Introduction #2: Praying the Bible for the world

Have you noticed how it seems our world is coming undone spiritually personally and collectively, nationally and globally?

We do not even need to turn on the news. All we need to do is walk around with our ears, hearts, and minds open, and we will hear a multitude of reasons why this is true.

We have gone around trying to ignore or it deny it, sticking our heads in the sand, not wanting to ruffle any feathers. How has this worked out for us? Has it helped? Is the world a better place through our inaction.

There are a couple of individuals and groups who have tried to address and are, the current state of affairs in all of our lives: spiritually, personally and collectively, nationally and globally. Dutch Sheets and An Appeal to Heaven, Franklin Graham and Decision America Tour, and Intercessors for America and GetOutThePrayer.com are a few examples. (I have links for all of these on the main page of my blog if you are interested. Check out the right column and go about one-half to two-thirds down and you'll see my Link List.)

Each of those groups is doing a wonderful thing. All of us need to all sign up for each of them, along with several other prayer groups we can find online. They are important in our current state of affairs. They are bringing a national prayer revival here in the United States of America.

I would like to add another dimension to the prayer revival, nevertheless. We need to have a Praying the Bible 24/7/365 Revival, which adds more depth and more power to the other prayer revivals. After all, if we do not back our prayers with the Word of God, the Holy Bible, then they will not be nearly as effective. Let us be honest here. Each of us, plus our nation and world, sure needs as much effective prayer as we can receive.

Futhermore, I do not know about you, but I want each of my prayers to be as effective as possible. When we pray the Bible as we pray for all of the things God puts in our hearts and minds to pray, then our prayers will be quite powerful and effective.

Rather than keep going on with life as normal, and pretend like everything is alright in our world, I want to face the truth. I want to face the facts. I do not want to live in a world of make-believe. I want to live in reality. And the truth is, our nation and world needs prayer. Never mind how our state, city, neighborhood, church, block, and home needs prayer as well.

The truth is, I haven't prayed for everything like I should (see the last paragraph for different areas of prayer, but it most certainly is not an extensive list). I have failed to live up to my responsibilities biblically. I don't know about you.

Therefore, it is time for me to get serious about praying for our world today, and every dimension of prayer that comes with it. This blog is my attempt to do precisely that.

Welcome to a blog about praying the Bible 24/7/365 for our world.

In this blog, I will share my daily prayers for praying the Bible 24/7/365 for the world and for the areas of prayer listed here:

AREAS OF PRAYER
Pray these in the order God puts on your heart and in your mind
1 Me
2 My home and everyone and everything in it
3 My block
4 My neighborhood
5 My city: homes, government, churches, businesses, schools, etc.
6 My state: homes, government, military, churches, businesses, schools, etc.
7 My nation: homes, government, military, churches, businesses, schools, etc.
8 Our world: homes, government, military, churches, businesses, schools, etc. Each and every nation, particularly the ones God puts on my heart
9 The Church as a whole
10 The U.N.
11 NATO
12 My nation's allies
13 My nation's foes
14 Against terror
15 The news and current events of today

I hope this gives you a good list to use as you pray for each of those areas. I know it sure helps me. These are the areas of prayer I try to focus on a few times per week at least, if not daily. I try to pray for my home, block, city, state, nation, the Church as as whole, against terror, and the world each day, however.

In time, I hope to pray every verse of the Bible for our world today and list them here.

By the way, on my twitter.com account, I tweet about prayer requests from the news stories each day. They are not meant to be items of my opinions, but as prayer points for us to pray about and through. My account is: @RYPStories and can be found at this link:
https://twitter.com/RYPStories

Or, if you prefer, my Google+ account:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/103261940213090097010

Hence, my plan with this blog is to first pray the verse or verses. Then, pray for the areas of prayer each day. Moreover, in time, I will turn these prayers and blog posts into a book one day as well. I will edit them and add material to them and then offer them in a book format, in paperback and in an e-book, which will sure make it handier to use for your prayers rather than off of this blog.

I hope this blog will be advantageous for you to help you to learn to pray the Bible 24/7/365 for this world.

God bless.

Now, let's get started.

A Time of Change and Healing: How hurts and trying to heal have impacted my writing

They say that the Bible is the answer to and for everything. I couldn’t agree more, particularly as I type this. I will get back to this thought in a moment.

What I am about to share is a story I think everyone can understand to some degree and has been at this place in life as well. I cannot wait to share the journey of healing and how it’s changed me enormously already, for the good. More of this will be reflected in the next blog post, by the way.

You see, I am using a new system now with my blogging and writing. I am handwriting my prayer journaling, then typing it up as a blog post. Once I get enough blog posts, I will turn them into a book by editing and adding to them. This is a drastically different approach than I have ever used and I want to make it one I keep using from now on since the truth is I write better on the page by hand and then as I type it up, I am able to edit it and make it all the better. It works well so far. I pray that trend continues.

