Hello! Its good to be back! If you read my last post on April 8, 2021 called Restart, I moved away from making this blog a place of work. This is one of my happy places. I roam here. I discover here. I write what is on my mind and what is happening in my world here. Then one day I made it an extension of my work. I work for a church congregation. I desire and am passionate to find anyway to help our congregation connect with the Word of God and with the people. But I can’t have this space be a work space. This boundary I intend to keep. So, I am back to writing because I love it.

When I was last here, I mentioned a conversation that I had with the Lord.

As I began to pray and ponder on why I again did this – searching for the answers. The Lord simple said, “What did I ask you to do?” I said, “Read and Pray through Psalms.”

Sunday2Monday – April 8,2021

That is where I have been! I have been reading and praying through Psalms.

The first week I slid into the 7th day slowly and was so thankful for a slower pace.

The second week I had asked for encouragement and my community on Facebook delivered.

The third week I had seen how King David gave full vent to his emotion through prayer to God and how that is healthy and good for me too.

The forth week I sensed God moving in my heart by moving my mouth and using moments of tears to call me deeper into certain prayer moments

The fifth week I had a deep revelation that ‘we miss God by being so busy, and off doing what we think is the most important things.’

The sixth week I uncovered a lie of the enemy that told me that I was a bad pray-er. I came to the conclusion that there is no wrong way to pray. What is important is that we follow the Lord and do it. I don’t know how to explain it but the Lord has broken a stronghold of guilt and condemnation off of me that I didn’t even know I was carrying about being a bad pray-er. #Freedom comes when you follow Jesus. Trust and Obey! 40 days in and victory came!

The seventh week I hit an “I don’t wanna” wall that I had to push through. Thoughts invaded my mind like,”40 is enough right!? You don’t need to do it for 90.”Whats the big deal?” Well, the deal is I agreed to 90 days of prayer through psalms. God said it and I am determined that my yes will mean yes. Integrity matters to me. Isn’t it interesting that ” a thing” that lives in us tries to sabotage us (the Bible calls that the flesh) it tries to convince us that giving up is no big deal? I found my spirit may be strong, my mind may be determined, but I will still have to work it out through my body and at times it will rebel. I pressed on.

The eighth week the “feel good” feelings worn off, and it was the habit muscles I built and determination that keep me going.

The ninth week something shifted mid-week and I felt that I was connected and praying intentionally. I wasn’t just praying but I was alive with prayer. I entered into a new space.

Tomorrow is my tenth week and as of today I have 23 days left of this 90 days in Psalms challenge that the Lord asked of me. I am excited to see where the Lord takes me next. What I do know, I am not going to let it be my idea. I have a lot of them. While some of them are good and exciting. I truly would like to just follow the Lord.

Doing something, like reading psalms for 90 days can be difficult for people who are easily distracted. I haven’t seen myself as someone who is a distracted person but I did find moments of that on my journey through Psalms. Martin Luther said, ”A nail is driven out by another nail; habit is overcome by habit.” Building habits of Christian discipline into your regular, everyday, routines can help us in the process of transformation. The Spirit of God does the transforming as we implement and practice what the Lord has asked of us.

This sounds a lot like one of my first blogs from when I first started back writing again after our new pastor came. Here is an excerpt:

Here’s the trouble: we want the quick fix. There is no such thing as a quick fix when it comes to transformation in Christ. But building habits into our routines can help us on becoming more disciplined in our lives to bring about the things we are partnering with God to achieve. We live in habitual motions. We have routines built into our day whether we like routine or not. When a habitual movement gets broken then all the things connected to it also fall apart. It’s like a little saying I use “little shifts make big changes.” This is why change is scary and why people don’t like it. One little change messes with more than just what you think you’re changing. Which is also why it is important to follow the Lords lead in what to change rather than to go the rogue way and start turning your life upside down. If you allow your inner self to be renewed day by day as you follow the Lord. CHANGE WILL HAPPEN. If you don’t. CHANGE WILL HAPPEN and you won’t like it and you may wake up one day and not recognize the self you drifted into.

Watering Hole: Habits and Changes January 20,2021

Seems I didn’t listen….again.

My quick fix was to add my blog space as a work space.

It was not a good fit.

Here’s to being back to just thinking again…

All is grace,

Starla