Author: Ramona Levacy Billingslea

I am a 50-something Texan with a feisty cat and a supportive husband of 25+ years. With a Master's degree in English with an emphasis on creative writing, I have taught creative writing at Texas Tech, won awards for my writing and been blessed to be mentored by Horn Professor and poet Dr. Walt McDonald. I earn a living by helping my husband's family run a health food store, but my avocation is writing. I hope you enjoy reading about some of my triumphs and tragedies as I continue to work on figuring out what life is all about and on growing my ability to share my writing. May your own journey be a blessed one.

Christian Living

Cozy Comforts

Posted on November 23, 2013November 23, 2013 by Ramona Levacy Billingslea

We have finally, just, reached the time of year in our part of the country where we can get away with a fire. In the dozen years we have lived in our house, we have never done the work to get our fireplace “fire-ready.” This year, my husband insisted on finally getting it fixed so he could have some fires this winter. Since we live where it doesn’t often dip below freezing, our fires will be more for show than anything else. More important than that, they will be a source of comfort.

Fire is known for its destructive power and is equated with the punishment reserved for the damned. But, ice is also in competition for most damning element. In Dante’s seven layers of hell, ice is actually the worst level. The poet Robert Frost, also recognized the competitive potential between the extremes of these elements:

FIRE and ICE
BY ROBERT FROST
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

When you are in the heat of summer, ice water or a blast of cool air is a definite source of relief. We usually refer to these elements with adjectives like refreshing, invigorating, or reviving. But, when one is in the icy brace of a cold winter day, a flaming fire is far from bringing to mind such adjectives. Instead, we usually refer to such fires as cozy and comforting. They tend to make us think about wonderful Christmas mornings, times with family, and the value of love.

There is a fire that burns in each of us that we can access any time of the year as the energy source for us to both feel loved and be more loving toward the world around us. That fire, of course, is the Holy Spirit, which dwells in each of us when we ask Christ to come in and become our Savior. When we take the time to look inside through prayer and quiet moments contemplating the awesomeness of God, we have the potential to turn on an eternal flame that burns with such comfort and steadiness that we can’t help but feel safe. And, when we feel safe and comfortable, isn’t it so much easier to face the challenges that we all face every day?

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the fire that burns inside us was so bright all the time that others couldn’t help but notice it in us? Isn’t that the Light Christ wants us to place on the lamp stand and not hide in a basket?

The holiday season is a much easier time to feel generous, but it is also a stressful time for many. Too much traffic, too many presents to buy, too much “baggage” with certain family members that never seems to get resolved but always rears its ugly head when we all try to come together for November and December’s big days.

Now is the time to embrace your inner fire, the Holy Spirit, so that you will feel the comfort that is God’s promise to all of us, and so you can glow with that fire towards all you encounter this holiday season–and throughout the year.

But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. –John 14:26-27

Christian Living, Faith

To Be Willing

Posted on November 16, 2013 by Ramona Levacy Billingslea

Am I willing to do what Jesus says?

I found a sticky note with this question scrawled in my own writing as I was tidying up this weekend. I’m sure I read it in one of my theology books, wrote it down to emphasize the point, and then, as often happens, life got in the way of my good intentions.

Am I willing to do what Jesus says?

There are times when that is not an easy yes. Doing things happily for people who irritate me, refraining from gossip, and loving instead of judging are just a few of the daily foibles for which I have to be on guard. God loved me enough to come down to earth, live as a man, and die a humiliating death on the cross for me. And I rationalize not giving something to the guys on the corners holding cardboard signs that are a mainstay of the “big city.”

Am I willing to do what Jesus says?

The holidays are the time when we find it easier to love. Everywhere we look, there are shiny decorations. Everywhere we go, there are songs about happy times, family and warm fires on chilly nights to make us feel good inside. I already have my Sirius radio tuned to the Christmas channel!

But, what will we do when January rolls around, when the icy fingers of winter are full upon us, and the holidays are a fuzzy memory? Will it be so easy to love then? Not without prayer and study and practice and faith. If we want to shine the light or leave the kind of footprint in the sand that is the mark of the love of Christ, we have to choose to follow Him everyday of our life, not just during the holidays.

