feels ready to tackle Intercession (requests for others) and Petition (requests for yourself).

Before returning to Praise, he enters God’s gates with Thanksgiving and Singing. In the last minutes, he quietly enters into Meditation and Listening, which leads him back to praising God.

It seems like a huge assignment, but I have found it helpful to write, draw and color, while I move from each segment. Of course, sometimes I land on one topic more than another.

Or if an hour seems like too huge of a place to begin, try focusing on each category for a minute.

I usually have my Bible open and look for a Scripture to guide the conversation. Psalms are great poems for praising God and getting to know Him better.

 
 
 
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Race: Progess Toward a Goal

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run,
but only one receives the prize?
So run that you may obtain it.
1 Corinthians 9:24 ESV
 
 

It was a race against time. In a few short hours, he knew the cohort would surround them. It was dark and cooling off in the deserted olive grove. How often, they had walked here to escape the heat of the day, to talk over life. Tonight, he pushed towards the goal, along the way he told them a parable, one of his favorite ways of teasing them. To make them think, to challenge their status quo. To remind them that following was an adventure.

He spoke of the vinedresser, the vine and the vintage fruit. Reminding them that life apart from the vine was fruitless. But now, his heart raced, blood coursing through his veins in nervous expectation. Would he be able to finish the course set before him? The course his father imagined eons ago.

The faithful few were yawning, a stone’s throw away. A simple request: Watch with me. I need your prayers and your cheers to finish.

They nodded off. He remonstrated with them, please; I need to know I’m not alone. Won’t you press on toward the goal with me?

The third time the sweat on his brow, now, wiped on his sleeve; he was resolved. Panting with exhaustion, yet determined to go the final stretch. To be stretched beyond recognition.

A haunting rebuke, couldn’t you just give one hour?
 
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Posted on by kelrohlf 11