Prayer Princess

Lately I've been struggling a lot with the topic of prayer. Partly because I'm memorizing Matthew 6 and partly because it's never really been something I understood.

You see, I'm a horrid prayer warrior.

Horrid.

If my friends want me to come to their defense with saber drawn (despite that fact that I don't have a saber nor any idea how to use one) I would enthusiastically chop away at the enemy.

If they wanted to spill their problems into my discreet and sympathetic (though my sympathy usually depends on the sincerity of the person) ear, I would be ready with advice, Scripture and comforting words.

Or even if they wanted me to come over and help them clean their furnace, I would seriously consider going over.

But when they simply ask for prayer, it comes like heavy weight.

When I say I'll pray for them, it actually means that I will. But I don't go at it with any sort of spiritual enthusiasm. (Sorry if I'm shocking you dear ladies who have asked me for prayer in the past; I really did pray for you!) I mutter quick requests whenever the matter pops to mind and then promptly forget to pray, really pray, for them.

I try to mean my prayers. I try to make them sound good. And sincere. And holy. But inside, I know it's all just a show. I'm just racing through them and giving more thought to the words that are coming out of my mouth than the actual person (or people, as the case may be) behind them.

It's a miserable fault. Especially since prayer is our closest connection to God and the answer to most of our problems. Jesus died for the joy of communion with us, yet I grudge the minutes that I must spend with Him every day, praying for people who are sick, or unsaved, or just in need of help and wisdom.

I'm always watching the clock and rushing and thinking of the things I need to do when I'm finished that I fail to realize that what I'm doing at that very moment is the most important thing in the world.

The prayer of a righteous man, as James put it, is powerful and effective. (James 5:16b) And since we are made righteous through salvation, our prayers are powerful and effective.

So why do I always feel as if prayer is the last resort? The weapon that can be used when everything else has failed? My attitude about prayer is like a soldier who has lost every weapon but his tiny dagger and, without any other hope, starts cutting away at the enemy with the weakest of his weapons.

I guess I forget that there are many ways to use a dagger and that often they're hidden from view and lethal when pulled out.

God promises that my prayers have effect, but still I chafe at the chore of going through my list and praying for the same people and the same problems every day. I figure that God knows these things and is as apathetic about them as I am.

But here are some things I've learned about prayer:
- It's powerful and effective (James 5:16b)
- They must be offered in faith (James 5:15)
- They are to be done in secret (Matthew 6:6)
- They are to be simple (don't babble like pagans :D) - (Matthew 6:7)
- God knows what you need before you ask Him, but that does not mean that you don't need to ask! - (Matthew 6:8)
- The Holy Spirit intercedes for us when we don't know what to pray for (Romans 8:26)
- We are to pray continually - (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
- We are to pray about everything - (Philippians 4:6)

It's a daunting list and it looks pretty powerful and it's what God's been challenging me to change in my life, lately.

But I hear so many conflicting issues, and there are so many people that need prayer and I get so frustrated because it seems as if I could pray all day and still not cover everything.

If God can find pleasure in listening to me pray - and in sitting with me while I pray - then why do I find only frustration in what I think of as a task?

I don't actually have an answer to my question (other than pat ones that would end this post on a cliche note), but here are a few things I've learned that I need to utilize when I pray.

1. Praise: Giving thanks to God for the gifts He's given, the prayers He's answered, the blessings He showers me with every day...
2. Confession: In the midst of prayer I constantly forget to confess my sins and ask for forgiveness. I usually figure that I'm already forgiven, so praying for others is more important. But God wants to hear humble, heartfelt confessions.
3. Keeping things simple: Don't go on and on about a single request. A short, simple, and most importantly heartfelt request is as powerful as a long eulogy.
4. Trust: Believe, really believe, that God wants to hear you and pray to Him keeping that in mind. If you get in the rut of thinking that God is disinterested, then you will soon become disinterested too.
5. Focus: the quiet thing is really important. If you can't keep your mind on your prayer because of distractions, it's not going to be much of a prayer. Find a quiet place and if your mind wanders (like mine always does) catch yourself, regain your focus and go on. Do not use the distractions as an excuse to give up and say "it's just not working today!". Remember that Satan sends distractions because he doesn't want you to pray. He knows, at least, how powerful it is.
6. Keep a list: write down who and what you want to pray for and specifics if you want to remember them, but don't allow yourself to drone away on the list without utilizing your mind. Lists can be dangerous that way.
7. Commit: your prayer time to God and ask Him to help keep you focused and to really think and care about who you're praying for. He's willing to help if you ask and really mean it.