Am I willing to do what Jesus says?

Are you?

Christian Living, Christianity

What Cross You Carry

Posted on November 9, 2013November 9, 2013 by Ramona Levacy Billingslea

This cross necklace is a simple one I bought a couple of weeks ago after being “challenged” in one of my readings to wear a cross for a week to help me remember the calling of a life lived for Christ.

The first day I wore it, I was so conscious of it being on my neck. I thought, you had better watch everything you do because if you offend anyone or do anything wrong, the people seeing you do that while wearing your cross will have a great excuse to think, “see, I don’t need to believe in God because people like her are what you call Christians.” I even found myself driving better because I wanted to be polite. I suddenly understood the fad of the what would Jesus do bracelets.

A few days of continuous wear later, and I only seemed to remember I was wearing my cross when I caught sight of it in a mirror.

If I can forget a necklace that is hanging around my neck, how often am I forgetting that God sees everything all the time? None of us should need a cross to be on our best behavior because we are always under the eyes of Christ.

Luckily for us, those eyes are forgiving even in judgment. Because of grace, we have the chance to repent of our sins and try to live again as if we are wearing that first-day cross.

I believe it was Philip Yancey who pointed out for me how odd it must seem to non-believers that we choose the cross, which stands for death and brokenness, as a symbol for our salvation. But what they don’t understand is that the death of the cross is the death to sin and re-birth to a new life of the Spirit in Christ that Paul writes so much about. Even Christ Himself refers to this concept when He tells us to “take up your cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23), by which He means we have to choose everyday to say NO to sin and YES to loving others and following God’s word.

So, the cross is still around my neck everyday for now, and I am praying for the consciousness to be aware of its presence and the presence of the One for whom it stands so that I am always on my YES behavior. The light we are supposed to put on the lampstand to shine needs to be the pure light that letting Christ in makes possible.

What cross do you carry? Is it the woe-is-me baggage of a defeated life, the secular world’s definition of “the cross I bear.” Or, is it the death to sin, submission to God’s might in one’s life that is the light yoke of Christ? You don’t have to wear a cross to remind yourself to be on your best behavior. You just have to remember that the eyes that are watching you really see you for who you are–and love you anyway.

Christian Living

This Narrow Path: Finding the Way of Christ in a Wide World

Posted on November 2, 2013 by Ramona Levacy Billingslea

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
The Road Not Taken—Robert Frost

Each day is filled with choices we make. Some are simple–oatmeal or cornflakes for breakfast, the most or least use of freeways on a driving route, dust or vacuum. Others are choices that have been looming over us for some time or have the potential to change our lives–taking a new job, deciding to get married, declaring a major.

Christ makes it clear that when we make the most important choice of all, to accept Him as our Savior, we embark on a lifelong journey of choices to walk along the “narrow way” with Him:

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:13-14

The narrow road means doing things like walking away from water cooler gossip, apologizing when we mess up, even to people we have a hard time “liking,” and even not watching the latest “cool” series on television that may be amusing, but also mocks the very God you have entered a covenant to follow. “Don’t commit adultery,” Jesus says in His Sermon on the Mount, but also, don’t even lust after another. Don’t murder, but don’t even harbor anger.

“This is impossible,” you say. I agree. On your own, it is totally impossible. But you are not alone:

“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” (John 14:15-21)

A life lived in full acknowledgement of our responsibility to make Christ-like choices is a life that should be filled daily with conversations with the Father, with quiet moments in practice listening for the Holy Spirit, with study in the Word to truly know what Christ defines as the narrow road. Most importantly, a life filled with choices is also a life that we can begin anew each morning. With true repentance, Christ is always available to help us turn from our sin, and He always loves us, no matter what.

May your way be narrow this week. You’ll be surprised at the freedom you will feel with Christ beside you on that road, holding your hand.

Romantic Fiction, Writing

A Moment to Celebrate

Posted on October 28, 2013October 28, 2013 by Ramona Levacy Billingslea

Even though I have been able to publish my books through Lulu.com and at Barnes and Noble, it took me a while to get everything prepared properly for the novels to get onto Amazon for the Kindle. Finally, this weekend, I sat down and finished the process.

