Praying and Trusting for God's Guidance

"I urge you to trust God.  He wants to give you the best.

He will help you.  He has promised to guide you.

He knows what you need.  Ask Him to show you.

Pray silently.  Watch quietly."

- Elisabeth Elliot, from her book Keep a Quiet Heart

~Brittany

Learning to Trust the Father's Love

When my brother Dave was very small, we spent a week at the seaside in Belmar, New Jersey.  In vain my father tried to persuade the little boy to come into the waves with him and jump, promising to hold him safely and not allow the waves to sweep over his head.  He took me (only a year older) into the ocean and showed Dave how much fun it would be.  Nothing doing.  The ocean was terrifying.  Dave was sure it would mean certain disaster, and he could not trust his father.  On the last day of our vacation he gave in.  He was not swept away, his father held him as promised, and he had far more fun than he could have imagined, whereupon he burst into tears and wailed, "Why didn't you make me go in?"
An early lesson in prayer often comes through an ordeal of fear.  We face impending adversity and we doubt the love, wisdom and power of our Father in heaven.
When the people of Israel were encamped in Pi-hahiroth and saw the Egyptians coming after them, they felt they were looking death in the face and it was all Moses' fault - "as if there weren't enough graves in Egypt that you brought us out here to die!"
"Don't be afaid," said Moses.  "Stand by.  The Lord will fight for you if you'll just be quiet."
You know the story of deliverance.  The song of victory Moses and Israel sang reveals their recognition not only of the strength, majesty and wonder-working of the Lord, but of His loving-kindness, immeasurably  beyond anything they had dared to hope.
Poor Dave!  His father could have forced him to come into the water, but he could not have forced him to relax and enjoy it.  As long as the child insisted on protecting himself, saving the life he was sure he would lose, he could not trust the strong love of his father.  He refused to surrender.  In this simple story we hear echoes of the most ancient story, of the two who, distrusting the word of their Father, fearing that obedience to Him would ultimately bar them from happiness, chose to repudiate their dependence on Him.  Sin, death, destruction for the whole race were the result.
Learning to pray is learning to trust the wisdom, the power, and the love of our Heavenly Father, always so far beyond our dreams.  He knows our need and knows ways to meet it that have never entered our heads.  Things we feel sure we need for happiness may often lead to our ruin.  Things we think will ruin us (the chariots of Egypt, the waters of the sea, or the little waves in Belmar!), if we believe what the Father tells us and surrender ourselves into His strong arms, bring us deliverance and joy.
The only escape from self-love is self-surrender.  "Whoever loses his life for Me will find it" (Matthew 16:25, NIV).  "Dwell in my love.  If you heed my commands, you will dwell in my love, as I have heeded my Father's commands and dwell in His love.  I have spoken thus to you, so that my joy may be in you, and your joy complete" (John 15:9-11, NEB).  My father knew far better than his small, fearful, stubborn son what would give him joy.  So does our Heavenly Father.  Whenever I have resisted Him, I have cheated myself, as my little brother did.  Whenever I have yielded, I have found joy.
- taken from Elisabeth Elliot's book, Keep a Quiet Heart
~Brittany

"Peace lies in the trusting acceptance of
His design, His gifts, His appointment of place, position, capacity.

It was thus that the Son of Man came to earth--embracing
all that the Father willed Him to be,

usurping nothing--no work, not even a word--that
the Father had not given Him."
~ Elisabeth Elliot ~

"Children of the jungle tribe I knew years ago did not complain
because they had not been taught to."

~ Elisabeth Elliot ~

"Lord, we give You thanks for all that You in Your mercy have given us
to be and to do and to have.
Deliver us, Lord, from all greed to be and to do and to have anything
not in accord with Your holy purposes.
Teach us to rest quietly in Your promise to supply,
recognizing that if we don't have it we don't need it.
Teach us to desire Your will--nothing more, nothing less, and nothing else.
For Jesus' sake.  Amen."

