Worship Wednesday: Still

If you will not
provide for me,
still I will raise
my voice in praise.

If you do not
deliver me,
still I will raise
my voice in praise.

If your lovingkindess
I never feel again,
still I will raise
my voice in praise.

If you never answer
another prayer of mine,
still I will raise
my voice in praise.

If my pain You
never again ease,
still I will raise
my voice in praise.

If you forever
forsake me,
If your face
You forever hide,
know only this:
still I will praise.

For You are my Jesus,
my Savior,
my King,
You Are Holy. ♥

© DW

Image by: Jennifer Thomas

Real Contest: Win an iPod Shuffle!

BJ and Halee are holding a contest over at Real Teen Faith. The prize? An iPod Shuffle! All you have to do is...ready for this? Leave a comment! Yep, for the chance to win, all you need to do is leave one tiny comment. So you ready? Go to Real Teen Faith now.

Are You Looking?

When I was reading my Bible this morning, the letters kept blurring and jumping like they sometimes do. Finally, I got frustrated. I couldn't concentrate and I knew my concentration wasn't like to improve over the next couple of hours.

So I asked God to remind me He was near. "Just a little reminder You're still near because for the life of me none of what I'm reading is making sense."

Then today while I was at Wal-Mart of all places, a friendly cashier hugged me in the middle of the produce section. As soon as she hugged me, I remembered my prayer earlier. It made my day and I couldn't stop smiling.

I think there are lots of 'God moments' in my everyday life that I overlook. It's not that God isn't active or God isn't answering, it's just that I gloss over His answers to my prayers. And that brings me to today's questions...

Are you looking? When you ask God to help you do well in Algebra or when you ask God to give you the right words to encourage your classmate, do you notice when God answers? Do you give Him the glory or do you simply go about your day?

Take some time this weekend and ask God to make you aware of when He answers your prayer. Then go out and pay attention! The moment you're aware of His answer, praise God. Thank Him. And let Him know how much you love Him. Not just for what He does, but also for who He is. ♥

Photo Credit: Mateusz Stachowski

When God Says Go: Facing Green Lights

I know this post is a few days late. My apologies for that. Apparently, my body has decided to haywire. Again.

That said, if you missed the post on Yellow Lights or Red Lights, you might want to read them first. And remember, if you have any comments/questions/thoughts you want to contribute, I'd love to hear them! :)

Green Lights

Few moments test our integrity like green lights. Whether it's receiving the OK from God to go to the college you've been praying over for months or knowing you need to step out of your comfort zone and talk to the new girl in school, green lights can be scary.

With every green light, it's easy to get focused on ourselves...our abilities to perform or impress colleges. Our ability to make friends. But if you focus on yourself, Satan is going to bring all kinds of fears to the surface. See if any of these questions sound familiar:

• "Yeah, but what if you fail?"
• "What if you don't know what to say to the new girl?"
• "What if you look stupid?"
• "What if everyone laughs at you?"

When Satan asks me these kind of questions, I like to remember Mark 13:11.

"But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost." (italics mine)

When we try to do stuff in our own strength, we really miss out on the awesome opportunity to see God's hand, the Holy Ghost, at work in our lives.

Next time, God leads you in a new direction, instead of worrying about what you'll say or do, hit your knees and ask God to give the words to speak. Make yourself available to His leading...then stand back and watch what happens!