Praying like Nehemiah

I often wish I was more of a prayer warrior.  I read of people in the Bible like Epaphras who struggled on the behalf of others in prayer (Colossians 4:12) and was considered a faithful minister (Colossians 1:12).  How often we think that the greatest ministers are the ones in the limelight…but I’m beginning to realize that the greatest warriors are the ones on their knees.

This summer I read A Praying Life by Paul E. Miller.  Miller offered a refreshing look at prayer, including a reminder that while we are content to be child-like in many aspects of faith, (especially as new Christians), in prayer we assume that we must have it all together when we start.  And yet – we need to learn to talk to the Lord. 

It’s much easier to talk to friends with whom we have a lot in common…people who we have shared experiences with…and wouldn’t it make sense for prayer to easily flow out of someone who spends significant time with the Lord? 

I know for me…it’s silly to expect long, flowing dialogues with the God I too often neglect.  Not only do I need to spend more time listening to the Lord and hearing from the Bible, but I also need to talk with Him.  As amazing as it seems, God actually likes hearing from me!  (and all of us!)

So, when I started reading the book of Nehemiah a few days ago, I was struck by his prayers.

Here’s the scene:  Nehemiah works for the king as his cupbearer.  He’s kind of a big deal, seeing that the king trusts Nehemiah with his life.  Yet, Nehemiah receives bad news about the city of Jerusalem.  So he mourned and fasted and prayed for days.  Nehemiah 1:5-11 is a well-formed, articulate prayer.  In summary, Nehemiah:

1.       Praises God for who He is. (great, awesome, covenant-keeping, loving God…)

2.       Asks for God to listen and see him.

3.       Confesses his sin, and the sins of the people of Israel.

4.       Reminds God of His covenant to His people…that if they return and keep His commands, He will gather them.

5.       Asks for favor in the sight of the king.

Nehemiah had to know God well to form this prayer.  He had to know that God was all of those things (great, awesome, loving, etc).  He also knew where he fell short in God’s sight.  And, Nehemiah knew God’s promises.  It all makes for a better prayer, eh?

So, if I were God, I think I’d like this prayer.  But instead of a quick answer, Nehemiah has to wait over a month for an opportunity to talk to the king about helping his city.

And when that time comes in chapter 2, Nehemiah again offers a prayer…but this time, it’s what my high school Bible teacher affectionately called “the Nehemiah prayer.” 

“The king said to me, ‘What are you requesting?’  So I prayed to the God of heaven.  And I said to the king…”  (2:4-5)

Nehemiah had time only for a short prayer – almost like a “Here we go, God!  Help!”

And God granted him favor.  The gracious hand of God was upon him.

Isn’t that encouraging?  God hears our prayers.  Sometimes we have to wait for months, even years for answers...but He is listening.  And He listens to 10 second prayers as much as He listens to the long ones. 

The long prayers are much easier to say when the God who we are talking to is very familiar.  But, we have to start somewhere…and God appreciates even the 10 seconds...and those persistent in the 10 second prayers will soon find that 10 seconds is just not enough. 

My desire this year is to come to more deeply know the Lord, not only through the Bible, but also by spending more time talking with Him….wrestling in prayer for my classes, my family and my friends.  I want to be like both Epaphras and Nehemiah…able to pray the long prayers, but not afraid to pray the short ones in every moment of life.

“We don’t need self-discipline to pray continuously; we just need to be poor in spirit.  Poverty of spirit makes room for His Spirit.”  (Miller, p. 66).  And in His Spirit rests the power to change lives.  What better ministry could we have than the one on our knees?

Boiling Guitar Strings, Tuning Hearts

“Come, Thou Fount of every blessing, Tune my heart to sing thy grace…”

As I sat in church this morning, I was struck by a thought:  How do we tune our hearts? 

The Bible is full of verses about praising the Lord – and one of my favorites is below:

·         “It is good to praise the LORD and make music to your name, O Most High, to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night.”  (Psalm 92:1-2)

Psalm 150 mentions praising the Lord with the trumpet, harp, lyre, tambourine, dancing, strings, flute, and cymbals.  In fact, everything that has breath is encouraged to praise the Lord in verse 6. 

