Hello, lovely friends. I've shared here before that I try to start each day by praying pretty much the moment my brain has figured out that I'm awake and that going back to sleep is not an option. This is not because I'm "holier than thou"...quite the opposite: it's because I need to fix my mind straight-away on the One Who is holier than me before it (my mind) gets bogged down with less holy things like what I'm going to make for dinner and if I ever transferred the load of laundry from the washer to the dryer.
I try to start these prayers by praising God before I launch into my litany of requests, and one way I do that is by telling God what His name is. He knows, of course; the reminding is for me. Every name of God tells us something about His character and nature, so often, I try to praise God for both Who He is (His name) and what or how He is (His character and nature). For instance, "God, You are El Shaddai...You are almighty and all-sufficient."
A few months ago, one of my favorite Bible study tools, the website She Reads Truth, did a study on the Names of God, and I loved being able to open their site on my phone first thing every morning (before I got sucked into the social media vortex) and be greeted by a name of God. I used that name to launch the praise portion of my prayer, and God and I were off and running. (Okay, He ran...I usually crawled, which at 5:20 a.m. is the best I can do.) I missed this resource when the series ended and so thought about doing a daily name of God series of my own in this space.
I originally planned to start this tidily on January 1st, but when the founder and leader of TruthBytes, the daily devotional app I've been privileged to be part of, announced she would be retiring the app after December 1st due to some major changes in her life, I decided to kick the series off early. And honestly, I can't think of a better way to keep my mind and heart on track during the whirlwind that is December than by starting every day thinking about Who God is and what He's like.
ALL of which is just to say that, God-willing, starting December 1st and going for 365 days, I'll be posting a name of God here every day. This will not be a full-fledged study (I know my limitations) but will instead be simply a name of God ("name" being a very loose term...some will be official names, some will be more like descriptions) with a supporting Scripture and possibly a little background.
My hope, if you're interested in joining me on this journey, is that you'll be able to just open your email if you're a subscriber or open this blog's home page and be greeted with one of the great names of God. Then I'll let Him take it from there.
Questions? Not sure what in the world I'm talking about? Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email at spencerejoy@gmail.com. I hope to see you here on December 1st!
Onya (that's "verbal shorthand" in my ladies' Bible study group for "the blessing of the Lord be on you"),
Elizabeth
I can not think of a better way to start my own daily walk with God. I am so privileged to be part of this with you. I know it will be way better than the old calendar pages I've used for years.
ReplyDeleteAw, thank you, mama! This wouldn't be right without you. I love you!
DeleteLove this! Will this be in your guilty chocolate mama page?
ReplyDeleteThank you, Angel! Yes, I absolutely plan to share each day's post on my Facebook page...at 5 a.m. so it will be ready for my friends who start their days BEFORE the crack of dawn! I'd love to have you join the journey!
DeleteI love this idea!! Look forward to following along.
ReplyDeleteAw, thank you for your encouragement, Tracey! I would love to have you do this with me, and may God's great name be praised!
DeleteOooohh! I'm so excited about this!! I get to start every morning off spending time with you & God together! :)
ReplyDeleteYAY!!! (Does happy dance at the thought of doing this series with Lisa.) I'm so excited to start this and am so happy to have sweet friends like YOU keeping me company! I really loved putting my eyes--and, subsequently, my mind--on a name of God straight away the minute I was upright each morning when She Reads Truth was doing their study and have missed it. Of course, I can make my brain think of names, but I try not to tax it anymore than necessary at 5:20 a.m. when there are teenage (and middle-aged) hormones to be managed. Please don't hesitate to let me know how this is going for you and if there are tweaks I can make to make it more user-friendly. I've never done anything like this before and so want to get it right, that we may all praise the name of the Lord together! :)
DeleteI will!
DeleteI'm coming to this late but I need this so much!! Thank you for doing this!! So excited!
ReplyDeleteAw, Lisa, you are not late at all! We haven't even officially started yet, so your timing is perfect! The first name will go up here, God-willing, at 12:01 a.m. on December 1st and then will continue on that schedule each day. I'll also be sharing these posts (they are going to be short so as to be workable with real life) on my Facebook page if that's easier for you to access. Thank YOU so much for your excitement...it makes ME even more excited! :) See you soon!
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