Progress

My question for today is "In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year, and what will you do about it?"
There are so many things that I want to work on this year. To choose just one is a tough decision. I literally have been thinking about this all day and seeking The Lord on this. I even consulted my sweet husband on the matter. How do I choose just one area? I really have two disciplines that I have been convicted about recently. Reading my bible and praying. I have been led though to choose PRAYER as the one discipline that I want to make the most progress in.
For so long I have prayed but not had a spirit of prayer. There is a difference. Most everyone prays. They pray when they are in trouble or need something. Yes, those are good times to pray. I believe that God calls us to live in such a way that we are always praying. Not the eyes closed, on our knees praying all the time. A spirit of prayer is what I mean. Living in such a way that we are constantly talking to God throughout our day. I know an older woman who truly lives out this. You will be sharing with her and all of a sudden she will just start talking to God on your behalf. It is amazing and takes some getting used to. I truly admire her and need to be more like that in my life. I need to consulate God on everything that arises in my day. When I feel anger start to rise I need to call out to him. When worry starts to invade my mind I need to cry out. When laziness starts to take over I need to seek him. I need to also start praying more on the behalf of others. Instead of ignoring or glancing over e-mails or Facebook posts, I need to prayer for them. I have been doing a lot better in this in recent months but I still have a long way to go. I need to also intercede on behalf of my children and husband more. I do now but again there is much room for improvement. I think my problem comes in that I find my mind wandering with other thoughts and I lose focus when I pray. I need to start writing everything down again. I need to write prayer requests down with dates and pray them everyday. I just need to write down what is on my heart asking God to intercede and then BELIEVING that he will answer. He could say yes, no, or wait. But he will answer. That is his promise.
So this year I am committed to making my prayer life much better than this past year. I plan on writing in my prayer journal more and interceding on the behalf of those who The Lord leads me to. I know that if I stay committed to this change that my life and the lives of those around will be much better.

I am a day behind on my 1000 gifts list so you are being blessed with 2 lists today.
10. A gift old - hearing from an old friend from high school through Facebook
11. A gift new - my wonderful vacuum that my sweet husband bought me for Christmas
12. A gift blue - the sweet blue eyes of my Daniel - out of 8 children he is the only one with blue eyes
13. Something I am reading - the Bible
14. Something I am making - Esther's Princess Aurora dress
15. Something I am seeing - the joy of my children when they hear we are visiting grandma today

I love Carl because he put Tirzah in her bed last night after I was up late trying to get her to go to sleep. She wanted to play at 12:30.