So, just like I wouldn’t want to play an out-tune-guitar to praise the Lord, how do I make sure that my heart is in tune so that I can more fully praise Him?  **

Because Robert Robinson penned the words to “Come Thou Fount” in 1758, it would be next to impossible to ask him what caused him to use the phrase “tune my heart.”  However, I know that when I heard the words, I immediately thought about how you tune any instrument…and the following is the result of my research this afternoon:

“Musical instruments are not all tuned in the same way. Some, for example, need to be tuned by tuning specialists. So, you would generally have your piano tuned by an expert piano tuner. Other instruments, however, can be tuned by their players. So, a violinist, for example, would be expected to keep their own instrument in tune.

The way that you tune an instrument depends on the type of instrument that you play. For example:

·         String instruments -- string instruments are tuned by turning the pegs at the end of the strings. This alters the actual tension of the string which affects the notes that can be played on it.

·         Keyboard instruments -- keyboard instruments tend to be tuned by expert tuners. Again, this is generally about changing the tension of the strings that produce the notes when keys are played on the keyboard.

·         Drums -- drums come with taps or pegs which, when turned, change the tension of the drum head itself.

·         Wind instruments -- wind instruments are tuned in various ways usually by adjusting the position of one or more joints on the instrument.”

It appears that the producing of in-tune music is always about adjustments and frequently about tension.  The lengthening of ‘barrels’ or joints in wind instruments (or even the shape of the player's mouth or amount of air blown), the valves in brass instruments, and the tension of strings or drum heads all are necessary to produce beautiful music.  If the temperature or humidity changes, a skilled musician knows that he/she needs to perform even more adjustments because the sound could be affected by those things as well. 

Because I am in the process of learning to play the guitar, I thought I knew all there was to know about guitar tuning.  But I looked it up anyway.  And although the general concepts were not new to me – let me tell you what I gathered:

1.       Guitar strings can be tightened or loosened to match the correct sound.  (duh.)

2.       Guitar strings can be made of nylon (classical/folk guitars), steel/nickel (electric), or bronze (acoustic).

3.       The tensile-strength of a guitar string is necessary for good sound…and over time, a guitar string can lose its sound and need to be replaced.

BUT WAIT!  Did you know you could boil guitar strings?  I know.  Crazy.  Here’s the deal:

·         Old guitar strings can be boiled to cause them expand and release oil and dirt, vastly improving the sound.

·         New guitar strings can be boiled to allow for better stretching capabilities, tone and tension. 

·         The time spent in boiling water depends greatly on the specific string (composition, thickness)…

·         And there are risks:

o   If a cheap string – it’s not worth boiling.  Go buy a new one.

o   Most strings should not be boiled more than twice.

Okay – so admittedly, I was excited by this discovery - not only because it’s awesome (and my guitar strings are 8 years old…yikes), but because of the neat connection to tuning hearts.

Guitar strings are made of very different materials, but all need to be stretched and put through tension to make beautiful music.  Guitar strings can experience “boiling” for better sound early in their lifetime, or guitar strings can go through that hot water later in their lives to remove the built up oil and dirt…or both! 

How like our hearts!

We humans are very different from each other, but our hearts are all in need of a pull from the Savior.  And when we come to Him, Jesus “stretches” us in new experiences and sometimes allows us to experience “boiling” in order to be better able to praise Him.  (and to match our sounds better to His key  J).  You could say that when we go through trials, He’s in the process of tuning our hearts – either for cleaning purposes or better stretching purposes.  AND – just as such effort is not wasted on a cheap string, but on one with promise, Jesus stretches and provides us with tension in our lives because He knows that someday because of it, we will make beautiful music. 

Have you ever thought about what heaven will be like?  Imagine Christians gathered together from all across the globe, having had their heart tuned by the Master Musician.  Can you imagine millions of people praising God together?  We won’t all be the same and lose our individuality.  Even the instruments in an orchestra are different.  But just as an orchestra tunes to the same note, the heavenly orchestra will take their cue from the Master Musician and together produce richer, fuller music.