~ Elisabeth Elliot ~

-taken from her book, Keep a Quiet Heart

~Brittany

His Greatest Mercies--His Meaning is Always Love

"Here is a little story about a simple answer to prayer.  Lars was away.  I had to take the car to the repairman’s house.  Li Zeng, our live-in student, followed me in his car to bring me home.  Directions to the house had been ambiguous, and Gloucester, Massachusetts gets the prize for town-easiest-to-get-lost-in.  I prayed that I might not get lost—Li had to get to class, the repairman had to leave at 7:15.  I got lost, made a quick turn without checking to see that Li was still with me.  He wasn’t.  “Lord, Li will be late for class, the man will leave in a few minutes—what shall I do?”  It’s a long story, but after a phone call I found the house, left the car, declined the man’s kind offer to take me home because I wanted to find Li so he would not miss his class.  How was I to find him?  “Lord, help me.”  I stood at an intersection and prayed that he would come along—an absurd request in a place like Gloucester.  He’d been on a one-way street which would take him far out around the shore drive, with no reason to happen upon the intersection where I stood.  Within five minutes there he was!  God teaches us to ask so that He may answer our prayers.  This reminds us of the source of our blessings.  The answer to my prayer not to get lost was No—in order that I might be specially blessed in the way I was found.

Remember how the Lord brought Israel out (of Egypt) in order to bring them in (to Canaan)?  He got me lost that He might get me found!  Let’s never forget that some of His greatest mercies are His refusals.  He says no in order that he may, in some way we cannot imagine, say yes.  All His ways with us are merciful.  His meaning is always love."

~Elisabeth Elliot, Keep a Quiet Heart

~Brittany

Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it

I read this quote in Elisabeth Elliot's book "Keep a Quiet Heart" this morning and was so blessed and challenged by it!  It's an area the Lord has been speaking to me about lately.  I hope it will be an encouragement to some of you as well!

~Breanna

"Say not you cannot gladden, elevate, and set free; that you have nothing of the grace of influence; that all you have to give is at the most only common bread and water.  Give yourself to your Lord for the service of men with what you have.  Cannot He change water into wine?  Cannot He make stammering words to be instinct (imbued, filled, charged) with saving power?  Cannot He change trembling efforts to help into deeds of strength?  Cannot He still, as of old, enable you in all your personal poverty 'to make many rich?' God has need of thee for the service of thy fellow men.  He has a work for thee to do.  To find out what it is, and then to do it, is at once thy supremist duty and thy highest wisdom. 'Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it.'" (Canon George Body, b. 1840)

The Weapon of Meekness

I was very blessed, encouraged, and challenged when I read this yesterday.

Meekness is teachability.  It is the readiness to be shown, which includes the readiness to lay down my fixed notions, my objections and “what ifs” or “but what abouts,” my certainties about the rightness of what I have always done or thought or said.  It is the child’s glad “Show me!  Is this the way?  Please help me.”  We won’t make it into the kingdom without that childlikeness, that simple willingness to be taught and corrected and helped.   We must walk (live) in the Spirit, not gratifying the desires of the sinful nature (for example, my desire to answer back, to offer excuses and accusations, my desire to show up the other's fault instead of to be shown my own).  We must “clothe” ourselves (Colossians 3:12) with meekness-put it on, like a garment.  This entails an explicit choice: I will be meek.  I will not sulk, will not retaliate, will not carry a chip.  A steadfast look at Jesus instead of at the injury makes a very great difference.  Seeking to see things in His light changes the aspect altogether.  The weapon of meekness counters all enmity, says author Dietrich Von Hildebrand, with the offer of an unshielded heart.  Isn’t this the simple explanation for our being so heavy-laden, so tired, so overburdened and confused and bitter?  We drag around such prodigious loads of resentment and self-assertion.  Shall we not rather accept at once the loving invitation: “Com to Me.  Take my yoke.  Learn of Me-I am gentle, meek, humble, lowly.  I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28-29 paraphrased).
~Elisabeth Elliot, Keep a Quiet Heart
~Brittany

"The more unsatisfactory my "performance,"
the more He calls me to share His yoke.

I should know by now that mine makes me tired and overburdened.

I should learn of Him: "I am gentle and humble in heart.""

- Elisabeth Elliot, Keep a Quiet Heart -

~Brittany

Courage

"Courage is not the absence of fear

but the willingness to do the thing we fear.

There's a big difference between fearing and willing."

~Elisabeth Elliot, Keep A Quiet Heart~

~Brittany

Peace and Contentment

Breanna and I have been so blessed by several of Elisabeth Elliot's writings.   A while back we had gotten "Keep a Quiet Heart" in from the library, but had to return it before we were done.  Mom was so sweet and bought the book for us and surprised us by leaving it on our bed along with a sweet note. :-)  (Thanks so much Mom for all that you invest into us. <3 )  Here are a few sections from what I read yesterday that stood out to me.  I hope some of you are as blessed by it as I was.

A spirit of calm contentment always accompanies true godliness.  The deep peace that comes from deep trust in God’s lovingkindness is not destroyed even by the worst of circumstances, for those Everlasting Arms are still cradling us, we are always “under the Mercy”.

