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Prayer and Fasting
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Hey guys,
I just wanted to ask for your prayers. God has been dealing with me and speaking to me in several ways over the past few weeks. And I have been listening but not listening intently enough for real fruit to be produced in me. It finally hit me that my time in the Word and Prayer has not been what it needs to be.
So, I am confessing that I am addicted to you guys..LOL. I am joking but I am needing to fast from the computer for awhile. I realized yesterday that even though I read my Bible in the morning as soon as I am finished I am on here checking in. I am not meditating on the word or spending time in fervrent prayer as I long to do…not out of duty but out of a desire to be filled with Christ’s love.
I have been praying for many of you and I am blessed by that but I realized I haven’t been praying for my dc and dh, who God has graciously given to me to pray for and serve.
Please pray that God will fill me and renew me. I am excited about spending some much needed time in the word and in meditation over this next week. I will also be lifting you guys up in prayer. I just won’t be on here so you will be spared my LONG Rambling posts. 🙂
Thank you for your prayers,
Shelly
Shelly,
I’ll be praying for you. Many times I feel convicted as you do about time spent on the computer. It’s so easy to say “I’m only going to check in and spend X amount of time”, but then end up on here way longer than you intended. I pray that you will be refreshed in the Lord and connect with Him in a new way, especially regarding your family.
And I happen to like your posts…be they long and rambling or short and sweet! 😀
Blessings,
mj
Shelly, you are such a blessing! I always look forward to what you have to share.
Last weekend I decided to close my facebook account for similar reasons. I am prioritizing my life and letting God cut off the superfluous things that really detract from what He wants me to focus on. I cherish my time here on SCM and one other site, Sustainable Traditions (which I think you and your husband would love!). These are the only two sites I am allowing myself to network on. We long for community in such a major way and we were created to interact with the people we care about. You’re right about God being in first place, though, and I have taken long breaks from the computer for certain seasons. It’s a healthy thing 😀
Here is a great illustration Karey Swan (sweet CM homeschool veteran and author) used that has really been helpful to me: ” I had to start evaluating my choices… what I ended up using was the illustration of a jar. The most important priorities are the biggest rocks in the jar, then there are the pebbles and sand which represent the less important priorities which need to fit around the larger ones. If you don’t have a plan, the squeakiest wheel will fill up the jar with good things (pebbles and sand) but the best things won’t be able to fit if we don’t know what they are, and do them first. So I named the “big rocks” in my life, which was a challenge. Naming them was very hard to do.”
It sounds like you are naming those big rocks (as am I), and it is difficult but oh so rewarding! I hope your time away will be a major blessing to you and your family. If I lived close by I’d love to watch your children so you could have several hours alone with the Lord. I pray you will have plenty of time with Him and be refreshed and renewed in your spirit! I look forward to hearing about what He is doing in your heart and life 😀
Rachel
Shelly,
I love to hear what you have to say and will miss you. However, I’m praying that the Lord refreshes you during this extra time spent seeking Him. I’m thinking of Mary of Bethany whom Jesus said of her “she has chosen the one thing needed and it will not be taken away from her”.
Luke 10:38-42
Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”
With Love,
Heather
OHHH thank you Lord for dear friends. Thank you Heather, Rachel and MJ!!!
Thank you guys for your encouragement and your prayers. It was a great day with my family and seeing two college students that my dh and I have been mentoring, get married today. We prayed over them in the wedding and it was a beautiful picture of how marriage is a reflection of the gospel.
Since we were gone all day and I did have some good meditation time this morning I thought I could get on here and check in. Thank you guys for being here. Can I share what God revealed to me this morning? I will try to make it quick.
The Lord brought to mind that in the same way that I was following in obedience to him (duty) but with out the loving desire for HIM this mirrored how my children have been obeying (for the most part) but without the sincereity of heart towards DH and I. So I saw how my behavior and lack of true depth was a reflection in my children’s lives too..and I also noticed that unless my dc are being rebellious or having some major issue I am not fervrently praying for them. As if I only need to pray for them when there is a crisis of character!! That is no way to parent!!! So God renewed my focus and gave me greater insight into my life and my children’s…NOW I am just waiting for Him to show me what to do with this greater insight.
