Incline My Heart

I have been so encouraged to see the Lord answer prayer recently concerning His word. I have been praying that He would incline my heart to His word and not towards selfish gain, that He would turn my eyes from looking at worthless things and give me life in His ways (Psalm 119:36-37). We are also praying this for our families and friends. He is answering! O how I wish God's word was always this sweet to me. Honestly, I have been through many dry seasons the last couple years. Truly, man cannot live by bread alone, we need God's word! I know this refreshed desire is not of myself but of the Spirit. I am excited for how He is changing us and I cant help but remember back to my sophomore year in college when the Lord first began drawing me to taste and see His goodness in His word! I would still be in the pit if He has not rescued me by His word!

Joshua and I are memorizing Colossians with some other friends from church. It has been SO good for us to get back into scripture memory together. We did this rather consistently when Joshua was in India and it has been awesome to start this again. The Lord has given me a gift for memorization and I am convicted that I have been wasting it! I'm thankful for the way Joshua has been challenging me to memorize more while memorization is more difficult for him. I love that I have a man who is humbly willing to lead even in an area that is not his greatest strength. The Lord is also using me to spur Joshua on as well, I love to help him in this way. Just finished chapter 1 this week and eager to continue pressing forward! So many times this week I found myself with a selfish attitude or disrespectful heart and the Lord used Colossians to draw me back quickly to Himself!

We are continuing to work through the Old Testament chronologically and we finally finished Jeremiah! It was AWESOME! I have never read all the way through Jeremiah and I feel that the Lord has revealed Himself in such new ways: He is a holy and righteous Judge, He will surely accomplish all His purposes! YET, He has such deep compassion and mercy toward His people! Can't wait to dive into Lamentations, Ezekiel and Daniel!

Finally, we have really been enjoying our breakfast time in Psalms. We had never really heard of family worship until recently and we are trying to find ways to incorporate this into our daily routine. We are simply reading through one psalm each day and trying to apply it to our lives. We have enjoyed singing a song or two that the psalm reminds us of, we both love to sing and don't do it nearly enough! I pray that our home would always be filled with a joyful noise.

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;
I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
I will be glad and exult in You;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. Psalm 9:1-2

33 Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes;
and I will keep it to the end.
34 Give me understanding, that I may keep your law
and observe it with my whole heart.
35 Lead me in the path of your commandments,
for I delight in it.
36 Incline my heart to your testimonies,
and not to selfish gain!
37 Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things;
and give me life in your ways.
38 Confirm to your servant your promise,
that you may be feared.
39 Turn away the reproach that I dread,
for your rules are good.
40 Behold, I long for your precepts;
in your righteousness give me life! Psalm 119