It's difficult, I know (believe me, I know) to fit prayer time into busy schedules, but remember that it's also communion with God and though it seems like a drag at times, your prayers are always powerful and effective.
Prayer is the key to a strong relationship with your Prince, and that relationship is the most important thing in the world. More important than any of the other things you rush through your prayer to get to. Take the time to slow down and rest in your Heavenly Father's arms.

Just talk to Him, because it's the key to everything good.

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up - Galatians 6:9

'Till next time!

Book Review: The Hunger Games

Let me first of all establish that I never expected to read this book. Ever. I don't like books about the future and I figured this was some kind of dirty YA book. But I was tired of the book I was reading and I wanted something exciting and nitty-gritty and two of my friends had highly recommended it so The Hunger Games seemed to fit my momentary kinks and off to the library I went.
And, since reading it was a surprise, the fact that I'm actually writing a review about it is even more astonishing, especially since I stink at writing them. Practice makes perfect, so I guess I'll be trying to do more of them in the future. It's sort of a New Year's resolution - though I don't make those either.

Anyway, with the fact that I never expected to read it established, we can now move on.

Summary:
The book is - literally - about killing people. Nice cheery thought, eh? That's what I thought.  For a basic summary:
The Capitol of the country of Panem (which used to be the U.S.) keeps its twelve outlying districts in line (after a rebellion) by holding an annual event called a Hunger Game. Basically, every district is subject every year to a "reaping" where two children - between the ages of 12 and 18 - are randomly chosen to be "tributes" and sent to a specially prepared arena to fight the other 23 until there is only one left. And this is nationally televised and properly hyped. Gruesome, I know.
District 12 (one of the poorest of the twelve) is where Katniss Everdeen lives. She's a hunter and struggles to keep her mother and younger sister alive by the game she shoots with her bow and arrow in the forbidden forests near their home.
At this reaping, Katniss's twelve-year-old sister is chosen to be a tribute. Immediately, Katniss volunteers to go in her place. And opposite her, a young man named Peeta Mellark is chosen.
They travel to the Capitol, train, interview and try to gain sponsers (who will send them gifts while they struggle to win in the arena) and then they're tossed, weaponless, into the arena to fight it out.


Plot: This book is quite fast-paced and, due to its subject matter, very suspenseful and exciting. The beginning, though, is rather slow and choppy. I found myself raising my eyebrows at the dialogue and wondering when the story would start to pick up. It has a feel to it that the author sat down, wrote it out, and then published it.
But when the plot picked up, it really picked up. I never could quite settle in and say, "all right, now I know how this is going to end" because every time I said that, the plot would twist a little (or a lot) and the story would pick up and race ahead. Even the ending gives you no mercy.
I guess that's what I liked the most about the book. It was stymieingly clever. Katniss is a very incredible, resourceful girl and the way she handles problems and the way Ms. Collins weaves the rules of the Games and the different aspects of survival are not cliche.
Although it was interesting, The Hunger Games is also rather gory and intense. I mean, its like the Olympics except that everyone but the gold medalist dies. It has an extra edge of intensity because of that aspect. You root, obviously, for Katniss, but it's morbid to think of what the consequences of rooting for her are. Twenty-three young human beings have to die for her to win - including the young man that came with her and the younger tributes who were chosen. They're not real, I know, but in the book's dimensions they are and it's sobering to realize what is at stake.  

Characters: For the most part, I tried, really tried, not to like any of the characters because I knew from reading the back of the book that 90% of them wouldn't make it to the last page.
Whoopee.
I couldn't help liking Katniss and I figured it wouldn't hurt because since there are two more books in the series, her chances of survival were pretty good. And even though she's a survivor and quite clever and talented, she's also human enough that you don't hold her abilities against her. I admired her guts and her will to survive.
Peeta Mellark, the other tribute from District 12 is a nice guy. You can't help liking him (despite a few unfortunate instances where Ms. Collin's editor could have been a little more alert) and hoping that somehow, someway - especially as his friendship with Katniss grows - there will be some lenience so that Katniss doesn't have to kill him to win the Games - or that he doesn't have to kill Katniss to win them either.
And then there's Rue. You like her as soon as she's introduced, but I steeled myself because I didn't want to lose her. But I finally gave in and it was all right.
And then there's Haymitch. I liked him - and was justified in my decision.
And then there was the supporting cast - which I won't go into - but it was hard to let yourself like them too, because there was always the fact that they would probably be dead in the next chapter.
All in all, the characters were interesting and not cardboard cut-outs. It just really stunk that I couldn't like them like I usually would.
That's the price you pay, I guess, for reading the book.