It isn’t troubles that make saints, but their response to troubles.  Even miracles can’t make us holy.

Everything about which we are tempted to complain may be the very instrument whereby the Potter intents to shape His clay into the image of His Son—a headache, an insult, a long line at the check-out, someone’s rudeness or failure to say thank you, misunderstanding, disappointment, interruption.  As Amy Carmichael said, “See in it a chance to die,” meaning a chance to leave self behind and say YES to the will of God, to be “conformable unto His death.”  Not a morbid martyr-complex but a peaceful and happy contentment in the assurance that goodness and mercy follow us all the days of our lives.

~Elisabeth Elliot, Keep A Quiet Heart~

~Brittany

Don't Forfeit Your Peace

Don’t Forfeit Your Peace

It would not be possible to exaggerate the importance hymns and spiritual songs have played in my spiritual growth.  One of the latter, familiar to most of you, has this line: “O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer” (Joseph Scriven).  Prayerlessness is one of many ways by which we can easily forfeit the peace God wants us to have.  I’ve been thinking of some other ways.  Here’s a sampling:

1. Resent God’s ways.
2. Worry as much as possible.
3. Pray only about things you can’t manage by yourself.
4. Refuse to accept what God gives.
5. Look for peace elsewhere than in Him.
6. Try to rule your own life.
7. Doubt God’s word.
8. Carry all your cares.

 If you’d rather not forfeit your peace, here are eight ways to find it (antidotes to the above eight):

1. “Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them” (Psalm 119:165 KVJ).  “Circumstances are the expression of God’s will,” wrote Bishop Handley Moule.
2. “Don’t worry about anything whatever” (Philippians 4:6, Phillips).
3. “In everything make your requests known to God in prayer and petition with thanksgiving.  Then the peace of God … will guard your hearts” (Philippians 4:6-7, NEB).
4. “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me … and you will find rest” (Matthew 11:29, NIV).
5. “Peace is my parting gift to you, my own peace, such as the world cannot give” (John 14:27, NEB).
6. “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts” (Colossians 3:15, NIV).
7. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing” (Romans 15:13, KJV).
8. “Cast all your cares on him for you are his charge” (1 Peter 5:7, NEB).

 “Grant, O Lord my God, that I may never fall away in success or in failure; that I may not be prideful in prosperity nor dejected in adversity.  Let me rejoice only in what unites us and sorrow only in what separates us.  May I strive to please no one or fear to displease anyone except Yourself.  May I seek always the things that are eternal and never those that are only temporal.  May I shun any joy that is without You and never seek any that is beside You.  O Lord, may I delight in any work I do for You and tire of any rest that is apart from You.  My God, let me direct my heart towards You, and in my failings, always repent with a purpose of amendment.”  - St. Thomas Aquinas

