Search

God

God’s Patience with Us Has a Limit

by

I Would Recommend Not Pushing It

Pastor Lisa shared with us that her husband Brian is very patient, however, he has a word that he uses when he has reached his limit. When this word comes out of his mouth, people are caught off guard and are a little surprised.

This word is…are you ready for it…ALRIGHT.

ALRIGHT, that will be enough.

God’s very patient with us as well, but He also has an ALRIGHT.

We can see this throughout the Old Testament of the Bible. The people would continually lose their way and start following the worldly ways of the people around them. God would give reminder after reminder until He would reach an ALRIGHT.

God reached one of His ALRIGHTS when His chosen people were conquered, their temple destroyed, and they were taken to Babylon. Later Persia conquered Babylon and they found themselves under Persia’s authority.

Then some years later, King Cyrus of Persia’s heart was moved to send the Jewish people back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. God stirred the hearts of the priests, Levites, and the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple (Ezra 1:1-6).

We’ve all felt these kinds of nudging’s that we were supposed to do something. We may not be sure exactly what it is. We might feel that we’re not qualified to do that thing. We might think that thing is too hard or will take too long.

This kind of prodding is “HOLY DISCONTENT”.

This is what King Cyrus and the people going to Jerusalem felt. It was not an easy task. It was a long journey. When they got there, everything was in ruins, people had taken over what was left, and these people didn’t want to give it back.

There is a process for dealing with HOLY DISCONTENT.

  1. Wait on God – Everything in God’s time
  2. Trust in God – He won’t lead you on the wrong path
  3. Embrace the journey – This is where God has called you to
  4. Expect opposition – There will be push back from the naysayers
  5. Expect support – The support you need will be there when you need it
  6. Watch the plan unfold – This is the part that makes the journey worth it

Too often we ignore the HOLY DISCONTENTS in our lives. If we ignore them too long, God’s patience will wear thin, and we will get an ALRIGHT. Don’t push it because we are all given a limited time. As long as we are still alive, God will continue to give us HOLY DISCONTENTS, but there’s a limited time. Don’t wait!

What Would We Do Without Dads?

by

Nothing…Because We Wouldn’t Even Be Here

That’s right. We wouldn’t have been born without a father. But just being a father doesn’t mean we’re good at it.

Being a good father is a big job.

This past Sunday was Father’s Day, so it only makes sense that this was the focus of Pastor Lisa’s message.

So, what does it mean to be a father?

While it might seem obvious what “dad” means– a male parent– it’s often hard to define the role of a dad.

Dad can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. So, what do children need? After all, the definition is a male parent.

Children need many things from their parents, but let’s break it down into the main pieces. They need:

  • Necessities of life
  • Human interaction
  • Care and comfort
  • Warmth and love
  • Guidance and protection
  • To be important to someone

These relate to the different roles that dads (and moms) play.

Human parents are not perfect…some are quite bad at it. We’ve all known people who have bad fathers or don’t even know who their father was.

This is where mentoring comes in. Young men need good role models. These role models can come in the form of coaches, camp counselors, dads of friends, teachers, etc.

We all need people to look up to and try to be like. We should all try to be those people.

This is where my friend Shep’s book, Step into Your Legacy, can be helpful. His book is a guide for men, helping them strive to be people who inspire others through actions and words. Whether it’s the way we treat our families, the kindness we show to others, or the dedication at our workplace, every moment is an opportunity to make an impact.

Being a good dad requires knowing what it means to be a good dad and being intentional about doing it.

As Pastor Lisa has been taking us through the Old Testament, we have seen the kings go back and forth from good and following God to bad and not. This human condition is just that: human.

This is why we need to be aware and understand ourselves and our humanness. Then it’s up to us to be intentional in our actions and learn how to be better.

Often, we get into routines and habits and don’t realize what we’re doing. A good example of how this happens and what we can do about it is in 2 Chronicles 34:14-15; 29-33. In the Scripture, Hilkiah discovers the Book of the Law in the Temple. It is then shared with King Josiah who makes changes and promises to do what’s right.

The best example of how to be a good dad (or mom) is our Heavenly Father and we learn this by reading His Word.

