This week’s post is an excerpt taken from the sixth chapter of Patricia’s upcoming book “Twelve Inches – Bridging the Gap between how you feel and what you know about God.” Available on line and in bookstores nationwide on July 7th, 2015.

“So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, ‘Abba, Father.’ ” (Romans 8:15 – NLT)

Many of us have different names by which people call us.

If someone calls me “Mrs. Holbrook”, unless they are thirteen years old or under, the verdict is simple – they just don’t know me. On the other hand, different nicknames and loving abbreviations are normally a demonstration of how close someone is to me.

I have this habit for as long as I remember: if you are part of my family or a close friend, I normally have a nickname for you. It’s usually one which most people you know don’t use for you. When someone changes from an acquaintance to a friend, most likely, they will receive a special nickname from me.

It’s not something planned, it just happens and I know exactly why. The more I get to know someone, the more I love them, the more intimate we become. You are not just someone that I see and wave to as you pass by. You become special to me and so I give you a special name. You know me better than many people.

I call you friend and that’s important to me.

Indeed, intimate and true relationships are hard to find. There is a reason for that – it takes time to develop them.

You cannot expect to be close to someone unless you spend time with them, unselfishly giving yourself to them… unless you are willing to put your own interests aside for them.

Likewise, in many aspects, true and intimate earthly relationships mirror the connection we should have with our Heavenly Father.

We should know Him – as a child that covers her father’s face with kisses as she sits on his lap, uninvited, simply because she knows him.

We should know Him – as my husband and I know each other.

We can look at each other across a room full of people and know what the other one is thinking.  We trust each other because we know each other. Likewise, the more intimately we know God, the more we learn to trust Him.

And we become intimate with God through prayer and by studying His Word.

Define prayer, please.

You may be thinking – “Cool. I got that. I pray. What’s next?”

Let me tell you that I thought I knew how to pray until God revealed the truth about my prayer life about nine years ago. I was used to worship and prayer until I realized that my prayer life was suffering from A.D.H.D.

Bear with me. I bet you can relate.

I was home with one small child and pregnant with our second daughter, as busy as a pregnant mother of a toddler can be. I would start praying and, as my prayers went up, a thought would cross my mind and I would quickly move my attention from God to whatever was on my mind.

I could sense that my prayers would go up the room, hit the ceiling and bounce back down.

Reading God’s Word was no different. I would start reading something and would get lost in my thoughts and preoccupations for the day. Quickly and steadily, my prayer life became dull and God became this distant Creator, whom I reverenced and respected, but whom I could not, in all honesty, relate to as a Father.

Can you relate? I believe that all Christians go through a phase such as this at some point in time. We allow the cares of this world to distract us. Or, worse yet, our fellowship with the Father is broken because of deliberate, known sin in our lives.

A lack of intimacy with God is never, ever, the Father’s fault. It is ours. And if you have a hard time concentrating and being quiet before Him, you may need to do what I did.

You may have to get into the closet.

For years I have heard my pastor Dr. Charles Stanley talking about his experience praying in the closet. He has a place in his house and ministry – a dark room with nothing but a pillow and his Bible, where he retires to be alone with God.

So, some time ago, when my family was visiting from Brazil, I could not find a place to pray. I decided to arrange my own prayer closet in the house – a place where God and I could meet in the dark.

A place of silence, nothingness even, where I quietly wait on God to speak. And so I rearranged my walk-in closet and embarked on this amazing journey that changed my prayer life.

As I settle in the dark closet, I ask Him what to do that day. More than praying, I am there to have communion with Him, to bask in His presence.

In the silence of that closet, God admonishes me, directs me and loves on me.

The closet has become the “Abba and me” place. Daddy and His girl.

Priceless. Soul-changing.

But I have to say, I don’t always pray in the closet. And it may even not be an option for you.

There were times where my “closet” was my car, during my commute hours in Atlanta traffic.

Or my walk in the park.

The point is not where, but what.

We have such crazy-busy lives nowadays, that unless we give Him silence, we can easily miss His voice.

He speaks. ALL! THE! TIME! But are we listening? The reason why many of us end up “slipping” into a life of spiritual complacency is because we do not hear our Lord.

Truly, as Abba’s children, we really should not need a pastor or a friend to tell us how to live. We should be able to hear Him ourselves… and then, simply obey.

Before anything else, we need to allow God to change US. We need to be still for long enough to allow Him to show us His to do list for our days.

Don’t have time, huh?

Well, if you have time to watch the next episode of that reality show, you have time for a conversation with God.

