We can’t always Understand

Abstract 3d letter with stone wall texture - UAs you do not know the path of the wind,
    or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb,
so you cannot understand the work of God,
    the Maker of all things.  Ecclesiastes 11:5 (NIV)

The “U” part of My TEA CUPP Prayers is all about UNDERSTANDING our stories, so we can share how God has helped us with others.  But as I read this verse in my Bible one day, I realized we can’t always understand.

There are some parts of His Plan that I will never comprehend until I see Jesus face to face, and perhaps by then it won’t matter anymore.  For now I struggle with un-answered prayers, seeing children from church leave God’s path for a time, babies dying…I just don’t understand.  But I can pray for God’s peace and for me to do what is right. Instead of having a testimony to share, I can be a testimony in these tough situations.

Our church sponsored a village in the Philippines as a mission project.  The day I was writing this, an earthquake of 7.2 magnitude rocked their little island.  People are dying, buildings are destroyed, century-old churches lie in ruins.  And it is hard to understand.  Can God use this great tragedy to bring more people to His Kingdom?  Can our church be a testimony yet in this tough situation?  Yes!

Jesus tells us in Mark 11:22, “Have faith in God!”  Jesus continues,

 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.  Mark 11:23-24 (NKJV)

I might not UNDERSTAND, but I can BELIEVE!

Today’s TEA CUPP:  Is there an event in life you are struggling with right now, something tough you just don’t understand?  Jesus understands.  Give it to Him during your TEA CUPP prayer time today.  Believe that He will bring good out of it all.

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.  Romans 8:28 (NKJV)

 

New King James Version (NKJV)The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

My Cup

coffee_mugO Lord, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup;
You maintain my lot.  Psalm 16:5 (NKJV)

You may have heard it asked before, “Is your cup half full or half empty?”  If you answer “half full” you are an optomist.  If you answer “half empty” you are a pessimist, or so they say.

My cup is full of my family…I thank Jesus each day for them…Kent, Kallie, Jacob, Kevin, and Joel.  I love them all!  But with two graduated and moving, I might feel my cup is becoming half empty.  Perhaps they will return with spouses and children and my cup will be full again :-)!

What about my TEA CUPP?  This is my time each morning with Jesus, when I read my Bible and pray to Him.  If My TEA CUPP is half full or half empty, I’m not doing my job!  Did I oversleep and skip my Bible reading?  Did I neglect to pray for those on my list?  Oh,  I want My TEA CUPP to be full to overflowing, so that http://www.healthsupportyou.com/viagra/ when I am finished, my cup overflows to others.

I’m reminded of the old days when my parents would drive their car to a full-service gas station.  “Fill it with regular, please,” my dad would say.  While the attendant pumped the gas, he would also wash the windows and even check the oil.  Our prayer time should be like this.  When we sit down with Jesus each morning, we should first pray, “Fill me up, please, dear Jesus.” Then we open our Bibles.  While reading His Word, we are washed clean and given a tune-up for the day ahead.  My TEA CUPP is full and I’m ready to serve Him.pump_gas_03

…My cup runs over. Psalm 23:5  (NKJV)

Today’s TEA CUPP:  How about you?  Is your cup full?  Read your Bible each day, asking Jesus to fill you up.

New King James Version (NKJV)The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

 

Understand: I would have perished

Today’s TEA CUPP:  Praying God’s Word.

Here’s another verse to help us UNDERSTAND our story, as we pray and share TEA with Jesus today:

If Your law had not been my delight,
   I would have perished in my affliction. Psalm 119:92 (NIV)

New International Version (NIV)Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica

Give me Understanding

Today’s TEA CUPP:  Praying God’s Word.

Here’s another verse to help us UNDERSTAND our story, as we pray and share TEA with Jesus today:

Your hands have made me and fashioned me;
         Give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments.  Psalm 119:73 (NKJV)

New King James Version (NKJV)Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Understand: He set me free!

