STRIP Prayer

A Note On Prayer

              In the front pages of my study Bible I have these words: STRIP Prayer. They may seem odd, inappropriate, and/or lewd; however, they are not meant to be.  They are simply written there as a reminder that my deepest growth, joy, and peace comes when my heart is striped or barred in prayer before my God. I gain nothing by pretending, defending, or avoiding the real issues I need to discuss with my God.  I gain him when I say it all – the good, the bad, the quirky, and the very ugly. And friend, He is enough –

                    Since the garden, God has never shied away from dealing with the uncovered heart of his children. The heart is his favorite place to get down to business!  Through grace, God woos, pursues, cleans, and redeems.

                    It is not the nature of our flesh heart to embrace the exposure that comes with being stripped – stripped of defenses and pretenses. However, it is the nature of a transformed heart.

                    A heart transformed by God’s grace, welcomes being stripped to the bone by him.  There is no fear in perfect love. Therefore, come my friend to the Lord of All in prayer. Let Abba love you.  Let the Almighty plunder through every square inch of your heart. Throw away the “off limits” signs. Stop hiding. Stop letting shame keep you from seeking his face. Trust him. Thank him. Love others.  Talk to Him. Worship.  In prayer, embrace the stripping away of    everything to the One whom is Lord of All.

            Here is my simple STRIP Prayer formula; may it lead you toward his grace and peace.

             STRIP Prayer…

            S  --- say it all/confess it all/ hold nothing back

            T --- true thanksgiving

            R---requests

            I --- intercession

            P – praise and adoration

"It is because of the hasty and superficial conversation with God that the sense of sin is so weak and that no motives have power to help you to hate and flee from sin as you should. 

  ~ A.W. Tozer"

“If I can trust God with anything, then I can trust him with “this”; and if I can trust him with “this, I can trust God with anything.”

 ~ Jo Crosby

Blessings & thanks for reading, 

Jo

Today's Prayer

Lord, when I am sad,

hear me

Lord, when I am afraid,

help me.

Lord, when I am lonely,

hold me.

Lord, when I am broken,

heal me.

Adonia, when I need you,

be my refuge; be my LORD.

Amen

God abides. He sits bedside keeping watch through both day and night. He is close to the broken. He tends the heart, and he is ever-listening to the raspy, barely-whispered prayers that leave the lips of the hurting.  We need not wonder if he cares or worry if he will understand; we simply need to seek him.

May this knowledge land on your heart anew and you trust him with all the pieces of your life.

Blessings,

Jo

"For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you" Isaiah 41:13

God is Mine

“The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
 he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
 Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.”

—Psalm 23 (underline & italics added)

David, the writer of Psalm 23, had a personal relationship with God. He sought to know God and to be known by God.  When it came to sharing with God, David held nothing back. David whined, cried, begged, vented, sang, danced, marched, rolled, and rested in the shadow of God’s love; David lived there. He embraced God’s presence with both hands and he pulled it close. David understood that God’s love was personal; he accepted it as truth.

Do you?

The beautiful, far-reaching shadow of the Divine never left David’s sight.  God’s full presence – God’s companionship – was David’s to embrace, and today, we can be thankful that it is also mine and yours to embrace. David’s very words, in the familiar scripture above, echo our heart’s desire: God is our personal Shepherd, and he tenderly, lovingly tends us.

In the busy pace of life, God and his love can feel more like a long distant relationship than a moment-by-moment bond. However, today and every day, God is invested and interested in cultivating apersonal relationship with us. He is close, and likewise, we should be close to him. Read back through the scripture above and consider the wording. Let the eyes of your heart focus on the “God and me” centered message. If there was ever a time to cartwheel with joy over something being “ours”, it is now. God is ours. Or, as David put it: God is mine.

Don’t let the scripture with which you are most acquainted become antiquated. God’s Word falls fresh each day.

Blessings,

Jo

10 Positives With Teenagers

From the Desk of Suzanne Stangland

As a parent, I know how difficult it can be to maintain your composure when you are in the midst of a difficult and emotionally charged situation with your child.  Please consider the following as proven strategies you can utilize to help keep a tough situation calm.

10 Positive Ways for You to Interact With Your Teenager in a Difficult Situation

1)      Use a calm and controlled voice when    speaking to your teenager

2)      Use question statements instead of demands (i.e.  Do this, Do that)

3)      Keep an open body posture such as arms at side or behind your back

4)      Create space so that your teenager does not feel trapped or cornered

5)      Avoid using physical touch if possible if your teenager is angry

6)      Be willing to pause an escalating discussion so you can take a break as well as your teenager

7)      Remind your teenager they have been able to make good choices before so ask them to make good choices now

8)      Avoid Sarcasm or flippant comments

9)      Look for the underlying need that might be responsible for your teenager’s challenging behavior

10)   Encourage your teenager to express what is bothering themthe best way they can prior to ending the encounter and/or determining consequences.

Suzanne is accepting new clients.  Please call the Five Stones office to schedule an appointment at 912-667-5848.

You can learn more about Suzanne and our other counselors by clicking on the TEAM tab on the banner above.

 

Back To School Ideas

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8 Ways to Transition Young Children

Back to School 

1)      Plan a day with your school-aged child to get school supplies and make it an anticipated and fun day.

2)     Talk to your child about what they are looking forward to during this school         year.

