Thanksgiving – Transformed ♥ Heart

“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven; a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.” Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Many of us right now are in a season of waiting and trusting God in the unusual circumstances of this year. For me, ironically, this year has been passing way too quickly, and way too slowly at the same time. While some days seem to have dragged on, the months have been going too fast.

Under normal circumstances, we would have taken a few trips, visited family and friends, and enjoyed the different seasons more fully. Although Florida’s seasons aren’t very different, we usually get to experience spring, summer, fall, or winter up north while visiting family.

Since I had a lot of time to think, I started remembering some of the special things that I liked about the different seasons while growing up in a northern state. This time I decided that fall (autumn) was my favorite season.

Autumn has such wonderful sights, smells, and sounds, as well as some great memories for me (outside of often getting a throat or chest cold as the weather was changing). So what are some of the things that I have enjoyed about the fall season up north?

Of course, the brilliant colors of the leaves (golds, browns, oranges, red, and rust-colors) especially the maple tree leaves as the weather grew colder

The flavor of fresh pure maple syrup (that wasn’t very expensive up north)

One of my favorite fall activities was to rake up big piles of leaves as they fell off the trees, climb the trees, and then jump into the leaf piles. I liked to feel and hear the rustling of the leaves.

I was one of those unusual kids who really liked school a lot, and I really enjoyed getting new school supplies, a pair of shoes, and a few new outfits for school each year. I also enjoyed the times that we were assigned creating a leaf project for science class. (Perhaps that is why I chose teaching as a career)

Apple season- fresh crisp apples, apple cider (hot or cold), apple pie, and fall spices

Harvest time- especially fresh corn on the cob and pumpkins

Clear night skies with so many visible stars and full harvest moons

Warm days and cool nights to enjoy hot chocolate or herbal teas (with an occasional visit from Jack Frost)

Fireplaces and wood stoves on cold nights

Corn Mazes and fall festivals, and the beginning of football season

Birthdays (mine, my sister’s, my mom’s are all autumn birthdays)

My favorite Holiday- Thanksgiving (especially because of the big family reunions with aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. that we had every year while Grandpa was still living), and some of my favorite foods (pumpkin pie, nut breads, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and of course, turkey)

Other holidays like Labor Day (last day for our family picnic before school began), Grandparents Day, Columbus Day (I loved all the school projects), Veterans Day

So what is your favorite season, and why?

Many years ago I came across this book on prayer, and during the times that I followed Dick Eastman’s simple method of praying, I found that my daily prayer walk with the Lord was much deeper. Well, I recently came across this book again, and I realized that I had forgotten some of things that I had learned about prayer from this book. The prayer plan outlined in this book was not necessarily meant to be the one and only method for praying, but it simply contains suggestions based on Scripture that have helped many Christians in the United States (and around the world) revitalize their prayer lives. In fact, Joni Eareckson Tada has written the following about it: “Full of biblical insights about prayer, packed with testimonies of prayer warriors from years past, brimming with practical suggestions that will help you carve out a purposeful time of praise and intercession, Dick Eastman’s book is arguably the most significant book on prayer written in modern times.”

I want to challenge you to spend at least one hour of prayer using these twelve points of focus. Although you can vary the length of time that you spend on each part, including some of all of them is important. Everyone’s life is somewhat different depending upon what stage of life we are in; for various reasons, some may honestly find it almost impossible to spend an hour in prayer everyday, but I would guess that for most of us that an hour is not an impossible goal. And of course, you don’t have to limit your prayer to only one hour a day! God has told us that if we seek Him, we will find Him, when we search for Him with all of our heart (Jeremiah 29:130). Also, in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, we are told to pray without ceasing. Although we can be in a prayerful state of mind while talking to God about everything throughout the day, having longer, and more focused prayer is also very important. We see different times in the gospels that even Jesus spent long periods of time praying. In Matthew 26:40, while in the garden on the Mount of Olives, Jesus pleaded with the disciples to pray with Him for one hour (before He was betrayed by Judas Iscariot, condemned to death on the cross, bearing the sins of the world, and separated from God the Father).

The following is a very brief summary of what is included in the prayer plan from The Hour That Changes the World:

PRAISE-(Psalm 63:3, Hebrews 13:15, Matthew 6:9b)- the aspect of prayer which vocally esteems God for His virtues and accomplishments.

WAITING-(Psalm37:7, Isaiah 40:31, Lamentations 3:25)- being quiet in God’s presence, and simply taking time to love God and to let God love you.

CONFESSION-(Psalm139:23, 1 John 1:9)- since sin is one of the greatest roadblocks to answered prayer (Psalm 66:18), we need to take time to confess any sin in our lives.

THE WORD-(2 Timothy 3:16, Psalm 19:7,8)- bringing God’s Word into our prayer, we are opening our eyes to new possibilities as we simply read sections of His Word.

INTERCESSION-(1Timothy 2:1,2, Psalm 2:8, Matthew 9:37, 38)- center your intercession on our lost and dying world.

PETITION-Matthew 6:11, Matthew 7:7, Philippians 4:6b, James 4:2)- this aspect concerns our personal needs.

THE WORD-(Jeremiah 23:29, 2 Samuel 22:31, Numbers 23:19)- now pray God’s will. You can never pray out of God’s will when you pray God’s Word back to Him.

THANKSGIVING-(Psalm 100:4, Philippians 4d:6)- recognizes God for specific things that He has done, while praise recognizes God for who He is.

SINGING-(Psalm 100:2, Ephesians 5:19, Psalm 144:9)- learn the beauty of singing a “new” song unto God during your prayer.

MEDITATION-(Joshua 1:8, Psalm 77:12, Psalm 1:1,2)- to meditate is to ponder spiritual themes in reference to God.

LISTENING-(Ecclesiastes 5:2, 1 Kings 19:11, 12)- we must take time to listen for specific direction from God, not just to talk.

PRAISE-(Matthew 6:13, Psalm 100:4, Psalm 150)- when our prayer moves toward its conclusion, we focus our praise on His omnipotence (power), His omniscience (knowledge), and His omnipresence (presence everywhere).