Author: Beth Morrison

“Pray continually.”  1 Thessalonians 5:17 NIV
I listened to a great message this week on this verse.  The message was actually on spending time with God in prayer. When he started talking about this verse, he challenged his listeners, “How do you pray continually?”
It turns out, for many of us, culture has identified prayer as something that is time consuming.  Something that needs to be set apart.  Something that has to be reverent, spiritual, intentional.
Prayer is reverent, it is spiritual and it is intententional.  It does not however have to be set apart from our daily lives.  It isn’t another thing that has to be added to our schedule.  It is something that is a lifestyle.
It is something that can be done in 140 characters or less, all day long.
I do believe you should have time that is set aside for God.  For me, that is the start of my day.  I love to close myself in my prayer closet and begin my day with God.  I read His word, I journal, I listen.  It’s wonderful.  I love to get up at least an hour earlier than my actual day begins and give this time to him.  The earlier the better.  That’s just the start though.  It’s easy to walk away from these quiet times and put God back in His box, or leave Him in my closet and go about my day.
How do we keep that communication with Him going?  How do we incorporate it into our day?  How does it become a lifestyle?
I realized as I listened to this message it’s a 140 character or less lifestyle for me.  It’s continuous and it’s all day.
Why 140 characters?  In today’s world, in today’s technology, we have become conditioned to the 140 character limit.  We twitter in 140 characters.  We text in 140 characters.  We even Facebook in 140 characters.  We have learned we don’t have to say much to get our point across.
It’s the same way with praying.  Praying continuously doesn’t mean long dialogues with eloquent words.  It’s keeping in touch with God throughout your day.  Letting Him be a part of every day.  Unlike your spouse or your best friend, He always answers.  He’s waiting on the text, He already has a reply before you even send it.
Short, heartfelt prayers are just as reverent, just as spiritual and just as intentional as long winded ones.  Maybe even more so.
Here are examples of a 140 character or less prayers:
“Lord help me.”
“Lord, give me words.”
“Lord, keep my mouth shut.”
“Lord, bless them.”
“Lord, correct them.”
“Lord, show them the way.”
Are you beginning to get the drift?  I’m praying in 140 characters or less you will.
“Lord, eyes to see and ears to hear.”
What are your short prayers that keep you in touch with God throughout your day?  I’d love to hear them.
 

““Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”” Matthew‬ ‭11:28-30‬ ‭NIV‬‬
Rest. Relax. Renew. Repeat.
I think those may be my four favorite words. I think I need someone to say them to me often. It turns out putting them into practice isn’t as easy as it sounds.
I’m putting them into practice today.
When this morning started out, when I placed my beach chair in the sand, as I pulled off my cover-up and settled in my chair, I felt burdened. I felt defeated. I felt sad. I wanted to cry. All of the long days and long hours I’ve been working have caught up with me.
My patience was worn thin. My tolerance level was low. My judgement meter was high. My love tank was empty.
I’m not completely filled back up yet, I am however on the way. I started by reading my Bible. I opened my journal to write the scriptures God showed me. I poured my heart out to Him on paper. I was honest I didn’t lie.
I felt hatred towards someone, I told Him who. I asked Him to renew my heart and let me see them through His eyes, not mine. God loves everyone, even those who offend us. I love how He softened my heart. I love how He showed me they didn’t mean to offend me. They don’t even know they offended me. They were doing the best they could with what they had. He turned my hatred into love. Only God can do that.
I am so saddened by the hatred in our country. The incident in Charlottesville, one of my favorite places, is burdensome. As I scroll through facebook and see people make hateful statements, convinced they are right, thinking they are loving, it breaks my heart. God addressed it in my Bible reading:
“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭7:14‬ ‭NIV‬‬
My first inclination was to post it on Facebook, but then God stopped me. I realized He wanted me to pray it for our nation. He lifted my burden. He showed me how to pray. I first need to humble myself. I need to turn from my wicked ways. I need to seek His face.
Letting God examine your heart will be revealing. It can be painful. None of us are without sin, yet we find it easier to focus on someone else’s sin rather than deal with our own. I have used this phrase often in the past few weeks:
“When you point your finger at someone else, there are four fingers pointing back at you.”
I don’t know where it originated. I do know it’s true. I’ve been praying people will stop pointing fingers. Including myself. I’ve been praying people will humble themselves and turn to God. I’ve been praying they will address the sin in their lives, instead of focusing on others.
I’m feeling rested. I’m feeling relaxed. I’m feeling renewed.
I went to God weary and burdened. He has given me rest. I have taken His yoke upon me and I’m learning to be gentle and humble in heart. He has given rest to my soul. His yoke is easy, His burden is light.
First, however, we need to seek Him. I’m praying for you, whoever reads this. I’m praying you will seek Him. I’m praying you will take on his yoke, learn His ways, find His rest.
It’s there, waiting for you!

“Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it.”  Song of Songs 8:7
Today is our fifth anniversary.  Two people who most had written off would never get married are celebrating the first 1826 days of their life together.  (Can’t forget that extra day we had thanks to leap year.)
I was 41 years old when we met, just a month shy of 43 when we married.  Neither of us have been married before.  Neither of us had children.  An anomaly.  No one thought either of us would marry.  I’m sure if you asked our family and friends, if they were honest, they would give you a list of reasons why that would be true.
They would of been wrong.  They didn’t take into account the God factor.
God’s timing is always perfect.  I can say with complete confidence if I had met Ron one day earlier than I did, it wouldn’t of been perfect.  It wouldn’t of been on a tennis court, on a beautiful fall evening.  He wouldn’t of taken my breath away quite like he did.  Not if it had been even one day earlier.
If I hadn’t waited through my thirties.  If I hadn’t worked on who I was and the issues I had, I wouldn’t of been ready for the love we share.  I wouldn’t have been able to receive the love Ron has for me.  I wouldn’t of been able to give him the love I have for him.  I needed to let God into all of those place, shine His light on all of those past hurts and heal me.  I had to understand who I was in Christ before I could become who God had created me to be, Ron’s wife.
Every day God gives us together reminds me of how intricately God is intertwined in our lives.
“Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”  Ecclesiastes 4:12
From our happiest days, to our saddest, God is a part of them all.  I love thinking about how we listened to a series on marriage on our honeymoon.  I joke our first marriage counseling was the doubles clinics we did that week.  Ironically, playing tennis together is something that we can’t do anymore. Even more ironic since that’s how we met.  We still are trying to figure out why that is?
On our saddest days, He’s there too.  If I ever doubt God’s presence in my life I think about the day my beloved Cody died.  He was the closest thing to a son I think I will ever have.  That day, the day I received the dreadful call, Ron had walked in the door just five minutes earlier.  That was God in our lives.  Ron was there to hear my scream.  He was there to drive me to the hospital. He was there to hold me in the depths of my grief.  God knew that day was coming and he knew I would need Ron.  I know, without a doubt, when we face our greatest fears, God is there to carry us through.
It is through the people he places in our lives.  At the right times, the right moments, that He cares for us.  It is why we should follow the promptings we have to reach out to someone, to pray for them, to be there for them.  Those promptings are what leads to steps of faith.  When we take them, we have no idea where they will lead.  There is one thing I am sure of, I want to go where God leads me more than any other place.
It was a prompting that caused me to email Ron that first time.  It was a step of faith that this time it would be different.  It was one step after another that led our relationship, that tells our story.  I love that we followed God’s plan for our lives.  The memories we made are so vibrant, our story is so full of life.  
I’m trusting God that this is just the beginning.  I pray often He’ll give us forty more years together.  I pray specifically that they will be happy, prosperous and healthy.  I know there are no guarantees about tomorrow.  I’m grateful for today.
I’m grateful for the first five, I’m hopeful for the next five.  I’m thankful God created a man that is perfect for me.  When I see his smile my heart skips.  I am constantly amazed at his response to life, so different from mine.  It is a gift.  We do complement each other.  His strengths are my weaknesses, mine his.  
It takes work.  It can be hard at times.  I love even when I’m so mad at him I could spit, I still want to be with him.  I’m thankful to have waited.  I’m thankful I trusted.  I’m grateful for every new day we receive.  I’m grateful God is our third chord that cannot be easily broken.
Happy anniversary my Love!  Praying for many more years together!