3)     Talk to your child about their fears of going back to school.

4)     Make sure to attend with your child the open house that your school is providing. Help your child meet his/her new teacher.

5)     Once you find out the bus information for your child, review this information with them. Take a moment to walk with your child to the bus stop making sure they know where to go.

6)     Share with your child your most treasured school memories. Make this a fun event such as including eating ice cream at your favorite place.

7)     A couple nights before the first day of school, lay out clothes the child wants to wear, place school supplies in the book bag, and set aside lunch box.  Ask your child if there is anything else they forgot.

8)     After the first day, make sure to set aside intentional time to talk about your child’s day with 3 positives and 1 thing that did not go so well.

From the Desk of Suzanne Stangland. 

Suzanne is accepting new clients.  For a counseling appointment, please call the Five Stones Office at 912-667-584

In Times of Need

One of the best things about Five Stones is the team.  When I think of the team that God has put together, these adjectives come to mind: compassionate, gifted, intelligent, and servant-hearted. Over the next few weeks, we hope to introduce you to heart of our office, by introducing you to the hearts of our team. Each team member of Five Stones has a heart for the hurting.

Apart from being a client, it is hard to "visit" the office of a counselor. Perhaps these insights will give you a glimpse into the work that takes place within our walls. We are called to do this counseling ministry, and we are humbled by it.

These words are from the office of Suzanne Stangland, MA, LPC. 

3 of the Most Helpful Scriptures for Me

In Times of Need:

“For I know the plans I have for you, “declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ”

— Jeremiah 29:11, NIV

“I Lift up my eyes to the mountains - where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. ”

— Psalm 121:1-2, NIV

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. ”

— John 16:33, NIV

For more information on Suzanne, visit her page on the website under the tab "Our Team". 

For counseling call: 912-667-5848

Let God Write Your Love Story: Romance

Romance

“You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, and with one jewel of your necklace.” Song of Songs 4: 9, NIV

Romance is God-designed.  On some level, we all long to be prized, valued, and loved.  In the world, our sense of self image and esteem is battered, abused, and often broken. We worry about growing older, growing unattractive, and growing less appealing. The media is flooded with advertisements and the market is saturated with products that take aim at one of our worst fears – that we will lose our desirability.  In the wake of such influence, we often settle for believing that we are average, and romance passes with so many dreams to the waste side of our lives.  

In marriages built on God’s foundation, we can rejoice in knowing that romance is a priority and we are anything but average. To our spouse we are to be the one who steals their heart!  God’s wisdom says that a mere glance shared among spouses should speak the words of deep intimacy and desire.  Within the protective, loving boundaries of our marriage we should never worry about the worldly concerns of aging, changing, and losing our appeal. A married couples desire for each other should only grow sweeter, deeper, and more genuine.

According to Scripture, romance is not meant to be a dream, but a precious and protected standard for marriage. 

Blessings, 
Jo

Let God Write Your Love Story: Understanding

Seek First to Understand

We live in a culture that prizes the complexity of the individual. We’ve been conditioned to believe that we are each uniquely complex, perhaps more complex than others. The challenge this brings to our relationships is that walk into potential conflict with the primary goal of being understood. It’s important to understand, and then be understood. When each person is seeking first to be understood a collision is inevitable.

We’ve each been there. Someone is trying to share their perspective or opinion and they quickly trip our response mechanism and we start formulating our response while they’re still talking. We’re so focused on our own perspective, we can’t listen enough to understand theirs. They pause. We jump into our own explanation, quickly trip their response mechanism, and they engage the same response formulating process without listening to us. Around and around we go.

Now change the goals of each person to first understanding, then being understood. That’s the kind of conversation that could put a man on the moon! When two unique people with different preferences, experiences, opinions, expectations, habits… live together as college roommates, husband and wife, parent and child… conflict is inevitable. But communication breakdowns are not. Most communication breakdowns occur when someone, or everyone, is more focused on being understood than understanding. 

Lead Wisely, 

John 

Let God Write Your Love Story: Humility

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Philippians 2: 3 ESV
 

Choose Humility

This sounds counterintuitive, but there is something extremely freeing about choosing to think of others better than ourselves.  As humans, we are conditioned from an early age to focus on ourselves and how we are to be treated fairly by the world around us. It goes for work, family and even an outing to Starbucks (that coffee better be served under a minute or there will be some harsh silent judging going on right here!) One area in particular that we struggle to remain humble in is our relationship with our spouses.

As a society, we are conditioned to stand up for ourselves, speak our minds, and make very sure that our spouses are treating us right...every...single...minute of the day. Let me be clear, there is a time and place for speaking our minds and making sure our feelings are heard and respected, but this should not trump our need to practice humility on a continual basis with our spouses. 

Humility in a marriage can look like this: Your husband asked you to switch cars for the day. You're running late; you jump in his car; and it's on empty. Two things can happen in this situation:  (1) you can call him immediately and give him a piece of your mind or (2) you can choose to humble yourself, extend grace and consider his feelings.  

As mentioned before, there is a freedom in choosing to practice humility.  You suddenly realize that the world doesn't revolve around you, that other people have feelings, and they should always be considered before reacting. Again, it's not all about you!  The choice to practice humility is an every day choice. Let's start choosing humble, grace-filled responses today and experience the sweet freedom of taking a back seat to the ones we love most. 

Peace, 

Rachel