I've been thinking about listening...

Cultivating the ART of Listening

I've noticed that as I cultivate the art of listening, the people around me are visibly uplifted, encouraged and strengthened. I relax into the phrase "the art of listening" because there I find freedom to grow in my skill of "hearing with thoughtful intention" just like many other skills I am personally cultivating.

When I think about why I want to listen, I realize that I am motivated by my desire to honor others above myself. The less self-absorbed I become, the more I desire to cultivate the "art of listening" to reflect the change of perspective that Jesus Christ continues to patiently bring into my life.

When I need a practical outworking of what is at the heart of the art of listening, I turn to these thoughts a friend shared with me:

To listen is very hard, because it asks of us so much interior stability that we no longer need to prove ourselves by speeches, arguments, statements or declarations. True listeners no longer have an inner need to make their presence known. They are free to receive, to welcome, to accept.

Listening is much more than allowing another to talk while waiting for a chance to respond. Listening is paying full attention to others and welcoming them into our very beings. The beauty of listening is that those who are listened to enjoy wonderful benefits you intentionally provide. In your presence they feel accepted, they take their own words more seriously and they enjoy the freedom to discover their true selves.

Listening is a form of spiritual hospitality by which you invite strangers to become your friends, to get to know their inner selves more fully and even dare to be silent with you.

What a joy it is to value others by listening! I get motivated each time I am reminded of just how important listening is to God. He loves it when His sons and daughters feel honored and they are honored when I faithfully cultivate the art of listening!

I've been thinking about overcoming...

What Cancer Cannot Do

John Piper, Pastor for Preaching and Vision at Bethehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota since 1980, is a respected theologian and author. He is credited with writing a powerful piece entitled What Cancer Cannot Do. Pastor Piper understands cancer because he himself is a cancer survivor. This is what he wrote:

Cancer is so limited.
It cannot cripple love.
It cannot shatter hope.
It cannot corrode faith.
It cannot destroy peace.
It cannot kill friendship.
It cannot erase memories.
It cannot silence courage.
It cannot invade the soul.
It cannot steal eternal life.
It cannot conquer the Spirit.

Overcoming is the ability to get the better of something;to gain superiority over it; or even more simply stated - to win. After meditating on John Piper's thoughts I realize that it is possible to substitute many other words in place of the word "Cancer." Other dreadful words come to mind like "pain", "loss", even "change" or "transition." It is all about where I put my focus when I am in a season described by these words.

We are familiar with James 1:2-4 in the ESV version, Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

The Message offers a fresh perspective, Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

Even though the temptation is great to focus on the fearsome thing, the truth is that I will lack nothing when I remain steadfast under pressure. Most importantly, nothing of lasting value will be ever be compromised. I will win in the end.

I've been thinking about prayer...

Seven Prayers I Am Convinced God Will Answer

As I watch women work through the SoulWork process, I am constantly reminded of the importance of prayer for getting in sync with God. My mind has been wrestling with how to capture the essence of what a woman requires from God to complete each chapter. Here is my attempt to distill the ideas down to seven basic prayer statements. If you have completed the SoulWork curriculum, see if you agree. If you have not experienced it, perhaps this will entice you to give it a try.

1) Remind me of Your past goodness so that I can peacefully trust You for the future. Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she smiles at the future. Proverbs 31:25

2) Enable me to live my life artfully, with joy and laughter as my familiar companions, by releasing me from past distortions. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5

3) Stir my passion to do Your will and guide me in the way I should go. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Psalm 23:3

4) Make me courageous enough to know You for who You really are and to settle for nothing less. I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees Thee. Job 42:5

5) Strengthen me to live out my beliefs by conforming my mind to the truth of Your Word. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2

6) Give me every facet of wisdom from Your heavenly perspective that I am able to comprehend. But it any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. James 1:5

7) Help me dream big, Dream Giver! Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen! Ephesians 3:20 & 21

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