“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
What a beautiful picture, humbling yourself so that God can lift you up.
I was listening to a message this week from one of my favorite pastors, Vince Antonucci.  He pastors Verve church which sits in the heart of Las Vegas.  He shared how Quakers have a tradition.  When they go before the Lord in quiet time they turn their hands with palms facing down.  This is their way of emptying themselves of whatever is distracting them from their relationship with God.  Then, once they have emptied themselves, they turn their hands palms facing up.  This is when God fills them up with His Spirit now that they have emptied themselves of theirs.
Isn’t that a beautiful way to come before the Lord?
I just stopped and did that.  Right now, in the midst of writing this blog.  It was amazing.
As I turned my hands over I thought of all the things I needed to let go of today.  There was so much.  As I started listing things in my mind, more kept coming.  It felt good to visualize them pouring out of my down turned palms.
Then I rushed it, and I turned my hands back over.  I felt this immediate prompting from the Lord:
“No, there’s more.”
I wasn’t finished letting go.  I could feel it in my Spirit.  I immediately turned my hands back over.  There was more.  The Lord was right.  I had bitterness hiding in the crevices, there was jealousy that I hadn’t acknowledged.  I felt unforgiveness begin to flow out of my hands.  All things I needed to let go of today.  Now.
Finally, when I felt the last drop fall from my palms.  I turned my hands back over.  I let the Lord begin to fill me back up.
I prayed for His light to pour into me.  I prayed for His love to  fill me.  I prayed that nothing be hidden from Him.  I gave Him access to my entire heart.
It was amazing!  It was energizing.  I feel lighter than I’ve felt in days.  I feel able to take on the rest of my day.  I feel renewed.   I feel refreshed.  I feel loved.  I feel close to God.
I encourage you.  Try it.  Find a quiet place to sit and do as the Quakers do.  Turn your palms over and empty yourself. Cast all your cares on the Lord. When you’re ready, not a second too soon, turn them over and ask Him to fill you back up.
Prepare to be amazed!
 

“So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”  John 13: 34-35
Love Week!
Love Week is something my church started doing seven years ago.  In fact, my husband and I’s first church service was the introduction of the very first Love Week.
What is Love Week?
Love Week is when members of our church go out into the community and serve.  They become the hands and feet of Jesus as they serve meals, paint houses, clean out drains.  The list is endless.  My husband and I have worked at the food pantry, cleaned animal crates, given blood, cleaned nature trails.
I loved what we did this year.  We cleaned out drains along the Noland Trail.  It was awesome.  By the time we were finished we were  covered in dirt, drenched in sweat and very hungry.  Our knees hurt, our backs felt it, but we felt great.
People thanked us as they ran or walked by us.  They were genuinely touched that we were doing such a laborious job.
Of course, I was in my glory, I got to play in dirt.
Love Week is literally one of my favorite weeks of the year.  I love seeing Jesus in action.  I love how our church dons the Love Week T-shirt and heads out into the community.
Not to judge.  Not to preach.  Only to help the community we live in be better.  Be stronger.  Be beautiful.
My favorite quote, I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again:
“Preach the gospel always, use words only when necessary.”  St. Francis of Assisi
Love Week shares the gospel without saying a word!

“…He stirs up his breezes, and the waters flow.”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭147:18‬ ‭NIV‬‬
I did something yesterday that I haven’t done in a very long time.  In fact, I can’t remember the last time I did it.  I’m pretty sure it was as a child.
I floated.
I stretched my arms out wide on the waters of the Chesapeake Bay and I floated.  I just let the water carry me. I have to say it was very difficult.  Not the act of floating, the act of relaxing.
It became an experiment for me.  I was determined to just let go.  It was such an odd experience to be just laying there doing nothing, yet moving.  I found my neck wanting to tense, I had to consciously tell it to relax.  I found my arms wanting to move, I had to work to hold them still.  My feet wanted to kick, I had to keep them quiet.
I was close to shore, the water was only a few feet deep.  I could easily reach down and touch the sand beneath.  This gave me comfort, helped me to relax a little more.  It was something about having the security of the land right beneath me that made me feel safe.
The only way I was finally able to completely relax was to start focusing my thoughts on God.
I started thinking that this is what He wants me to do always.  To trust Him and to let Him lead me.  I began to realize how hard I fight against Him.  How I find myself wanting to go in a different direction than where He is taking me.  How I always want the security of a safety net, like touching the sand beneath me.  That I didn’t completely trust Him to carry me, like the water was at that moment.
As I started to realize these things, I started to “feel” the waves around me.  I began to be more present in the moment.  I started to realize the difference in the waves.  For the most part they were gentle and it was easy to float.  Every now and then a larger one would come and make it more difficult.  A couple of times water splashed in my face and I choked a little bit and there was an immediate sense of panic.  Those were the times when I wanted to stop floating and just quit.
Then I realized this is like life.
For the most part our days are routine.  Nothing major happens and we just go about our business.  Some days are a little rougher, we aren’t quite ourselves but we persevere. Then there are those days that choke us, where we feel like we can’t breathe.  Days we just want to quit.  Those are the toughest.  Those are the hardest days to stay afloat.
There was something else I observed in the few minutes of floating.  The direction I was headed.  Every now and then I would peek to see where I was.  In the course of those few moments, I had turned completely around from the way I had started.
Just like life.
How many times have you headed in one direction, just to find yourself in the complete opposite?  Even more, how many times has following God caused you to do the exact opposite of what you want to do?
Love instead of hate. Forgive instead of punish.  Let go instead of hold on.  Honor instead of disrespect. Trust instead of doubt.  Persevere instead of quit.
I have no idea how long I floated.  I do know that I never wanted it to end.  As I laid there, feeling the sun on my face, the waves beneath me, my body limp, I felt peace.  I felt love.  I felt secure.  I felt God.
Proverbs 3:5-6 is what kept coming to mind:
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.”  
God was telling me how to float!
I just need to trust Him completely.  I don’t need to understand everything.  I just need to seek Him.  He will always show me the way.
It’s true.  He doesn’t want us to do, He wants us to be.  Be who He created us to be.  Be where He wants us to be.  Be present.  Be real.  Be here.  Be you.
Just be!

