Swear Less † Pray More

“I cross my heart and hope to die. Stick a needle in my eye.” Does this bring back memories? It wasn’t until I wrote this phrase out that I realized how sadistic it sounds, especially when I was a little child.

However, little or old, all of us have sworn at least one time in our lives. It may have been to convince someone we were telling the truth. Or maybe a promise to perform some act.

Some of us may have even sworn to God.

Maybe in a weak moment, a moment we think something isn’t going to work out, we make a promise to God.

It goes a little like this… “God, if you ______, I promise I will be nice to the grumpy bus driver every day” or “God, if you _____, I promise to never forget to pray again.”

They may be silly, or they may be more serious. However, how many times have you made a promise to God hoping He would answer some other prayer?

God wants us to make one specific promise, to love Him with all our heart, all our soul, and all our might.

Our relationship with God shouldn’t be about us. Yes, you heard me. When we make the promise to love Him, we are making a selfless commitment to follow God.

God makes promises throughout the Bible and does not fail to deliver. One of these promises was to the Isralites who were enslaved by the Egyptians.

Read Exodus 6:6.

God promised he would make the Israelites free again. In case you don’t know the story, read over Exodus. For a quick summary, the God plagued the Egyptians and then Pharaoh let the Israelites leave Egypt. Even after Pharaoh let the people go, he then changed his mind and started chasing after them. God then parted so the Israelites could pass.

God fulfilled His promise and many others through the Bible, but how many times do we fulfill our promise?

Maybe you haven’t made this promise yet, or maybe you haven’t followed through like you should have. At this time, I would like you to speak to God and ask what promise He would like you to live by. We may falter, but He will always keep us strong.

Featured image: (FlawlessNobody/ Deviantart) 

Quit Less † Pray More

(Phil Roeder/Flickr)

When you were five, maybe you quit drawing because Susie told you you weren’t any good. When you were ten, you quit soccer because you couldn’t score a goal no matter how much you practiced. When you were seventeen, you wanted to quit math--who really uses the Pythagorean theorem in “real life” anyways? ‎

Why do we quit? It’s too hard. People are criticizing us for even trying. And then maybe we just get to the point of just wondering why we bother.

How many times have you stopped growing in your faith because of one of these reasons?

I want you to think of your first love (or maybe even making a new friend). When you begin a relationship, think about what it’s like. You’re excited. You go out of your way to please the other person. You have butterflies.

Our faith can begin this way too. We start on this “spiritual high,” claiming we will do anything God asks of us. I mean, what could possibly get in the way of this awesome new faith we have?

Those of us who have experienced the aftereffect of this high know what comes next. The shame, the guilt, the anger. We place our expectations of ourselves high, yet fail to follow through.  

However, it comes down to commitment. When life is chaotic, unbalanced or throwing you down a staircase, what do you do?

Please either play the following video while reading, or listen after and consider the song's message.

One misconception non-believers as well as Christians hold is we are “good” if we follow the ten commandments, read our Bible daily, pray, and have fellowship. It is not that we should do these things. It is that we should want to do these things because we are in love with Christ.

When you love someone, you facilitate a relationship with them. You communicate, include them in your life, and respect them.

Are there days when it’s hard to open the Bible? Yes. Are there days you might want to wallow in self-pity and not speak to God at all? Um, yeah. Are there times we don’t follow the Bible? Of course, every day.

When we fall deeper in love with Christ and develop a relationship, it is then that all of these “good Christian things we have to do” become what we want to do.

Read Matthew 18:12.

There are going to be times we feel ourselves drift away, but if we allow the Holy Spirit to reach us, we won’t become lost. God will search until He can find us. However, we have to allow Him to. 

Reflect on the times you've quit in your faith. What stopped you? Pray about solutions to future problems and think of how you can strengthen your own faith.