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The GT Weekend! Prayer Week 3

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The GT Weekend!

At Gracefully Truthful, weekends aren’t for “checking out”.
Use this time to invite the Almighty’s fullness into you life in a deeper way!
Saturdays and Sundays are a chance to
reflect, rest, and re-center our lives onto Christ.
Don’t miss the opportunity to connect with other women in prayer,
rest your soul in reflective journaling,
and spend time worshiping the Creator who
longs for intimacy with each of us!

Worship Through Journaling

Worship Through Journaling

1) When we’re faced with temptation, looking to Jesus’ model of interacting with the devil is a great reminder. He said, “Get away from me Satan.” Jesus spoke with authority and precision to receive deliverance from His temptation. As believers in Jesus, we have the Holy Spirit living in us and can also speak with that same authority and precision when faced with temptation. How have you commanded the devil away from you and seen immediate deliverance? Share below to encourage the Body!

2) Bottling up our questions and fears is normal. We unpacked one question this week in All of Everything. What other questions about Scripture do you have? We like to use www.studylight.org to cross-reference or research Scripture. We’d love to hear your questions about the true, perfect Word of God. Our God is powerful enough to handle any of your questions, lay them out and let Him prove Himself! Email us at prayer@gracefullytruthful.com ~

3) Praying in expectation and recognizing that God may not answer in the manner of our request is another tension of Scripture. We can hold these two truths in tandem and allow faith to fill in the mysterious gap between the two. How have you wrestled with these truths? How have you experienced the power of prayer in your life first-hand?

Praying Scripture back to the One who wrote it in the first place is a great way to jump start our prayer-life! Pray this passage from Romans 15:9b-13 back to the Lord and
let His Spirit speak to you through it!

9b As it is written, Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles,
and I will sing praise to your name.
10 Again it says, Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people! 11 And again,
Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles;
let all the peoples praise him!
12 And again, Isaiah says,
The root of Jesse will appear,
the one who rises to rule the Gentiles;
the Gentiles will hope in him.
13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
(emphasis added)

Prayer Journal
Father, I want Your joy and peace so I can overflow with hope. That sounds perfectly peaceful. My life feels like it’s been up-ended and is in this constant state of flux; pour out more of Your joy and peace in my life Lord. I choose to trust you, bless You for Your faithfulness Mighty God of All.

Lord, this study You have been teaching me to “choose joy” as I’ve studied more about prayer. Thank You for revealing Yourself and Your face as we’ve journeyed together these last three weeks. As I ask for big things in confidence of your ability and power to answer them, I trust your sovereignty to reign in Your answer, regardless what answer You choose.

Worship Through Community

Can we pray for you? Reach Out! We’d love to pray for and with you!
Send us an email at prayer@gracefullytruthful.com

Build community, be transparent, and encourage others:
Share how God spoke to you today!
Comment Here or in our Facebook Community Group!

Worship Through Prayer

Worship Through Music

The GT Weekend! Prayer Week 1

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The GT Weekend!

At Gracefully Truthful, weekends aren’t for “checking out”.
Use this time to invite the Almighty’s fullness into you life in a deeper way!
Saturdays and Sundays are a chance to
reflect, rest, and re-center our lives onto Christ.
Don’t miss the opportunity to connect with other women in prayer,
rest your soul in reflective journaling,
and spend time worshiping the Creator who
longs for intimacy with each of us!

Worship Through Journaling

Worship Through Journaling

1) Having access to the Almighty is a huge honor! We have been invited in to a deep and personal relationship with the Creator of the Universe. What emotions does that evoke? How do you respond? Who in your life needs to hear that they also have access to God through a relationship with Jesus?  

2) Open to Exodus 3:1-22. Read through it once in your head and once out loud. 

 Shape           Circle all the places that refer to God’s character.  

 _______  Underline the text that surprises you or makes you go “Hmmmmm”.  

  Shape      Use arrows to connect any places that connect to another portion in the passage. 
Share your findings with us below or email us at prayer@gracefullytruthful.com We would love to study together with you!  

3) In thinking of the end times, there is often much confusion, misunderstanding and even fear. One thing we know is that Jesus’s return is something that, as believers, we can anticipate to bring restoration, reunion and healing. Our pain-filled hearts long for those things now. How have you tasted those now? How can we be praying for God’s kingdom to be flowing on earth in even greater ways?  

Praying Scripture back to the One who wrote it in the first place is a great way to jump start our prayer-life! Pray this passage from     John 15:1-5  back to the Lord and
let His Spirit speak to you through it!

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 Every branch in me that does not produce fruit he removes, and he prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me. 

