Chapter 2 : Lord Cleanse Me and Make My Heart Right Before You

"None of us is so complete that we don't need anything from God. None of us has it all together".
         This phrase was brought to my attention this past summer. I thought I had everything all figured out; my money, my relationship, my friendships and most importantly my relationship with God. He stopped me short and told me to "LET GO, stop trying to fix what I have planned to do differently." Like Stormie said, I needed to recognize that I "couldn't make anything happen, but had to surrender my life to Him and let Him make things happen." One night after church, I fell to my knees and did just that, tears and all. Ever since, my relationship with the Lord just keeps getting better and better; however I have not forgotten that I still have a long way to go and I am nowhere near perfect. Proverbs 19:21 says "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." God uses so many different and creative ways to show us this, but do we clear our mind, body and soul to be sensitive to His voice ?
        Another point in this chapter that touched my heart was the fact that women all over the world desire to be that woman after God's own heart, the Proverbs 31 woman, but we are just so hard on ourselves. I for one am extremely hard on myself. Everyday I feel as though I dont do enough to glorify the Lord and there is so much better that I should do. Although there is always room for improvement, sometimes we need to stop and check ourselves and rather than point out the negatives, give yourself a pat on the back for getting this far. Positive feedback leads to more positive outcomes ! Some of us are just so quick to pinpoint the things we haven't done correctly that we forget to appreciate all the steps we took in the right direction.
          The paragraph where Stormie tells us to cleanse our hearts by praying for exposure so that God may show us where are hearts really are and where He thinks we should be made me reanalyze the way I observe myself and I pray that I change that with time. The first start to change is being open; with God first and also with others who may be sharing the same problem. Its important that we "confess and repent" each and every night to prepare ourselves for the blessings God has planned for us. The little things we do that we may not think are important can be considered as sin. How many times have we doubted something would happen, knowing that with God all things are possible ? How many times have we been upset with a friend and discussed it with someone other than the one involved ? Doubt and gossip and many other every day things that we don't recognize are sin. Daily/Nightly cleansing is vital in order to progress in the Lord. I dont know about you, but I feel 10 times lighter when I just admit everything Ive done wrong, ask for God to show me things  I didnt notice I did wrong and make an effort to not repeat them again.
        This chapter to me was all about being open to God and asking for cleansing so that it may bring us closer to Him. But I also took it as a message to have  an open heart to those around you as well. Share your past experiences to help others whether they be mistakes or positive things, there is always a lesson to learn from someone. I thank God for allowing Lety to create this book club and for each and every one of you in it. Never forget that if you've made it thus far, you are bound to do even greater things, be encouraged ! Have a wonderful weekend, love you all !

                                                                                         Benine M.

Chapter One: Draw Me Into a Closer Walk With You

"Striving to be good enough" is one of the first phrases I highlighted on the second page of this chapter; it summarizes how I was trying to live my life, and it ended up being a "peaceless" experience.  It was mostly peaceless because no matter what I did, I never felt like it was enough for God, regardless of my attending Bible Studies, going to Church, reading the Bible, praying & all.  So that whole paragraph just reminded me that, although it is impossible to be good enough for God, it is still possible to draw near to Him as He is drawing close to me, and "letting all of His goodness be in me."  My prayer is that, instead of trying to fix myself to be good enough for God, I pray that He uses my imperfection to make me whole, as a result of my walk with Him.

For the prayer at the end of the chapter, I especially want to know God as a FRIEND: I believe that He can be the bestest friend I could ever have, for He knows me more than I know myself. I just want to be able to cry out to Him, to run to Him first (before running to anyone else) during my lonely moments, to depend on Him during my desperate times, to stand on the rock that He is when my ground is shaky, to give me Peace when all around me is screaming war, etc ...

What do you need to know Him as? and why?
I use the study guide for this book and it asks the questions above and to "write out a prayer telling God why you need to know Him in this way, thank Him for promising to be that to you and to include Psalm 20:7 in your prayer."  I invite you all to write your prayer and to share your thoughts, and experiences  on this particular chapter. Remember this is a learning experience, which can only be accomplished through sharing :)

Love you all,

V.

The Power

This introduction chapter lets me know that I am reading the right book at the right time because it really applies to me.

Like the author (pg 10), I’m a Martha by nature. Luke 10:38-42 talks about how Jesus visited the home of two sisters, Mary and Martha. Martha welcomed Jesus and started preparing a big dinner. However, Mary sat Jesus’ feet and was listening to him. After Martha complained to Jesus that Mary wasn’t helping, Jesus pretty much replied that Mary is the one that was focused on the right thing. What matters more is the time spent with him.

Anyone who knows me knows that I ALWAYS have a to-do list. I get satisfaction from being productive and crossing things off of that list. The problem with this is that my to-do list is a never-ending one… I ALWAYS have something to do!! And always being busy often comes in the way of me doing the most important thing, which is spending time with God. God has been really checking me on how I need to stop being a Martha. While being productive is good, what matters most in life is our relationship with God and building that. That is more important that school, work, working out, etc.

Furthermore, at the beginning of this year I declared that this would be my year of complete transformation and that who I was at the beginning of the year would not be who I am at the end. On page 15 in the last paragraph, she mentions how “without God’s power, we can’t transcend our limitations or get out of our rut” and this power is activated through prayer.

I encourage you all to recite the prayer that she has at the end of each chapter out loud. At first I didn’t want to because I didn’t feel like it, but then Holy Spirit reminded me that the purpose of this book is to actually PRAY (and therefore participate). So after I read it out loud it felt good to hear what I was saying!

Any thoughts? (questions, comments, revelations, …)

Good Morning, loves!! And happy Monday!

This week our reading commences! I am very excited thinking about the results that will ensue, as we take the time to read the book and apply all that we learn.

I know some of you are still getting the book. Just start reading as soon as you get it so you don't fall behind. This week the person sharing their thoughts via the blog will be me, so be on the lookout for that email. Remember that you are free to post questions, comments, what you learned, etc. Let's make this a real sharing environment.

Love you all, and I pray you have the BEST week yet! XOXOX

Welcome to Deeper Levelz... a bookclub in blog forum style for 10 wonderful ladies who have a desire to reach deeper levels in their relationship with the King. Starting the week of September 10th, we will begin reading the book "The Power of a Praying Woman". This is a best-selling book by Stormie Orman and can be obtained at your local bookstores or online
(http://www.amazon.com/Power-Praying%C2%AE-Woman-Prayer-Praying/dp/0736919872/ref=pd_sim_b_2).

Since we are all busy and live in different areas, the format for our bookclub will be as follows: We will be reading only one chapter each week. Every week one person will be assigned to posting their thoughts/lessons learned on the blog and will have until Sunday to post. However, though everyone is welcomed (and encouraged) to comment on the posts and post what you got out of the chapter. That way we will still learn from each other. Please no that nothing you post is bad, too short, or too long. This is not a competition, but it's all about capturing what we learned and provoking others in the process.

Please use this blog freely to communicate to each other. Let's make this a true learning and life-changing experience that will lead us to DEEPER LEVELZ.

Love,

Lety