You can find the official Kindle page for each one at the links below:

THE TEXAS STRAY

MACY’S TREASURE

I applaud all the writers who are going to be taking on the challenge of November’s National Novel Writing Month, known as NaNoWriMo. Since I am about two-thirds of the way through my third novel, I am going to forego the challenge this year and hope I can finish the first draft of this novel.

“For your born writer, nothing is so healing as the realization that he has come upon the right word.”
—Catherine Drinker Bowen

Here’s to hoping that you find more than just a few of the right words in my writings. Thanks, as always, for the opportunity to be read.

~Ramona

Christian Living, Christianity

Want Polish? Try Elbow Grease

Posted on October 25, 2013October 29, 2013 by Ramona Levacy Billingslea

As I have come to discover writing about practical steps to shine His light over the last several weeks, I have discovered (as is always the case) that the most practical approach to being more Christ-like is right there in His word. The Sermon on the Mount is a step-by-step guide to living the Christian life. My last post mentions two really good books on this Sermon if you would like to study it beyond the Sermon in the Bible.

Do you play a musical instrument? If you do or ever have, then you understand the kind of practice it takes to get any good at it. The same can be said of playing sports, crafting, or even writing. Anything you want to do well, you need to practice and repeat, practice and repeat if you expect to get good at the skill and stay good at it.

Take this concept a step further. For those of you who used to play an instrument well, what happens the first time you take up that instrument after a long period of absence? Do you sound like Mozart or clunk around a little? In the privacy of your own room, maybe how great or how terrible you sound wouldn’t matter so much to you. But, what if you had to make your first such performance in front of all the people you most want to impress in the world?

Staying in practice to live the life Christ wants for us should be like making that once-in-a-lifetime performance every day. Yet, too often, we let days slip away where we let our interactions with other people and with God idle on automatic, paying little or no attention to the being part of our Christianity because we think we are too busy just trying to remember what groceries we need to buy for that evening’s dinner. In other words, we treat life like a dress rehearsal instead of the real performance.

One person who, despite his reputation for stumbling in some of the ways of Christianity, understood the importance of being perpetually thinking about bettering his own actions was Benjamin Franklin. You may remember him as the guy who “discovered” electricity with a kite, string and key, but he also was a prolific writer. His “Poor Richard’s Almanac” includes countless wise sayings, advice on practical living.

Despite Franklin’s tendency toward wit, he took self-improvement very seriously. Did you know that he kept lists of goals to improve his speech, his personality, etc.? He also took the time to track his progress. Practice, practice, practice. No matter how hard it is to look at ourselves with high scrutiny, how else do we expect to know when to bend our knees before the Father in true repentance? Without repentance, how can we expect to become more Christ-like?

For those who drink tea, nothing is more impressive than a highly polished silver set, so bright that you can see your own reflection. If you own such a silver set, you know how much “elbow grease” it takes to make the silver shine.

Shining the light of Christ is so much more valuable than a shining silver tea set. But, the glory of it all is that we have help with this journey! Christ says that He will give us the Holy Spirit to dwell in us when we accept Him as our Savior. He also assures us that His “burden is light” (Matthew 11:30).

So, the end of this series on Practical Steps is actually a beginning because the wonderful thing about God and His mercy is that His forgiveness is always available to those who truly repent, as many times as it takes. As Nicole Nordeman sings in another of her great songs, “His mercies are new every morning.” Thank YOU, Jesus, for Your sacrifice and for the privilege of shining Your light.

Christian Living, Christianity

The Challenge in Stones: Practical Steps to Shine His Light

Posted on October 19, 2013 by Ramona Levacy Billingslea

Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” “I tell you,” He replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” Luke 19:39-40

Stones are fascinating things. They are so hard, they form mountains only TNT can blast through. Yet, they can be smoothed and carved over time through the flow of a river or even just a dripping of water. We carry small stones, smooth and oval, in our pockets to rub soothingly. The casting of stones symbolizes judgment.