It reminds me of a quote by C.S. Lewis:

“But it is also said, ‘To him that overcometh I will give a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.’ [Revelation 2:17].  What can be more a man’s own than this new name which even in eternity remains a secret between God and him?  And what shall we take this secrecy to mean?  Surely, that each of the redeemed shall forever know and praise some one aspect of the Divine beauty better than any other creature can.  Why else were individuals created, but that God, loving all infinitely, should love each differently?  And this difference, so far from impairing, floods with meaning the love of all blessed creatures for one another, the communion of the saints.  If all experienced God in the same way and returned to him an identical worship, the song of the church triumphant would have no symphony, it would be like an orchestra in which all the instruments played the same note.”  (from The Problem of Pain)

Heart tuning.  Instrument tuning.  Boiling guitar strings.  Richer, purer music.  Heavenly sounds. 

I’m not quite sure that Robert Robinson had all this in mind when penning those beautiful words.  But I know that the next time I sing “Come Thou Fount” I will have a better picture of what it means for the Lord to tune my heart to sing His grace.

**As a side note – for those of you thinking:  “But it says make a joyful noise!  We don’t have to be in tune!”  Although Psalm 95 and 98 both say to make a joyful noise, and God appreciates worship from our heart – the Bible also says in Psalm 33:1-3 to sing joyfully and play skillfully.  I really do think God appreciates excellence... J

Swept off my feet...

At the beginning of the summer, I bought a used copy of the 1968 bestseller Christy by Catherine Marshall.  (Summer for a teacher is a time to read fun books – books that require little deep thought…).  And yet, the story of Christy did make me think deeply.  It made me think about what love is.  Whether it was Miss Alice Henderson’s love for people, Christy’s love for her students, or the Doctor’s love for Christy, love kept appearing.  In fact, some of the most powerful words of the book come at the end, as Christy wakes from her coma (sorry for ruining the ending, guys) to hear the words of Doctor calling her back.  In response she thinks, “He loved me.  He loved me like that.”

Love.

That word is tossed around in our culture so freely.  We love potato chips.  We love the Olympics.  (yay diving!)  We love our friends and family. 

And we hear so frequently… “God loves you.”

But what kind of love is that?  Is it a love worth italicizing, like Christy did?  Should we be in shock that GOD loves us? 

Yes.

The Bible is full of verses that declare the greatness of God’s love:

Psalm 108:4  “…For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.”

Psalm 107:43  “Whoever is wise, let him heed these things and consider the great love of the LORD.”

Great Christians of the past, who studied God’s word and spent a lot of time learning about Jesus, prayed prayers like this one found on page 53 of the Valley of Vision: 

“I know but little – increase my knowledge of Thy love in Jesus, keep me pressing forward for clearer discoveries of it, so that I may find its eternal fullness;  Magnify Thy love to me according to its greatness, and not according to my deserts and prayers, and whatever increase Thou givest, let it draw out greater love to Thee.”

Older hymn writers and newer worship leaders are stuck on the theme of God’s love:

 “So nigh, so very nigh to God; I cannot nearer be.  For in the Person of His Son, I am as near as He.  So dear, so very dear to God; more dear I cannot be.  The love wherewith He loves the Son, Such is His love to me!”  C. Paget, A Mind At Perfect Peace With God

“What heart can hold the weight of Your love?  And know the heights of Your worth?  What eyes can look on Your glorious face shining like the sun?”  - Matt Redman, Holy

I can’t begin to summarize God’s love.  The hymn “The Love of God” says well:  “Should we with ink the ocean fill, or were the skies of parchment made; were every stalk on earth a quill or every man a scribe by trade – to write the love of God would drain the ocean dry.  Nor could the scroll contain the whole though stretched from sky to sky.” 

I have realized that in this past year I have focused a lot on my struggles.  I wrote in my journal about getting through disappointment or trials…and while that is not necessarily wrong, I missed out on the joy of focusing on God’s love.

A few Sundays ago, I was struck by the story in Mark 14 of the woman who poured expensive perfume on Jesus – to the chagrin of those watching.  Those watching exclaimed over how expensive it was, and how it was a waste to pour it on Jesus when the money could have gone to other things.  And do you know what Jesus said? 

“Why are you bothering her?  She has done a beautiful thing to me.”  (Mark 14:6)

Wow.  Jesus doesn’t use words lightly.  He called what she did BEAUTIFUL.  She poured an expression of her love on Love Himself.  She sacrificially gave all – becoming more like the One she was worshiping…making her beautiful.