Regardless of what our father here on earth is like, God is our Heavenly Dad. Sure, we wouldn’t have been born without an earthly father. But, the same is true for our Heavenly Father.

I hope you had a great Father’s Day. Going forward, I hope you strive to be more like our Heavenly Father.

VBS – What a Great Place to Share the Message of Salvation

by

Salvation, What Does That Mean?

VBS is a common acronym used for Vacation Bible School. Many of us grew up going to VBS and have good memories from it.

Vacation Bible School can be traced back to Hopedale, Illinois in 1894. Sunday School teacher D. T. Miles was a public-school teacher. She felt limited by time constraints in teaching the Bible to children. So, she started a daily Bible school that taught children during the summer. The first Bible school enrolled 40 students and lasted four weeks. A local school was used for classes, while an adjoining park was used for recess.

While not under the title of Vacation Bible School, Dr. Abraham L. Latham, of the Third Presbyterian Church in Chester, Pennsylvania, initiated a five-week, four-hour day summer Bible school in 1912. While at its peak, it had 650–700 students. This was claimed to be the world’s first summer Bible school.

Today, many churches run their own Vacation Bible School programs. Some churches use themed curriculum programs from their respective denominations. Others use independent publishing houses which provide easy preparation and include marketing tools.

Our church had VBS last week. Thanks to everyone who made this possible.

What a great place to share the message of salvation.

So, what is salvation? Salvation is the act of saving or protecting from harm, risk, loss, destruction, etc. It is a source, cause, or means of being saved or protected from harm, risk, etc. Deliverance from the power and penalty of sin; redemption.

In Romans 10:1-13, it says, “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. As the Scriptures tell us, ‘Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.’ Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him. For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’.”

Salvation comes at a cost, but the price has already been paid.

“Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” (Romans 5:6-8)

It’s up to us to believe and accept this gift.

Sharing the message of salvation in VBS is great, but it shouldn’t stop there. All of us who believe need to be bold and share this message beyond VBS.

Choosing to believe is a decision that you have the power to make or not…it’s up to you.

Be Who God Made You To Be

by

Don’t Be Afraid to Witness Boldly

God made each and every one of us exactly how He wanted us to be. We are unique and different and have skills that are specific to us. 

It’s up to us to be willing to use our skills the way they were intended. 

As a Christian, it can be scary to talk about our faith. We may not know what others believe and don’t want to impose our beliefs on them. This “kid glove” viewpoint seems to be more and more common.  

A recent article in The Washington Stand, written by Sara Holliday pointed out that 40% of British Christians prefer not to share their faith. According to a recent survey, British Christians seem to be going through a bit of a “self-confidence crisis”, as phrased by the researcher. 

“Authorized by the Institute for the Impact of Faith in Life (IIFL) and steered by Whitestone Insight, the survey, “Britain’s attitudes to faith in public life,” received responses from 2,064 U.K. adults between May 1 and 2 of 2024. Author Dr. Jake Scott emphasized, “Data were weighted to be representative of all U.K. adults.” Among several key findings, perhaps the most eye-opening was that roughly 40% of the Christian respondents prefer to keep their faith to themselves and out of “the workplace and politics.” 

Some other statistics include “49% of religious respondents” who were opposed to seeing more religion in the media, and 27% felt religion was not necessarily “a force for good in society.” This isn’t exactly encouraging news.”  

This doesn’t sound very bold. 

“However, there were two positives — maybe even encouraging — aspects to these results worth recognizing. 

First, there was a distinction between “exclusivist” Christians and “cultural” Christians — the former being “those who believe their religion is the only true faith,” and the latter being “those who were baptized but attend church infrequently and do not strongly identify with the Christian faith.”  

The exclusivists were far more willing to share their faith, as they are called to in Scripture. And we can’t be too surprised the cultural Christians, who don’t appear to take their faith seriously, don’t take intentionally sharing their faith seriously. 

The second encouraging point was the influence faith seems to have on younger generations such as Gen Z. As reported, “69% of respondents within the 18-24 year old bracket believe their faith significantly impacts their lives,” 72% “find faith helps them find purpose in life,” 78% “feel their faith has shaped their moral values,” and 53% “believe their faith to be the only true religion.” 

