Author: lorisprayercloset

Belief

Belief

I am thankful today; thankful for belief, such a simple word and yet it makes the difference for all eternity. I am thinking today of what a miracle it is that we come to belief at all, with so many forces around us telling us not to believe in what we can’t see, and yet we do. And yet it is not belief alone, for as the Bible tells us, the demons believe too, and tremble. It is the life-changing belief that makes us put it all on the line for Christ; the belief that leads to repentance and changed ways. Turning from one way of living to another, like Jesus so patiently explained to Nicodemus late at night.
Each day we have so much to rejoice in as believers. The Bible says that this path of belief is narrow, and there are few that find it. I am honored to be part of that few. Sometimes it seems as if the whole world is going against it, people want what sounds good to them, and that is not the way of Christ. The way of Christ goes against our very nature, so the fact that we find Him at all is only because of the Holy Spirit making Himself known to us. Something in us has listened, responded, and we have recognized our maker. The great mystery is why me? That question alone should bring me to my knees each and every day, in gratitude and humility asking, “What can I do to get closer to You?”

The answer is always in His word, our compass and guide. Help me Lord to never stop asking what I can do for You. Help me to love You more, and in loving You more, love people more. And finally, make me a blessing to those around me. Sometimes I forget that in order to truly love You, we must love people. I confess I can lose myself in a stack of books and forget there is world outside my window; but I thank you God that you are the great “changer” of human nature. You have taken my old nature, and replaced it with Your nature. Help me to look more and more like Your Son. And help me not hide my faith under a bushel, but shine it out for all to see like a lighthouse on a foggy shore.

Brooklyn Tabernacle Video

It is a blessed day, as I drove to work this morning I was listening to the Brooklyn Tab in my car and the sun was just coming over the Superstitions, (one of the few good things about going to work so early.) As I listened to their music I was once again lifted to the Heavens. I included one of their videos on the blog today. (Above) Keep in mind when you listen/watch Carol Cymbala directing that choir, that she has had no formal musical training, she can’t read music, and yet she has written many songs that have rocketed to the top of the charts and are sung in many churches today. They have perfomed at Madision Square garden and many other places all over the world. Many of the singers and musicians were homeless, living on the streets of New York, many addicted to drugs and alcohol, were illiterate, and many were very successful but on their own collision course of destruction. One a famous hairstylist for many years, one a top model. But they all had one thing in common, they desperately needed the love of Christ. When they sing, their tears flow freely because they remember where they were before. It is apparent they sing not for any worldly glory or success but for God alone. They are a living testament to what God can do in all of our lives if we only let Him. Lori

Hope

On Hope,

Hope is that thing that starts as a leak of light into the heart…..
A shift, an oh-so-slight change of feeling.
Like the first crack of dawn that comes over the horizon.

And even though the bleakness is still there, you feel that it may not
Always be so.

Sometimes it’s a momentous event that changes everything suddenly,
And sometimes it’s what you read in a book when you realize that
Someone else on earth has felt or is feeling exactly what you feel.

Then you think, well, if they came through it then certainly I can too.

My very first blog

This is my first ever post, and after much procrastination I finally made the first foray into the world of blogging. It is my hope that someone reading my posts will give encouragement to others in their walk of faith.

I chose the name “prayer closet” because of the verse in Matthew 6:6 that says, “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret will reward thee openly. That is the King James version, but I love what Eugene Peterson’s message translation does with it, “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.”

In His Peace, Lori