It’s the beginning of a new school year for me – and instead of focusing on my trials and thanking God for the opportunity to “smell more like Jesus” – like I did last year, this year I am going to try to focus on Love Himself.  When I am amazed at how much Jesus loves me, then the sacrifices really don’t seem like sacrifices anymore, you know?  And oh…how much more I must learn.

Besides Christy, I read a few other books during the summer.  One was called Total Truth by Nancy Pearcey and contained a quote that made me chuckle as I reread it today:

“Given our fallen human nature, we typically do not really sit before the Lord unless our legs are knocked out from under us…”

God effectively knocked my legs out from under me this summer as I had ACL surgery and a change of plans.  But it made me realize His love for me more deeply – and for that I am grateful.  His love is one worth italicizing…and one worth learning about forever.

In fact, I’d rather not think of it as God knocking my legs out from under me this summer….I prefer to think of it as Him sweeping me off my feet. J

Counting Clouds

“Who endowed the heart with wisdom or gave understanding to the mind?

Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?”

Job 38:36-37

A simple verse, isn’t it? It’s found in the Bible after Job questions God…and is part of God’s questioning of Job.



Who does give wisdom and understanding? Well…that’s God.



But who has the wisdom to count the clouds?  Doesn't that seem like a strange question?



P’shaw. I can count clouds. That’s easy peasy.



I’m just going to look up and count them right now. Maybe even in this picture from my recent trip to Alaska.

One, two, three, four…. Well, wait. What actually makes up a cloud – how many particles of water are needed? And where does one cloud end and one begin? And what about their formation? When does it actually become a cloud?



I’ve discovered that it’s not so simple to count the clouds.



But I’ve also discovered that the One who is capable of not only counting, but also producing the clouds, is the One who holds my future…and my hand.



It’s a lovely thought.



So in the midst of fun summer travels, time with family & friends, school work, interrupted plans, ACL surgery (yay Monday!), etc – I have found that one simple thing reminds me that I need to trust in the One who is bigger than it all:



I just try to count the clouds.

But God...

Isn’t language funny?  I’m reminded of this quote from the movie, Letters to Juliet:

“What and if are two words as non-threatening as words can be. But put them together side by side and they have the power to haunt you for the rest of your life.  What if.  What if?  What if?”

Sometimes, it’s not just the two words put together, but the way we say them.

“But God…”

I’ve been recently very good at saying that phrase in a whining tone…like a frustrated child that didn’t get what he wanted.

But this week, I have been reading again about the life of Joseph in Genesis, and have been amazed at the way he repeatedly said this phrase…without whining.

Here’s a quick recap on Joseph’s life in Genesis 37-51.

·         At 17 years old, Joseph has two dreams predicting that in the future his family would bow to him.

·         His brothers hate him…they throw him into a pit and sell him into slavery.

·         He works for the Egyptian official Potiphar, and is given much responsibility because “the LORD was with him” (39:2,3).

·         Potiphar’s wife comes onto him…he refuses her advances because he doesn’t want to sin against God, and is, yet again, thrown into a pit.  (this time a dungeon…but it is the same Hebrew word “bor”)

·         He, again, is given much responsibility (this time in the jail), because people noticed “the LORD was with him” (39:21,23)

·         Pharaoh’s baker and cupbearer are thrown in prison, together they have two dreams, and Joseph correctly interprets them.

·         The cupbearer, although he had been asked to remember Joseph, forgets him for 2 years.

·         Pharaoh has two dreams.  Joseph is called “out of the pit” to interpret them…and ends up becoming Pharaoh’s “right-hand man” and the second most powerful man in Egypt.  (Joseph is now 30 years old – 41:46).

·         Seven years of plenty pass, and in those years Joseph gets married, has two sons, collects grain, and stores up enough food to help Egypt and the surrounding countries make it through the next seven years of famine foretold in Pharaoh’s dream.

·        During the seven years of famine, after Joseph is 37 years old, he again sees his brothers…they do bow to him…and after a period of testing, he brings them and his father to Egypt and helps them survive the famine.

Whew!   What a story!  Obviously, I left a lot out.  And there are some amazing things within that story if we only take a closer look.  I highlighted some of the words above to bring them out, but I would highly recommend The Story of Joseph & Judah by W.A. Gage & C. Barber for more study.  It’s really eye-opening.