“And in the proper season I will send the showers they need.  There will be showers of blessing.”  Ezekiel 34:26
I found this nugget this morning during my morning Bible reading.  I read through the Bible every year at least once, sometimes twice.  I do different plans and studies.  The more I learn, the hungrier I am.
Everyday, there is at least one verse that jumps out at me.  I always write it in my journal.  It’s one of the ways I hear from God.  I love my time with Him.  It’s having morning coffee with my best friend.
My life is showered with blessings.  From my amazing husband to my writing, it’s a myriad of blessings too many to count.
I’m on staff at my church.  We’re currently reading through “Developing the Leader Within You” by John C. Maxwell.  In last weeks chapter he makes a case that “the good is the  the enemy of the best.”
I’ve been pondering this all week.  I’ve realized he is right.   Good is the enemy of the best.
When your life is showered with blessings, there is a lot of good.  For instance I have three passions:  serving the Lord, teaching children and walking dogs.  I get to do all three of those.  They are time consuming.  I also love to write, which also takes time.
They are all good things, but are they the enemy of what is best?  Which of those is the best?  I can even argue that all of them serve the Lord in some manner.  Obviously, serving the Lord is best, but then the question becomes, how?
I’m not sure what the answer is right now.
Interestingly enough, I read an article today about an employee who informed her company she was taking two mental health days. She emailed it to everyone including her CEO. She said she needed them so that she could come back to work the following week at 100%.  The article had gone viral because the CEO of the company had responded.  He essentially said he wished more people would do what she was doing.
He is right as well.
We all need mental health days.  We all need time to step back from our lives.  Look at them from a distance and determine:  What is best?  We need to ask ourselves, what is good in our lives that is keeping us from the best?
Mark Batterson, pastor of National Community Church in Washington D.C. says it this way:
“Change of pace + Change of place = Change of Perspective”
I realize not everyone is capable of a weekend get-a-way.  It doesn’t always have to be to a different location.  Susanna Wesley, mother of John Wesley who founded the Methodist denomination had 19 children.  All except 10 died in infancy.  She had her own way of changing pace and place to gain new perspective.
She didn’t have the luxury of getting a way.  She didn’t  have the luxury of a mental health day.  She did, however have an apron.  When she needed time away she simply put her apron over her head.  That signaled to her entire family that she was not to be disturbed.  The children all knew that she was praying, it was her time with God.
I bet she was a much nicer Mom when that apron came off of her head…
My point is simple.  It’s important to take time for yourself.  Time to reflect.  Time to think about what is good and what is best.  Time to be with God.  Life is so precious.   It is so easy to waste.  It is only with God’s leading that we can find our true purpose and live our life to the fullest.
The real question then is this:
Do you need to put your apron over your head?

