... He wants to be happy with you!

I don't know if you know this or not, but God answers prayers. News to you? Well let me expound on all the prayers he has answered for me in just the past couple weeks. First of all I have established an amazing group of Christ-following women that love and care for me. Just a few weeks ago I got a 91% on a Calculus exam. I was granted permission to start a Bible study this summer, that I am in the process of writing called Women Waiting 4Pursuit, at Pathways Church(in Appleton, WI) for high school girls. And on a daily basis the Lord is genuinely and truly saturating and quenching my thirst and hunger. And those are just naming a few of the prayers the Lord has answered for me recently. But I implore you, ask me how long I prayed for Christ-following GIRL friends before God answered my call? Two years and nine months. Ask me how long I've been praying, and studying like crazy, for good math test scores? Three months. Ask me how long I've been praying, and working towards, the Lord to be my number one, my all in all? Almost eleven years. God hears our prayers, I promise you. Do you believe me? I hope so. BUT we, as impatient human beings, need to learn to trust in the Lord's perfect and precise timing. "In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid." [Reference: Psalms 56:4.] Wow! So since we continually praise the Lord, and SAY that we hope all we do will glorify His name, we must put our trust in Him. However, it doesn't stop there. Once we trust in Him, that in HIS perfect and precise timing he will answer our call, we can NO LONGER be afraid. Try it. Give your prayers to God and STOP worrying about them. What do you possibly have to lose?

I cannot begin to express my excitement to you about tonight's Deeper at Substance Church. I walked in tonight to a prayer week at Deeper(an hour and a half service for the long-term Christ-follower dedicated to sheer prayer) and I was exhausted and maybe a little stressed with school. I walked in just wondering why I was there and not studying, but as I soon realized God had a purpose for me being there. Before worship even started one of the prayer leaders read us Psalms 100. "Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is He who made us, and we are His, we are His people, the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good and His loves endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations."[Reference: Psalms 100:1-5.] Oh my powerful! What a word from the Lord! So as worship started I prayed that the Lord would help me leave everything outside the door and keep the distractions to a minimum, and be sure to keep tonight's worship solely between Him and I. However, as worship started and I tried to get excited as usual I knew tonight wasn't about the lyrics of the worship songs, or screaming my heart out to praise the Lord in thankfulness. So by the second song in, I was on my knees with my head in His Word. I started looking up verses about rejoicing, I wasn't sure why, but lately I have been working on seeking the Lord in the midst of all the blessing the Lord is giving me and in the midst of all my joy. So nothing really hit me in the concordance, but then I started looking up verses on 'harvest'. And I read a verse in John 4, "Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest?' I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest."[Reference: John 4:35.] The context is that the disciples thought that the Lord would be hungry, but He replied to them, "no, my food, is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish his work." Wow, crazy isn't it. The Lord continually did what the Father asked of Him no matter his physical state. But that's not even the coolest part! Don't you see though, sometimes we get caught up in all the blessings the Lord is giving us, and all the prayers he is answering for us, that we forget about Him. We recognize that He is the reason for our joy, but we don't put Him first in the times of joy and gladness. And that's what it says in Psalms 100. "Worship the Lord with gladness; come into His presence with singing(ESV)."[Reference: Psalms 100:2.] Not only does He want us to come to Him during our hardships, suffering, and frustration, but ALSO when we are overjoyed, and when He is working miracles in our lives! He wants us to come to Him because, "we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture."[Reference: Psalms 100:3.] We are HIS! How incredible! We have done nothing to deserve His undying and completely faithful love. How can we not go to Him when He is the one blessing us and making us so joyful? So I challenge you, when life is going great, and the Lord is continually giving you what you need, recognize Him, and spend even more time with Him. I promise you, if you make time for Him your joy won't last only a week.

Psalms 37:4 -- Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.

:)