Back to our phrase, “But God”…

Joseph could have EASILY used a whining tone when talking with God during those years.  He was thrown in pits, wrongfully accused, and forgotten by people.  And yet, he trusted God.

He could have committed adultery with Potiphar’s wife…but he didn’t want to sin against God.

He probably could have tried to escape from prison if he really wanted to…he was in charge there.

He could have been frustrated with the fact that everyone else’s dreams were almost immediately being fulfilled…but his weren’t for 20 years!  (*Read what Joseph says in Genesis 41:32.  Crazy.)

But in the midst of it, we see Joseph say some amazing things:

1.       He recognized God as being all knowing. 

a.       Genesis 41:16  “‘I cannot do it,’ Joseph replied to Pharaoh, ‘but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.’”

2.       He recognized God as One who has better plans.

a.       Genesis 45:8  “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God.  He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.”

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

3.       He recognized that God will always be there.

a.       Genesis 50:24 “Then Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am about to die.  But God will surely come to your aid…”

You don’t hear Joseph use any whining.  He is just amazed by the character of God…the God who brought him through real trials, and used it all for good.

Was Joseph tempted to whine?  I’m sure he was.  Am I tempted to whine?  Yes. 

And though I may not be able to see 20 years ahead in my life, I can definitely see 2000 years back.

Because of a cross 2000 years ago, I can have confidence like Joseph that God will always be here, He does have better plans, and I can trust that He knows all.

And my hope is that when I'm tempted to whine "but God" in the future, this verse will hit me square in the face:

“But God demonstrates His own love for us in this:  While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  Romans 5:8

Torn ACL, Fallen Picture Frame

Have you ever had a shower tantrum?  You can more than triple your tears by simply standing under the stream of water flowing out of the shower head.  It’s almost a satisfying feeling…but you eventually have to get out and stop crying.  And then, if you’re like me – God responds to your tears by causing you to knock over a picture frame and recognize His presence.

But let me back up a bit and tell you what started those tears.

As of yesterday's high school graduation, I completed my teaching for the 2011-2012 school year!  Woot woot!  As much as teaching is a privilege, summer for a teacher is such a welcome time of both rest and adventure.  For me, summer is often chock-full of adventures I’ve been planning for months, if not since the summer before.  Yet, this summer will look quite different from what I had planned.  And it’s all because God answers my prayers in ways that I could never dream.

Two Wednesdays ago, as I was playing Ultimate Frisbee, I planted one of my feet to pivot and the rest of my body kept going.  So silly.  I heard a rather loud pop (as did those on the sidelines who gasped) and was immediately on the ground.  After a minute or so, I was able to get up and move to the sidelines .  I spent the next few days icing and elevating my injury….which I hoped would take a mere few days to heal.

Alas.  That popping noise was the sound of my ACL.  According to my MRI and my doctor, it will require surgery to reconstruct the tissue connecting my femur and tibia.

After I found out about the needed surgery this week, I was not really a happy camper.  I was frustrated…I cried…I was unkind to my dear family members on the phone (sorry, Steve)…I was upset at God for letting this happen (especially when in church someone read Jude 1:24 about God’s ability to keep us from stumbling)…

And through all that – God continued to gently shower His love on me.

Last night I looked back through my journals, and I was in for a shock.  Here are a few excerpts of things I’d written a few days before tearing my ACL:

1.       “How much more enjoyable would life be if I sat back – rested and enjoyed Jesus?”  (May 1)

2.       “Sweet Jesus, I want to start on my knees so that later I will be able to stand for you in victory” (May 3, after reading Psalm 20:7-8)

3.       “…I know that if I think deeply enough, nearly everything here can point me to you” (May 12)

4.       “You want the sacrifice of a broken heart and spirit – because then you can come close to heal, bind up and save.  But without that brokenness – we hold you at a distance.  I think I have learned more about you by being broken than by having all my dreams fulfilled.  So may I thank you for brokenness – but even more for the healing power of your love.  You are good.” (May 12)

5.       “How much we don’t grow – or rest because our lives are one constant ‘doing’!  How can I dig deeper into life?”  (May 12)

6.       As quoted from Blackaby’s Experiencing God devotional:  “God does not need you to dream great dreams for your life, your family, your business, or your church.  He simply asks for obedience.  He has plans that would dwarf yours in comparison (Eph 3:20)”. 

