::Present::

So... lets talk about the present.
I heard my favorite speaker last night at an FCA meeting. I like to call him D-Perk. He talked about prayer and it was good. He is a prayer warrior so I'd like to think he would know a thing or two about prayer.
I love how he didn't make it this huge, emotional pep-talk that leaves people on a ridiculous spiritual high... and only that. I've had many of those feelings in my time. You get this fire in your spirit and you want to pray 10x a day for 2 hours each and tell every person in the world about Jesus and you feel like that for about 2 days. Then when you come down from the mountaintop... and realize how much of a failure you actually are.... your in even worse shape then you were when you first started climbing the mountaintop.

"The King of your mountains is also the Lord of your valleys..."

But no, D-Perk didn't do that. He was very matter of fact in his little talk.
Summary: When you pray, God listens.
Think about it.
When you pray, whether it's a long, 2 hour prayer, or a quick, split-second, "God help me" prayer, He hears it.
The God of the Universe who created mountains and waterfalls and hurricanes and ants and dogs and sunrises and atoms and trees and clouds and angels and demons and sharks and midgets and oceans.... that very same God.... heard YOU. Ha. :) And out of His love for us, He will respond.

I love how David stated that we may not see the fruit of our prayers in this lifetime, and that for me is a very important concept to grasp.
And I doubly LOVE how he said that so many times we lose faith in prayer and instead always try to physically DO something about it and MAKE it happen.
We live in America in the 21st century, so we're gonna want immediate results. However, I'm realizing that God doesn't work that way. He's outside of time, so, obviously, His schedule won't always match up with ours. And the sooner we realize it's actually BETTER that way... the better. :)

Anyways, back to the last thought. We tend to trust in our own actions and our own strength to make sure the work of the Lord is done in our lives... rather than falling to our knees and PRAYING and trusting in the His word and His timing.

*sigh*... I'm not gonna lie, sometimes being a human sucks. I wish I could always trust whole-heartedly in God, never letting my own worries or ideas get in the way.
I want my faith in God to be greater than the faith I have in the air I breathe. Does that make sense? It should. I have pretty great faith that as I'm writing this, the next tiny little breath I take will be enough to keep me living until the next breath that I need.
The same goes for the sunrise. I have pretty great faith that after my day is over, all is said and done and I go to sleep tonight, the sun WILL rise tomorrow morning and a new day will begin.
I want to trust in the Lord more than I trust in those things, and if you think about it, that's HUGE.
And that's what I need.

Let's see.... other stuff that is going on in my life...
Well one of my best friends is bulimic and that's hard for me. I love this girl so ridiculously much it's almost unbelievable. It hurts to see her feel that way about her body when in all actuality, her body isn't that far off from being an "America's Next Top Model" body. No joke. It's insane when you think about it. She's hurting herself, and whats worse, is that its so addictive that she can't get out of it.
What can I do? Pray. Encourage her. Be her friend. Be there for her. Listen when she needs somebody to just shut-up and listen. Speak truth over her life and over her insecurity in that area. And most of all... love her. To death. And... that's what I'm gonna do with God's strength. :)

Other than that, family is good. Relationships are good. School is good. Work is good. God is good. (All the time...) :)

::Talk soon::

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Reading: "Searching for God Knows What" - Donald Miller - *LOVING IT!* Romans, Psalms.
Listening To: "God is God" - Steven Curtis Chapman.

And here are the lyrics to the song that humbled me and helps me realize that... I am nothing. :) And that's ok. I think the most beautiful feeling you can have is the feeling of complete, absolute, dependency on God. It humbles you and sets your heart in the right place; the place where it should've been from the beginning.

"God is God"
by: Steven Curtis Chapman

And the pain falls like a curtain
On the things I once called certain.
And I have to say the words I fear the most...
I just don't know

And the questions without answers
Come and paralyze the dancer
So I stand here on the stage afraid to move
Afraid to fall, oh, but fall I must
On this truth that my life has been formed from the dust...

God is God and I am not
I can only see a part of the picture He's painting
God is God and I am man
So I'll never understand it all
For only God is God

And the sky begins to thunder
And I'm filled with awe and wonder
Til the only burning question that remains is... "Who am I?" ( - LOVE that line!!)
Can I form a single mountain?
Take the stars in hand and count them?
Can I even take a breath without God giving it to me?
He is first and last before all that has been
Beyond all that will pass

Oh, how great are the riches of His wisdom and knowledge
How unsearchable for to Him and through Him and from Him are all things
So let us worship before the throne
Of the One who is worthy of worship alone

...Amen.