MikeWindley.com

My grandmother is turning 95 this week! I am very fortunate to still have 3 grandparents living. And Grandmother Rose turns 95 on Monday. She was born the year the Titanic sank! Isn’t that amazing? And she is an amazing lady and still possesses (did I spell that right?) so much vitality. She lives (with one of my uncles) in the only home I have ever known her to live in. Remarkably, she hasn’t driven a car since she was maybe 16 years old. I’m told that she crashed into a mailbox while learning to drive and immediately decided that driving was not for her. She raised 4 children, taught piano lessons, and played piano at church for most of her life. She didn’t put up with a lot of nonsense from her grandchildren. I distinctly remember her locking me out of my own house as a child because she felt I should be outside playing instead of watching TV.

Anyway…we are celebrating Grandmother’s birthday on Sunday so I am going to miss church! Typically, whenever I miss church, let’s say, while on vacation, I still try to attend church wherever I am. I love church. And I love being in church – connecting in worship with God and connecting with others on their spiritual journey. I also like to visit other churches to experience different worship styles.

I won’t be able to atend any church this Sunday, but due to my church addiction, I will be there to help set our church up on Sunday and then scoot out early to be with Grandmother.

Anyway…I hope whoever reads this will not miss the opportunity to be at church somewhere this weekend!

This past Sunday evening I was invited to one of the “Connection Groups” at our church. I want to applaud Matt and Lauren for their leadership in this group. These guys have such amazing hearts for God and such a heart for people. Matt and Lauren really love their neighbors and their group members. They are such great models of friendship, service, community, and Christ.

While I’m throwing out the priase, let throw a little out to the others that were present that evening as well. It was really great getting to hang out you guys and gals from church that I often don’t get a chance to see outside of Sunday mornings. I wish I could attend all the groups all the time. There are so many amazing people at our church. Our lives are so different, but we share a common spiritual journey that unites us. Anyway…Andy, Beth, Melany, Travis and Jennifer – I had a great time hanging out. I hope we can do it again soon.

A friend of mine has shared a couple of cliches/quotes with me recently that I enjoyed. I didn’t want to forget them (and if you know me at all, I forget almost everything. I really think I have a handicap that will never be diagnosed). Anyway…here’s what he says:

“I may not be much, but I’m all I think about.”

and

“God is either everything or He is nothing. He can’t be somewhere in between.”

That second quote is not exact. I may need to get some clarification. But, you get the point.

As always, “Good morning to ya.” Hope your day is going great or went great!

Let’s pray again today, “Lord Jesus Christ, speak to me.”

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. ” 1 Peter 5:6-7

The 4th letter in the ACTS prayer pattern stands for “supplication.” This is my least favorite word of the four – adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication. My reason for not liking it so much is, “Who uses the word supplication in everyday life?” What does it mean? It basically means, “ask.” Supplication means to ask God or request God about certain things in your life. It is what most of think of when we think of prayer. Most people think of prayer as asking God for stuff. And asking is a part of prayer. But only a part. God wants us to bring our requests, our hurts, our problems, our needs, to Him. He wants us to pray for other people. For the sick. For the hurting. For people apart from God. God is there for us. He wants us to “cast all our anxiety on Him” because He cares for us.

I was recently sharing these ACTS of prayer with some teenagers from our church. And I asked them, if God were come in the door, what do you think you would say to Him? One young lady said, “I would probably start asking Him a bunch of questions.” She thought she would want Him to answer all the unanswered questions in her life. She was basically saying that she would start asking God for things as soon as He walked in the door. I asked her to think about it her response and she realized that doing so would be a little presumptive. She realized that a more natural and appropriate response to God’s presence would not be to being with questions/requests/supplication, but with praise/adoration/confession. God does want us to ask, but as we pray, I think the ACTS prayer is a good pattern to follow. Start with adoration. Begin with praise. Move to confession. Ask for God’s forgiveness. Thank Him for his forgiveness. Thank Him for His blessings. And then lay your requests before Him. Sit at his feet and pour out your heart. Talk to Him. Tell Him about your life. And enjoy being in His presence. He enjoys your company.

Take some time today and everyday and pray through the ACTS of prayer.

Good morning everyone! Hope you’ve been having a great week. I must admit, I’ve been a little anxious this week. I keep praying and asking God to make sense of this anxiety I’m having. I still haven’t figured it out yet. Anyway…

Lord Jesus Christ, speak to me.

Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help. Daniel 6:10-11

The “T” in ACTS stands for thanksgiving. The biblical character Daniel didn’t pray any prayers of thanks in his prayer in chapter 9 of Daniel (that’s what we’ve looked at the past two days). But if you go back to chapter 6 (above) you see that Daniel was definitely in the habit of giving thanks. Apparently, he had three special times of the day that he set aside to connect with God and part of that time in prayer was used giving thanks.

We have a ton to be thankful for. I know I do. My wife. My son. My home. My health (I could be a quadriplegic or dead if not for modern medicine and a lot of prayer). Friends. A job. Avery comfortable life. Heat. Electricity. Moe’s. Long John Silvers. Okay. I know I’m getting a little petty, but I can and should be thankful for even the small stuff! And God hears and answers my prayers. I am thankful for that too.

Take some time today, like Daniel, and set it aside to pray. Begin with ADORATION. Reflect back to God how wonderful He is. The get honest with God. CONFESS what you’ve done wrong. Ask His forgiveness. Then take some time to THANK God for the blessings in your life.

Have a great day.