Isn’t the irony overwhelming?  I asked God for more time to spend with Him, because I was always constantly “doing”.  I recognized that all things can point to Him.  I admitted that brokenness brings me closer to Him.  I even asked that He would start on my KNEES!   (granted, I was thinking more positionally…like I would pray more on my knees…)

But… I tore my ACL in my knee. 

So, I guess I unwittingly asked for this.  I asked God to help me to learn to sit, rest, and enjoy Jesus.  And I’m going to have to.  And all those dreams/plans I had for the summer?  Some will happen, but some won’t.  And He has plans that will dwarf mine in comparison. :)

I think I’d like to think of my ACL as an acronym. 

ACL = As Christ Leads. 

As the song by Jamie Grace says, “When you lead, I’ll follow – Just light the way and I’ll go – Cause I know what you got for me is more than I can see – So lead me on, on, on and on…”

I don’t fully understand why.  I’m not really looking forward to surgery.  I will probably cry more.  But in the whole scheme of life, as a sweet lady told me yesterday, "This is peanuts." :) 

AND I know that the God who cares enough about me to send His Son is the same One who took the time last Thursday to make me bump into my dresser and knock over a picture frame.

A picture frame made during my high school years that I don’t always take the time to look at…

A picture frame that contains the words:

Alexis,

Trust Me.  I have everything under control.   

Jesus.

End of Year Focus

Well, I have approximately one week of teaching left in the school year…and then the giving of final exams.  Is that not craziness????  This year has flown.  (I should have written this in my hawks and sparrows post…because they fly…hehe…)

How do I even begin to summarize the past three weeks?  I’ve finished my last weekend class for my Master’s program (WOOT!), taught and helped my students with worm, seastar & crayfish dissections, watched silly videos both made by my students (Reptiles) and by college students (Harvard Baseball Team) , played some really fun & exciting Frisbee games, read Rainbow Valley and Rilla of Ingleside by L. M. Montgomery…

But I also realized that I have done a terrible job with spending quality time with Jesus.  I was so excited to not have to read books for my Master’s classes anymore that I went crazy and finished up the Anne of Green Gables series in a ridiculously short amount of time.  I’ve been trying to spend time catching up with friends I’ve neglected due to my busy-ness.  So, I wake up in the morning exhausted and hold my phone (my alarm), hitting the snooze at least 4 times each morning. 
And it’s not that any of those things are inherently wrong to do…they just have filled my time and pushed Jesus out of my vision. 

Yet even with my lack of attention to Him, Jesus has patiently showed me amazing lessons while I have been distracted.

This past week, I struggled with feeling like I was a horrible teacher – that I was too busy this year to spend quality time with my students because I was in “survival mode” with teaching, master’s work and coaching.  I wanted to be an encouragement to them and my family and friends, but this year was just so FULL.  And you know what?  I started to get frustrated with myself; I started to get frustrated with my students.  I was just plain frustrated.  And then I read this:

“God has put people around you who need your ministry to them.  You will never be able to properly help them, however, unless your primary focus is God.  If you concentrate on people, their weaknesses, their disobedience, their lack of faith, and their stubbornness will quickly frustrate you.  If, however, your eyes are focused on holy God, you will become more like Him – gracious, forgiving, long-suffering, and righteous.” 

~ Blackaby, (May 11) – Experiencing God Day-by-Day Devotional

Isn’t life all about focus?  And isn’t it true that the more time I spend staring at something, the more like it I will be? 

So what do I stare at? 

Books?

Movies?

the Internet?

People who I think are successful?

People who I want to reach out to?

If I do not carve out specific time to gaze at Jesus, then it’s no wonder my focus is off. 

It’s no wonder that I let little things upset me…which are miniscule in the scheme of life. 

And it’s no wonder that I cannot do the thing I desire to do – to reach out to others and encourage them in Christ – because by focusing on people I become more like them than Jesus.

“One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek:  that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek Him in His temple.”  Psalm 27:4

A while ago I heard this, and maybe I’ll give it another go:  I wonder if I can make sure to spend more time looking at God’s word than looking in the mirror each morning.   (hopefully, even double or triple the amount).