I´m baaaack!

Did you miss me? I just want to issue an official apology for not blogging lately. It´s partly because there are so many things I want to post, and I am redoing the blog, and I feel like I can´t publish it all until it´s perfect! And it´s partly because there are so many things going on in our life right now that it´s hard to know where to start. And also, I´m a little bit lazy. I already do SO MUCH work on the computer for the ministry, that I´m tired of looking at it!

However, dear readers, I have not forgotten you! I wanted to take a break from talking about me, me, me and just share a little bit of what I have been reading in God´s Word. I really will update you all on us, just not today! I hope you don´t mind!!

Ok, so a good friend of mine recommended to me that I read Psalm 5. I wanted to really dig deep into the Psalm and get everything I could out of it, so I used an online commentary that was AWESOME. You should check it out.

I have like 10 pages in my journal just on this Psalm. And it made me want to just start in Genesis and do a verse-by-verse study of the whole Bible.Who knows, maybe I will!

First of all, this Psalm really encouraged me to get up early to spend time in prayer, before anyone else is up. I think there are a couple of good reasons to do it. First of all, it´s a smack in the face to the flesh part of us. And any time you can smack the flesh in the face, it´s a good idea to do it! Because the flesh in a loser. Also, it is probably the only truly uninterrupted time you´ll have all day. No one is going to call you. No one is going to show up at your door. No one is going to ask you to do anything, because everyone else is still snoring! And last, but not least, it´s the best start to your day you could ask for. It helps your spirit wake up along with your body, and it puts God in first place. If you start your day like that, you´re more likely to finish it like that.

So, check out this quote from the commentary:

When first thy eyes unveil, give thy soul leave to do the like; our bodies but forerun the spirit's duty: true hearts spread and heave unto their God, as flowers do to the sun. Give him thy first thoughts, then, so shalt thou keep Him company all day, and in him sleep. Yet never sleep the sun up; prayer should Dawn with the day. There are set awful hours twixt heaven and us; the manna was not good after sun rising, for day sullies flowers. Rise to prevent the sun; sleep doth sins glut, and heaven's gate opens when the world's is shut...Go this way, and thou art sure to prosper all the day. Henry Vaughn, 1621-1695

Man, I wish I lived in the 1600´s so I could talk like that. Sigh.

Ok, my other favorite thing about this Psalm is that apparently in the Hebrew, David basically says he will arrange his prayers before God like a priest arranges the sacrifice upon the altar. He will make his best effort to present his prayers before God in such a way that they will be pleasing to Him. I wonder how often we do that? I think most of the time we just let the words flow out without foresight or consideration, as if we were talking to any old person and not to the King of the universe. It really challenged me to sit down and journal my prayer requests and thoughts before prayer, and then consider more carefully the way I was addressing God. Sure, we can come to the throne room in confidence, but not in disrespect!

So, I will leave you with two awesome quotes:

For want of looking up many a prayer is lost. If you do not believe, why do you pray? And if you believe, why do you not expect? By praying you seem to depend on God; by not expecting, you again renounce your confidence. What is this but to take his name in vain? O Christian, stand to your prayer in a holy expectation of what you have begged upon the credit of the promise ... Mordecai, no doubt, had put up many prayers for Esther, and therefore he waits at the king's gate, looking what answer God would in his providence give thereunto. Do thou likewise. William Gurnall.

He is either a fool or a madman, he is either very weak or very wicked, that prays and prays but never looks after his prayers; that shoots many an arrow toward heaven, but never minds where his arrows alight. Thomas Brooks.

So, the question after reading that is, do we believe? Do we expect? Are we fools, or madmen? Are we weak, or wicked? Ok, that´s four questions. Whatever. Just think about it!