Reading about Christians intentionally keeping their faith to themselves and not having an optimistic view of their faith should motivate us to offer some encouragement. Moving forward, let’s not focus on these statistics.  

Scripture calls us to be bold, not timid. It calls us to share our faith, not purposefully keep it to ourselves. 

In Acts 4:1-13, Peter and John are arrested and taken before the rulers, elders, and teachers of the law because they healed a crippled man. Peter told them that the power that healed the man was Jesus, the man they killed.  

The members of the council were amazed at the boldness of Peter and John because they were just ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. But they were with Jesus. 

Being bold doesn’t mean we shout from a mountain top or get up in someone’s face. We can be bold by living our daily lives the way God made us. 

We are all ordinary. Made just the way God wanted us. It’s up to us to witness boldly the way He made us. 

We Should Pray Like Jabez

by

And How Did He Pray?

As names in the Bible go, Jabez is not someone who we hear a lot about. He is mentioned in 1 Chronicles in middle of the genealogy of Judah. As you’re reading through the long list of names there in Chapter 4 Verse 9 and 10, Jabez pops up. 

Another thing that’s a little different is that rather than telling who his father, bothers, or sons were, it says… 

There was a man named Jabez who was more honorable than any of his brothers. His mother named him Jabez because his birth had been so painful. He was the one who prayed to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and expand my territory! Please be with me in all that I do, and keep me from all trouble and pain!” And God granted him his request. 

And that’s how we should pray.  

Then in Verse 11, it goes right back to: so and so was the father of so and so and on and on. 

Other than the fact that Jabez’s prayer is stuck in the middle of this genealogical list of names, what makes it a good example of how we should pray? 

Prayer is our direct line of communication with God, our way of expressing our hopes, dreams, and desires. Among the countless prayers that have been uttered throughout history, this one stands out. 

This prayer resonates with those who long to move beyond the limitations of their current situation and experience God’s abundant provision. 

But what makes this prayer so different?  

It’s the simplicity of it. In a couple of short sentences, it recognizes our need for God’s power to transform our lives. It’s the boldness to ask for God’s favor, knowing that He delights in blessing His children. It’s the faith to believe that God can take us from the ordinary to the extraordinary, from the mundane to the miraculous. 

There are the four simple but powerful points to Jabez’s prayer –  

  1. First, Jabez asks God to bless him. - This is a recognition that all blessings come from God and that we are dependent on God’s favor and provision. Jabez desires God’s blessings in all areas of his life, both spiritually and materially. 
  2. Next, Jabez asks for an enlargement of his territory. - This can be understood as a request for God to expand our influence, impact, and opportunities. Jabez wants to make a greater difference in the world and fulfill his God-given purpose. 
  3. Then, Jabez asks for God’s hand to be with him. – This is a plea for God’s presence and guidance in his life. Jabez recognizes that he cannot accomplish anything without God’s help and desires to walk closely with Him. 
  4. Lastly, Jabez asks God to keep him from harm and free from pain. – This is a request for protection and deliverance from any form of evil or suffering. Jabez desires to live a life shielded from harm and filled with peace. 

And the last words of Verse 10… “And God granted him his request.”  

Too often we make prayer something too lofty and grand. Something that, as flawed and imperfect sinners, we have no right to tell God. After all, He made everything and can do anything.  

We need to stop kidding ourselves. God already knows our hearts and minds. He knows what we want before we do.  

This doesn’t mean that God isn’t all powerful and shouldn’t be honored. What it does mean is that there is a balance of honor and relationship.  

God wants a relationship with us.  

We are supposed to honor our earthly parents, but we’re also supposed to have a relationship with them.  

Jabez spoke to God honestly, openly, and respectfully and God heard him. 

If we align our desires with God’s, He will hear our prayers as well.

Life Happens…It’s What We Do When It Does That Matters

by

It All Comes Down to Choice

We’re all faced with a lot of choices every day. When situations happen, we can choose this or that.

Choice is the most powerful weapon we have.

