Free & Fit - Free & Fit Advent Challenge Day 8- Proverbial Prayers & Planks - Advent Devotions from Proverbs with a Word, Proverb & Exercise Everyday - Sunday 12/8/24
Free & Fit Advent Challenge Day 8- Proverbial Prayers & Planks - Advent Devotions from Proverbs with a Word, Proverb & Exercise Everyday - Sunday 12/8/24
Free & Fit Advent Challenge Day 8- Proverbial Prayers & Planks - Advent Devotions from Proverbs with a Word, Proverb & Exercise Everyday - Sunday 12/8/24
Today’s word on December 8th is Listen - we are called to follow and to listen to God. We often seek answers from God and like Jonah run in the wrong direction. If we listen we may find Gods answer in his word, in his love for us and in the very hands he has given us for this life here in earth as it is in Heaven.
The Proverb and Verse for today is from Proverbs Eight verse Six it says "Listen, for I have trustworthy things to say; I open my lips to speak what is right."
In the Amplified translation it becomes clearer about how to listen to God. It says: “Listen, for I will speak excellent and noble things; And the opening of my lips will reveal right things.”
Proverbs 8:6 AMP
We must be open as God is open to us. When we listen, God speaks and when we follow God acts. Let’s not be silently ignoring Gods instruction and instead let’s be intently reading his word, listening in worship for his voice and praying in the Spirit for discernment for his wisdom to reign in our lives! Hallelujah Jesus!
Todays movement is accessible as Arm Circles or often times more commonly practiced as
Shoulder Rolls. This is an Upper-body exercise to target shoulder movement and improve posture, alignment and form.
Full Online Version & Prayer:
Live HIIT & Prayer: https://www.instagram.com/share/_kMZ3eTnU
Proverbs 8:
Prayer & Reflection Practice of Listening:
To listen, to truly hear what others have to say, involves a certain level of dying to yourself.
I say that because I can be a pretty awful listener and am always seeking to be better.
“Does not wisdom call, And understanding lift up her voice?”
Proverbs 8:1 AMP
It's not that I have no interest in what the other person is saying. It's that listening necessarily entails, at least for me, a certain amount of energy devoted to the other person--an energy that sometimes I don't have. Or an energy I don't wish to give.
““For whoever finds me (Wisdom) finds life And obtains favor and grace from the Lord. “But he who fails to find me or sins against me injures himself; All those who hate me love and court death.””
Proverbs 8:35-36 AMP
It involves being present to the other person. Not present to the past or to the future, but the here and now. Sometimes, it's hard to be in the here and now when a lot of things are on your mind.
And, as a huge introvert, I easily get caught up in my own thoughts. In focusing on what is going on within me, I can have a hard time paying attention to what is going on in other people's lives.
True listening, then, is an act of charity, an act of love. When you listen, truly listen, you give yourself over completely to the other person. You attempt to see as the other person sees, to understand as s/he understands, to put yourself in their shoes. You open yourself to share their joy, their happiness, their struggles, their sorrows.
The art of listening, of course, is crucial to the health of any person in a committed relationship. A marriage cannot be sustained without the ability to listen to your spouse. In the same way, listening is an essential component for those in religious life. As God listens to our prayers, so we are called to listen to our brothers and sisters, to those whom we have dedicated our lives to.
But, we are also human, and sometimes we have a hard time listening.
There is something to be said, then, of listening within the spiritual life, in a life of prayer. Just as it is difficult to hear what the other is saying, so is it difficult for us to truly listen to what God is trying to tell us.
Sometimes, we are not attentive to what God is trying to share. Other times, we become hostile to His words, even if they are the exact words we need to hear. We are all loved by God, but sometimes that love manifests itself as a sort of "tough love." It challenges us to look at where we are straying, what we need to be doing different.
"If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts."
God does not give up on us, though. God's Eternal Word continues to speak to us, dwells deep within us, continually beckoning to be heard. That love, that everlasting gift, is intimately shared with us and takes root if we are receptive to it and allow it to be planted in our hearts.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
Let us pray, then, that we may form hearts and minds that seek to listen and hear in the way of Christ. Let us pray for that openness to one another, that we may listen not with judging ears, but ones of charity and understanding. And, let us pray that we may always be receptive and open to God's word, having faith that it brings great light and life to ourselves and to our world.
Choose your own Imaginative Contemplation exercise and take your phone, headphones and meditate in a quiet space.
Lord Hear Our Prayer Poem:
I know not by what methods rare,
But this I know, God answers prayers. I know that He has given His Word, Which tells me prayer is always heard, And will be answered, soon or late, And so I pray and calmly wait.
I know not if the blessing looked for Will come in just the way I thought;
But leave my prayers with Him alone, Whose will is wiser than my own, Assured that He will grant my quest, Or send some answer far more blest.
Lord Hear our Prayer Psalm:
Psalm 143
“Hear my prayer, O LORD, Listen to my supplications! Answer me in Your faithfulness, and in Your righteousness. And do not enter into judgment with Your servant, For in Your sight no man living is righteous or justified. For the enemy has persecuted me, He has crushed my life down to the ground; He has made me dwell in dark places, like those who have been long dead. Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed and weak within me [wrapped in darkness]; My heart grows numb within me. I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that You have done; I ponder the work of Your hands. I reach out my hands to You; My throat thirsts for You, as a parched land [thirsts for water]. Selah. Answer me quickly, O LORD, my spirit fails; Do not hide Your face from me, Or I will become like those who go down into the pit (grave). Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, For I trust in You. Teach me the way in which I should walk, For I lift up my soul to You. Rescue me, O LORD, from my enemies; I take refuge in You. Teach me to do Your will [so that I may please You], For You are my God; Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground. Save my life, O LORD, for Your name’s sake; In Your righteousness bring my life out of trouble. In your lovingkindness, silence and destroy my enemies And destroy all those who afflict my life, For I am Your servant.”
Psalms 143:1-12 AMP
Lord Hear Our Prayer, Prayer.
God hears us when we call to Him, Not one voice is ignored.
The sounds of praise, the pleas of pain Are all heard by the Lord.
Today, in that mysterious blend of confidence and crying out, we can bring everything to our loving heavenly Father, saying, “Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer!”
In prayer, God hears more than just words—He listens to your heart! In Jesus name. Amen
“So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord.”
Lamentations 3:26 NLT
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