The first time the concept of the stones crying out was driven home to me was actually through the imagery evoked in one of Nicole Nordeman’s hits, “My Offering.” She sings:

Give the rocks and stones voices of their own, if we forget to sing praises to our King.

The idea that something so hard and silent can be made to speak just underscores the awesome power of our God. But the idea of stones crying out also reminds us that God wants our praise. Let that sink in a minute. The God who created Heaven and Earth, who tells the sun where to rise and the oceans how to flow, who needs nothing because He made everything desires your praises. I don’t know about you, but that realization always makes me want to shout!

There is another side to stones, however, that is equally important to the concept of praising God with our voices, and that is the practical side of living the Christian life not just by a profession of our faith with our lips but through our actions. Jesus explains it this way:

“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.” (Luke 6:46-49)

The foundation of practical living from a Christian perspective is laid out for us in the Sermon on the Mount. The teachings contained in Matthew 5-7 are the core of what authors on the subject dub “Kingdom Citizens,” who are you and I, believers in Christ working our way through this life in a quest to become more Christ-like. Kingdom living is not easy. It requires the best of us. At the same time, we are never alone when we are attempting to walk in the footsteps of Christ, for He promises to be with us always (Matthew 28:20).

There are, I am sure, many wonderful works on the Sermon on the Mount, but there are two in particular I would like to recommend. One is Invitation to a Spiritual Revolution by Paul Earnhardt. The other is Living Jesus by Randy Harris, who writes,

These students understand that the Sermon on the Mount is calling Christians to a way of life, not a demographic choice like checking a box.

Earnhardt adds,

A distorted view of “justification by faith” has been a popular subterfuge. Boiled down, this approach holds that Christ has no concern with how you live, only how you feel . . . . But this is not faith in God but “faith in faith” — a self-serving ‘believism.’ We are certainly justified by faith, but a faith that manifests itself by obedience to God’s commands (Luke 6.46; John 14.15, 21, 23; 15.10, 14; Gal. 5.6; Jas 2.14-26). That is clearly the message of the Sermon on the Mount.

Another famous story involving stones in the Bible underscores the narrow way. Remember when Moses struck the stone to bring water forth for the Israelites instead of speaking to it as God commanded him? The consequence was that God showed Moses the Promised Land but did not allow him to enter it! For a man who had spent 40 years talking directly to God, doing what God asked, leading a mass of people against his own wishes, failing in one of God’s commands leading to such dire consequences just emphasizes how important it is to God that we do as He says!

But, another message of the Sermon on the Mount is the blessings of Christianity as a way of life, which the Bible (as well as Earnhardt and Harris’ books) also make clear:

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8)

My best friend likes to say that God often hits us with pebbles, and if we ignore Him long enough, He’ll get our attention with a stone to the head. As I work to approach Christianity as a practical way of life, I will be sensitive to the pebbles this week and pray about acting on the opportunities to shine His light.

Christian Living

Up the Steep Hill: Practical Steps to Shine His Light

Posted on October 12, 2013 by Ramona Levacy Billingslea

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. James 1:22

We have reached the point in discussing the practical approach to the Christian life that is not easy to write about because plain, truthful speaking is never easy to do well. How do we call ourselves and others to a higher standard of living without risking offending? In days of old, preachers like Jonathan Edwards embraced the fire and brimstone approach with sermons like, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Today, some pulpits are so afraid to drive off potential parishioners that their watered-down sermons don’t seem to resemble God’s word at all.

But as the book of James plainly tells us, we are not meant to just hear God’s word. I believe we are also not meant to just believe God’s word. We are meant to hear it, believe it, and act on it.

I heard minister Matt Soper put it this way:

Do you live by your conviction or by your convenience?

If we live our religion according to our convenience, we are very far from shining the Light of Christ. Convenient religion–(I say religion because it would be blasphemous to connect the words convenient and Christianity, wouldn’t it?)–goes to Church some Sundays, usually holidays, follows the rules when it will feel good to pat oneself on the back after, usually self-reflects only when there is something positive to reflect upon, easily sees the flaws in others and tends to lean toward the desires and needs of the immediate moment instead of the eternal. James warns of this kind of religion: “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that–and shudder” (James 2:17).

