Praying with Eyes Wide Open: My Shortest Post Ever By Cortney Donelson

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After this post, I may never be asked to participate in community prayer again. You see (pun absolutely intended), sometimes I engage in group prayer with my eyes wide open. Not every time. There are moments when I just want to drop to my knees and face plant into the floor boards out of awe and respect.

However, there are instances when I am in prayer circles or ministry settings when I look around at the people I'm with, and I take in everything they are doing ... everything they are feeling. As I speak and worship out loud, I am watching, learning, and seeking the Lord as I set my heart and eyes not on the ground, not into the blackness of my own peepers' lids, but into the precious faces of His children.

We were created in God's image. We were fashioned from dust to reflect His creativity, intelligence, relational abilities, capacity for intimate communication, and of course, His spiritual nature. Prayer highlights these God-qualities within us. By its very definition, prayer is vulnerable communication with our Creator that is deeply relational and spiritual.

When we come face to face with brothers and sisters in Christ, we come face to face with God. As temples of the Spirit, we carry around not only the truth of the cross and all that it signifies, but also the very essence of God through the Holy Spirit.

One of the reasons I pray is to experience God on an intimate level. What better way is there to do that than to look into the faces of His ambassadors - His children - as we gather in corporate prayer? I'm telling you, it's an amazing way to experience God in all His creativity and intelligence.

Prayer is an open door into the Kingdom of God. I make no apologies. I don't want to miss a thing.

Prayer: Father God and Holy Spirit, I am humbled to be called child of God and I am honored and grateful that Your Son, Jesus Christ, paved the way for me to have a relationship with You. I worship you and love you. I pray for my brothers and sisters in Christ all over the world and count it a blessing every time I can worship with them, seeing You in their faces and hearts. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. 

Influenced by my prayer life, my prayer groups, Genesis 1:27, Genesis 2:7, Matthew 18:20, Act 2 (yes, the entire thing), and 1 John 3:1.

©2012-2016 Cortney Donelson. All rights reserved.

Cortney's book, Clay Jar, Cracked: When We're Broken But Not Shattered is available now as an ebook on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other retailers, as well as in paperback at www.cortneydonelson.com! It will be available world-wide in bookstores and libraries through Morgan James Publishing when publicly released on March 7, 2017. Visit www.cortneydonelson.com for more information and to learn about the "I'm a Clay Jar" Encourager Class for groups! To schedule speaking engagements, please email Cortney directly. 

The Divorcing Series: Stringing Nets By Cortney Donelson

There are times when I read something, and it sticks to me like honey. Or, I see something that I just can’t get out of my head. Sometimes, I hear something that rings in my soul long after the actual words penetrated my eardrums. 

The most recent “something” was a sentence from a novel. It came from a fictional story, but oh the power of these words! 

Life has taught us to string nets beneath our hopes.

The author of these words is Ian Caldwell, and he is correct. This past year of my life has been surreal – in a great way. My marriage has become a safe haven, one that I treasure and am running towards for affection, approval, and some plain old fun. My kids are growing up fast, but I can see how a Heavenly Father. whom they are learning to trust implicitly, is molding them. Messy school situations have quieted as we settle into our routines; boy and girl are finally happily learning in their respective environments. My four (thousand) roles are carrying on as if I have actually cloned myself. In reality, I’ve learned how to step away from performance and perfection and just be. My book is scheduled to launch in bookstores in March. I am feeling quite content.

But... (There’s always a but, isn’t there?) In all my newly found authenticity, I will admit to you that my content is likely caused by this good life. Truthfully, I don’t believe I would be so satisfied – so grateful – right now if things were a little rockier. 

I imagine this because there lurks something not so beautiful in this life where everything is lovely. It’s called skepticism or doubt. Perhaps even cynicism. 

Past experiences have left cracks in our souls. Our thoughts, feelings, and choices have been tainted by life lived in a fallen world. We have all been hurt – some deeply. Those we love have disappointed us. Most of us have experienced rejection, abandonment, or neglect. Life has taught us that while trust and respect are earned, they can also be ripped away in an instant. Our difficult journeys have shown us that just when we believe our lives are wonderful or even secure, rugs can be suddenly ripped out. Houses can fall. Families can implode. Health can fail. Grief can descend like an avalanche, and trauma can be seconds away. 

This leaves us with a desire to string nets – safety nets that will catch our dreams and sustain our hope when we are cracked wide open by events or even people. These nets come in many forms: walled up hearts, a lack of authenticity, plans B, C, and D, excuses, self-condemnation, and even addictions.

Within that longing to string nets, we find the doubt that lurks beneath. There is uncertainty snaking through our world, perpetuated by the devil. It's the message that God is not good. From the beginning of the human race, the enemy’s goal has been to cause us to question God’s sovereignty and goodness. We have become skeptical about even the possibility of experiencing a joy that endures our circumstances. So, how do we overcome this pervasive doubt? After all, we don’t want to live devoid of genuine hope. We surely don’t want to wilt under the enemy’s lies as we furiously string up false security beneath our faith.

Hope in our culture has become a synonym to a second word: wish. I hope it doesn’t rain. My kids hope there is a snow day. I hope we win the lottery. As Christians, we must abandon this worldly idea of hope and instead anchor ourselves in the hope of Christ. This biblical hope is the sturdy root system of the towering oaks named joy and peace. Hope is the conviction that this world is not our permanent home, these circumstances are not the whole of our stories, and even our deepest cracks are temporary. Hope is the unwavering faith in the Kingdom of Heaven and in the character of God.  

So, while life here demonstrates to us that disasters do strike, people can hurt us, and we will experience pain and disappointment, we do not have to rely on unhealthy or ungodly safety nets. As the enemy whispers the age-old lie that God is not good, we can confidently throw up our hand and turn away. When life begs us to string nets to protect our dreams, our hearts, and our possessions, we can instead position our souls to rely on the hope that surpasses understanding, the hope who is Love. 

When we become anchored in the hope of Christ, we finally realize we don’t need to string nets ... our hope is in Him, the perfect fisher of men and women. 

Prayer: Father God, You are the one true God, the only One from whom lasting hope, peace, and love come. While circumstances will seem to break us, we know that as long as we are anchored in your hope, in Your Son, we don’t need to string safety nets to catch our hearts. You are the anchor we need to trust. For that we are forever grateful.  In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. 

Influenced by my prayer life, Hebrews 6:19, Romans 15:13, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, the book The Fifth Gospel by Ian Caldwell, and my book Clay Jar, Cracked: When We’re Broken But Not Shattered. 

©2012-2016 Cortney Donelson. All rights reserved.

Cortney's book, Clay Jar, Cracked: When We're Broken But Not Shattered is available now at www.cortneydonelson.com! It will be available world-wide in bookstores and libraries through Morgan James Publishing when publicly released on March 7, 2017. Visit www.cortneydonelson.com for more information and to learn about the "I'm a Clay Jar" Encourager Class for groups! To schedule speaking engagements, please email Cortney directly.