Sticky Note Prayers

While most churches take a break from women's Bible study gatherings for the summer, our church gets revved  up. 

 I LOVE that we are part of a church body that does crazy abnormal things.  :)

God is not a cookie cutter God, He is so creative and the more we look to Him every day for every activity the more wonderfully abnormal we are and the more crazy beautiful He can make us.  

I was praying about what this summer Bible study would look like and how we can get the most out of it.  I know for a fact I am not interested in just putting in my time, or going through the motions, and I know the women that have committed to coming are not interested in just putting another thing on the 

"to-do list".  

We are all busy and summers are too short and packed as it is.

I was asking the Lord for direction on every detail of our time together, and especially wanting to know how to handle our prayer time as a group.

 He gave me a picture in my mind that I thought was just too good not to share, because I believe it applies to a lot of women.

The picture was of God sitting on His throne, so beautiful and full of love, and women were scurrying, almost like mice, back and forth  and back and forth to Him without even really looking at Him.

Each time they came to Him they brought him little sticky notes, and once in while, in His presence, they would jot something down on a sticky note and take it back with them to where they came.  Back and forth and back and forth these women would go.  

They were busy and active and doing the same quick repeated motions over and over.

God was showing me a picture of what we, as women do with God so many times.  

We just take Him sticky notes; constant quick prayer requests, for our kids, and our spouses, and our parents and our friends, our friend's kids, our nieces and nephews and grand kids and on and on the sticky notes go.
 We bring all our requests to Him, which is good and right and biblical, but instead of hanging around in His presence long enough to actually connect with God, and let Him minister to OUR hearts and fill US with His love, we are just giving him sticky notes.
 Once in awhile we give Him a moment to speak to us and we quickly jot it down to pass on to this person or that person rather than just soaking it in for a moment and letting it minister to us.

 I am ALL ALL ALL for praying for our families and our loved ones and prayer chains, and prayer groups, prayer partners, prayer prayer prayer,
 ALL OF IT ALL OF THE TIME.
  I find myself  leaving it at that too many times.

 I use up all my time with Him telling Him my requests for this person or that person, and not even really knowing what I need, or addressing any of my heart issues.

I have tried a few times now, to just spend my time with God, just focusing on our relationship and telling Him what is on my heart and my mind besides everyone I know and love.

  The crazy thing is, all I could come up with is the sticky notes, bringing my kids and grand kids and husband and friends and on and on the sticky notes go again.

Our relationship won't grow, 
I won't come to know Him better
 or look more like Him if all I do is a sticky note routine.

I think of it in terms of when my kids get home from school and I ask how their day was.  If they were to tell me about everyone in their class except for about themselves and how their day was, I would feel disconnected.
 Or worse yet, if they just handed me the note from their teacher and ran off again without saying a word.

 I know that God knows it all and He knows me better than I know myself, but if I leave it at that  I'm only shorting myself.  I find myself saying to God,
 "You know my heart and what is best for me, so just do what is best."
There is no passion, or relationship or growth in that, it's a go thru the motions kinda prayer,
 I want more, I want more of Him.

 There's more of Him than what I'm getting.
I want to be satisfied first thing in the morning and have it last all day, this is my prayer:

Psalm 90:14 (NIV)

14 

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,

    that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

If we want to connect with God, we have to come before Him and let Him work in us, not just in the people we love so much and care for, but in us.

 This is the one area we can be completely 
selfish
 because there is more than enough to go around.

John 7:37-38English Standard Version (ESV)

Rivers of Living Water

³⁷ On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. ³⁸ Whoever believes in me, as^[a]the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”

He is enough to fill us up and all of our loved ones, we don't have to keep going to the back of the line,
He can fill us and satisfy us everyday for eternity!

I honestly don't even know what I need or am passionate about most of the time, but here's the beauty of it, God does know me better than I know myself, and in order for me to connect with Him, and be of any use to those that I love,
 I need to get in tune to 
His Spirit 
that lives inside of me.  

I'm excited to see what it looks like when a group of women hold off on the sticky notes for an hour a week and get completely selfish with Jesus and let Him come alive in us.

Psalm 16:11English Standard Version (ESV)

11 

You make known to me the path of life;

    in your presence there is fullness of joy;

    at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.