If you have time to exercise in the park, that’s a perfect time to commune with Him. Take your “closet” with you to the park!

Want a strong 12-inch Faith Bridge?

Consult with the Architect. He knows the drawings. He knows your weaknesses. He knows your blueprint.

Spend time with the Master Architect of your life’s plan. He can’t wait to show you His amazing plan…

And His ways…

And His promises…

Sit still in Abba’s wonderful Presence.

Then, get ready to be blessed.

The post Spending Time with Life’s Architect – Excerpt from 12 Inches appeared first on Soaring With Him Ministries.

Print PDF: Believing Lies about Yourself 02.17.15

Passage: John 10:1-10

Key Verse:  “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and ^[a]have it abundantly.”

It was almost ten o’clock at night. I was tired and a bit grouchy. When the commercial played, I rolled my eyes, annoyed. Another miraculous skin rejuvenating product, promising to restore my skin’s radiance and make my crow’s feet vanish in 8 weeks. The model’s face beamed on the screen, gorgeous. The problem is, that kid was 20 years old, if that much.

Wait ‘til you hit 40, sweetie, I thought.

There’s a reason why billions of dollars are spent yearly on the cosmetics industry. Many of us are plagued by thoughts of inadequacy, instilled in us when we were still very young. We believe lies about how we should look, or perform, and because of that, we spend our lives trying to measure up.

Whether it is about appearance, performance or intellectual ability, people believe lies about themselves every single day. When we choose to accept these lies as truth, a vicious cycle starts: Either we grow up with a very poor self-image, or we inadvertently live trying to hit an unrealistic mark, thus becoming perfectionists. On either end of the spectrum, we live to depend much on ourselves or external circumstances, thus allowing little room for God to shape us into whom He calls us to be… or do what He calls us to do.

In other words, we limit God’s creative power in our lives.

Have You Bought it Hook, Line and Sinker?

The teacher’s French accent didn’t help. It was hard to understand her, keep up with her small tambourine beats and remember the legs and arms coordinating movements

“Plié” “pas de bourrée ouvert”, bang! Her tambourine hit my bottom. Again. “Posturrre, Patricia!” “Tuck your bellyee!”

I would look at her favorite pupil in dismay. She was graceful, lean and so very flexible. The teacher’s smile brightened when she stopped by her side. I was nine years old and I wanted to be a ballerina for my daddy. He was an artist and loved everything classic. In her day, Madame Nicolle had been the grand Rio de Janeiro ballet company’s first ballerina. My dad had seen her perform several times while living in Rio as a young man.

She had moved to our small town. To be in her prestigious ballet classes was every little girl’s dream. But my dream quickly shattered as I realized I did not have the talent, or the physique, to be a prima ballerina.

I was going through that common phase in a young girl’s life when, although still a child, our bodies start changing. I was not skinny at all. My dad had always connected a woman’s beauty with a lean figure and I knew that. That was not me! And, although I am certain dad never meant any harm, I believed I was chubby. I believed a lie.

I started a self-deprecating cycle. I cannot remember ever not being on a diet. I tried them all!

Today I look at my pictures through the years and I see a healthy, thin girl, whose mirror told her she was fat.

My story is very common. Many men and women live in defeat because of lies they believe. Intentionally or unintentionally, we’re exposed to skewed views about ourselves that we often embrace as truth. Because of that, many shy away from a victorious, vibrant life due to low self-esteem. Instead of embracing what God says about us, we take the bait and feel inadequate, ugly, or useless.

If that is you, I am here to tell you there is life beyond the lie. God wants to set you free from the bondage of defeat and embrace what He says about you:

He crafted you in your mother’s womb. Who you are is not an accident. (Psalm 139:13)

He redeemed you with precious price. Do not become slaves of the lies of men. (1 Corinthians 7:23)

He loves you unconditionally. How can you not love yourself? (Proverbs 19:8)

Inadequacy does not fit a child of the King of Kings. It is a lie that you must confront, if you are to live the abundant life that Jesus promised.

The devil will never give up on you. He knows that the sky is the limit if you surrender your everything to El Shaddai, Almighty God to whom all things are possible. His main objective is to use people, circumstances and failures in your life to sell you his lies. That’s what he does best. He hopes to keep you doubting just enough… that way, you won’t even take the first step. He wants to make you rely on your feelings, instead of on the immeasurable, overflowing fountain of blessings that flows from the Throne of grace. Your Daddy’s Throne.

Don’t listen to him. You don’t have time for that. God has a plan for your life and the devil can’t stop it, unless you allow him to.