Christian conviction, on the other hand, realizes that one must, as Paul admonished the Philippians,:

. . . continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose (2:12-13).

James puts it another way:

. . . faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead (2:17).

In action, Christians become the salt and light to a world in the dark. In action, we prove our convictions about what we believe. Our actions, in fact, are our most practical approach to Christianity of all.

As Professor/Author Randy Harris explains, “I find it very interesting that both salt and light require two things. First, the elements salt and light need to be different from the things that they are a part of. . . . Second, salt and light need to penetrate their environment or other ingredients in order to make a difference in them” (from Living Jesus: Doing What Jesus Says in the Sermon on the Mount).

When you study the Sermon on the Mount as a way of life, you begin to see what Christ means to be different from the world but penetrate that world at the same time in order to make a difference, in order to shine His love for a world lost in darkness. Living according to the model given us by Christ is not convenient. You must be kind, non-judgmental, slow to anger, a devoted helper, generous, hospitable. You must love others as you love yourself and act accordingly.

Christianity takes conviction. It is the narrow way up a steep hill that many seek and few find. It is thinking before acting. It is praying daily, or even moment-by-moment, for the will of God to be done in one’s life. It is choices made due to the same insight. It takes God behind you serving as the counterweight up the hill.

James offers several, practical tips to Christianity by conviction:

Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless (James 1:26).

and

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice (James 3:13-16).

and

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness (James 3: 17-18).

and finally

If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them (James 4:17).

Convenient things are quick and easy. They go by so quickly, we often do not take time to enjoy them, just get through them. But loving Christ and acting on that love is something worth taking all the time in the world for. The things of this world last only a blink of an eye in the grand scheme of things, but the eternal reality of Christ literally is the grand scheme. Conviction means slowing down enough to feel yourself breathing, to give yourself time to think before you act, time to pray before you act.

Conviction is Christ, God Himself as man, allowing Himself to be nailed to a cross for the sins of you and me, we who too often lean toward convenience.

The practical approach up any steep hill is slow and steady, taking the time to know where one foot needs to go next and where the other foot has been. It takes patience and strength and the will to succeed. When you accept Christ as your Savior, you take the last step up the steep hill by yourself. The Holy Spirit will guide you from there, as long as you get out of the way.

Christian Living, Faith

Believing God’s Good Intention: Practical Steps to Shine His Light

Posted on October 5, 2013 by Ramona Levacy Billingslea

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. (Hebrews 11:1)

Believing is the basis of everything a Christian does. It is with faith like that of a child that we are encouraged to come to Christ (Luke 18:17). It is faith that gives Abraham the courage to follow God’s commands to the point of almost sacrificing the very child God had promised him, a faith that is credited to Abraham as righteousness (Genesis 15:6). It is faith that allows Joseph to see his exile in Egypt as a positive thing. He tells his brothers:

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives (Genesis 50:20).

Faith guides Peter to found Christ’s church, sees Paul through more than one perilous mission trip and long periods of imprisonment, gives Ruth the courage to follow her mother-in-law, heals the woman who touches the edge of Jesus’ garment with her fingertips. Throughout God’s word, we are provided with examples of faith-based responses to the best moments and the worst moments in a person’s life.

So, even though I know all this, why do I still worry? I don’t have an answer for that, except maybe the same prayer as the father of the demon-possessed boy, who cried out, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief” (Mark 9:24).

In a media-driven world, we have plenty of heroes, usually action stars like Indiana Jones or Rocky or Captain America. These men usually hold in their emotions, are good in a fight, and ultimately win. But most of them are not heroes of faith. In fact, most profess a faith in nothing except themselves, the individualism that marks American culture.

However, in the last few weeks, I’ve been struck by the heroes of faith in the Old Testament like Abraham and Joseph. When I read how Joseph had such conviction that the events of his life were worked to the good by God, I found a new hero. I thought to myself, what kind of power would I give to my life if I started seeing it in light of the same kind of conviction? Wouldn’t I worry less if I kept reminding myself that God will work to the good everything in my life, maybe even especially the challenges?