I stopped blogging and writing for a while so I could pray and see truly where the Lord is leading me with each, never mind my life. I had to. I was desperate. After all, I realized nothing in my life, other than my marriage, was working as it should or could. I am out of sync somehow. What I am about to share is proof of my state of transition.

I am an adult. I have a brain and I know how to use it. This means I can change. I have the ability to change. If I choose to do so. I also realize it takes months of hard work, where it takes a constant deliberate mindset to change. It does not come easily by any stretch of the imagination. I have to change, and so did my blogging and writing because of what I am about to share.

A little over a week ago, I had a wakeup call as I allowed someone to hurt me deeply. It was someone I knew I should not have given the power to do so, since they have bit me before, but I did. I thought, by mistake again, that they had changed. Well, they have. They have the same spots, the spots just moved a little and acted as camouflage so I didn’t see it coming. The truth is, I don’t think they expected it either and it surprised them just as much as it did me. They didn’t do it intentionally, but it still happened. Also, I still have no idea how to pick up with them from here. I love them, but I am no doormat. But, I cannot be a callous individual either. I keep praying God shows me His biblical way and that I do not act merely out of what I desire, which is self-preservation at this point.

I have forgiven, but it’s the forgetting part I am finding a little challenging. (Okay… Maybe a lot challenging. Lord, help me.) However, it says in 1 Corinthians 13 how love keeps no record of wrongs. Ugh. I know that is essential. It’s nonnegotiable. That is why I have pulled away from them for now because they don’t deserve any of my hostility as I try to forget and heal. They don’t need me confused as I try to have a relationship with them. I will say and do something stupid, by accident, and possibly intentionally at the time, if I am completely honest with myself… and they sure don’t deserve that. Two wrongs have never made a right. (Sorry about the cliché, but it conveys so much.) Nor will I put myself in that predicament.

Needless to say, I am in the process of trying to heal, but frankly have no idea where to turn or how to go about that. Or, maybe I should have said that in the past tense. I had no idea where to turn and how no idea to go about the process of healing. I do now, but again, I will get there in a moment.

The fact I allowed myself to be hurt like that, when it is in their nature, gave me a muchly needed wakeup call. That was when I realized how my blogging and writing are proof that something is off with me, and allowing the hurt is more proof. I have not been able to commit to one style of writing. I even started to ask, am I supposed to even be a writer? Have I been spinning my wheels, getting nowhere, for nothing? Have I been fooling myself? Was it wishful thinking? Consequently, I took a step back.

That was when I started to do something I should have done all along. I analyzed my life and where I am and where I will end up if I keep heading in this direction. I’m talking as a person, as well as a Christian, as a blogger, as a writer, and as a journal keeper. I didn’t care for what I saw. I am a scatterbrain who commits to not much but my marriage. I want to commit to my blogging and writing, but nothing ever lasts. I get an idea and the moment the wind shifts, I give up the idea and switch to the latest, greatest, this is it idea. None of this is fair to any of the readers of the blog or my writing.

So, what can I commit to anyway? What is holding me back from making the commitment?

One thing I realized is as much as I try to pray, I really don’t. I hope that makes sense, or will after a few blog posts (or should I say blog post confessionals). I pray, but again, I haven’t really, truly, totally, completely committed. (Yes. I used all of those synonyms to stress how lost I am with my praying life.) Like my blogging and writing life. Like my Bible reading and study as well.

Short of wanting to bury myself in a hole, or at least under the covers of my bed in shame, I realized that it was with my prayer and Word life I needed to start to commit. Really commit. Never give up or stop commit.

If my prayer life and Word life are nothing they should be, wouldn’t it stand to reason that the rest of the facets of my life would be out of kilter as well? After all, nothing is more important than my prayer and Bible life. And, I mean nothing. But, my life sure has been a sorrowful poor example of this, if I were to stop and be honest. Sure, I might do well for a couple of days or weeks, but it wouldn’t last. It never did. And, it never will unless I do something I have never done before.

So, what on earth does that look like? I couldn’t help but wonder.

And, I ever dreamed the answer would be what it is. (I sure do love it when He surprised me like He has the tendency to do.)

I realize now that I look back on things, God has been trying to point me in this direction all along, but I never imagined it would be in this manner.

I realized how I put too many expectations on prayer. Do all of us do this or is it just me? And, in my effort of placing all of these expectations on prayer, it would stop me from praying. It would stifle me and make me not want to pray. Too many expectations on prayer would stop any of us from praying as we should or could.

Now, it starts. (Just wait. You will see what I mean. I just made the switch form narrative to prayer.)

I realize the main thing about prayer is to turn our hearts and minds toward You, Lord… and talk with You, and listen, and pray Your Word. Praying Your Word is the main answer to every question, problem, dilemma, confusion, expectation, etc. with prayer.

No. Scratch that. Praying the Word is the answer for everything… not just prayer.

Literally.

