• It could humble us.
• Remind us that we are dependent upon God and can’t do things on our own.
• Help us focus and prioritize what we do. Help us discover what is most important.
• Help us purge things that have just become habit and may be aren’t as important as they used to be.
• Force us us to adjust and get our of our ruts. Make some changes.
• Teach us to save and be better stewards of the resources we do have.
• Cause us to be hands-on in ministry that we might have simply written checks to before.
• Bring us together and build a tighter family/community.
• Push us to evaluate.
• Allow us and opportunity to see God’s work.

As I consider the blessings that God might have in store for us, one of my favorite verses from Philippians keeps flooding my mind,

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. (Phil. 4:6)

 
I have adopted that as my VOW (Verse Of the Week) My related focus for the week is “Thankful Request.”
 
I will be very intentional about the requests that I make to God this week, both in terms of content and the quality of those requests.
 
What keeps coming to mind as I ponder this verse is that God truly wants and expects us to call out to Him. Like a loving parent, God wants to hear the concerns and desires of your heart.
 
That said, my focus will be on being very specific in the requests that I put before God and making sure that all that I ask is done so from a place of great appreciation.
 
The graphic above is a mini-version of a desktop I created for myself as a constant reminder of my VOW and focus for the week. Feel free to download it by right clicking here: Free Desktop for Week 4.
 Blessings.
   

1. Justin Bieber – Baby ft. Ludacris;  684,597,595 views
2. Jennifer Lopez – On the Floor ft. Pitbull; 463,245,100 vies
3. Lady Gag – Bad Romance;  438,181,560 views
4. Shakira –  Waka Waka (This time for Africa); 435,406,537 views
5. Eminem – Love the Way You Life ft. Rihanna; 419,238,359 views
6. Charlie bit my finger – again!; 403,885,492
7. LMFAO – Party Rock Anthem ft. Lauren Bennett, GoonRock; 338,476,990 views
8. Parto in un letto; 324,131,517 views
9. Eminem – Not Afraid; 305,724,343 views
10. Justin Bieber – Never Say Never ft. Jaden Smith; 290,917,758 views

 
Music videos and a cutesy clip of a kid biting his brothers finger dominated 2011.  Youtube had over 1 trillion playbacks in 2011.  That’s about a 140 views for every person on the planet.   This is just youtube!  We not even talking about facebook, twitter, blogs, tumblr accounts, squidoo lens and innumberable other platforms for virtually connecting people.  The numbers are mind numbing.
 

What if…

My inspiring thought this morning was simply this–What if posting answered prayers became viral?  I am not talking about a video or a post becoming viral, but the activity of posting answered prayers becoming viral.  I would love to see answered prayers spread.   More importantly, we could delight the heart of God and minister to millions of people.   Imagine opening facebook and find dozens of people sharing inspiring answers to prayer or, hundreds of thousands of people on youtube sharing amazing things God has done.
 

Starting the Fire

So, to start this fire of prayer on the internet I have posted my video above of a recently answered prayer that was tremendously meaningful to me.  I hope it is inspiring for someone.  I hope God speaks through it a word someone need to hear.  Most of all I hope it moves you to share your own answered prayer story. Your story doesn’t need to be lengthy. Your story could be a single word: “healed!”, “saved!”, “led”, “strengthened”.
You story does need to be shared. Every answered prayer is a gift from God. One way we honor gifts is to celebrate them by sharing the story.
 
I invite you after watching the video to post your prayer story in the comments below.  Then spread it: like it, stumble upon it, tweet it, tumble it, email it, text it, etc.  You might even want to make your own video.
 
I’ve got nothing against Bieber or cute kid’s biting fingers, but wouldn’t it be awesome if one day some of those top ten spots had something to do with honoring God.  Help make it happen.  Share your story and this post today.
 
Blessing from The Practical Disciple
 
 

 
John: Tell us about Busy Mom Gets Fit and why you started it?
 
Valerie: In August 2011, I was just a few months away from my first Figure Competition. I felt like my thoughts were really consumed by my new fitness way of life and some of my friends and family were interested in it. I didn’t want to annoy my regular Facebook friends with my fitness posts, so I started “Busy Mom Gets Fit” as an outlet for fitness thoughts and to allow me to connect to people who were interested and needed some help or guidance. I have been amazed at the number of people who have joined me on my page.

When I competed, I felt this overwhelming sense of confidence. It wasn’t about competing with the other women in the competition. It was empowering to stand up there and know that I had worked hard and accomplished something. The competition, was more about the journey of getting there. I feel like it has given me a platform to connect to more people and inspire others to go after big goals that may be outside of their comfort zone. (Val with her first trophy and trainers/coaches, pictured right)
 
John: How did prayer play a part in your journey?
 
