A Word This Monday Morning

I couldn’t think of another title lol.

As we all know, I am a writer. It is the one thing that comes most natural for me when I actually do it.

I’m not consistent as I should be which means I’m not as good as I would like to be. However, when I write, I am at my best. When I actually meet my writing goals and create something that I don’t cringe at when I read it again, you pretty much can’t tell me anything.

At church, we are encouraged to not pray silently but to pray out loud and not pray as though God is dead. God is alive and we are to treat Him as such which means don’t whisper or pray to yourself especially during corporate prayer times or praise and worship or even during your alone time. We should let God hear us.

Now I will admit, it took me a while to get here. I was so uncomfortable with shouting and praying out loud. Maybe it has something to do with being raised in a Catholic church or simply wanting to keep my prayers private but honey let me tell you, once I shouted “Jesus!” during praise and worship one day, there was no turning back.

There’s something therapeutic about praise and worship and actually saying your prayers and petitions to God aloud. There’s something comforting about actually saying “Jesus” aloud. Demons must flee at the mention of His name. Things have to change. There’s power in His name alone. So why whisper? Why say your prayers to yourself? How can you go BOLDLY before the throne and whisper?

I had to also get out of the habit of saying my prayers in my head during my alone time. It’s me and God. What better time to talk to God?!

However, I am a writer. And I write. So I feel closest to God when I am writing therefore I write to God. As I operate in my gift, that is when I hear from God.

So initially, I was conflicted. I had grown accustomed to praying in my head and writing my notes to God so I was hesitant to interact with God any other way. As I said before, I didn’t want go outside of my comfort zone.

Through intense journaling and mediation, I did discover that during that time I connect with God best and I didn’t want to stray away from that. But once I did step away and actually put praise, worship and prayers on my lips and not just in my journal, I was able to experience God differently.

And let me tell you something: I do not like praying out loud in front of people because I’m worried about what I’m going to say or how I sound but then God continues to check my ego. It’s not about sounding a certain way or saying certain things nor is it about me. It’s about God using me in that moment to be a vessel so all I need to do is surrender and let the Holy Spirit lead me. It’s not about what I think I should say but what the Lord is leading me to say. It’s about me pressing in and hearing from God and my comfort does not matter in that moment.

I think about how the Pharisees were so rigid and caught up in their customs and how they missed out on experiencing Jesus in the flesh. Because he didn’t follow their rules and laws, they rejected him and his teachings. Had I rejected what my church leaders were trying to teach me, I would not have been able to experience God another way than what I was used to. I would still be denying myself of exploring and learning new ways to get closer to God.

Though my gift is where I’m most comfortable, it’s still imperative that I look for other ways to pray and praise and worship. There’s only one way to the King but there’s more than one way to give Him glory.

So this is me encouraging you to step outside of the box and experience God in another way. Maybe listen to something other than gospel in the morning. I suggest The Undoing by Steffany Gretzinger. Spend one morning with it. Or try even saying your prayers out loud or maybe even writing them down. Try something different.

God is good, yall.

As always, take what you need and leave the rest.

Head over to the store and check out Go, Girl!: A Guided Self-Discovery Workbook to Help You Dig Through Your Stuff and Live Your Best Life. I hope it blesses you as much as it blessed me to write it!