Prayer Journal

Lord God Almighty, You have allowed us to abide in You as we grow in the knowledge and understanding of who You are. That type of intimacy and depth is unbelievable; let us steward that invitation well, Lord. I think of my friend, Elizabeth. She needs to know this truth and I’m so nervous to share it with her. As we meet together in the next few weeks, embolden my heart to speak of Your truth wrapped in words of grace. Bring Your glory here to earth that she might see it, wonder who You are, and be ready to hear as I tell of Your holiness, Lord. Let us all see you more clearly and seek to know you deeper, Jesus!  

 

Worship Through Community

Can we pray for you? Reach Out! We’d love to pray for and with you!
Send us an email at prayer@gracefullytruthful.com

Build community, be transparent, and encourage others:
Share how God spoke to you today!
Comment Here or in our Facebook Community Group!

Worship Through Prayer

Worship Through Music

Tabernacle Day 5 All Area Access

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Exodus 25:8-9
Leviticus 16
Matthew 27:50-52 
Hebrews 10:11-22

Tabernacle, Day 5

When I was fifteen, I was excited to be invited, along with my school band, to play in a special concert.  Until then, all our performances had been in our school auditorium, but now we were getting the chance to play in a proper concert hall!

Upon our arrival at the venue, we were presented with security passes to wear for the day.  Just having the passes made us feel important, but what was even more exciting was the phrase printed on them: “Performer: Access All Areas.”

We had permission to access all areas, and we certainly did!
Our breaks were spent exploring every inch of the concert hall, both front-of-house and backstage, making the most of an opportunity that was unlikely to be repeated. There was something wonderful about the sense of freedom that came from knowing we could go anywhere, and the confidence those passes gave us.

When it came to the Tabernacle for the Old Testament Hebrews however, there were no “access all area” passes.  Instead there were very strict rules about who was allowed access where and when, and even how.

The Tabernacle was the place where God resided among His people as they travelled to the Promised Land.  As they were on a journey it was portable, a bit like a tent, so that it could be carried with them, and it was created according to the instructions God gave to Moses in the book of Exodus.

For most of the Israelites, the outer court was as far as they were allowed to come.  There was only one entrance, on the east side, and there they would bring their offerings to God. Sin offerings, guilt offerings, peace offerings, burnt offerings… the book of Leviticus is full of details of the procedures the Israelites had to follow in order to approach God.  Their sin prevented direct access into the presence of a holy God.

In the outer court, animals brought for sacrifice were given to the priests to present at the altar.  The priests were men set apart for a special role as mediators between the people and God.  They were the ones to present the sacrifices, and they were the only ones permitted to go into the next area of the Tabernacle: The Holy Place.

They did so wearing a chestpiece containing twelve precious stones, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel, so that as they entered the Holy Place they were symbolically carrying the people with them into God’s presence.  (Exodus 28:29) There they would burn incense and tend the lamps on the lampstand each day. Weekly, they renewed the bread of the Presence.

Beyond the Holy Place, behind a 4-foot thick curtain, was the inmost area: The Holy of Holies. Access here was extremely restricted for this section housed the very presence of Yahweh! Only the High Priest could enter, and only once a year, on the Day of Atonement.  Leviticus 16 outlines the complicated procedure he had to go through when he did so.

Washing, donning sacred garments, offering sacrifices for himself, his family, and the people, burning incense, sprinkling blood on the cover of the Ark of the Covenant known as the mercy seat: all of this was necessary for the High Priest to approach God to purify himself and the people, atoning for their sins and making them right with God.

As we read this today, it can seem unnecessarily restrictive.
Why did all of this have to be done to approach God?

In reality, it was an act of grace!
God was providing a way for sinful man to be in relationship with the Holy Almighty.
When God provided Moses with instructions for the Tabernacle, he also explained its purpose:
“They are to make a sanctuary for me so that I may dwell among them.” (Exodus 25:8)

An unscalable chasm yawned between a holy God and sinful people,
yet God was permitting access…however limited.
He was painting a picture in their everyday lives that He wanted a relationship with His people!

Approaching Yahweh was not something to be done casually or thoughtlessly.
Animal sacrifice reminded them that sin was severe and required payment in order to have a relationship with the God of justice.

The good news is that we are no longer tied to all the rituals of animal sacrifices today because at the moment of Jesus’ death, everything changed!

“Suddenly, the curtain of the sanctuary,
was torn in two from top to bottom,
the earth quaked, and the rocks were split.”  (Matthew 27:51-52)

The writer of Hebrews explains the significance of this act:
“And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place.”  (Hebrews 10:19-20 NLT)

Jesus is our great High Priest, the one who
“offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time,” (Hebrews 10:12 NLT) so regular sacrifices are no longer required.   We are simply called to accept His sacrifice on our behalf, surrendering ourselves to His rule and reign as Lord of our lives.

Through Jesus, all of us are free to approach God,
not just the chosen few.
Jesus’ sacrifice has granted us an “access all areas” pass,
right into God’s presence!

That’s an even greater privilege than a bunch of teenagers having the run of a concert hall, so let’s make the most of that today,
approaching God boldly and confidently
because of what Jesus has done!