Too often we make the wrong choices. Sometimes we make what we think to be the right decisions based on what we know at the time, only to find out later it was the wrong one. Then we can make a different decision.

The important thing is that when making decisions, we’re making them for the right reasons with the right guidance.

We need to be clear on what makes a decision right.

In 2 Kings 18:1-5, Hezekiah became king of Judah. He did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight, just as his ancestor David had done. He removed the pagan shrines, smashed the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke up the bronze serpent that Moses had made, because the people of Israel had been offering sacrifices to it.

 Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel.

He was 25 years old when he became king. I don’t know about you, but I made some bad decisions when I was 25.

King Sennacherib of Assyria came and began attacking the towns in Judah. After which Hezekiah offered to pay Sennacherib if he would withdraw his armies. The king of Assyria demanded a settlement of more than eleven tons of silver and one ton of gold. To gather this amount, King Hezekiah used all the silver stored in the Temple of the Lord and in the palace treasury. Hezekiah even stripped the gold from the doors of the Lord’s Temple and from the doorposts he had overlaid with gold, and he gave it all to the Assyrian king.

Nevertheless, the king of Assyria sent his commander in chief, his field commander, and his chief of staff from Lachish with a huge army to confront King Hezekiah in Jerusalem. The Assyrians took up a position beside the aqueduct that feeds water into the upper pool, near the road leading to the field where cloth is washed. They summoned King Hezekiah… (2 Kings 18:13-18)

Sennacherib offers Hezekiah another deal telling him that no other kings can help him, and neither can God. He tells them to give up and become his slaves. It would be better for them than staying and starving to death. (2 Kings 18:19-37)

After the king of Assyria sent the message, Isaiah the prophet replied, “This is what the Lord says: Do not be disturbed by this blasphemous speech against me from the Assyrian king’s messengers. Listen! I myself will move against him, and the king will receive a message that he is needed at home. So he will return to his land, where I will have him killed with a sword.” (2 Kings 19:5-7)

After Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers, he went up to the Lord’s Temple and spread it out before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed this prayer before the Lord: “…You alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You alone created the heavens and the earth. Bend down, O Lord, and listen! Open your eyes, O Lord, and see! Listen to Sennacherib’s words of defiance against the living God.

“It is true, Lord, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed all these nations. And they have thrown the gods of these nations into the fire and burned them. But of course the Assyrians could destroy them! They were not gods at all—only idols of wood and stone shaped by human hands. Now, O Lord our God, rescue us from his power; then all the kingdoms of the earth will know that You alone, O Lord, are God.” (2 Kings 19:14-19)

That night the angel of the Lord went out to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. When the surviving Assyrians woke up the next morning, they found corpses everywhere. Then King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and returned to his own land. He went home to his capital of Nineveh and stayed there.

One day while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with their swords. (2 Kings 19:35-37)

Life happened to Hezekiah, he asked God for deliverance, and they received it.

We need to remember to go to God when life happens to us.

Deliverance comes from God…discipleship is what we do.

Being Called Out for Our Mistakes Makes Us Better

by

But Getting Better Requires Change

Some people like calling others out for their mistakes. Others, not so much. There are different reasons people do this. Some are good and can be helpful. Some are more for the person doing the calling out, rather than to help the person being called out.

These differences have to do with our different personalities.

There are several different personality tests, but my favorite is the DISC assessment. This is a simple self-assessment tool that categorizes individuals into four personality traits: dominance, influence, stability, and compliance.

Knowing these differences between ourselves and others can be helpful when working with people.

This difference became apparent to me years ago when I asked my wife for her input about something I wrote. Of course, I thought it was perfect. She on the other hand made some corrections and changes.

This crushed me…how could she be so mean?

This was about the time I took the DISC assessment. It was very enlightening. I found out that she was among the 10% of the people who are dominant. This does not mean that she was mean or that she was trying to hurt my feelings. It just meant that she was honest and direct.

I, on the other hand, was among the 25% who are compliant. I’m resistant to change and can be rigid.

Getting better requires change.

