Tea and Tuesdays - A Time to Talk with God

Hello and welcome to another installment of Tea and Tuesdays.  For those of you following me – thank you.  I appreciate your time.  It was not your imagination that there was not a post last week for July 21.  I have begun another journey of learning and enlightenment by beginning my studies to obtain a Doctor of Ministry.  This journey will be interesting, fun, intense and, well, exciting.  I am off to a good start and need prayers (for those of you willing to pray for me).  I am asking God to enliven my study time and make reading, comprehension and recall easy.  I will have a lot of writing to do but nothing that God can’t help me do – thank you in advance for your prayers.

I have been talking with you over the last month about a relationship with God, specifically how to talk with Him.  Some can’t decide if talking to God is effective and actually working in their life.  Does talking to God change anything?  Am I wasting my time?  Does He hear me?  Will He answer?  When will He answer and just how will the answer come?  Most importantly, how will I know that God has answered by prayers, other than the millions of dollars or the husband arriving at my front door? (Smile a little bit – that was a joke!)

All of these are good questions and ones which I hope to help with – in time.  I want to talk to you now about taking the time to talk with God.  I believe some of the things which make prayer hard are connected to barriers in our lives.  Barriers like busyness, multitasking and distractions can block our ability to spend time with God.

As I write this I have had to slow myself way down to get this blog done.  Blogging is something that is important to me, a dream I have kept for some time.  You would not believe how many distractions, interruptions and emergencies that occur when it’s time to write.  I am imagining these occurrences will not differ when I begin writing for my school assignments and ultimately my dissertation.  I am also enjoying a great cup of tea named “Calm” as I write.  I am not one to drink Chamomile often but it is helpful today.

I suggest this: maybe the reason you have not been able to connect with God is you have not made time for Him.  I recently met and have made friends with a woman who prays each morning with God.  She has to restrain herself from praying too long so she can get to work or do some of the other things her day would demand.  I love her devotion to this task – she does not stray often from this activity and believes talking with Him is the beginning of any day in which she is alive.  I have had my struggles with being consistent in my time with God but have found freedom and assurance in what appears to others as “randomness”.  To God and me, it is our “appointments” which make our time together special. 

I want to encourage you: make time for God on your agenda.  Block out a space (like an appointment) in your schedule for you and invite God into this appointment.  It might seem awkward at first but keep trying.  Start small – you can always adjust the time later.  Give yourself a 5 or 10-minute slot at first and see what happens.

Your barrier to hearing God might be rooted in not having time for Him.  Try the exercise I mentioned above.  Bring only a few things to this time with Him, such as a Bible and/or a notebook.  You don’t need a lot of things.  Try this out for one or two weeks and see how it goes.  To establish it as a habit, other authors have stated it takes 3 weeks (21 days) to create a habit.  If you are feeling brave, try your experiment for three weeks and see what happens.

Let me know how your experiment is working.  I want to hear whether you found my suggestions helpful or if you still struggle to pray and meet with God.  Next week I will talk about another barrier to hearing God and having conversations with Him.

I would like to hear what your favorite teas are (if you have some).  I would be willing to try new ones.

Be blessed this week – take time to relax and enjoy the space you occupy.  See you next week! 

Conversation with God (Evening Edition) - God can use Friends as Answers to Prayers....

Hello and welcome to the conversation I am having with God.  Once I talk with God in the morning (or whenever) the conversation does not end there.  I may ask questions and inquire about things He and I have been talking about (well, more appropriately I have been talking about) for some time.  There are times when the answer to my question is immediate but not always.  Has this been your experience?  It surely has been mine.  I would love for each answer to be immediate.

I also have some amazing friends.  Currently I have friends I have known for a long time and friends that I just met.  These people are wonderful and often share special portions of their lives with me.  I appreciate that.  I appreciate the relationships I have.  I have had my share of bad ones.  I have encountered people who really did not want to be my friend.  That’s okay, because I have learned if a person is not interested in being my friend I do not need the relationship in my life.  I want the people that God sends to be in my life, supporting and loving me in ways God would approve.  It’s a blessing to have good people who surround you with love, seeking to know you.  These relationships matter most when times are hard or when facing challenges.  These relationships also matter because sometimes God uses them to bring the answers you are seeking.

