: Mary Beth Weisenburger
: Praying With a Pen The Girlfriends' Guide to Stress-Free Prayer Journaling
: Beacon Publishing
: 9781929266494
: 1
: CHF 10.70
:
: Christentum
: English
: 200
: DRM
: PC/MAC/eReader/Tablet
: ePUB
Would you like to become comfortable conversing with God one-on-one, informally and intimately? Would you like to hear quiet, gentle answers to your prayers and petitions, your worries and anxieties, your deepest dreams and desires? With a lighthearted, girlfriend-to-girlfriend style, author Mary Beth Weisenburger shows how you can do just that through prayer journaling. By praying with a pen, she discovered an arms-wide-open God, one who silently listened and lovingly responded to her, day a er day. And she promises that he ll do the same for you. Show up on the page with a pen in hand, and he will meet you there. There's no need to feel intimidated. He's delighted that you want to spend time with him. He's been waiting for you!
BE QUIET!
Be still, and know that I am God.
Psalm 46:10
When I was growing up in a rowdy household with three older brothers and a younger sister, my mom had a strict rule that we were never allowed to say “shut up” to each other (or anyone else, for that matter). This meant that I had to come up with a creative alternative when my brothers teased me nonstop about my freckles or my sister pestered me with questions while I was trying to do something really important (like put on makeup to cover those freckles). I became an expert at squinting my eyes in an evil way and hissing through my teeth. “Bequiiietttttt!” I would warn with all my teenage fury, and the offending party would slink away.
I sincerely doubt that’s what my mom had in mind.
In this chapter I’m going to tell you thatyou need tobe quiet too, only now I am saying it in a much nicer manner, without any squinting or hissing, and I hope and pray you do not slink away.
GET AWAY FROM YOUR CROWDS
You already know this: It’s important to get quiet and be quiet—to set aside a silent, focused time to pray. We must get away from the hustle and bustle of our everyday lives and go on a mini-retreat with God on a regular basis. Even Jesus had to get away! The Bible cites a number of times during Jesus’s ministry on earth when he left the crowds and went off to pray and talk with his Father. If Jesus Christ himself needed alone time with his Father, we mere mortals certainly need it even more! It’s crucial to our faith lives. But it’s not easy.
Jesus knows it isn’t easy. Often when he was by himself praying, his disciples would come looking for him or the crowds seeking more miracle healings would discover where he was and press in on him. You may not have crowds of people pressing in on you and begging for miracles, but you likely have a crowd of family members around who each want a piece of you. Plus, you have to get your day started. And let me guess— your mind is already racing before your eyes are even open in the morning. Thoughts of meetings, projects, and deadlines at work can crowd in too. And then there’s the housework and the groceries and all the appointments. Yeah, that can all add up and make it feel like the walls are closing in. Who has time to be still?
The answer, of course, isall of us. We all have time