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102 pages

English

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Every Moment Is a Holy Gift Pause with the intention of paying attention to God's presence as you step into your day. Transform your life into a prayer and awaken to the conversations, relationships, and times of stillness that shape your journey. In this devotional, you'll be refreshed as you...deepen your sense of wonder by seeing the miraculous in the mundanefind a truer joy by honestly exploring life's difficult questionssavor your life by making space for God in silence What if your most sacred prayer begins after you say "Amen"? Let these rich reflections help you turn your every longing, possibility, and forward motion into an offering.

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Publié par	Harvest House Publishers, Inc.
Date de parution	28 mars 2017
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9780736961929
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0600€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS
EUGENE, OREGON
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version , NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Verses marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, Copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189 USA. All rights reserved.
Verses marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Verses marked TLB are taken from The Living Bible, Copyright 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189 USA. All rights reserved.
Cover by Bryce Williamson, Eugene, Oregon
Select portions of Life as a Prayer appeared in Tea Light Moments for Women, copyright 2009 by Hope Lyda
LIFE AS A PRAYER
Copyright 2009/2017 Hope Lyda
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com
ISBN 978-0-7369-6191-2 (pbk.)
ISBN 978-0-7369-6192-9 (eBook)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Lyda, Hope, author.
Title: Life as a prayer / Hope Lyda.
Description: Eugene Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, [2017]
Identifiers: LCCN 2016042141 (print) | LCCN 2016046702 (ebook) | ISBN 9780736961912 (pbk.) | ISBN 9780736961929 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Spiritual life-Christianity. | Prayer-Christianity. | Spiritual exercises.
Classification: LCC BV4501.3 .L95 2017 (print) | LCC BV4501.3 (ebook) | DDC 248.3/2-dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016042141
All rights reserved. No part of this electronic publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other-without the prior written permission of the publisher. The authorized purchaser has been granted a nontransferable, nonexclusive, and noncommercial right to access and view this electronic publication, and purchaser agrees to do so only in accordance with the terms of use under which it was purchased or transmitted. Participation in or encouragement of piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of author s and publisher s rights is strictly prohibited.
Contents
Prayer: Breathe It. Live It. Be It.
Life as a Prayer
Longing
Invitation
Forward Motion
Embodiment
Life as a Prayer for Awareness
Today Matters
A Moment to Breathe
An Awakened Faith
It s Getting Crowded
Dawdle
What Springs Up
Start a Trend of Truth
What a Life Produces
Expect More
Just Visiting
Life as a Prayer for Healing and Hope
How to Rebuild a Life
Intentional Waiting
Growing a Problem
Today Is for Living
The Fullness of a Good Life
Where Does It Hurt?
Gold for Sorrow
Birds of a Feather
I Wish I Knew
Life as a Prayer for Courage
Imagine the Possibilities
Facing Our Cure
Escape Routes
Needing a Good Try
Willing to Dream
A Brave Grace
Benediction of Gratitude
Freed During the Resistance
Courage After the Healing
Birthing Pains
Moving On
Life as a Prayer for Connection and Compassion
Learning a New Language
Potluck Faith
Pre-Ramble
Mercy, Mercy Me
Give Freely
Potluck Faith in Action
Believing in Ourselves and Others
Life as a Prayer for Joy and Creativity
Unguarded
Joie de Vivre
Upon a Star
Skipping and Clapping
Watching for Your Cue
Language of the Soul
What You Keep, What You Give
Life with a View
Inviting Joy
Permission for Possibility
Life as a Prayer for Faith
Daily Sacraments
Rituals for Life
Missing Peace
Craving God
An Unfolding Mystery
Simplicity of Prayer
Faith in Faith
Powered by Optimism
Life as a Prayer for Sanctuary
So Good
Leaning into God
Shaping Space for God
Aware of Prayer
Sit with Me
Landscape of Grace
The Way of the Heart
Nurtured
Strong Connection
Light Therapy
Life as a Prayer for Purpose
Your Heart Will Follow
Happy with the Present
Declare Your Dreams
Anywhere but Here
Awaiting Transformation
Nothing Too Great
Borrowed Longings
The Beauty of Resurrection
Get Dancing
What to Pack for Time Travel
Notes
Acknowledgments
About the Author
About the Publisher
Prayer: Breathe It. Live It. Be It.

Life as a Prayer
Why must people kneel down to pray? If I really wanted to pray I ll tell you what I d do. I d go out into a great big field all alone or into the deep, deep, woods, and I d look up into the sky-up-up-up-into that lovely blue sky that looks as if there was no end to its blueness. And then I d just FEEL a prayer.
L UCY M AUD M ONTGOMERY , A NNE OF G REEN G ABLES
H ow s your prayer life?
When I hear someone say this, first I hope they aren t talking to me. Then my imagination and sense of humor team up and I envision myself existing in some parallel life where I wear a white frock, cinched in the middle with a satin sash, and go about my day enshrouded in a holy mist as I shop for cat food, scrub my bathroom floor, and emit prayers for world peace. This isn t real. (And I know it isn t real because I m cleaning my floors.) In my journey of talking to God, however, I have experienced something that is real. Life is a prayer. All of life. Every moment is an invitation to experience God.
How have you encountered or lived out prayer in the past? How about now? Do you bow your head and kneel? Do you wait until you re in sanctuaries or seated in pews to pray? Do you lace up worn hiking boots and head for the trail to have your most intimate conversations with the Creator? Is prayer still an ethereal idea that hasn t yet taken on flesh and substance in your day-to-day existence?
As a shy kid who spent a good amount of time mulling over ideas and wandering the rooms of my mind, I was smitten with a God who is always available for talks and who is not only attentive but also creative about capturing my attention. I d view situations through the lens of God is in this or God is with me. Even when I wasn t sure about myself, I was certain of God s presence. As I got older, I kept the dialogue going with God. Though, I know there were seasons when I did more talking than listening.
The big shift in how I view prayer happened when I accompanied my husband through a long health journey. Initially I prayed frequently and fervently over decisions and for healing, resolution, next steps, and insight. But as months in the trenches of the unknown turned into years, speaking the same prayers added to the weariness. I found myself saying Ditto as my prayer because I had nothing new to take to God. The needs were the same. My gratitude for provision and care remained genuine. But I was tired. The kind of exhaustion that changes your brain.
I wondered if I was ending my perpetual thread of dialogue with God.
Had I lost my way into easy conversation with the Creator? The answer was no. I felt more in tune with him. I was encountering Christ in those trenches. So what was happening?
I wasn t losing touch with God. After years of talking to him and writing more than 20 prayer books and devotionals, I was expanding my view of what it meant to interact with Jesus. I was increasing my ability and willingness to lean into the Spirit and seek hope and leading.
I noticed that my gratitude wasn t saved for a specific time of prayer but was expressed in the moment and through the moment. God s responses and my understanding of them were unveiled in the everyday encounters and experiences that were and still are becoming profound and more vivid despite my fatigue. I m learning to be with Jesus as I live, breathe, sleep, awaken, weep, laugh, connect, hope, fumble, eat, walk and yes, pray.
When we consider our lives to be ongoing interactions with God, we can do as Anne of Green Gables imagines and feel the prayer. We can go about our day breathing, living, and being prayer as we offer our lives to God and experience Emmanuel, God with us-when we roll out of bed, roll our eyes at our to-do lists, or roll up our sleeves to prepare for challenges. A deep relationship develops as we willingly become vessels through which God s love can flow upward and outward. From tip of toe to crown of head. From heart s thrum to a dream s hum.
LIFE as a Prayer
Being tuned in to God s presence leads us to experience prayer as continuous intimacy with him and with our own lives because we re given new perspective and a lens of wonder and wisdom. We are privy to holy nudges that point out what we would ve otherwise missed. The splendid color in the blue jay s feather left like a calling card in the garden. The baby in the stroller giggling and reaching toward us in a pseudo high-five gesture, as if to celebrate solidarity in the human adventure. I imagine the Creator leaning in to catch the whisper of our thoughts or the wisp of one of those most-assuredly genius ideas we have just before the alarm clock shocks us into ordinary routine. I anticipate Abba placing a hand on the small of our backs to guide us through terrain we face with our knees knocking. I sigh with gratitude, sensing holy fingers stroking our hair when we re weeping or longing for a tender touch.
We experience life as a prayer when we begin a day willing to look at and respond to people, circumstances, questions, awakenings, and challenges with God s heart. This devotional is a gathering of what I call slice of life meditations, along with prompts and offerings that invite you to look at and listen to your life in this new way.
I m not a fan of spiritual shortcuts, because they usually end up at touristy and trendy emotional places. But you and I want to live in prayer, not just visit it. After my season of exhaustion, however, and now during my unfurling back to life, I am grateful for travel companions who guide me with in