Ready for more? Dig Deeper!
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Looking for yesterday’s Journey Study?
Share your thoughts from today’s Study!

Don’t miss today’s Digging Deeper!     And we’d love to hear your thoughts from today’s Journey!    Comment Here!

Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus. Tap and hold from your mobile device to download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!

Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into Tabernacle Week One! Don’t miss out on the discussion below – we’d love to hear your thoughts!
Click the above image for today’s Digging Deeper!

Looking for other journeys from this theme?
Here’s a link to all past studies in Tabernacle!

Safe Day 15
Faith Over Fear

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Hebrews 11:1-16
Psalm 139:1-12
Psalm 46:1-3

Attachment-1 (3)I’ve walked a lot of “close calls” as a mom of 8, and I’ve pleaded for safety in each of them.
A screwdriver to my son’s eye.
A knife blade to the same son’s knee. (boys…what can I say?!)
Toilet seat slammed on special parts with lots of blood. (uhh, boys…)
Choking on pizza rolls.
Waking up to my daughter’s throat and neck the size of a cantaloupe.
A fall that nearly broke a rib and caused strained breathing in a toddler.
In each instance, I prayed desperately for safe healing, and the Father was gracious, they all recovered.

In this theme of Safe, we have focused intently on how God hasn’t promised us safety or even called us to it. Rather, He wants our eyes to look with faith on the unseen, the eternal safety of our souls and the perseverant, faithful love of a God who will never let go. This emphasis can make us wonder, should I even ask for earthly safety? Does God even care about my physical safety and the ones I loved?

Let’s ask Jesus by peering into His earthly life…..

“Rise and walk!” – Jesus speaking to a lame man, after the persistent faith and love delivered the man directly in front of Jesus, lowered through a rooftop by his friends. (Luke 5:17-26)

“Child, arise!” – Jesus speaking to a dead girl, after the girls’ father pleaded for her healing. (Luke 8:49-56)

“I am willing. Be clean!” – Jesus speaking to a leper, after the man fell on his knees before Christ for healing. (Luke 5:12-16)

“Peace! Be Still!” – Jesus speaking to the wind and waves after His disciples begged for their lives (mark 4:35-41)

“Get up. Take your mat, and walk!” – Jesus speaking to the lame man, after he had acknowledged his wanting to be healed. (John 5:6-8)

Christ himself instructs us in the Lord’s Prayer to ask Him to “…give us this day, our daily bread.” He longs for us to ask. Notice that in every above scenario, Jesus generously gives after He was asked.

Does God care about our earthly safety? YES!
Should we ask for healing and safety? YES!

But in the same breath, ask for the strength to walk through loss.

Walk with me for a moment in a long-ago garden, late at night, when life and death for all humanity hung in the balance. The fullness of God wrapped in very human flesh, begged and pleaded for His safety. In gut-wrenching agony that we will never be able to fully comprehend, Jesus Christ begged the Father, “Please, let this cup pass from me.” The “cup”, of course, referring the full wrath of God poured out on Christ for the redemption of mankind. Extreme physical suffering and humiliation would pale in comparison to estrangement from perfect oneness with His Father, as He would bear our sins on the cross.
Jesus knew the price, He knew the pain, and He beseeched God for safety.
And yet….. as the plea left his lips and bloody sweat dripped off his furrowed brow, Jesus submitted to the unfathomable “un-safety”, “Yet, not my will, but Yours be done.”

Christ submitted to the will of the Father because He trusted that God’s plan was better than His own fleshly desires.

Beautifully, an angel appeared and strengthened Him.

In Christian circles, easily misunderstood phrases like “rejoice always” can lead us to think that God is up there cheering for our trials and expecting us to do the same. As a result, we end up with a twisted, sadistic view of God.
Cancer? Yay! Death? Oh be glad! Abuse? Rejoice!
None of these reflect God’s good heart!

Like the picture of Christ in Gethsemane, God didn’t jump for joy at Christ’s suffering, gleefully rejoicing over our Savior’s agony. Rather, the love of the Father supplied Jesus with everything He would need to drink the cup before Him.
That is God’s goodness!!

Next time you find yourself praying for safety and protection, remember that God is gracious and good, longing to hear you and waiting for you to ask Him! But just as fervently, ask the Father for His powerful strength to work in you as you choose faith over fear.

Ready for more? Dig Deeper!
Join us for every Journey Study by signing up!
Looking for yesterday’s Journey Study?
Share your thoughts from today’s Study!

Don’t miss today’s Digging Deeper!     And we’d love to hear your thoughts from today’s Journey!    Comment Here!

Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus. Tap and hold from your mobile device to download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!

Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into Safe Week Three! Don’t miss out on the discussion below – we’d love to hear your thoughts!
Click the above image for today’s Digging Deeper!

Looking for other journeys from this theme? Here’s a link to all past studies in Safe!