Prayer - Part 2

A few months ago I posted about prayer and my struggles with it.

Confession: I'm still struggling.

But God is faithful and has been teaching me a lot in this area.

One way the Lord has been teaching me is through my husband. The other day I was having a mini nervous breakdown because I had so much going on that day and didn't know how I was going to get through it all. I was starting to tear up and wallow in my misery when Alex stopped, held my hands, and prayed. Wow. What a shift in perspective. Instead of focusing on little ol' me and my problems I began to see who God is. He is faithful. He is sovereign. He is in control. After that, my day went smoothly. I often focus way too much on myself or others instead of on God. My immediate response to bad situations is not to pray or look to God for guidance, rather it is to freak out or get depressed. What am I communicating about God when I react like this? That He is small and incapable of helping me. That's wrong. My God is so much bigger than I am. My God is so much bigger than any problem that could come my way. And that day Alex reminded me that I should always turn to the Lord in any given situation. He is my strength.

Another way God has been teaching me about prayer is through a book I was reading last year, The Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges. There's one chapter where he talks about Nehemiah's prayer life. Nehemiah displayed two types of dependent prayer: planned periods of prayer and unplanned spontaneous prayer. Basically, we show our day-to-day dependence on God by daily praying to Him and we show our moment-to-moment dependence on Him by responding in prayer when unexpected events pop up. It all boils down to the fact that prayer is the tangible expression of our dependence on Him. We need to pray without ceasing.

This is what the Lord has been working on in my heart and I can only respond with gratitude in praise for His Spirit's work in my life. And then I need to pray some more for more understanding and wisdom.

Little Nuggets of Wisdom

I'm really busy today and don't really have time to be blogging, but I wanted to share these little nuggets of wisdom from the marriage conference this weekend. I would develop these points further, but like I said, I'm busy. :-) If you'd like to further discuss these statements with me at a later time please feel free to do so. The conference really was an amazing blessing. I'm really happy Alex and I were able to attend. Paul Tripp is a talented speaker. He is able to take these truths from the Scriptures and practically apply them in ways that are understandable.

Anyway, here are the nuggets:

• Romance is not a cause, it's a result.
• Biblical View of Marriage: A flawed person and a flawed person in a fallen world but with a faithful God.
• Worship is first your identity before it's ever your activity.
• Your words and behavior are more formed by what is inside of you than outside. The heart is the causal core of your personhood. (Luke 6:43-45)
• The DNA of sin is selfishness. Sin will cause me to dehumanize the people in my life. True righteousness begins when you quit living for yourself.
• The person you are married to is a broken person and will not fulfill you, only God can do that.
• There is no such things as love that doesn't require sacrifice. The call to love is to love even when the person hasn't deserved that love.
• True love is born out of gratitude, not duty.
• God is after something deeper than temporary personal happiness, He's after holiness.

There's really so much more that we learned this weekend. The conference was such a great reminder to what marriage is really all about and it also demonstrated how marriage is really a ministry. I loved it. Check out Paul Tripp's website and if you ever get the chance to attend this conference, please do!

Marriage Conference

Tonight and tomorrow morning Alex and I will be attending a marriage conference at our church, The Summit.

I'm really excited, especially because Paul Tripp will be the speaker. He is a pastor in Philadelphia and a talented author. I have read some of his books for my biblical counseling classes and have really enjoyed them. Also, he has a pretty impressive mustache.

Like I said, we're excited to attend this conference. We know that marriage can be difficult and we are constantly seeking to make sure our marriage is glorifying to God. We have a lot to learn! Check out this video to see what the conference is all about:

Miami Videos

Okay...I'm supposed to be working on three (yes, three!) papers that are due tomorrow (yes, tomorrow!)...but I just had to post the videos that Alex made of our trip to Miami this past week.

I honestly had an amazing time. I was reminded how blessed I am to have grown up in such a fun city with great friends and family. I enjoyed spending time with each and every one of you. We weren't able to capture all the memories via camera, but they remain in my heart forever (cheeeese). Seriously, I am so blessed. I miss all of my Miami friends and family like crazy and think about you often.

Hope you enjoy these videos that Alex worked on. They're fun.

(I love being married to a creative man)

Trip to Miami: Part 1 from Alexander Acevedo on Vimeo.

Miami Trip: Part 2 from Alexander Acevedo on Vimeo.