Valerie: John. I have 3 specific prayers I would like to share:
 
I prayed this several months ago after a day of really feeling inadequate:
 
“I’m sorry that I’m not as faithful as I should be to you. I feel blessed and taken care of but so often I skip reading the Bible and praying like I should.”
 
I immediately felt like God wrapped me up in a hug. I physically felt it. I think he was saying what hugs often say—
 
“It’s ok. You are doing what I want you to do.” I quit beating myself up about it and realize that my job right now is to take care of my boys and continue to do my best.
 
I prayed this when in thought about competition in a Figure competiton:
 
“I’d like to do this. To help others through my journey and not come across as vain. Help others to see my heart.” I think he has answered and done this.
 
I prayed this recently:
 
“If you want to use me through this, I’ll do it.” Almost immediately I started seeing him at work. It’s been fun to watch unfold.

 
John: So now that you have completed your initial goals what are your new goals?
 
Valerie: My initial goal was to keep busy while my husband was away and make a positive change for myself. My new goals are to continue on this fitness journey and see where it leads me.
 
John: What Have you learned spirtitually?”
 
Valerie: Spiritually, I have learned that God can make anything “a God thing”. He has put people in my path almost daily to help me and for me to help. Keep your eyes open, especially when you say you’ll do whatever he wants you to do!!!
 
John: What surprises have you had along the way?
 
Valerie: Use your talents and skills that God gave you. Even if you don’t see the big picture, he’s got a plan.
 
John: I think some readers may be a bit intimidated about starting out. What would you tell someone who is just starting out who wants to take better care of the body God has gifted them with?
 
Valerie: Start with what you put into your mouth. You can’t make any excuses about time or money on this one. We all eat…most of us eat too much. Read Val’s getting started tips.
 
Strength train- It’s benefits are numerous for all. It is the only way to stay fit and lean for the long term.
 
Find a form of cardio that you enjoy and get your heart rate up 60-120 minutes a week.
 
I have an article for those who are getting started called on BusyMomGetsFit.com called, I want to be fit!, Where do I start? In it I lay out several different sample workouts based off of how many days you could go to the gym as well as some other tips.

———————
 
I hope you enjoyed today’s interview and many thanks to Val for taking time to do it.
 
I highly encourage you to go to her Busy Mom Gets Fit Facebook page and ‘like’ it. Valerie is constantly posting inspiration quotes, training tips, links to videos, answers to reader’s questions, and recommendations about equipment. I love it and I think you will too.
 

Photo By Ruth Arnold

Happy New Year!

I hope you had an amazing 2011 full of God’s blessings. I love looking back at the prior year with gratitude and forming intentions for the New Year. As I have been preparing for the New Year an acronym began to form in my mind and a scripture verse came to mind. First, the verse–

For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
2 Timothy 1:6 (NASB)

Five Core Intentions for the New Year

This passage came to mind because I thought of a fitting acronym for five core intentions to hold this year: S.P.A.R.K.
 

• Study
• Prayer
• Action
• Rest
• Kindle

 
I feel like my spiritual fire has died down a bit over the last year even though I have had some amazing growth in my understanding of the Bible. Two specific activities helped me in this area. First, during the Summer I taught a series called Peoples and Places of the Bible. I gained so much from doing deeper study of the geography and the various groups of the Bible such as, the Philistines, Samaritans, Scribes and Pharisees, etc. Second, I have researched and written my own summaries of the books of the Bible for my Through The Bible in A Year Program (well…okay, I am behind still by about a dozen books but should have them finished within the next couple of weeks).
 

Getting back to getting fired up…

For a long time I have been envisioning a discipleship program on the basics of faith based upon an acronym SPA–Study, Prayer and Action. In fact, that acronym drives a lot of my choices around posts for The Practical Disciple. I am always trying to share with you concrete actionable ideas around these three basic areas.
 
Each one feeds a critical part of what it means to be a Christian. Being Christian in part means believing certain doctrines. We grow in our understanding of doctrine through study. Being Christian means having a relationship with God. We feed that relationship and grow in it by communicating with God in prayer. Also, being Christian involves our behavior. We are called to follow Christ. So, the actions we take reveal and strengthen our faithfulness to God.
 
While just about every aspect of being a Christian can somehow be categorized under study, prayer and action I have felt particularly compelled this last year to become very intentional about Sabbath. Experientially, I have been recognizing the need for Sabbath. Heavy laden with fatigue I am too often incapable of giving God my very best. Biblically, I have also come to recognize just how seriously God takes the Sabbath. It is a command not a suggestion. Coupling those realizations together I have come to a place of knowing that I have to get intentional about Sabbath. Hence the addition of an ‘R’ to my acronym ‘SPA’.
 