~Keep A Quiet Heart, by Elisabeth Elliot 

~Brittany   

Learning the Father's Love

 "When my brother Dave was very small, we spent a week at the seaside in Belmar, New Jersey.  In vain my father tried to persuade the little boy to come into the waves with him and jump, promising to hold him safely and now allow the waves to sweep over his head.  He took me (only a year older) into the ocean and showed Dave how much fun it would be.  Nothing doing.  The ocean was terrifying.  Dave was sure it would mean certain disaster, and he could not trust his father.  On the last day of our vacation he gave in.  He was not swept away, his father held him as promised, and he had far more fun than he could have imagined, whereupon he burst in to tears and wailed, "Why didn't you make me go in?"
An early lesson in prayer often comes through an ordeal fo fear.  We face impending adversity and we doubt the love, wisdom and power of our Father in heaven.  Wev'e tried everything else and in our desperation we turn to prayer--of the primitive sort: Somebody who's reputed to be able to do anything.  The great question is, can I get Him to do what I want?  How do I twist His arm, how persuade a remote and reluctant deity to change His mind?
When the people of Israel were encamped in Pi-hahiroth and saw the Egyptians coming after them, they felt they were looking death in the face and it was all Moses' fault--"as if there weren't enough graves in Egypt that you brought us out here to die!"
"Don't be afraid," said Moses.  "Stand by.  The Lord will fight for you if you'll just be quiet."
You know the story of deliverance--the sea was rolled back, Israel marched through it dry shod, and when the Egyptians pursued them the sea swamped their horses, their chariots,a nd the whole army.  "Not even one of them remained."  The song of victory Moses and Israel sang reveals their recognition not only of the strength, majesty and wonder-working of the Lord, but of His loving-kindness, immeasurably beyond anything they had dared to hope.
Poor Dave!  His father could have forced him to come into the water, but he could not have forced him to relax and enjoy it.  As long as the child insisted on protecting himself, saving the life he was sure he would lose, he could not trust the strong love of his father.  He refused to surrender.  In this simple story we hear echoes of the most ancient story, of the two who, distrusting the word of their Father, fearing that obedience to Him would ultimately bar them from happiness, chose to repudiate their dependance on Him.  Sin, death, destruction for the whole race were the result.
Learning to pray is learning to trust the wisdom, the power, and the love of our Heavenly Father, always so far beyond our dreams.  He knows our need and knows ways to meet it that have never entered our heads.  Things we feel sure we need for happiness may often lead to our ruin.  Things we think will ruin us (the chariots of Egypt, the waters of the sea, or the little waves in Belmar!), if we believe what the Father tells us and surrender ourselves into His strong arms, bring us deliverance and joy.
The only escape from self-live is self-surrender.  "Whoever loses his life for Me wil find it" (Matthew 16:25, NIV).  "Dwell in my love.  If you heed my commands, you will dwell in my love, as I have heeded my Father's commands and dwell in His love.  I have spoken thus to you so that my joy may be in you, and your joy complete" (John 15:9-11, NEB).  My father knew far better than his small, fearful, stubborn son what would give him joy.  So does our Heavenly Father.  Whenever I have resisted Him, I have cheated myself, as my little brother did.  Whenever I have yielded, I have found joy."
~taken from Keep A Quiet Heart, by Elisabeth Elliot
~Brittany

Can the heart faint that waiteth on Thy will?

I just began reading Elisabeth Elliot's devotional book "Keep a Quiet Heart".   The first chapter so spoke to me and was an encouragement to me.  She began this section of the book with a little poem by Amy Carmichael that was so good, and it kind of summed up her first chapter.  I thought I'd share the main sections of the first chapter that spoke to me with the hopes that it may be an encouragement to all of you as well.  :-)  May we seek His will and wait on Him in every aspects of our lives!

~Breanna

 

"Thou art the Lord who slept upon the pillow,

Thou art the Lord who soother the furious sea,
What matter beating wind and tossing billow
If only we are in the boat with Thee?

Hold us quiet through the age-long minute
While Thou art silent, and the wind is shrill:

Can the boat sink while Thou, dear Lord, art in it?

Can the heart faint that waiteth on Thy will?"

~Amy Carmichael

"Purity of heart, said Kierkgaard, is to will one thing.  The Son willed only one thing: the will of His Father.  That's what He came to earth to do.  Nothing else.  One whose aim is as pure as that can have a completely quiet heart, knowing what the psalmist knew: 'Lord, You have assigned me my portion and my cup, and have made my lot secure' (Psalm 14:5 NIV).  I know of no greater simplifier for all of life.  Whatever happens is assigned.  Does the intellect balk at that? Can we say that there are things which happen to us which do not belong to our lovingly assigned 'portion' ('This belongs to it, that does not')?  Are some things, then, out of the control of the Almighty?  Every assignment is measured and controlled for my eternal good.  As I accept the given portion other options are cancelled.  Decisions become much easier, directions clearer, and hence my heart becomes inexpressibly quieter."


"A quiet heart is content with what God gives.  It is enough.  All is grace."

"Response is what matters. Remember that our forefathers were all guided by the pillar of cloud, all passed through the sea, all ate and drank the same spiritual food and drink, but God was not pleased with most of them.  Their response was all wrong...The same almighty God apportioned their experience. All events serve His will.  Some responded in faith.  Most did not.  'No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.  And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.  But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.' (1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV).  Think of that promise and keep a quiet heart!  Our enemy delights in disquieting us.  Our Savior and Helper delights in quieting us.  'As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you' is His promise (Is 66:13, NIV).  The choice is ours.  It depends on our willingness to see everything in God, receive all from His hand, accept with gratitude just the portion and the cup He offers."

"God came down and lived in this same world as a man.  He showed us how to live in this world, subject to its vicissitudes and necessities, that we might be changed- not into an angel or a storybook princess, not wafted into another world, but changed into saints in this world.  The secret is Christ in me, not me in a different set of circumstances"

"He whose heart is kind beyond all measure
Gives unto each day what He deems best,

Lovingly its part of pain and pleasure,

Mingling toil with peace and rest."

~Linda Sandell