The one line I read post election that I can't get out of my head....

Wednesday morning we all woke up to a new President Elect.  I knew either way the election went, there would be mixed emotions on all sides.  No matter what, there would be fear and anger filling up my newsfeed. It was just a matter of which side it was coming from.  By now we all know the outcome and we all know the chaos that is happening everywhere.  Some are holding up their victory sounds loud and clear, while others are crying in the streets.  No matter who you are, no matter what side you are on, I think we can all agree how crazy the whole thing has been.

Yesterday as I was scrolling through the mix of emotions I was seeing, I came across one comment from someone I do not know at all.  And yet, I can't get her off my mind.  Her comment made me hold my breath.  Made my heart stop....and my eyes well up with tears.  It was simple and short, yet had a deeply profound impact on my heart.  She is clearly not a Trump supporter and was expressing her anger.  All she said was this:

Even typing out those words now creates a huge lump in my throat.  You see because Mr. Trump was the Republican nominee and because most Christians are conservatives there is now this perception that he is somehow the Christians spokesperson.  That he represents who all Christians are.  The way he acts, the way he talks.  While we as the body of Christ know that not one of us is the perfect example of Christianity, the rest of the word that does not know Him personally as their Savior...don't fully get that.  We as Christians know that the only perfect example of Christianity was Jesus Christ himself.  But yet we all know that those in the public eye are seen far more than the rest of us and held to a higher standard criticized more.  We are all sinners saved by grace and I'm not here to judge where Mr. Trump is in his faith because I don't know him personally.  However this comment has rocked me to my very core. 

You see the world already hated Christians.  They already thought we were hypocritical.  And we just gave them all the more reason to do so.  We did this to ourselves....now hear me out please.  I beg you...this is a life or death matter for so many lost souls in this country. And I'm not saying anyone is a bad person for voting for Trump (or even not voting for him)..BUT:  The world watched as we, Christians, praised him.  Campaigned for him.  Shared our stance on him all over social media. Liked and shared things mean-spirited about people who don't share our views.  Let our anger take over and be known. Engaged in heated debates that had hurtful things said. The world watched as we made excuses for his actions and his word choices.  Watched as we were asked how we could support someone who used such hateful words, and yet we used the line of we are all sinners...we have all said bad things.  Friends today, more than ever, the lost souls...the souls who do not know Jesus personally have been pushed further from our grasp.  We have pushed our stance on issues so much that we have pushed away the people we are called to reach.  The people we are called to love in such a profound way that they want to know our Savior.  That they want to know why we are different.  That they want to have the light that is inside of us, inside of them.  We have grasped with everything we have our stances on political issues, that we have pushed away so many that need Jesus.  

Now here me as I say this....we are called to obey Jesus' laws.  We are called to live by His truths but friends....we are also called to love in such a profound way that we are different than the world in that way as well.  We should be voting on our principles and morals.  We should be keeping Jesus' truth at the forefront of our minds when we do our duty to vote, but the bottom line is...no...no government policy is going to save us.  No government policy is going to change this world as much as JESUS is. That's the message non-Christians should be hearing in election season from our lips.  And in order for Jesus to change the world, we have to start by winning hearts for Him.   

Mr. Trump will take office in January 2017.  People on all sides of the spectrum are going to have to come to terms with that and we will have to respect him as our president.  But Church, it is now our turn to RISE UP and be the hands and feet of Jesus. Don't just say where we stand on things, but actually do things to help those causes.  Win hearts for Him.  Show the world who He truly is.  Show the world how much love, kindness, grace, mercy, and forgiveness are found in Him and Him alone.  We have our work cut out for us....this world is hurting more now that it probably ever has in my generation.  But if we make Jesus the center of everything we do and say, maybe we can win more hearts for Him than ever before.  Doesn't mean we won't mess up.  Doesn't mean we will be perfect.  But it does mean that people like that commenter can maybe get a glimpse of who Jesus really is.  That we can be a witness for Christ and help change some hearts.  Because when hearts are won for Jesus...that's when change and unity truly begins.....

Short. Simple. Honest.

"Oh my God..... It's happening again!!!!" - I heard the scream of my mother.  I still hear it from time to time when my mind wanders....I still see her face....I still feel my legs give out as I drop to my knees with my hands raised just a little... "Oh Jesus! Sweet Jesus...please...Jesus...PLEASE" is the only thing my lips can get out......There are people rushing up and down the hall as we all hold our breath.....waiting to see if those few words are being answered by the Most High....