So what about the “K”?

Me Coal Burning a Bowl

So what about that verse?

Once my acronym fell into place, the verse shared above readily leapt to mind. I specifically picked the NASB translation because it best captures the greek. In greek there is a single verb that gets translated in the NASB as “kindle afresh”. Many translations go with something like, “fan into flames.” The idea behind the greek verb is that of stoking back into a life an existing fire that needs attention.
 

Now what?

Every 90 days I craft measurable goals. I typically set work, personal and financial goals. Within my personal goals sometimes I will have something specific to my faith development. During this next year I will be SPARKing my faith with goals fitting to each of my five intentions to Study, Pray, Act, Rest, and Kindle.
 

Consider these questions:

What have you learned in the past 12 months and how has it changed you?
   

What would you love to learn or understand better as a disciple in 2012?
   

To learn or understand this what or how would you need to study?
   

How close do you feel to God? What change could you make in your prayer life to deepen your relationship with God?

What old habit do you need to let go of?

   
What new habit should you take on in its place?

   
Are you rested or fatigued? Do you honor the Sabbath?
   

What new experiences did you have in the past year that helped you grow in faith?
   

What new experiences would you like to have this next year?
   

What is something you have always wanted to do as a disciple, but never done?
   

What are three small actions you could take that would help you step forward in faith?

I will be sharing some of my SPARK goals in the weeks to come. I invite you to share at least one of your intentions in the comments below.
 
May God bless you with an awesome epic New Year,
 
John Arnold
The Practical Disciple
 
 
 

13“If because of the sabbath, you turn your foot
From doing your own pleasure on My holy day,
And call the sabbath a delight, the holy day of the LORD honorable,
And honor it, desisting from your own ways,
From seeking your own pleasure
And speaking your own word,

14Then you will take delight in the LORD,
And I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;
And I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
Isaiah 58:13-14 (NASB)

‘Have you robbed a liquor store recently? You might as well have.’ That’s the thought that went through my mind recently as my wife and I were discussing the importance of the Sabbath. Why would I say such a thing? Well…
 
I was telling her how much keeping the Sabbath comes up over and over again as I am reading the prophets, particularly, Isaiah and Ezekiel. The more I am exposed to God’s anger over Israel profaning the Sabbath the more uncomfortable I become with my own failure to faithfully observe it.
 
I finally said to my wife, “We should feel just as wrong about not observing the Sabbath as we would about robbing a liquor store.” I went on to say, ‘Stealing is so obviously wrong to us and yet the Sabbath is ranked right there with stealing in the Ten Commandments. Missing the Sabbath is no less wrong than adultery, stealing, or any of the other top ten. Yet, we don’t feel that way at all.”
 
That thought has seared my conscience. Now I have to figure out how to live into my shifting mindset.
 

Taking Rest and Holiness Seriously

God lays out two clear expectations for the Sabbath. It is to be a day of rest and it is to be kept holy. For me to get serious about this I am going to need to shift two other mindsets. One is not seeing the Sabbath as a catch-up day. It is not the day to catch up on laundry, house cleaning, abandoned projects, grocery shopping, etc. That means I need to do a little preplanning so I don’t have my back against the wall on these activities.
 
The other mindset I need to shift is that the Sabbath isn’t really a play day either. The passage from Isaiah at the top of this post talks about desisting from your own ways and from seeking our own pleasures. When I do have free time my mind immediately jumps to the question, “Hey, what would be fun to do today?” I don’t think God is saying that the Sabbath can’t be enjoyable or pleasant, but it really is time dedicated to God. That is the holy side of the equation. Something holy is set apart. It’s not about me or you. It’s about God.
 
So what do you do to honor God and keep a Sabbath? Is it a catch-up day? Do you find yourself ploughing through piles of laundry or cleaning the house? Attending to bills or mowing the lawn? How would you need to plan in order to get those things out of the way before Sunday?
 
Do you skip worship for something you consider a pleasure like sleeping in or catching a golf game? If so, a renewed commitment to worship would be perhaps the best place to start.
 
As a pastor, worship is a given and often times an afternoon nap. I am now wondering though what I can do to make sure that the day is a delight that honors God. I also need to watch myself in terms of resting. Sundays can be programmatically loaded for us, resulting in a rush instead of a rest.
 
I think for me it would be really good to adopt a Sunday discipline of going on a hike somewhere and having a good long meditative sit. I find that wandering in creation and thankfully absorbing sights and sounds can be amazingly restful and holy. This is particularly true when I pair that wandering with a good long sit while having a heart to heart with God, pondering our relationship, and simply listening.