Finding Rest

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Finding Rest Part 01 - Restlessness

by Gail Rodgers
Restlessness is not always a bad thing. That sense that there is better somewhere, that the grass is greener elsewhere is part of the eternal call of God on our hearts.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men… Ecclesiastes 3:11

As believers we know that we are just passing through this world. Our restless spirit is often the call to focus on more eternal things.
Faith is a steadfast refusal to seek ultimate things – ultimate pleasure, ultimate fulfillment, ultimate purpose, ultimate understanding – where God has not laid them.
We know God calls us to a greater value system. Let that realization anchor your heart with hope.
Rest is mixed with restlessness. Vacations are always too short and less than ideal. Dream homes have problems, some nightmarish with leaky pipes and cracking foundations. Good health is hard to maintain and can be snatched by sudden mishap or stray virus. Community is fragile and even amid close friends we can feel a little lonely.
Delight in the rich things of today that the Lord blesses your life with. Know that when they cannot satisfy you entirely, it is His call upon your heart to look upward. Look homeward to Him and know that the richest treasures are not kept in an earthly bank.
Inspired by “The Rest of God” Chapter 14 by Mark Buchanan.
prayer & reflection

Heavenly Father,
Right now I ask You to train my restlessness in Your ways and help me find the deep treasures of Your Kingdom today.
In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

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Finding Rest Part 02 - Fully Alive

by Gail Rodgers
She was elderly and very sweet. I was intrigued with the way she never asked, “How are you?” No, she would look you in the eye and ask, “So, what’s alive in you today?”

It’s a good question. It’s something to think on. Pause right now and ask yourself, “Where did I feel most alive today, most hopeful, most near God?”
Also ask, “Where did I feel most lifeless, most despairing, farthest from God?
Be a better steward of your memory and let it work for you as you review your day. Let it propel you onward in the good things of life.
When we pause to examine our moments of life and lifelessness in the course of a day, we can track the wind of God’s Spirit in our lives. We can train the rhythm of our hearts.
Quiet yourself and reflect on your day. When were you most alive? Most empty? What was going on in that moment? Allow God to use your memory to draw you on. Press on to all God has for you. Allow recall to train your restlessness in the direction God wants you to go.
So far today, can you define the moment you felt most alive? Ask God to sharpen your thoughts so you can grow in the good plans He has for your life today.

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:2 (NLT)

Inspired by Mark Buchanan’s book, “The Rest of God” chapter 15.
prayer & reflection

Father God,
Thank you that Your plan for me is to be fully alive. Help me to be aware of my thoughts and to allow you to change my thinking as I draw near to You.
In Jesus’ name, amen.

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Finding Rest Part 03 - Check or Deposit?

by Gail Rodgers
I once had a lady tell me that her counselor told her to quit praying because it was only causing her to focus on her problems. What a sad statement! Prayer is the amazing opportunity to invite God into situations and relationships in order to bring hope and healing.

I understand what the counselor was saying, yet prayer is so much more than simply rehearsing the difficulties and challenges and desperately begging God, “please, please”.
Dutch Sheets, in his book Watchman Prayer, says it well. “Prayer is not a check request asking for things from God. It is a deposit slip - a way of depositing God’s character into our bankrupt souls.”
Think about who God is. His character, reflected in the very names we find in Scripture describe the power and might, the majesty and the mystery, the love and the caring that God desires to bring into our lives through prayer.
When we focus on God and all He is, our perspective changes, our faith grows and peace begins to settle over our bankrupt souls as we look to Him. Thankfulness begins to flow in the place where desperation resided.
Think about the situations and relationships that are troubling your heart right now. Set aside the blank check that you want God to fill and take instead the deposit slip of His character and pray into those situations in a new way. It will change the way you pray and it will change you and your situations.
Here are some examples of using the deposit slip of God’s character in your prayers:
In difficult circumstances that seem to never end:
Thank you, God, that You are the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end of all things; You know the details of this situation that I bring to You now. Please give me Your wisdom as I seek a resolution. You alone are the God of Heaven and Earth. Thank you that Your presence reaches even into this situation. May I be amazed at Your presence in these difficult circumstances as I trust You in this. You saw the beginning and You know the ending. Thank you that You will carry me and give me strength and wisdom as You work in this.
In trying relationships:
Thank you, Father God, that You, the Sovereign Lord, sits enthroned upon the circle of the Earth. Nothing and no one is beyond Your reach. Your love reaches to the ends of the earth. Bring Your love into the tense relationship that concerns me today. You are the Almighty God, You are armed with strength and nothing is impossible with You. Stir my heart with fresh love in this sandpaper relationship. Help me to hear the feelings behind the words. Arm me with Your strength and protect my heart as I trust You to bring healing.
Deposit faith in the attributes of God’s character as you pray today.