What was happening that day is a story for another time, but I will say He did answer those few words that my tongue could get out.  Prayer is such an interesting thing....we all pray so different and it means something different to each one of us.  Some of us recite prayers we learned from a young age, some of us only pray before our meals or when something bad seems to be happening.  Some of us pray beautiful skillfully done prayers while some of us are more of the short and sweet type.  Some of us have designated times we pray and some of us pray whenever we are led.  Whatever way you seem to pray can I just try and encourage you for a moment?

I have had conversations with some wonderful women in the past few months.  Women that I know love the Lord with all their heart.  And when the conversations switch to prayer, they have confided in me that prayer can sometimes feel so stiff.  And at times they feel like they don't know what to say or how to say it.  For me prayer has seem to come easy.  Now I'm not one to like to pray in front of others, however I have always spoken to the Lord like He is my friend.  Like He is sitting right next to me....no fanciness or added words I don't usually use.  Some of my prayers are longer and some short.  The truth of the matter is, Jesus already knows what's hidden in our hearts.  He already knows what we need therefore He already knows what we are going to say.  So why does prayer still feel so formal most of the time to us? Why do we seem to put so much pressure on what we say and how we say it?  I don't know the answer to that question for you but I do know Jesus just wants us to take the time to talk to Him. No matter what words we choose.

Prayer is powerful.  Bold beautiful things happen when we pray.  Miracles take place.  We don't always get the answers we want, but no matter what if we make it a point to pray we do know that it brings us closer to the Almighty.  It's a gift I think we have taken for granted in today's world.  We say to anyone going through a hard time, "I will be praying for you.." But then we seem to not take the time to pray or we just simply don't know what to pray.  Can I just tell you that your prayers don't have to be fancy? They don't have to be long or full of exquisite words.  If all you can get out at the moment is "Jesus....Jesus...Jesus" in between your tears....He will come running.  He will still hear you.  He will still know what your heart needs.  If you see a struggling mama in the grocery store and feel the nudge to pray for her, even a short: "Jesus give her what she needs today" is sufficient at times.  We don't always have to carve out these long amounts of time for prayer.  We don't have to use fancy words or try to sound so skillful.  What would happen if we as Christians started praying more?  What if we took the pressure off of trying to make  prayers sound so 'amazingly awesome' and 'skillful' and instead took the time to say short simple honest prayers through the day?

"Lord give me strength."  

"Make me more like You."  

"Be with that mama Lord"  

"May that man know You."  

"Be with our country..."  

Or even simply...."Jesus..Jesus...Jesus"

If we turn our hearts and minds to pray simple prayers throughout the day would we be praying more? Would our hearts be more in line with Jesus?  Would we be more likely to hear His voice? If we stopped making prayer sound like such a 'religious' ritual and instead made it more intertwined with our everyday life would our lives look different? Would they feel different?  I can't speak for you, but I can say when I make it a point to pray short simple prayers throughout my day...my heart feels better.  I feel closer to Jesus, like He is walking with me through my day.  My emotions seem to be more in check instead of out of control and dependent on my circumstances.  His presence fills up the space I'm in.  I'm more aware of all He is and wants for me.  

So friend, maybe you are like some of my sweet friends out there thinking they don't know how to pray.  Maybe you feel like your praying is stiff and therefore you just avoid it all together.  It doesn't have to be that way.  Jesus is our Lord and Savior but He is also our friend.  He doesn't need big words.  He doesn't need a lengthy 20 minute prayer.  All He wants is you.  He wants to hear your heart.  He wants to have you talk with Him and know without a doubt that He is near and He hears your cries...We do need to carve out time to spend with Him each day, but maybe...just maybe if we make it a point to pray short simple prayers throughout the day, our hearts won't feel so stiff when we talk to Him anymore.  Our hearts might be more open to the Holy Spirit when we are called to pray.  And we will start to feel even closer to Him than ever before....

That day as I was on the floor crying out His name over and over and over again....He heard me.  I didn't need to sound fancy or long.  He was right there with us in that room.  He didn't need me stating what my heart longed for....all He needed was me searching for His heart and His hand.....

"When you pray don't babble on and on as people of other religions do.  They will think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again..."

-Matthew 6:7

"And pray in the Sprit on all occassions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people."

-Ephesians  6:18