Archive for the ‘fear’ Category

Mountain Moving Faith

Saturday, August 25th, 2007

Here’s the Daily Guideposts entry that I mentioned in my previous blog about our son, Chris being deployed to Afghanistan several years ago.  It ran on June 4, 2007.  To find out more about Daily Guideposts visit www.guideposts.com   

 

Scripture:  Mark 16:2,3   “…they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, ‘Who will roll the stone away from the entrance to the tomb?’”

 

When our Sunday school teacher asked us, “What does it mean to have mountain moving faith?” I wanted to answer, “I don’t know, but I desperately need it right now!”  We’d just received word that our son Chris was on his way to

Afghanistan with the Army, and I wondered where I could possible get the kind of strong faith that could move my mountain of fear concerning his safety and well being.

That week I was in

Orangeburg, SC rummaging through an antique store and I found an old fashioned radio cabinet that was perfect for a spot in a small entryway.  Unfortunately, the cabinet was heavy as lead because the old radio and gigantic speaker were still in it and there were no men working in the shop to help me get it into my car.  The woman in charge managed to help me get the radio cabinet onto a dolly and wheeled out to my car.  Just as I opened the trunk wondering what to do next, a man in worn out clothes and a scruffy beard rode down the alleyway on a bicycle.  The woman beckoned the passerby and without a moment’s hesitation the man came over and hoisted the radio cabinet into the trunk like it was nearly weightless.

  

I suddenly realized that mountain moving faith wasn’t about me making the mountain move but rather about me moving toward the mountain as if it weren’t there and as if it weren’t insurmountable.  It was something like the women who carried spices to the tomb of Jesus even though they knew they weren’t strong enough to roll away the rock.   And so as my son Chris settled into an old Soviet base surrounded by rugged arid mountains in

Afghanistan I prayed this prayer:

 

Prayer:  Father, help me to continue on this difficult life journey as if this mountain I see ahead is no obstacle to Your strength to move it or carry me over it.  

 

 

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Crisis Praying

Wednesday, August 22nd, 2007

A reader recently emailed me about her worries and fears for her grown son.  I’ve struggled against fear myself, especially when my elderly father seemed to have lost his will to live.  One thing that I’ve  discovered is that facts and statistics can’t make your feelings of worry and fear go away.  You can’t “talk yourself out of” your fears.  That’s because your attitudes are based on facts over which you’ve layered your past experiences.  And of course if you turn on the TV, you’re liable to be shown everything that can go wrong anywhere in the world on the nightly news like a plane bursting into flames on a runway!  That’s why prayer is really the only way to handle a crisis situation.  That’s because prayer touches the part of you that transcends the rational and gets you in touch with the unseen spiritual side of life.    This kind of prayer isn’t the kind where you simply shoot up requests to God hoping things will turn out all right.  I’m talking about the kind of prayer where you develop a close relationship with Jesus and are able to interact with Him and hear what He might be saying to you through others, through the Bible and through His answering thoughts that come quietly into your mind. 

In the Personal Prayer Power video series in session 6 on Crisis Praying I talk about a simple way to pray during a crisis that leads you into a quiet setting with Christ, a place where you stop trying to solve all of your problems and where you simply rest knowing that He’s there and that He cares. 

May you know that Jesus is with you today and always.

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Prayer Turns Fear to Courage

Monday, August 20th, 2007

Guideposts Magazine recently forwarded a padded envelope to me from reader named Beverly Heritage from

Carmichael, California.  Inside was a wonderful treasure.  It’s a small navy blue book Strength for Service to God and Country published by Abingdon-Cokesbury Press in 1942.  In its tissue thin, slightly yellowed pages are devotionals written for soldiers during World War II by ministers and notable religious writers of the time.  As I read through the pages I was struck by the fact that many of the writers referred back to their experiences during “the last World War” to encourage those in my own father’s generation who went into combat.

 

In browsing through the entries I found a snippet of a poem by Karle Wilson Baker that has this line:  “Courage is Fear That has said its prayers.”

 

I’m drawn to this quote because often we think that courage and fear are opposite states.  We think that fear makes courage impossible.  The truth of the matter is that fear is very natural.  It is actually a prudent response to threatening situations.  Prayer is the essential ingredient for facing and surviving overwhelming situations.  Prayer isn’t only the “God save me” cries sent heavenward.  It’s also the “God be with me!” pleas that help us walk through our darkest days.

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