Then you have people who are stable. This is the largest group at 40%. These people are loyal followers and slow to act. And then there’s the final 25% who are the influencers. These people are artistic and are continually coming up with new and different ideas and are easily distracted.

Pastor Lisa’s message on Sunday was about the prophet Elijah calling out Ahab, the king of Israel, for his worshiping of Baal and not God. Elijah must have been in the 10% of the dominant, take-charge people. With 90% of the people being in the other three personalities, they were following whatever the king told them.

In 1 Kings 18:16-39, Elijah calls out Ahab and tells the king that he is leading the people in the wrong direction. Elijah shows the people God’s power and Baal’s lack of power with a demonstration involving altars.

The pagan priests go through an elaborate process with their offering to no avail. Then Elijah prepares an offering, soaks it in water, and then calls to show the people that God is Lord.

 Immediately, the fire of the Lord flashed down from heaven and burned up the young bull, the wood, the stones, and the dust. It even licked up all the water in the trench!

And when all the people saw it, they fell face down on the ground and cried out, “The Lord—he is God! Yes, the Lord is God!”

Too often we’re led astray by just following the crowd and not being aware. Then, because we are followers, we lead other people astray because they are followers too.

Don’t be a blind follower or blind leader. We need to recognize our mistakes and change our direction.

Can We Have Wisdom Like Solomon?

by

Hopefully We’re Wiser Than He Was

Making decisions can be a hard thing. Should I do this, or should I do that? It’s easier when there’s a clear choice of good or bad.

It’s much harder when it’s deciding between good and good.

Wouldn’t it be nice if God would just tell us what to do?

The problem with this is that we would not have free will. We would be nothing more than puppets. We wouldn’t like that either.

We just need wisdom to help us make these choices.

Solomon is often associated with wisdom. In 1 Kings 3:5-15, God comes to Solomon in a dream and asks him what he wants.

Solomon was a young man and had become the leader of a huge nation. He asks God for, “…an understanding heart so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. For who by himself is able to govern this great people of yours?”

The Lord was pleased that Solomon asked for wisdom.

So, God replied, “Because you have asked for wisdom in governing my people with justice and have not asked for a long life or wealth or the death of your enemies— I will give you what you asked for! I will give you a wise and understanding heart such as no one else has had or ever will have!

And I will also give you what you did not ask for—riches and fame! No other king in all the world will be compared to you for the rest of your life!

And if you follow me and obey my decrees and my commands as your father, David, did, I will give you a long life.”

Later, Solomon starts listening to the wrong voices…mainly his 1000 wives. (1 Kings 11:1-13)

“In Solomon’s old age they turned his heart to worship other gods instead of being completely faithful to the Lord his God, as his father, David had been. In this way, Solomon did what was evil in the Lord’s sight; he refused to follow the Lord completely.

The Lord was very angry with Solomon, for his heart had turned away from the Lord…”

Both David and Solomon received direction and blessings from God, but their lives ended up drastically different.

David made plenty of mistakes, but he repented and realigned with God. Solomon, on the other hand, did not. This resulted in consequences for Solomon’s family and the entire kingdom.

We need to constantly be in communication with God. This ongoing, nonstop connection is the only way that we can align our desires with His. Sure, we’ll make mistakes and wrong decisions. This is what happens in a fallen world.

But we also have the power of choice and can ask for forgiveness and repent of those mistakes. David chose this and Solomon didn’t.

We need to align what we ask from God with God.

Prayer is How We Communicate with God

by

This Includes Saying Thank You

Communication is a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs, or behaviors. It is the transmitting of information. It is a two-way street; it goes both ways.

Too often when we pray, we’re focused on asking God for things we want, and we should ask God for those things. But this doesn’t mean that praying for things we want means we’ll get them.

We need to make sure the things we’re asking for are in alignment with the things God wants.

The other thing that happens too often when we pray. We forget to thank God for all the prayers He does answer.

Notice how the definition of communication above isn’t just talking. It’s the exchanging of information.

When it comes to prayer, communication includes our thoughts. God knows our thoughts, the good, the bad, the positive, the negative, the ugly, and even the sinful because there is nothing that God does not know.

