The Month of June
Welcome to this new month of June….. and all that Father has on His heart, that He has planned especially for each one of us – in love. Exciting! Praying too that the good weather will continue and allow us all to be out exploring His creation and giving thanks for all the beauty He has surrounded us with……
Talking to God
Recently the Lord took me to Matthew (6:6-15), where Jesus is teaching His disciples about prayer. It is good to be reminded of the importance of spending time in a quiet place alone, whenever that is possible, I don’t have a mountain near me needless to say but, as I live on my own, I have plenty of ‘quiet’ places. And with the better weather on the way, I’m looking forward to being able once again, to spend time sitting under my wisteria arch in the garden with Jesus – in my own ‘secret place’!
I think the Message translation expresses it particularly well:
“Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.” Matthew 6:6 MSG
Please don’t misunderstand me and think I’m saying we can only pray when we take ourselves off to a quiet, private place. That’s not what I’m saying at all – and I don’t believe that was what Jesus was saying. But I think it is important to have some time, however short or long it might be, to have, if it’s at all possible, some time alone with Jesus each day. I also believe it’s important for us to include Him in everything we do through each day, and continually talk to Him about all we are doing – and ask Him to guide us.
Simplicity
Something that Jesus says in these verses in Matthew, particularly struck me…. He says not to use too many words and not to keep repeating things – in other words, He says to keep it simple. Then He shares with us what is known as ‘the Lord’s Prayer’ – very simple and straight forward, which covers so much with very few words!
The Lord’s Sense of Humour
I don’t know to what extent you think that the Lord might have a sense of humour – but, through the years, I’ve found myself laughing with Him over various situations. This has been especially true then I’ve suddenly realised He’s been trying to teach me something, and maybe it’s taken time for the penny to drop!
By now you’re probably wondering why I on earth I’m talking about this in connection with prayer! Well…. let me try and explain. Through the years I’ve often found it difficult to express myself, and that is especially true in what I’ve wanted to say in prayer; and even more difficult if I was in a ‘prayer meeting’ where, for obvious reasons, there were other people present. I never seemed able to find the words I needed, and there were never very many of them. So I laughed when it hit home to me that Jesus was saying to keep it simple and not use too many words.
Now, those who’ve known me for a while, know that it’s comparatively recently that I’ve become a writer, and particularly an author – in fact only in the last three years! It’s been through God’s grace alone and He’s used some very gracious and dear friends to help draw the gift He’d given me (that I didn’t realise was in me!) out of me.
Obviously I find myself with a much greater command of words now, and find it overflows into my prayer life….. This time round, when I realised again that Jesus was saying keep it simple and not to use too many words, I found myself laughing again with the Lord. Now, instead of finding I don’t have enough words – I can sometimes find myself having too many!! 😅
Sharing
There’s a desire in my heart that those of you reading this – even if the reason varies from simple curiosity through to hoping you might learn more in your walk with the Lord – would maybe feel able / confident to share some of your own experiences in learning to talk with your Father.
I know it’s a big ask – especially for those who are not used to / find it difficult to express themselves in this way because it makes them feel somewhat exposed! I identify with that completely but I also know that, if it’s something Father asks of you, there is so much freedom in being obedient – which is my own experience.
If you’ve read, or even just dipped into, either of my books (see the Books section), that was something I definitely had to walk through with the Lord. If I hadn’t- neither book would have been written and published!
So I’ll leave that for you to ask Father about….. 🙏
God bless and trust you’ll have a blessed and relaxing weekend with Jesus 💃🏻🙌🙏❣️
PS If you have any need of prayer in any area – please let me know in the ‘prayer requests’ in the Home section.