Don’t know what to pray or how, pray what you read in the Bible, which is Your Word, Lord. Think your prayers are silly or immature? Pray the Holy Bible. Want to pray more powerful prayers? Pray the Word. What to pray without ceasing? Pray the Bible. Want to count your blessings and worship God by giving thanks? Pray the Word of God.

Just open the Bible and pray whatever you read. Pray the Bible. It really is that simple.

Thank You, Lord, for simplifying things. I oftentimes make things far more complicated than they need to be. This makes it something I can do, even when I am not thinking straight, and even when I am.

This is what I am focusing my entire life on now, is praying through the Bible. I will also focus all of my blogging and writing on this. And, this will not change. It cannot. There is too much at stake.

Just wait until the next blog post. That’s when things will come together and it will bless your socks off! I guarantee it. God is good that way.

Pray through the Bible. This is the answer. 

Blessings and Lessons #1 and #2: Thanksgiving and Love

Blessing and Lesson #1 Live a life of thanksgiving, not just a season

That's the first blessing I count and is the first lesson I want to mention because of Kara, our feral cancer cat.
Kara found my husband ("B") and I and we brought her into our garage for a couple of weeks while we helped her acclimate to being indoors and to us, and as we waited for her appointment with our veterinarian. It also gave her time for her meds to work to their full capacity. Then, we brought her into my study and locked her in there for a few days so she could acclimate to there and our Beatle and our orange cat.
She never looked back. She never tried to door dart and she grasped she was safe and had plenty of food and love. She was a completely different cat... almost immediately and over the last year.
Kara was feral. She had an opinionated demeanor and insisted on things going her way. Sure, this is true for any cat. But, put a cat inside permanently, after being an outdoor cat, and they are even more opinionated. Most of her behavior and attitude was out of self-defense and she slowly learned she had no threat in us or in our home.
We could tell how thoroughly grateful she was to no longer have to sleep with her head in the air and she didn't have to find food. But, she was far more grateful to be able to love and to be loved. This was how she lived with us and was how she died with us. Thankful. Loved and loving.
Kara knew where she was and came from and she lived fully a life of thanks. She could have swelled on what was. She had a horrible life until us. But, she didn't focus on that. She didn't look back. She was grateful for what she had now.

BLESSING AND LESSON #2: LOVE AND BE LOVED
Kara learned how to give unconditional love and how to receive it.
She never knew love before us. We know she was abused, for the way she cowered at first if we made fast movements and the way she always held her down to show she was contrite and humble. She also was fixed and declared. So, this shows she had another human in her life. They probably dumped her because either they didn't know how to handle a deaf cat, or because they were moving in our community that had a lot of military, or they knew she had cancer. Therefore, she didn't know the fullness of love a human could give her. Not until B and me.
Once we convinced her we were no threat and would never hit her or dump her, she thrived. And she knew love and she loved. And it was thorough and unconditional.
I cannot imagine being about ten years old and never knowing love.
It breaks my heart to think. I'm getting weepy at the thought.
Do I know what's it means to fully love and be loved? At first blush, I would say no, if you were to ask me right now. Then, I picture girlie and I smile. My heart warms. You bet I know! It's because of Kara.
I am thankful for Kara teaching me to live a life of thanks and blessing... and for teaching me how to fully love and be loved.

NaNoWriMo and Writing Kara's Story

NANOWRIMO

I'm sure you are wondering what NaNoWriMo is... and if you know what it is, you probably wonder why I'm participating, after all, this looks like it is a work of nonfiction. I will answer both questions.

NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month and is a competition where people all around the world have gathered together to write a novel of 50,000 words in one month--and that month is November. I am taking part in this challenge in November, but in truth am starting to write the book now. Whatever my word count is at the end of October, I will add 50,000 words to that as my goal.

It isn't necessary to write fiction for NaNoWriMo; needless to say, I am using NaNoWriMo to write Kara's story. Consequently, between now and the end of November, I will be writing multiple blog posts per day. I will, however, spread them out and publish them for you to see once per day after today (10/12/2015).

"Moments with Kara" is Kara's story and is our story about her.

This is a temporary "book cover" of sorts. I will in time create a real one.

BLOG TO BOOK

Also, it is my goal to turn the blog posts of this blog into a book or two in time. Therefore, this blog will not be the final polished version of this material. Nor will this blog include as much material as the book(s). I just wanted to give you fair warning.

The blog to book posts will be geared for a few different books: a memoir or two, pet journaling (how to pet journal), how to turn your pet journal into a memoir, and pet loss and grief. The posts of this blog will turn into multiple books in time, but right now my main focus is a memoir and inspirational story about our rescued cancer cat, Little Bit. Kara Beara. Lady Kara. Baby Girl. Feisty One.

Over the next month, I will count the blessings of Kara and the faith and life lessons she taught me. So, stay tuned. This is actually the whole purpose of this blog. However, with Thanksgiving coming up, counting the blessings on Kara seems a fitting and appropriate tribute to the black and white purrbox.