Yielding My Rights...

I grew up going to camp every summer.  I was very, very blessed to attend an amazing camp in Northern Michigan (northern lower peninsula).  When I was twelve I heard a speaker named Tom Harmon for the first time.  My life was forever changed that week.  I finally understood what Christ's death meant -- for me. I knew that I wanted to give my life to God and during that week, a passion for God's Word was set aflame inside my heart.

Every summer after that I would call camp in the early spring and ask what week Tom Harmon was speaking.  They told me, and I signed up for that week. I think I heard him speak every summer for the next 10 years or so (all through my years as a camper, teen worker, Young Adult Part Time staff, counselor, and counselor for the teen workers). He is a man who loves God and loves His Word.  Listening to him speak made me yearn to know the Scriptures more to that they could indwell in my heart and change my life.

One of the biggest blessings of Tom's ministry is something he compiled called the MORNING PRAYER.  The entire thing is taken from principles of Scripture and the idea is to pray through this each morning. Sound easy, right? 

Wrong.  The whole prayer is about yielding our rights.  Our rights to things like being appreciated, to be supported, to privacy, to financial security, to being accepted. These are things we hold dear and will often fight to the bitter end to have them.  But Scripture shows  us that the man or woman of God will not cling to these rights but will, instead, cling to God Himself.

To be honest, it has been a few years since I have prayed through this on a regular basis.  It has probably been a year since I even read through it.  But the other day I found my copy and decided to pray through it in the morning.  Hard stuff.  Really hard.  It isn't that hard to say it, I suppose, but to mean it...that is a totally different story.  To mean it means we are saying, "God, you can test me on this. I yield my right to these things."

And testing God has done!  A few of these have really hit home with me lately. One of the ones God has really been testing me on is my yielding the "right to be understood" (and, to go along with that, the "right to defend myself.")

Just yesterday, I had two of the most hurtful comments made to me in a long time...maybe ever.  They were both made by people that supposedly care for me.  In the aftermath, I realize how far I have come...how much God has matured me (though I have a long way to go!)  The first comment really just rolled off my back.  If I thought deeply on it I could get myself worked up, I could come up with many reasons why it was uncalled for, and get angry that it proved what this person really thinks of me.  But really, it didn't fluster me.  I was able (even in my heart!) to give grace to this person and trust that although they think things about me that aren't true, God knows what is true.

The second comment hurt much deeper, and I am afraid I didn't react the way I should have.  But I stopped myself before going too far and just prayed that God would give me the strength to yield my right to be understood and the right to defend myself.  People said all sorts of horrible things to/about Christ and He "uttered not a word."  Oh for the strength to do the same!  I want the strength to only concern myself with what GOD thinks about me and not worry about what people think. Easier said than done.

Go ahead, take a look.  Print out the morning prayer and pray for the strength to pray it and mean it.  And then be ready for God to test you on it.  Good stuff.  Hard, but good.

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And since I haven't scrapped in almost three weeks (though I did make some templates yesterday, does that count??) here is another old one that I don't think I have shown for you.

And one of my little cutie, straight from my iphone

Comments

[Hollie]

Wow--that's a really good phone picture! Mine takes horrible photos! I love looking at your pages--they still continue to inspire me. And I am thinking I will really need to pray for the desire to pray for the desire to pray that prayer (and no, I didn't accidentally double type anything there). Thanks for sharing, Janet!

[MandaKay]

I will have to look at that pray and do what Hollie said!!! ;) You are just soo spiritually inspirational!

[Susan]

Hugs to you! I am inspired by your strength. And that is a darling photo, by the way!

[Laura]

thanks for sharing janet! i'm printing out that prayer and am grateful for the challenge in my own prayer life. katelynn is getting sooo big!!

[jennyg]

THanks for sharing your thoughts and the prayer! What font did you use for your journaling?

[Stephanie]

Thank you for sharing that. I went to Tom's site and printed it out. A great way to start the day ...... It is so hard to let go of all that, but I know I need to.

[Rona]

that is a POWERFUL morning prayer, Janet! Very hard to pray, even harder to live by, I think! But it is downright humbling and touching. Bookmarking that to share with others as well. Thank you for letting us know about this prayer!

Can't wait to see your new templates!

[Lisa]

thanks for the link janet. that is a hard prayer to pray and i garee with hollie, i have gotten so far away from the desire to die to self that i have gotten way to caught up in myself and have become quite selfish. no wonder i am miserable most days lately. i am so glad that the references are there because i am so far gone that i had to look up a couple of them because i have forgotten how to yield my right to privacy, and to be accepted- that's a big one for me! oh man do i need lots of help, but praise God that i have it when i need it!
i love your layout and the different tones of the photos!

[laura]

Thanks for the bit of guidance. I will share that prayer with my husband. Amazing that you found it so soon before you needed the "acceptance" reminder. See how that works :)
Your daughter is adorable!

[Jean Hanson]

Janet,
Thanks for the link to The Morning Prayer. Wow! I've printed it out and plan to use it as a basis for a personal bible study. I have also shared it with my husband as well as the Grandparent's Prayer. The grandparent's prayer is so timely right now for us. Thanks for being such an inspiration to me.

[Nicole]

Thanks for the link to the morning prayer - I am going to print it out and post it somewhere so it is in my face every morning! Everything in it is what I want to do, yet I don't want to do it - does that make sense? Thank you for your continued inspiration - scrapping and faith-wise!

[Peggy]

What a cutie Katelynn is! She looks like a china doll. Thanks for the prayers.

[Debbie Pearson]

Perfect timing for yesterday's post. It kind of slapped me in the face as a reminder for myself and some things going on within my own life. I am a faithful blog stalker and find your commentary inspirational....and I love looking at your beautiful pictures! :)