Today’s TEA CUPP:  Praying God’s Word.

Here’s a verse to help us UNDERSTAND our story, as we pray and share TEA with Jesus today:

In my distress I prayed to the Lord,
      and the Lord answered me and set me free.  Psalm 118:5  (NLT)

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House

Understand: My story with a promise

Today’s TEA CUPP:  Praying God’s Word.

Here’s a verse to help us UNDERSTAND our story, as we pray and share TEA with Jesus today:

For You have delivered my soul from death,
         My eyes from tears,
         And my feet from falling.
 I will walk before the LORD
         In the land of the living.  Psalm 116:8-9 (NKJV)

New King James Version (NKJV)Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Understand: I love the Lord!

Today’s TEA CUPP:  Praying God’s Word.

Here’s a verse to help us UNDERSTAND our story, as we pray and share TEA with Jesus today:

I love the LORD, because He has heard
         My voice and my supplications.
Because He has inclined His ear to me,
         Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.   Psalm 116:1-2 (NKJV)

New King James Version (NKJV)Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Grace Alone

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. Ephesians 2:8 (NKJV)

Grace. My middle name is Grace. Our daughter Kallie’s middle name is Grace. We were both born on Tuesday. There is an old poem that says, “Tuesday’s child is full of grace.” I often thought that was why my parents signed me up for ballet lessons as a child, so that I would learn to be full of grace. Instead of doing clumsy tricks, like jumping off the coffee table and breaking my ankle!

But then I grew up and found out what grace is all about. Grace is when God gives me something I don’t deserve, like forgiveness and eternal life with Him in heaven. Mercy is when God doesn’t give me what I do deserve, like punishment in hell and a life without Him. When explaining this to kids I say, grace is when your mom gives you a cookie even though you were bad. Mercy is when your dad doesn’t give you a spanking, even though you were naughty. I am so thankful for God’s grace and mercy.

Yesterday at church we sang the song “Grace Alone.” At that moment I was praying for our daughter Kallie Grace who was flying somewhere over the Pacific Ocean to Guam. I knew God’s Grace was just what I needed… His grace to hear and answer my prayers, His grace to comfort me if His plan didn’t fit my prayers, His grace to hold me close today and always.
These are the words we sang…

 Every promise we can make
Every prayer and step of faith
Every difference we can make
Is only by His grace.
Every mountain we will climb
Every ray of hope we shine
Every blessing left behind
Is only by His grace

Grace alone Which God supplies
Strength unknown He will provide
Christ in us, our cornerstone
We will go  forth in grace alone.

Every soul we long to reach
Every heart we hope to teach
Everywhere we share His peace
Is only by His grace.
Every loving word we say
Every tear we wipe away
Every sorrow turned to praise
Is only by His grace.


Grace alone Which God supplies
Strength unknown He will provide
Christ in us, our cornerstone
We will go  forth in grace alone.

©1998 Maranatha! Music.
Words and Music by Scott Wesley Brown, Jeff Nelson

And Kallie made it safely to Guam. Thank you, Jesus.

And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9 (NKJV)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6lhilgWXIE&feature=related

New King James Version (NKJV)Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

His Way, Not My Way

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Women of Faith
Hello, prayer friends! I just arrived home from an amazing weekend at Women of Faith in Billings, Montana! I met new and old friends from around Montana, and heard some of the most inspirational messages, given by ladies God has gifted to encourage us in our faith walk. You can visit the link above to find an event in your area. I highly encourage you to attend!  Natalie Grant mentioned this verse below, during her concert.  I had chosen this same verse last month to write about my experiences.  And so I jump ahead a bit today to the “U” section of My Tea Cupp Prayers, as I use God’s Word to help me Understand my story.

Isaiah 55:8-9 (NIV) says, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.  “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways,   And My thoughts than your thoughts.”