I recently had an amazing experience which could only have been orchestrated by God.  My sister and I went to a place for breakfast.  This place was not one of our usual restaurants.  Upon entering to be seated we passed by a couple of ladies sitting in a group room talking.  The thing which first drew my attention was books displayed on a table at the front of the room.  Moments later the thing which kept my attention was the conversation with these wonderful ladies – conversations that encouraged, confirmed and will change my life forever.  God put in place a plan for us to meet these women.  One of the blessings is God used them to confirm His word to us and vice versa.  God has answered my prayer, not by speaking it to me in the midst of my time with Him, but through the voices of other sisters who were also seeking answers from Him.  God is amazing!

God answers prayers and has various ways to answer them.  I would love to shout this from a tall building, but writing in this blog will have to suffice.  I believe many of the misconceptions about answered prayer begin with doubt in God’s ability and/or willingness to answer our prayers.  You may also but unsure about how God will answer your prayer.  It will take faith to trust in God’s ways – that will be a topic for another day.  Please hear this – God is not tied to ways, means, persons, places or things.  He is a Creator – and as Creator He is creative! 

Do you pray?  Have you prayed for something and are still awaiting an answer?  How do you feel about waiting for your answer?  Personally, it is hard to wait at times.  I want to encourage you – don’t give up waiting.  God will answer your prayers.  You may need to be open to how He answers as well as when He answers.  He has His own timetable.  He has a plan.  He is willing.  He is able to answer.

Share with me your struggles with prayer – let’s talk about it.  Have a great evening and a wonderful rest of your week!  Oh yes, my tea – I had Echinacea tea today.  I am starting to feel run down and tired so I decided to drink a tea that would boost my immune system.  Echinacea usually does the trick.  Thank you for your time.  Don’t forget to let me know how your prayer time with God is going. 

Tea and Tuesdays - A Conversation with Jesus

The tea I am drinking today is called Bengal Spice.  It is a nice blend of cloves, cinnamon and other spices that give it a bold and smooth flavor.  I was introduced to this tea years ago but it has become a part of my regular collection of teas I try to always have on hand.  I added a little honey to the tea and it tastes great.  I have tried to drink tea without honey and for some teas it works (we will talk about one next week).  As a general rule I do need a small bit of honey to go with any cup of tea.

Our Tea and Tuesdays conversation is about a conversation – one with Jesus.  I often talk with Jesus, literally having an ongoing conversation with Him.  I ask Him questions about a myriad of things:  “what am I wearing today?”  “Why do people have a hard time driving in the rain?”  “Is this the end?”  I am sure He becomes quite amused with the randomness of what goes on in my mind and then comes out as a question to Him.  I have fun with it – spending time wondering how He would respond if He were sitting right across from me.  What would His facial expressions be?  Would He be tickled at some of the things that I think and say?  I am tickled at myself (many times) so wouldn’t it make sense that He would be tickled too?  Could we share a joke together and have a great laugh? 

Interesting notions, aren’t they? These notions may not be beyond the scope of possibility.  Yes, God is that serious God that made creation.  Yes, He is the same God that had to throw the devil from heaven along with his co-conspirators.  Yes, He is also the same God that created me, and He created you.  I have a sense of humor and love to laugh.  I don’t do it as often as I would like but I do laugh and love having fun.  Surely, if God created me (with my sense of humor) He has to have one too.  I believe He does.  The question here is – do you take the time to have fun with God as well as bring to Him the “heavy” things of life? 

God delights in His creation.  He delights in you and in me.  He loves every single thing about you and knows what makes you cry and what makes you laugh.  He wants you to experience joy and peace in the knowledge of Him and how He takes care of you.  Surely He also wants that joy to be expressed in laughter, taking note of the little things that happen in your life.  The Bible says that God knows the very number of hairs on your head.  If He is that intimately interested in you He delights in who you are.  He knows the good and the bad about you and remains madly in love with you.

This discussion speaks of one possible aspect of our relationship with God.  Some of us will never see God this way – and that’s okay, to a certain extent.  I want to introduce you to a relationship with God that you can enjoy.  I want you to feel free to bring Him the serious things and share the joys of living the life you live today and each day of your life.  I don’t want your time with God to become trivial or boring.  So just consider this – share with God something that makes you smile.  Allow Him to hear from you when tears don’t lead the conversation.  Let me hear what your experience was as you shared good news with God – we will talk about another type of conversation with God later.  Have a great week and let me hear from you. 

Did you notice that I used "God" and "Jesus" to describe the same person - observant, aren't you?  We will talk...

Be blessed!