In Psalm 139:1-2 David says, “O LORD, you have searched me and know me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.”

The message of David tells us that our thoughts, whatever the dynamics of them may be, are important to God, and because it is so important to Him, He discerns fully and continually reminds us that these thoughts matter.

However, we should also be careful as to what we are thinking about. This is particularly mentioned in Isaiah 55:8 as stated, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.” 

David had an interesting relationship with Saul. One minute David was like a son to Saul, and the next, Saul was trying to have David killed.

Through all this tumultuous relationship, even after having a couple of opportunities to put an end to it and take Saul’s life, David stayed true to God and His plan.

After Saul and his sons are killed in battle, David is made king. David went to the Lord with a prayer of thanks. (2 Samuel 7:18-29) David humbles himself and asks God why He has made a simple shepherd a king. David says,

“You know what I’m really like.”

David goes on to say, “O Lord God, I am your servant; do as you have promised concerning me and my family. Confirm it as a promise that will last forever. And may your name be honored forever…”

Prayer is often looked at as a formal thing. Something that is high and mighty. It is talking with God after all.

We need to remember that it is just communication with our Father in Heaven. Remember to thank Him for all that we are and all that we have.

Stacking Stones Is a Good Reminder

by

Prayer Is How We Communicate with God

Relationships where there is no communication don’t last.

A relationship is two or more people being connected. It’s hard to connect in any meaningful way without communication. Communication is how we let others know what we’re thinking and feeling.

Granted, different people communicate differently, but when there is none…there is no relationship.

Praying is how we build a relationship with God.

This week’s sermon was about Hannah. She was the mother of Samuel and one of the wives of Elkanah. She had not had any children yet, and Peninnah, Elkanah’s other wife, had children.

Peninnah kept throwing this fact in Hannah’s face. (1 Samuel 1:6)

Hannah prayed long and hard for a child. She vowed to dedicate him to God’s service. God answered her prayer, and she gave birth to Samuel. She brought him to the temple as a young boy and left him with Eli the priest.

In her gratefulness, Hannah prayed a prayer of thanksgiving to God. (1 Samuel 2:1-11)

Three observations from the prayer:

  1. We need to share our hearts with the Lord. It doesn’t matter if our requests seem insignificant to us. We need to share these things more than once. Hannah shared this with God for years. (1 Samuel 1:7)
  2. Sometimes the answer to our prayer may not be what we want. Maybe what we’re asking for comes with consequences. Imagine what it would be like after waiting years for a child to give them up.
  3. We need to praise and thank God for answering our prayer. God knows better than we do. This is why we should remember that God knows more than we do. Hannah had more children (1 Samuel 2:19-21), and Samuel became a great leader. (1 Samuel 3:15-21)

Remembering to take the time to thank God is important.

This is the hard one for me. It’s not that I’m not grateful, because I am. It’s just that I have so many to-do lists, that I move on to the next thing rather than pausing and thanking God.

It’s a lot like taking pictures of construction projects. I do a great job of taking pictures before we start and in the early stages. Then, as the project moves forward, I take less and less often forgetting to take completed pictures because I’ve moved on to the next project.

Just like I need to be reminded to take pictures of completed construction projects, I need something to remind me to pause and thank God for answered prayers.

Ebenezer is a male given name in Hebrew that means “stone of help”. There are several instances of the Israelites stacking or standing up stones as reminders of answered prayers.

Ebenezer was the name of the stone that was erected by Samuel to commemorate a victory over the Philistines. (1 Samuel 7:3-12)

This was a reminder to everyone that God had answered their prayer.

As a way of reminding us of answered prayers, Pastor Lisa passed out small colored stones to everyone in the congregation. These are to represent specific prayers.

She placed a clear glass cylinder at the front of the sanctuary for us to drop our stones in when prayers are answered. We can then get another stone for another prayer.

I’ve decided to carry my stone with me and place it on my desk during the day, set it by my phone in the evening and put it by the bed at night. This is to be a constant reminder of my prayer. Then, when this prayer is answered, I’ll put it in the cylinder and get another stone.

Stacking up stones in this cylinder is a great reminder of God answering our prayers.