Ok Thanks for letting me share. Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday, worshiping our God.
Oh and Rachel I have been thinking of needing to have some solitude, retreat sort of time. I just have to figure out how to do it. Thanks for volunteering to watch my kiddos IF only you lived closer..hmmm..if only 😀
Shelly
I’m beginning to notice the same thing in our home. But sometimes it takes a load of bricks on my head for me to “get it”! 😳
Most recently, I’ve been wanting more in my marriage than just taking care of the day to day responsibilities, and God revealed to me that our marriage is mirroring my relationship to Him. Lately I’ve let the worries of the day be the only conversations I have with Him. I haven’t been seeking to just be with the Lord out of enjoyment…amazingly, the same holds true in my marriage and right on down the line to the children.
Isn’t God great? I would’ve given up on me by now!! 😆
Thank you for sharing! I’ve been missing the mom’s group I was involved in where we used to live (we moved last Oct.). We shared and prayed with each other regularly and not having that has left a huge void in my life. But, God is faithful and I know He will continue to fill that empty space for me.
Thank the Lord and sing His praise!
Have a great day!
mj
Richpond, you set a wonderful example to follow. I sometimes “fast” from the computer too, and my DH & I constantly pray about the role the computer and internet should play in our lives. It’s a tough topic, and I support you in tackling it with prayer and commitment to all your relationships in life. I’m honored you shared with us, truly.
I am reviving this thread b/c I’ve had similar needs in my life.
The big rocks at the bottom of my jar are my family first… but why don’t others respect that? I feel so alone in this decision much of the time. My problem is that I am committed to mentoring a woman via facebook. 😕 I find my time there being stretched more than I’d like. Then I realize that I’m mentoring more than just one…
So, is being used in this way *really* God’s use of my time or is it …. not?
Shelly,
How are you doing? I am the same about being addicted to here. That is why you see my name all over the front page. LOL!!! I stayed away a whole week and then come reading. OK…I do have a reason for being gone. We are in the process of moving next door and have lots of work ahead of us. So I guess I will have to continue staying away and just answering all at once. I am sure it annoys everyone!!! LOL!!!
Hey guys,
Just wanted to let you know that God is good…you guys already knew that but I had to say it again. My time away from the computer has been well spent and God had even more to show me then I realized (isn’t that always the case).
I am going to continue my fast from the computer for another week. PLEASE continue to pray for me. God has moved me into a place of needing to confront a dear person in my life that is in sin, hopefully the spirit will bring about repentence in this person’s life so that this person will be restored in their relationship with all those involved and especially to God. I now know why God was wanting me to be so focused on repenting from my own sin and reading his word..so that I would be used by him to bring about repentence in someone else’s life.
Pam H, just a comment about your post…It could be that God does want you to mentor these women but to set peramiters on your time in doing so. Mentoring is a big job but we as women are called to do this (Titus 2 women) but without forsaking our own families. We are first and formost wives, and mothers..then mentors. I hope that helps.
Blessings,
Shelly
Pam,
I would have to say, no; God would not have you spend your time this way if it is encroaching in any way on your ability to be a keeper at home. This is a difficult path in my own view because of my own set of temptations.
I suggest that if someone wants to be in a mentoring relationship with you that you need to set the boundaries. You are not available 24/7. You can choose the time that you are available. You could have a phone conversation one time each week, you could commit to checking Facebook every other day…whatever. Or you may prayerfully back out altogether.
It needs to be on your terms especially because you are the mentor. You need to be setting the standard for this woman to mentor others. As she grows in the Lord and takes on the position of mentor someday, you do not want to have “mentored” (trained) her to wear herself out and sacrifice her own marriage and family for someone outside of her own little God-given realm.
Blessings,
Cindy
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