Finding Time To Hear God

During this morning's church sermon, the pastor
mentioned the Lord majors in forgiveness and
change (positive). Being able to receive the
message, though, requires us to make a deliberate
choice to hear the Lord in the first place by
being humble and still in a world full of chaos.

But, how do we find the time and quiet moments
to devote to daily prayer?

We live in a world of noise. Almost everywhere we go,
we find sounds competing with our minds, keeping us
from letting our thoughts get below the surface level.

Hearing God's voice means not being held captive to the
noise of the world around us. It's not easy, but it can be
done.

I'll share one way, not the only way, that works for me
which came from trying out many different options to
to maintain a regular schedule.

The mornings are often a hectic maze of getting the kids
up and off to school, work for mom & dad, & just general
business. So, what I've found is by setting the alarm clock
1/2 hour earlier, I can find quiet time in the morning to
read the bible and for prayer before the demands of the
day get a hold of me.

"Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I
should go, for to you I lift up my soul" (Psalm 143:8)

But, being that some mornings are tough to get out of
bed, I also allow myself a nightly ritual as well. By my
bedside, I keep my Bible and various notes as physical
reminders for me to devote time immediately before
the night's sleep.

That way, in either case I get at least 1 - 2 times daily
spent praying and listening to God's instructions for
me to serve his will.

This way, I've found my personal time with God that
is such a treasure does not compete with the daily time
demands of living in this world.

But, of course, whenever during the day I feel the need
to praise the Lord for the many blessings and personal
miracles he provides, I'll find a moment to step outside
the office routine for a "spiritual break".

So, flexibility is key and having these general guidelines,
I find provides ample opportunity to slow down amid
the chaos and noise of the world to find time to hear God.

Finally, as many people spend some part of their day at
a computer within the workplace, here's a resource I
recently found which allows you to hear the Bible as
streaming MP3 audio.

The Power of Prayer

Today, I was reminded how much of a work in progress
I must seem to the Lord. Whenever I find myself in a
difficult situation, its usually of my own doing.

Being a creature of habit - some of my old bad
habits still remain even though when I look back
over the past few years and especially these past
9 months.

Well, my old pre - Christian self would have kept
plowing ahead and getting increasingly frustrated
(and probably those around me as well) all while
wondering why aren't things going my way.

I wanted to share a brief example of the type
of many miracles I've been experiencing the
past few months after a personal decision to
let go and submit myself to allowing the Lord
to work his will for my life.

So, just to prove that Christians are not perfect
and need the power of prayer, the good Lord
gently reminded me of my old "robot" needing
reprogramming. I dropped down on my knees
and humbly asked the Lord to help me through
what was shaping up to be a difficult morning
with work related stress. Also, though, I thanked
the Lord for reminding me he's in control and
to call on his loving guidance for not only myself
but for those non Christians involved in the work
situation of this morning.

I gotta tell you, the Lord truly is wonderful and
never stops amazing me with how prayers are
answered when they are from the heart and as
a request for clarity to fulfill his will.

You see, not only did the Lord take away what
could have very easily been a very tense situation
with a cross functional (dysfunctional) group's
tendency to be negative, but I honestly believe
he also forged a spirit of positive cooperation the
likes I have never experienced from my previous
encounters with these same people.

One of my associates, very nervous before the
meeting, commented afterwards how well things
had turned out. He mentioned that we were
"lucky" our last minute preparations had actually
turned out better than expected.

Well, in a way he was totally right. That is the
preparations in trusting in the Lord & asking him
to lay hands on the situation and especially the group
dynamic.

I know it was not from me but truly from above!

Thank you Lord Jesus, for answering another of my
prayers and for being my savior and teacher.

Psa 37:3

Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.

Amen.

Here I Am

I tend to favor simple to understand concepts and as such
the easiest way to find lasting peace through God is to start
by just stating earnestly "here I am..."

It took me well into my 40's to truly learn this lesson, even
though I'd grown up in the church and believed in God - I was
not what you would have called a holy person - especially on
Sundays during football season.

Most people go through life having tried just about everything
the world has to offer in an attempt to fill that gaping spiritual
hole we all have without being directly connected to the source
which created it (along with our entire body).

That hole I'm speaking of is your spiritual self.







To get your "spiritual plug-in", all you have to do
is sincerely ask God as in Revelations 3:20 -

"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone
hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and
eat with him, and he with me."

So, I ask those who have waited or have found that trying
everything else (drugs, alcohol, etc.) unhealthy for your
spiritual well being, isn't time to finally find that one thing
which will finally bring you everlasting joy & peace?

Hello World

Today, I finally decided to commit to creating this blog
website after much prayerful consideration the past year.

Here's a brief background behind its purpose.

You see, my career as a professional web analytics and
internet marketer who has helped many organizations
achieve success in generating revenues has left me with
a sense of emptiness.

That emptiness was one of satisfaction and sadness in that
while I was adept at enabling organizations to find and convert
prospective customers via the internet, I had not yet found
the proper forum to apply those same God given skills to
reaching the great masses of non believers seeking an
alternative to contemporary living.






So, while there are plenty of churches for those who want
to experience the joy and peace Christ provides in a more
traditional setting, I felt compelled to somehow figure out
how to responsibly leverage the internet and web 2.0
technology to reach an even larger audience who were for
what ever reason "missing out" on understanding the truth
and peace waiting for them, by not experiencing the fellowship
from a Sunday church service.

That's the purpose of this blog website.

To utilize the internet and especially web 2.0 technologies
to bring non believers to Christ in a non threatening way
which delivers the powerfully, eternal benefits of being
a Christian.

Over the coming weeks, as we introduce more content,
you will find a focus evolving to include prayers answered
as well as an opportunity to request prayers.

Thus, this blog website will become an internet based
living testament into those things which matter most.

Enjoy.