“But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.” Matthew 13:16
I was just scrolling through Facebook.  To me, it is a tool to help me know how to pray. It tells me who needs prayer on this particular day.
There is a family who is grieving the loss of their 23 year old daughter from a drug overdose.  There was a dog found buried alive in Georgia, that died the next day.  It’s the one year anniversary of the loss of a best friend for another.
Prayers of comfort are needed.
There are the usual political posts from friends on both sides of the fence.  Lots of people are enjoying the summer.  Yard work is being accomplished today by friends in Florida.  There is pool time being enjoyed in Pennsylavania and people heading to work in California.
Prayers of thanksgiving are lifted.
There are scriptures.  I always wonder what it is about that scripture that made them post it?  What is going on in their life that it touched them?  What point are they trying to make?  Is there someone specific they are hoping will read it?  Is God telling me something?
Prayers of discernment are asked.
I’m always amazed at the ads.  My husband and I share our Facebook page.  He was searching for a generator the other day. Now ads for generators pop up in my feed. That feels very intrusive to me.  How does Facebook know what we’re shopping for so quickly?
Prayers of protection for us.
All in a quick scroll through a social media page.
I’ve heard more than one message about Facebook.  How it’s people posting their highlight reel of their life.  That can definitely be argued.  Or you could look at it from another perspective.  If this is their highlight reel, how sad is the rest of their life?
I always try to look beneath the surface of the post for the motivation of it.
Often, it is pure.  People are just sharing their life.  Sometimes, there is more.  There is sadness, loneliness  and even despair.  We can miss it though if we scroll to quickly.  Within a few minutes you can see all spectrums of life.  People hurting, people rejoicing, people living.
Slow down the scroll.  Look beneath the surface.  Don’t just assume it’s a highlight reel.  Ask yourself is there more to this post than just the picture and the words?  How can I pray for them?  Do they need more than a “like” or a “comment”?  Do they need a phone call, a text or even a hug?
Who needs prayer in your life today?

“Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come.” Jeremiah 33:3
One of my favorite stories…
George Carver Washington, a renowned botanist started his mornings with prayer and Bible reading. He took this verse very seriously. One day he asked the Lord to reveal to him the secrets of the universe. The Lord said he couldn’t handle knowing all of those secrets. George then asked him, “Tell me the secrets of the peanut.” Over the course of the next several years God revealed to him the secrets of the peanut, over 300 uses. When he asked the same thing of the sweet potato, God revealed to him over a 115 uses for it.
Do you have the courage to do what George Carver Washington did?  Do you have the courage to ask God for some of His secrets?
When George did this, it revolutionized his life.  He went from being the son of a slave to a great American scientist.  He served on the faculty of Tuskegee University teaching sustainable farming.  World Leaders Mahatma Gandhi and Joseph Stalin sought his advice.  Thomas Edison told him “Together, we can remake the world.” Henry Ford, as well as Edison offered him state of the art facilities and resources to do his work.
He preferred is laboratory which he called “God’s little workshop.”
He was bold and courageous and he sought God’s secrets.  God answered and as a result, George changed the world and left a heck of a legacy.
What about you?  What secrets do you want God to share with you?  What are your motives?
George’s motives were to grow more intimate with his Creator and to help his fellow man and his nation.
As I prayed over this verse this morning, I wanted to know only one thing.  I wanted to know that a friend of mine that is going through a very difficult time would be ok.  That’s all I wanted God to tell me this morning.
He hasn’t told me what the future holds for her.  He has given me peace that He loves her more than I ever could. He told me He’s got this.
He answered my prayer.
That’s enough for me to know today.  Maybe tomorrow I’ll ask Him to tell me something else.
What do you want to know today?  He’s waiting to answer.

“It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in people.” Psalm 118:8
This is one of my favorite verses, it comes to mind often when dealing with people.  There are many different translations.  KJV says, “It is better to trust in the Lord…”.  It is so true, it is in God we must trust, not man.
I played a golf tournament yesterday with a lovely group of ladies.  One of them was a retired banker.  We were joking at one point about the motto of her old softball team:
“In God we trust, all others we audit.”
I think it’s a great paraphrase of Psalm 118:8, which by the way is the center verse of the Bible.  I don’t think that’s a coincidence.  In the very heart of God’s word, He tells us to trust Him.  That seems about right.
The truth is, we do need to audit people.  We can’t put all of our trust in humans.  For one thing, it’s not fair to put that much pressure on a person.  Secondly, no one can live up to that expectation, not even me.  Only God can be completely trusted.
Trust is such a fragile thing and can be so easily fractured.  Sadly, once broken, it is hard to repair.  When someone lies to me, it breaks my heart in ways that nothing else is capable of doing.
I wonder why they felt the need to lie?  What is it about me that makes them not feel comfortable telling me the truth?  It makes me feel that I have failed them as a friend.  It’s something I don’t understand.
Ironically, often times we lie because we think we’re protecting the person.  Inevitably though, it hurts worse than if the truth had been told in the first place.
Thankfully, we aren’t called to trust people.  We are called to love them.  You can love people you don’t trust.  They may not be your closest confidante, but you can still love them.
Jesus knew better than to trust people:
“But Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew human nature.”  John 2:24
But He does love us, and we’re to love others:
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” John 13:34
It’s true, it’s hard to have a close relationship with someone you can’t trust.  Even truer is the statement, we’re to love them anyway.
I’m grateful that Jesus has set the example.  He’s a hard act to follow, but it is definitely worth the effort!