Prayers.  I believe in prayers.  I believe in Jesus.  I believe Jesus meant it when He said, “Ask and you will receive.”  When things don’t go my way, I wrestle with God.  I’m a grumpy kid who is not getting what she wants from her Father.  I can’t see the big picture.  But God is teaching me.

Two summers ago, my friend Anna mentioned to me that she was expecting again.  This would be her fourth child.  Anna asked me to pray it wouldn’t be twins.  I had already been praying for eight years for more children, and seven years before that I had prayed for our son Kevin.  I had even written to three friends who love babies and asked them to pray for me.  So, I couldn’t pray for Anna not to have twins; that just seemed like a double blessing to me.  So, I prayed, “God, please give Anna a healthy baby, and if you need to give someone twins, please give them to me.”

At the same time, I thought I’d try out specific prayer.  I’d heard God likes us to be specific.  So, I prayed for specific twins, one blonde, one red head, one boy, one girl, blue eyes, healthy, hearts for Jesus, to be born in Livingston, Montana on May 17, 2009 at 3:07 p.m.  Yes, I was that specific. In order for this to happen, I needed to be expecting by fall 2008. As September of that year came and then October, I thought, well maybe they will be premies. Then winter came with still no babies-on-the-way, and a job lay off instead.   I just about gave up on praying, but my husband kept on praying.  Then late in the spring of 2009, just before the time I had specifically prayed our babies to be born, we miraculously became pregnant. After nine years of waiting, I was so joyous that God had heard our prayers.

In July 2009 we went to our first doctor appointment.  The doctor had trouble hearing the baby’s heartbeat, so he wanted to do an ultrasound.  I thought, “O good, now he will see there are two babies in there!”  Instead, there was just one cute little baby shape, with no heart beating.  After praying nine years for more children, to be told in the doctor office that my baby didn’t have a heartbeat, my first thoughts were, “Doctor, you are so wrong, I prayed for this baby.”  But as reality set in, my soul cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  It crossed my mind to abandon my prayer time with God the next day.  But the next morning I was up with the sun as usual, sitting on my corner of the sofa, mug of hot water in hand, reading my Bible with God.  Even I was amazed that God didn’t let go of me, as we waited over a week for the miscarriage that nearly took my life. We named our baby Gloria Anne, in hopes that God’s name would be glorified.

Just a month later we became pregnant again.  I hardly dared to hope that this baby was twins.   In mid October 2009 we found out that this baby also didn’t have a heartbeat.  This time we had to wait three weeks for the miscarriage which took six weeks to complete, well into December.  We named this baby Angelica May, because she is now with the angels and was due in May 2010. The whole time I was wondering, “Why do I have to go through this again, Lord?  Is there something I didn’t learn the first time around?”

In September 2009 we planted a cherry tree in our front yard in memory of Gloria Anne.  Now the tree is in memory of both our babies.  It wasn’t until we ordered the plaque to put on a rock by the tree that it hit me.  The plaque says

“In Memory, Our Babies, Gloria Anne, Angelica May, 2009”

With their names together on the plaque I realized, we had our twins.  They did not come when I asked. They were not healthy.  I never saw the color of the hair or their eyes.  Even their names were ones I had never thought of before.  Even though I know that someday in heaven I will hold them in my arms, I ache, while learning that God’s ways are not my ways, and His thoughts are not my thoughts.

Judges 6:13 (NIV) says “O my Lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us?  And where are all His miracles?” I often pray this petition as I wrestle with God in prayer.  Because I didn’t get my way, I think His miracles aren’t there, but they are.  His miracles are in a hug from a sister in Christ, the box of chocolates sent by an old friend from high school, the prayer shawl knitted by our church, the DQ Buster bars delivered by our neighbors, the money for doctor bills slipped to us by friends, the card box decorated in pink for our baby, my husband washing the dishes for me, the prayers of so many, and the hope I still have in my heart.  Yes, God sent His miracles.  His ways are just much higher than my ways…and I’m still praying.

New International Version (NIV)Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica