Does God Keep Our Tears in a Bottle?

It was a tearful day.  I had cried when a moving song came on the radio.  It was about the plight we feel as Christians living as strangers in the World; that feeling of not belonging and longing for a place we can call home.  I had cried at the news of the death of my cousin, Jackie; thinking of his family and feeling the loss that they are  feeling, crying out to God for comfort and mercy.  I had cried because everything I know and love is changing and I have to figure out who I am supposed to be.

All day long I had felt the weight of sadness and despair; like a dark cloud that blocked my ability to see anything good or positive.  So, after work, God and I took a walk and the pent-up frustration that I had felt all day was released in a torrent of tears as I poured out my heart to him.  The tears welled up and ran down my cheeks and all my longing was fulfilled, and all my sorrow was washed away, and all my fears and disappointments disappeared in the love that flowed from God's heart to mine.

My tears brought an immediate release of the stress and frustration that I felt, but I wondered, "Do my tears have an eternal purpose?" 

In Psalm 56:8 we read, "You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle.  Are they not in your book?"

Imagine that!  God keeps a record of my tears.  He hears my cries, sees my tears, and remembers them.  I am uncertain about whether he keeps them in a bottle or not, but perhaps he does.  At any rate, he knows every tear that I have cried.  And that, my friend, makes me feel better.  My tears are not wasted.  They are important to God

Why I work in Awana

AWANA stands for (approved workman are not ashamed); it is an acronym for the verse found in II Timothy 2:15, study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.  AWANA is a children's Bible memory program.  We meet on Wednesday nights for story time, game time and memory verse time. For the past 11 years I have served as an adult leader for the AWANA program at our church.

Last Wednesday night Lillie's mom came into our classroom to tell me that Lillie is going to be baptized in a couple of weeks.  She thought that I might want to know about Lillie's decision.  Nearly two years ago, Lillie was in my Kindergarten AWANA class.  We were in our small groups doing memory verses and right out of the blue, Lillie started asking me all kinds of questions about heaven and how she could be saved.  So I asked her, "Would you like to do that right now?"  She said, "Yes".  Our group held hands and prayed the Sinner's Prayer.  Together we acknowledged that we are sinners who need a savior.  We confessed that we believe that Jesus is God's son and he alone can save us from our sins.  We ask him to forgive us of our sins and come into our hearts.  Then we thanked him for saving us. 

Lillie was saved that night.  She told her mom, "That's when it happened for me."

And that's why I work in  AWANA.

Even Before I Knew

 In the early morning darkness, I watched as she walked down the steps and to the street where the school bus was waiting.  As it disappeared around the corner, it occurred to me that we hadn't prayed.  In the 45 minutes since the alarm clock went off, we had hurriedly dressed, combed her hair, breakfasted, and checked her backpack for homework.  But in that span of time we had never stopped to thank God for rest or ask his help and direction for the day. 

I quickly offered a prayer for protection for Hannah and then I realize, God has been here all along; his holy angels are ever watching and guarding his little ones.  Once again, I am awed by how wonderful our God is.  He is faithful, even when I am not.  He never forgets me.  He is never too busy or distracted to care for me.  He was thinking of me while I slept.  Each morning he wakes the sun and pushed the darkness away just for me.  He gives me all I need for life, and he does it faithfully every morning.

"Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations."  Deuteronomy 7:9


Rest assured, God is way ahead of us.  He planned for this moment long before I even knew him.  He knows exactly what I need even before I ask.  He is ever working in my behalf to teach me, to lead me, to care for me, and to prepare me for the things that lie ahead. 

"But God commended his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."  Romans 5:8

Comforting, isn't it?  Even before I knew I needed a savior, he provided one!

God Speaks Through His Holy Spirit

In the Listening section of my prayer journal I have written what I like to call my marching orders.  My marching orders are little notes I make to myself during prayer time of the things that I should do, like write a note of encouragement to a friend who is going through a trial or maybe I am reminded to buy Larry a pair of pants or call Melanie and invite her to lunch.  I have learned over the years that these nudges are from the Holy Spirit. 

The Holy Spirit is one of the ways that God speaks to us.  Jesus told his disciples in John 14 that he was leaving, but he would send the Comforter who will abide with us and teach us and remind of Jesus words.  The Holy Spirit is a gift that has been given to every believer to help us live a life that is pleasing to God.  If you are a believer, you are a child of God and you have the Holy Spirit living inside you and you can learn to listen and hear his voice. 

Whenever I say that the Holy Spirit speaks to me, it's not an audible voice that I hear.  It's more like a thought that comes across my mind.  He may remind me of a scripture that I have read or he may inspire me to reach out to help another,  And all of this takes place in my mind;  ideas, inspiration, discernment, and answers to prayers.

If you are a young Christian you may not have learned to recognize the voice of the Holy Spirit.  But, with practice, you can learn to listen and hear when God speaks through his Holy Spirit.  Quiet yourself before the Lord as we are told to do in Psalm 46:10, "Be still and know that I am God" and then record what you feel he is saying to you.  If it is something that will lead you astray, then it is probably you own thoughts or thoughts from the enemy.  If it is something that agrees with scripture, then you can rest assured it is the voice of the Good Shepherd. 

God will speak to us in these planned moments of quiet, but he is not limited to these times only.  He may speak to you at other times as well.  In 1Kings 19 we have the story of Elijah the prophet when he was fleeing Jezebel who had sworn to kill him.  Elijah is hiding in a cave when the Word of the Lord comes to him.  First, there is a strong wind, then an earthquake, and then a fire, but God does not speak in any of these.  Last of all, there came a still, small voice that spoke to him, encouraging him and giving him instructions.  If you will listen, you too can hear God's still, small voice as he speaks to you through his Holy Spirit.  God is speaking.....Are you listening?

God is Speaking............Are You Listening?

This morning my alarm clock awoke me from a dream.  The only dreams we remember are those we have right before waking.  So, since then, I have been putting the pieces together to understand exactly what the dream was about.  In my dream, I was  visiting with a family with several small children.  The mother was concerned about her son who was 4 or 5 years old.  He was misbehaving and seemed out of control.  And she was worried too because he was not eating. 

I went over picked up the boy, cuddling him in my arms and said, "Let's pray about this and find out what God would have us do.  Maybe he will give us insight into the problem and a solution to help the child." 

The little boy looked up at me and laughed.  "God doesn't talk to people," he said, "and everyone would think I was crazy if I said I talked to God." 

The alarm sounded at that moment and as I reached to shut it off, I wondered, "Do people really think I'm crazy whenever I say I talk to God?"

Some people may have a problem with the fact that God is real and that he is involved in our lives.  It may be absurd to them to believe that God hears prayers and speaks to us.  But for those who have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, it is a way of life.  They know because they have experienced it for themselves. 

Having a conversation with God starts with faith.  It happens only when you are in a relationship with him, meaning, you have trusted in his son, Jesus Christ for salvation.  You must believe that Jesus is God's son and that he lived a perfect life and that he gave that life as a sacrifice for the sins of the world.  You must rely completely on Jesus to save you  for you cannot save yourself.  Your faith in Jesus makes it possible for you to know God, the Father.  He accepts you into his family and you become his child.  As a child of God you can know that he hears your prayers and he will speak to you by his Holy Spirit who lives inside every believer. 

So how does God speak to us?  God speaks to us in many ways.  He speaks through his creation, through his Word, through his Son, and through his Holy Spirit.  He speaks through Christian media, through people,  through angels, and through dreams and visions.

I thought it would be good to explore some of the many ways that God speaks.  Over the next few weeks I will return to this topic to find out what the Bible has to say about it.  For me, it has been a never ending quest, to hear from God and at times, I have been desperate to hear from him.  And if we know the ways that God speaks to us, then we can learn to listen.

Power to Tread on Serpents

While the grand kids were here for the holidays, they wanted to go to the haunted house located on 76 Country Boulevard near the old Walmart store.  It wasn't what I would choose to do for an outing, but, I went along for the ride.  This time though, they insisted that I go through the haunted house with them, since I had never been inside.  Arm-in-arm we entered the dark passage way that takes you past all kinds of grotesque and scary looking monsters.  There were ghosts and vampires, demons and devils, the insane, surgery that had gone bad, and clowns.  A few added surprises were strange noises, things that jumped out at you, and even puffs of air that sent ear-splitting screams from the kids.  They huddled behind me, I said a prayer, and we inched our way through the maze of terror and death.  I have to admit it increased my heart rate and felt a little creepy, but, I spoke the name of Jesus and calmly lead my grand kids through the dark caverns unharmed.

The following day was Sunday and during the worship service at church the Holy Spirit reminded me of my experience in the haunted house.  Ephesians 6:12 tells us that we have an enemy, the devil.  "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world-forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places."  We have a real enemy of our souls, Satan, and he wants to destroy us.  There is a war being fought right now, between the forces of good and evil, for the souls of men.  But time is running out for Satan, for 2000 years ago Jesus Christ, God's only son was victorious over sin and death.  His death on the cross paid the penalty for our sins,  winning for us forgiveness and a restored relationship with the Father.  Sin no longer has power to enslave us and separate us from God's holiness.  The way is opened by the blood of Jesus.  Three days later he rose from the dead, victorious over death and the grave and now we have the promise of the Resurrection from the dead.  "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?"  1Corinthians 15:55.

As believers, Christ dwells in us by the Holy Spirit and because of him, we can walk into the dark places of the enemy without fear.  Just like when we were in the haunted house, we are surrounded by wickedness and darkness, but, praise God we have the light of the world that lights our path and we have the truth so that we will not be deceived.  Through prayer and the name of Jesus, we can release those who are held captive in a prison of sin.  When we were going through the haunted house, we never knew what was around the next turn.  Through Christ, we have available the armor of God, so let's take up the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.  The grand kids and I made it safely to the exit of  the haunted house, and  likewise, Jesus said in Luke 10:19, "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall by any means hurt you."

Give Thanks to the Lord; for He is Good

Each morning in my prayer time I have been thinking of one of God's attributes and praising him for it.  I just choose a word that describes God and use it as a tool to worship Him.  For example, God is Sovereign, God is Holy, God is Just, God is Trustworthy.  As I meditate on what that characteristic means, I think of ways that God exemplifies that quality.  It has been a good tool to help me in my daily devotions to know him better and to love him more.

One word that describes God is the word Good.  God is Good.  Goodness is his nature.  Every thing that God does is good.  All of his works are good.  He made the heavens and the earth and all that is in them, "And God saw every thing that he had made, and behold, it was very good".  (Genesis 1:31)  Not only are the works of creation good, but he shows us his goodness everyday by his provision and care. 

Somehow, I think good is one of those words we use so often we don't attribute it to God.  We use the term loosely in our greeting, "Have a good day".  We say "This pizza is good."  But, when we say, "God is Good", we mean so much more.  God's goodness is entire, flawless, perfect, unblemished, whole, able, authentic, exemplary, benevolent, moral, righteous, and upright. 

Think about it, because God is Good.

Psalm 106:1a  "Praise ye the Lord.  O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good."

Learning to Hear

One of the best tools I have found to help me with my prayer time is a Prayer Journal.  Through the years, I have tried various methods of keeping track of my prayer needs; which has resulted in a huge stack of spiral notebooks where I recorded the names of people I was praying for, answers to those prayers, along with sermon notes, and things I learned along the way.  But, the best method I found was one designed by Becky Tirabassi, a 3-ring binder with dividers and pages to record Praise to God for who he is, Admit my sins, Requests, Thanks for blessings and answered prayers, Listening to hear what God is saying to me.  I recently purchased a new binder because the old one was falling apart, which afforded me an opportunity to review my old journal pages.  What I discovered when I reviewed these pages was a record of a decade long quest to hear God. 

Prayer should be a two-way conversation that includes speaking and then listening, not just reading off my laundry list of prayer requests.  Journaling my prayers, organized them so that I could keep track of my personal exchanges with God, or rather the Holy Spirit, who Jesus sent to be our teacher to guide us into all truth.  (John 16:13). 

In the Listening  section of my journal I would write down what I thought I heard him saying, then I would ask questions to discover if it was truly God's voice that I was hearing, or my own voice, or the voice of the enemy.  I used a lot of trial and error to try and figure this out, but found comfort in Jesus' promise in John 10:27, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me". 

Not only does Jesus promise us that we will know his voice, but we also have the scriptures which we can use to test what we have heard.  If it doesn't line-up with the Word of God, then its not truth.  In fact, many times his answer came through scripture verses that I "happened" to be reading that day.  Those verses would be exactly what I needed to hear. 

Other times, though, I had to wait on answers to my prayers.  Yet, God's timing is perfect and time will tell whether the thing was true or not by whether it comes to pass or not.  Learning to hear God is like learning to do almost anything, it takes practice.  The results are well worth the effort though, because spending time with God in prayer is how we learn to hear his voice. 

Prayer of Surrender

     Lord, I am empty.  The slate of my mind is wiped clean, ready for your hand to write upon it.  I yield my life to you, and I wait upon you, Lord. 
     All things are in your hand and I know that you are real.  You are here beside me, you love me, and you have a plan for me.  You are all I want and need; you are the essence of all my hopes and dreams.  You hold the key to the future and I wait patiently for your touch, your direction, and your help.
     Light of Heaven, shine on me, I pray.  Make me completely yours.

in everything by prayer.....

Do you pray about everything?  I mean e-v-e-r-y thing.  We have been instructed to do so in Philippians 4:6.  We read, "Be careful for nothing, but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God". 

My experience has been that I pray when trouble comes knocking on my door, like when a friend is hurting, or my child is sick, or there is conflict in a relationship.  It's during these times that I call out to God for help.

I pray at mealtime, at bedtime, and in the morning at the start of the day.  I pray at church or when I am with other believers.

I pray when I receive a prayer request or when someone asks for prayer.

If I were to take a poll of my peers, they would probably say that their prayer life is similar to mine, involving a few minutes of prayer, here and there, throughout the day. 

But, when I look at Paul's words in Philippians 4:6, I get the feeling that prayer is more than what I have made it.  Prayer should proceed, cover, and follow every part of my day.  Would you like to hear it said another way?  Thanks to BibleGateway.com we can read it in no less than 29 English translations.

• Don't worry about anything, instead, pray about everything.  Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done.  (New Living Translation)  
• Do not worry.  Learn to pray about everything.  Give thanks to God as you ask him for what you need.  (New Life Version)
• Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God.  (Amplified Bible)
• Don't be anxious about anything, rather bring up all your requests to God in your prayers and petitions, along with giving thanks.  (Common English Bible)

What then, do we pray about?  Everything!  Your lost keys, what to eat for breakfast, the project you are working on, the lost person who lives next door, your mom & dad's failing health, which college to attend, how much of your income to tithe, you name it - that's what we should be praying about - "everything". 

Isn't it wonderful that God cares about our "everything".  He wants us to tell him about it, and when we talk to God about the things that concern us, we are growing closer to  him in our personal relationship with him.  Think how much time you spend talking with your family; your children, your spouse, your siblings, your parents.  These are the people you are closest to and it stands to reason, if you spend time talking to God, you will grow closer to him. 

Hannah called from school, looking for her homework; thought she may have left it at the house, - in everything by prayer.  Melanie is traveling down to Louisiana to visit with her kids this weekend, - in everything by prayer.  Daddy had a PET scan on Wednesday; we are still waiting on the results, - in everything by prayer.  Andy has been unemployed for several months, - in everything by prayer.  Do you pray about everything?  You can. 

Hannah's Namesake

Hannah wanted to know why we chose the name Hannah out of all the names we could have picked for her.  Evidently, it was one of the most popular girls names in 1995, the year that she was born, because every where she goes she meets other Hannah's; at school, at church, at dance competitions, and at swim meets.   At the time, we  did not realize it would be such a popular name.  When we were choosing a name for our soon-to-arrive new daughter, we looked in the Bible to find a biblical name, one that would have spiritual significance.

Hannah's name means 'Grace' or favored, making her name Grace Grace or double Grace according to Pastor Roy Bryan Moore. He pointed this out when Hannah was dedicated to the Lord years ago.  And God's sovereign grace is found through out the story of Hannah as found in 1Samuel, chapter1.  When we first see Hannah, she is a very sad lady; crying her eyes out, refusing her husbands words of comfort, and grieving to the point of forgetting to eat.  And why is she so sad?  Her sadness is the result of a deep longing, an unmet need, a strong desire to have a child.   In verse 5 we see the reason why she had not been able to have a child, "the Lord had shut up her womb."  But, Hannah does not give up on her dream of being a mother, she turns to God in her grief and prays 'in bitterness of soul'  (verse 10).  She makes a vow to God, that if he will give her a son, then she will give him back to the Lord all the days of his life. 

All these events, the deep longing for a son, the barren womb, the sadness and grief were part of God's plan for something wonderful that he was about to do.  He was preparing a man to lead the nation of Israel into a period of revival and Hannah's son would be that man.  He would serve as priest and prophet for many years to come and be used by God in a mighty way.  If you haven't guessed it yet, his name was Samuel and Samuel's name means "because I asked him of the Lord". 


God chose Hannah to be Samuel's mother.  In verse 19, we read, "and the Lord remembered her".  She  exhibited courage and determination in the face of a hopeless situation.  In spite of great opposition, she kept asking and she kept believing until God granted her petition. 

My prayer for you Hannah is that you will be like your namesake; that you will cling to God and keep asking until he gives you the thing you desire.

A Prayer for Daddy

I wrote this prayer last December, before we knew that Daddy had cancer.

My Daddy is heavy on my heart.  He asked for prayer.  He's tired of fighting this battle; he needs encouragement.  He has lived with pain in his face for well over a year and it has slowly intensified.  Pain has taken its toll; he is irritable and cranky and takes it out on Mama.  They are my parents and I love them; they sacrificed for me, prayed for me, and loved me and now I feel sad that they have to get old and sick and feeble. 
Be gracious unto them, oh Lord; have mercy.  Do not leave them in this hour of trial.  Speak to Daddy of your truth, show him you are with him, give him faith to endure. 
I do not know why you choose this lot for him, but, I trust you.  I believe you are working good in this situation.  I believe you never leave us or forsake us.  I believe you are in control, God. 
Comfort him, strengthen him, keep him from the evil one.  Fill him so full of you that Jesus overflows in his life.
I pray for an end to this pain.  I pray for peace, your peace that we cannot even understand. 
Guide him to the truth, the truth about himself and about you.  Keep him on the path you have for his life.  Fit him for heaven.  Sanctify him in truth. 
I pray for your will to be done, Lord God Almighty.  For the pain we endure now is only for a while, but, it works an eternal weight of glory in our lives. 
I pray that Daddy keeps his eyes fixed on you, that he leans upon you for everything, that he looks steadfastly on Jesus until Jesus is revealed to Daddy and through Daddy.
I ask these things in Jesus name, Amen.


When we pray, we have the wonderful privaledge of talking with the Almighty, so be honest with him and ASK whatever your heart desires.  ACKNOWLEDGE that we are dependent on him for everything, that we can do nothing.  Then,  ACCEPT  his answer, trusting him with the final result. 
Luke 18:1