Likes: I already shared my biggest like: the cleverness of the plot, but there are more.
- I liked the fact that although Katniss and Peeta were tossed into a dog-eat-dog form of survival, they still struggled to keep their humanity. In the sort of story where you expect the characters to check their morals outside the door, they don't. This book, which very much surprised me, is clean. Even though Katniss and Peeta are forced to play a star-crossed romance to get sponsorship, they don't cross any strict moral lines. The most they share is a romantic kiss. And there are no swear words either. For YA, it's pretty good (if you can get past the fact that the whole book is based on killing people).
- The dialogue (which is tremendously important to me) was - for the most part - good. It didn't drag, it wasn't tacky, it didn't get overlong, and Katniss was sarcastic - which is always a big plus. Sarcasm is the best way to have good dialogue.
- The suspense. It's hard to get bored with a book when you know that at any moment someone could jump out in front of your heroine and engage in her in some sort of battle. And the fact that there can only be one person remaining to end the Games made it doubly suspenseful. Besides that, there were enough twists in the plot to make you doubt any of your comforting, preconceived ideas about how the storyline would go. Alliances crumble as time goes on, enemies turn into friends (which is the worst possible thing that can happen, because you know that eventually one of them is going to have to kill the other), and situations shift from safe to deadly in the matter of a few seconds.
If you want excitement - you've come to the right place.  

Dislikes: There were, as always in any book, several flaws. Most obvious in this book is the beginning. It's clunky and doesn't really catch your interest and there are several lamentable bits of dialogue and description that made me seriously consider disliking it. Persevere, though. It gets better.
And the whole fact that the plot revolves around killing people can turn some readers off. As for me, I love books where people die, so I didn't mind, but I know some a lot of people who would.
I wasn't too keen on some aspects of The Capitol either. People with strangely colored skin don't get much ovation from me.

Conclusion: To finish off, I really enjoyed The Hunger Games but it's not a book I would recommend to anyone verbally. I've tried to be as clear about my feelings in this review as I could, but, as I said before, I'm not good at writing these and I've probably left you all somewhere in the middle in a muddle. My advice would be not to read it if you don't like death and the idea of reading it makes you uncomfortable. But for those of you who are interested in morbid things (like I am... :D) then you really should give it a try. The only offensive thing about it is the plot and if you can handle that, then it's clean and you won't have to skip over an icky romance scene that you didn't know was there and didn't want to read.

Till next time!

Christmas Gifts!

I suppose now that the last remnant of Christmas days are officially over, my lazy Christmas blogging habits must be officially over as well.

Sooo, since everything I should be blogging about is piled up like rainbow-hued clutter in the back of my brain and since I have a odd mania for knowing what other people get for Christmas, I'll share what I received from my very generous family (I apologize if you don't share my mania):

On Christmas Eve, I got these gifts from my younger brother, who picked my name in our family gift exchange:

This music is so fun and wildly Northern...

Yeah, I guess I'm a junkie. I adore this movie! 

And then on Christmas Day, I got a red Converse blouse from my grandparents (I love Converse blouses!) and money, which I used to buy this:

These are the best things on earth for coloring (aside from Sharpies, of course) :D

And on the day before New Year's Eve, we celebrated Christmas at my Dad's mom's house. My Grandma gave me a box full of my Grandpa's old Peanuts comic books and these two outfits from American Girl:

 I don't have Julie, but I'm a sucker for white ruffly dresses and American Girl's big hats...

I actually do have this doll, and the dress is so adorable!

Then, from my aunt:

It's a double-sided heart with Swarovski crystals

This gorgeous little Bible (NIV, of course)

These sweet little desk notes (she understands well my weakness for paper)

And a wristlet from Vera Bradley to add to my collection

I was part of the adult gift exchange this year and my aunt picked my name. She chose most of the books :) :

One of my absolute favorite books. Elizabeth George Speare is one of my writing heroes.

You've heard me rave enough about this one to know what it is... :D

Francine Rivers is also one of my writing heroes. Her books are SO good!

Meredith Andrews - yes!

And this gorgeous Willow Tree figurine. I fell in love with it a year ago... :D

'Till next time (and Happy New Year!),