Courage that can face the good and the bad in life with perfect peace is the kind of courage that means true heroism. Read the rest of Hebrews 11 for a list of other heroes of faith. Shining the light of Jesus starts with the first bold step of faith. And if you don’t think you have it, all you need do is ask:

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30)

Christian Living, Christianity

Our Weapon in Secret: Practical Steps to Shine His Light

Posted on September 28, 2013 by Ramona Levacy Billingslea

But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Matthew 6:6

Do you remember the first time you tried to ride a “grown up” bike–no training wheels, just you and two wobbly tires and the hope that when your parent let loose of the seat, you wouldn’t smash immediately into the ground? Or what about the first time you slipped behind the steering wheel of a real car, with your parents’ permission or not. If you were smart, you knew just enough to be a little bit afraid of the almost 2,000 pounds of machinery you had in the palms of your hands.

There is almost nothing besides breathing that we humans do not do without first having some help figuring out how to do that something well. Even though Paul explains to us that “. . . the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans” (Romans 8:26), we can learn much about how to pray, not only from the Bible, but also from each other:

“Let us never forget to pray. God lives. He is near. He is real. He is not only aware of us but cares for us. He is our Father. He is accessible to all who will seek Him.”
― Gordon B. Hinckley, Standing for Something: 10 Neglected Virtues That Will Heal Our Hearts and Homes

“Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one”
― Bruce Lee

“Prayer is not asking. Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God, at His disposition, and listening to His voice in the depth of our hearts.”
― Mother Teresa

“I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had no where else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day.”
― Abraham Lincoln

“If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough.”
― Meister Eckhart

“Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love,
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.”
― St. Francis of Assisi

But, lessons on prayer don’t have to be from someone “famous.” Each church meeting is a chance to listen to others pray and learn from them. If you listen closely, you will often hear phrases from the Bible and hymns, humble requests in full recognition of God’s will, a truthfulness about ourselves and our relationships with others that is sometimes so raw as to be almost painful. You will also hear the calm serenity of true peace that comes with the acceptance of that will.

The Bible, of course, is full of examples of prayers and advice about praying:

Philippians 4:6-7

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Rejoice always; pray without ceasing. in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Psalm 50:15

And call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.

James 5:13-15

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praises. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.

And sometimes, lessons on prayer can come when you least expect them, like sitting on the floor of your office putting together a new chair and having your father-in-law ask you point-blank how you pray. Luckily, after you stumble through your answer, he gives you three really useful pointers for your prayers that go something like this:

Begin by picturing yourself in the long, flowing robe you have been walking around in all day. The robe was clean when you put it on, but now it is dusty, dirty brown from the sandy path you have been walking. Pray for God to wash away the grime in the name of Christ; watch the ugliness of sin melt away from your robe until it is beautifully, glaringly white. You are in a peaceful meadow, washed clean, and ready to enter the perfect Presence of the One and Only. Take a moment to be thankful of this opportunity to communicate with the Maker of Heaven and Earth, an opportunity purchased for you through Christ’s blood.
Now that you are fully in the presence of God, you can ask to have a heart like Christ’s so that you might fulfill the commandment which encompasses all the others: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40). A heart like Christ’s will embrace compassion, seek God always, see through eyes of love.
Finally, you can pray for the wisdom of Christ, so that you might know the true will of God and do it. Wisdom knows the Bible in its totality and doesn’t decide right and wrong based on what “feels right.” Wisdom is self-aware of one’s own frailties and failings. Wisdom is slow to anger and knows that judgment is that work of God and not of man.

When you have prepared your mind in this way as you pray, you will find that your heart and brain are working together to really pray to God with your whole self. You are more focused on thinking about the needs of others as well as yourself. Most importantly, you are fully aware of the privilege of standing before the throne of God.

I Will Shine His Light this week by practicing my prayers. Knowing that, like any good thing worth doing, prayer too takes practice, I will rejoice in my opportunities to approach the Father. I will be glad that even if my prayers are only groanings, I can be confident that God understands me anyway.