“May the God Hope fill you with all joy and peace, AS YOU TRUST IN HIM so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13

prayer & reflection

Father God,
Remind me today of all You are as I come to You with the cares of my heart. I trust Your unfailing love and faithfulness to be at work in each concern I have today. Thank you for Your amazing character at work today.
In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

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Finding Rest Part 04 - Praying the Scripture

by Gail Rodgers
Prayer for God to continue His work in the hearts of those I love.

“I thank my God every time I remember you… being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.I have you in my heart… and this is my prayer:
*that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight,
*so that you may be able to discern what is best
*and be pure and blameless until the day of Christ
*filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ -
to the glory and praise of God.”
Philippians 1: 3-6 & 7-9

prayer & reflection

Father God,
I thank you for ______________ and for the desire of his heart to follow You. I know there are many distractions in the day-to-day life that could draw his focus away from You. Thank you that You promise to carry on the good work that You have started in his heart and bring it to full completion.
Thank you that, by the power of Your Holy Spirit, You are able to accomplish this in ____________’s heart.
Please help his love for You to grow and draw his heart to Your word. Give him an increasing desire to spend time listening to You through the Scripture and through quiet times in Your presence. May Your word grow in increasing priority to him and may You offer him deep treasures from the times he spends in Your word. Grant him an ever-increasing knowledge and depth of insight that comes from You as he seeks to determine his steps each day.
Father, grant Him discernment by Your Spirit so that he will be able to discern what is best in each and every situation and walk confidently because You are whispering in His ear. May his eyes be open to deception and may His mind be covered with the truth of Your word and the wisdom of Your heart.
Father God, please keep his heart pure and his spirit free from rebellion in any form. Grant him humility and peace in his interactions with others. Grant him wisdom to understand what is happening in the spiritual realm. Help him to keep his heart and mind, his eyes and his lips clean and yielded to You daily.
Fill __________ with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus. As he walks may His heart have a continual “yes Lord” attitude in all he does. May his life bear the fruit of one who is yielded to You. May his prayers be powerful as he allows Your word to abide in his heart. May the thirsty and dying all around find refreshing through his encouragement and his demonstration of Your love.
Please protect him with the covering of Jesus. Thank you that Your angels camp around him as he goes out each day. May Your presence amaze and strengthen him as You accomplish more than he could ask or imagine by the power of Your Spirit in him.
I pray this in the powerful name of Jesus, with thanksgiving, amen.

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Finding Rest Part 05 - Pretty Amazing

by Gail Rodgers
The world financial situation bounces like a rubber ball again. It’s fragile and unpredictable. The early morning news today tells us the financial markets continue to tumble. Financial leaders are meeting to try to figure out how to avert panic. I clicked from the news to my devotional email and read the Bible verse Mike Woodward highlighted for today.

“Above all else guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life.” Proverbs 4:23

Perfect verse to counter the unease of the morning news. I thought on it for a few moments ...
“above all else” . I sometimes ask the Lord for my “marching orders for the day” and here it was… my priority today was to keep a guard at my heart and to do that I needed to faithfully guard what I allowed to come into my thoughts and settle into my heart.
“it is the wellspring of life”. Humm… what I allowed to settle into my heart would overflow into my day… into my relationships… my actions… my reactions.
Tall order when anxiety of any kind surfaces threatening to consume us and devour us.
Just as I pondered the “how” of this wise verse another verse filtered through my thoughts and I quickly googled it to find the reference. Listen to the amazing flow of God’s wisdom to us…

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again. Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understand, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:4-7

Wow! Here was the answer to the “how?” of guarding my wellspring of life, my heart. God will actually send His peace to do it for me if I simply choose my responses today.

• Choose to Rejoice in the Lord always. Focus on all the Lord is and offers to us through Himself. Take one point and make it the meditation of your day.
• Choose to Remember He is near. When anxiety threatens ask God to remind you that He is right there and He will steady you and give you the wisdom you need.
• Choose to Respond in prayer. Worry is a call to prayer. Choose to lay your request before God and ask for His guidance.
• Choose to Retain thanksgiving. Leave your concern with the Lord and focus instead on who He is and His ability to hold you through any challenge. Maintain a grateful heart for even the smallest of His blessings. Watch for them.

Result: His peace, which is beyond understanding, will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus.
Pretty amazing really when you pause to ponder it.

• All our spillover today in our actions, relationships, words, attitudes, will pour from what is in our hearts.
• We are told by God to guard our hearts.
• When we choose to focus on Him (Rejoice) / to Remember He is right there with us/ to pray (Respond) even when we don’t feel like it/ and to Retain gratitude in our hearts… then an amazing thing happens….

God’s peace itself guards our hearts AND our minds…. thorough Jesus Christ and we REST even in the midst of unsettling times!
prayer & reflection

Lord God,
Please help me today to choose to guard my heart through these four steps and to experience Your amazing and un-explainable peace settling over my heart and mind by the power of Jesus. Thank you for Your wonderful provision when I turn my eyes to You.
In the strong name of Jesus I pray, amen.