Affirmations – The Right Kind

I was given a list of affirmations a few days ago and was told that I should read these (all 35) out loud at least three times a day. I accepted the list, brought it home and promptly lost it among the thousands of papers on my desk. I found it again, once I managed to reduce the number of papers on my desk to the hundreds.

I read the introduction to the list and the affirmations. Some of the affirmations would be considered the “power of positive thinking.” The introduction and a number of affirmations are “new age.” I’m not writing this post to debate “new age” thinking. You are entitled to your own opinion, of course. I don’t agree with it. I don’t think new age thinking is of God and the “Spirit” mentioned in new age thinking is certainly not the Holy Spirit, who does lead and guide us as we seek the will of our God and Father.

I was rather disturbed after reading the list, so I decided to write a list of Christian affirmations for myself. Here they are:

• I am a daughter of the most high God.
• I am loved by Him with an everlasting, unconditional love.
• His love for me is extravagant and reckless.
• He has plans for me that are far greater than any plans I could make for myself.
• I am the apple of His eye.
• I have peace that passes all understanding.
• I am not afraid because I trust in Him
• I find my identity through my relationship with Him.
• My confidence and self-worth are founded in my relationship with Him.
• I am my Beloved’s and He is mine.

Feel free to use these for yourself and if you have more, please share them with us in the comment section.

Keep Us From Distractions

Every Wednesday I participate in a  prayer meeting via conference call. Participants are encouraged to share praise reports and prayer requests. People pray out loud as they feel led. Most of us, myself included, pray silently. 

Do you know how you can listen with one part of your brain, but the other part is totally focused somewhere else until you are snapped back into attention by a sound, or someone speaking, or what they’re saying? I confess that I’m an expert at half-listening, especially if I already have a lot on my mind.

Last week, one person prayed that God would “keep us from distraction.” And that was the sentence that snapped me back into attention. What a simple, yet profound statement.

There’s a saying that goes something like this: “I am so busy that I meet myself coming as I’m going.” I suspect I’m not alone in this situation–that many of you feel the same way. There are so many “things” we must do, so many places we must be, so many people that we must connect with, that we are completely distracted away from the One that we need to connect with the most. Yet, without that connection, all the things we must do, the places we must be and the people we must connect with will result in nothing or worse, will have a disastrous ending. And obviously, God did not meanfor our lives to be so frantically lived, that “we meet ourselves coming as we’re going.”

So how can we keep our focus on God all the time and be kept from distraction? The answer can be found in several areas in our lives. We must spend time–quiet, alone time with God. Many people find this works best for them in the morning before they officially begin their day. Others, perhaps people who work a second or third shift, have other times of the day that works for them. The time of the day is not as important as having your quiet time. This is the time to read His word, to pray, to sit quietly before Him and listen to Him speak, to journal your thoughts and prayers. 

Another way to keep from being distracted from God is to “practice His presence.” I’m sure I’ve mentioned this phrase before – it is actually the title of a book written by LeeAnn Payne. I’m not sure it’s still in print, but if it is, I encourage you to buy it and read it several times. The premise of the book is exactly what the title says: practice His presence. The Bible says “he will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6; Deuteronomy 31:8; Joshua 1:5; 1 Kings 8:57; Hebrews 13:5). If He is always with us, and He is, it stands to reason that we should always be aware of His presence. We need to remember to remind ourselves as often as needed that He will never leave us, so His presence is always with us. We need to go through every day “talking” with Him and listening to Him. And, we  have to pray and ask God to keep us from distractions.

Answered Prayers

“You can be sure that God will take care of everything you need, his generosity exceeding even yours in the glory that pours from Jesus.” (Ephesians 4:19 The Message)

Have you ever prayed for something, believing with your whole heart, that God will answer in the affirmative, or give you what you want? You pray and believe and nothing happens. You pray harder and believe more and nothing happens. And you may even wonder if God is listening.

I don’t believe this is in the scriptures, but I’ve always heard that if it seems your prayers are not being answered, God is working “behind the scene” to manifest the answer. Perhaps you’ve been praying for years for relatives or friends who do not know Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. Or perhaps you’ve been asking God to give you your dream job. Maybe you’ve begun to wonder if God will ever answer these prayers. But what you don’t realize is God is working behind the scene, preparing people to come into the lives of your family and friends to witness to them of God’s great love for them, so much so that He gave His most precious Son to die for their sins so that they may live a life abundant here on earth and a life eternal in heaven. Or He has that dream job waiting for you and everything you are going through now professionally is preparing you for that dream job.

There are two points to my rambling today: #1) We have to have faith and trust that God will answer our prayers in His timing and in His way. Which brings me to #2) we cannot “put God in a box.” In other words, we cannot tell Him how to answer our prayers or how we think He should answer them or when we think He should answer them. He is a creative God and may answer our prayers in ways that we never dreamed or imagined. His ways are always better than our ways. And His timing is always better than ours. He holds our future in His hands and we are safe.