No, you’re not able to do it on your own. But the good news is, you don’t have to! If He calls you, He enables you. You are who He says you are.

Therefore, my friend, tell your heart how to feel! Embrace Truth.

And defeat the Lie.

The post Believing Lies About Yourself (Excerpt from Patricia’s Book “12 Inches”) appeared first on Soaring With Him Ministries.

Click Here to Print PDF:  My Christmas Letter to Jesus 2014

Passage: Romans 8:31-39

Key Verse: “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (v.32)

My heart sings this morning. Two days ‘til Christmas and I feel overwhelmed by the sense of belonging. God’s surrounding love makes my spirit soar. For each blessing I count for this past year, an old assurance echoes in my heart like a mantra: He never leaves His children alone in the dark valleys.

I know it. And I’m here to testify.

I just finished reading the letter I wrote to Jesus last Christmas. I remember the heaviness that brought me to write it on Christmas day 2013. It had been another very difficult year. I had gone through cancer the year before. We had a tragic death in the family just two months after the cancer surgery. As 2013 came along and other trials knocked at my door, I started having neurological symptoms that left doctors puzzled. I had no answers. Only frustration and worsening symptoms.

When December came, I felt so very discouraged. Depressed even. It was then that I wrote the letter, bringing all my weakness and sadness and laying them down at the feet of the Tree.  With the pain that overpowered me, a new crossroad was before me. Would I trust Him… or would I rebel?

I remember the sense of awesome confidence Christmas morning brought. After many months in the darkness, I felt a supernatural assurance that God was with me, in spite of my “feelings”. That He had a purpose for that trial. As He always did.

And so I chose to trust Him. I chose to tell my heart who my God is. The Great I Am could not change. He would not. I would choose to trust and wait. Listen to His voice and obey.  And when I felt like giving up, when my body felt too weak to even try, I would tell my heart how to feel: “He is faithful, Heart, remember? He promised He’d use everything for my good and His glory. He has done it in the past. He’ll do it again.”

Bible verses were posted in 3×5 cards all over my house. My Bible received new highlights. Old passages became new again. Instead of giving in to the overpowering feelings of weaknesses, I told my heart to believe the things I read.

I look back and my heart sings for joy as I see what He has done.

I didn’t know it on that Christmas morning, but the lesson I was learning through that trial was key to the blessings that Yahweh was about to send my way in the New Year.

He paralyzed me so I would listen. I didn’t like it. I hated it, really.

But I chose to become still, and therefore know (experience) that He is indeed God (Psalm 46:20).

So I write another letter to Jesus today. It’s also my encouragement to you, Reader, who may find yourself at a crossroad as I was, exactly one year ago. You may be facing a trial that seems to be too much to bear. Your health may be failing. Or someone you love may have left you. Your finances may be crumbling or your marriage may be a mess and in shambles. Listen to my words in this letter and take courage:

My Sweet Savior… My Conquering King,

I am overwhelmed by your goodness this morning.

You are beautiful. Your loving-kindness, patience and love for Your children never cease to amaze me.

I write this letter today to thank You and to shout out to the world about Your faithfulness.

Last year I brought a heavy box as a gift to You, dear Friend. It was loaded with pain and sorrow. I laid it by your Tree that Christmas morning and chose to praise You, even though I felt like crying.

Because I chose to trust, you turned my mourning into dancing and my sadness into joy (Psalm 30:11). You have poured down unbelievable blessings on my life this past year. You have graced me with gifts that I never dreamed I would have this time last year.

And as Jehovah Rapha, You healed me again. Your healed my body.  More importantly, You soothed my aching soul with the balm of your love.

This morning I bring you Joy.  That’s all I have for you, dear Jesus. No, life is not perfect. It’s perfectly imperfect. But because I have you, I have everything. I know it, Jesus. Best of all, my heart knows it.

It’s amazing what You do when we choose to trust You in spite of our circumstances.

As I sing your praises today, I pray this message will encourage some of Your children who are walking valleys too hard to bear alone.

Teach them to sing in spite of, Sweet Jesus.

Teach them to look beyond the Now and into Eternity, where Your love transcends all earthly matters. 

Encourage them to keep their eyes on You, Jesus… ‘til you bring them out of the valley they’re in. For I KNOW  that You will.

Help them to see that the gifts You have for each one of your trusting children are beautiful. These gifts go far beyond any earthly pleasure or relief. They build your children’s character for eternity. They’re Heavenly treasures, those which “moths and vermin do not destroy, and which thieves can’t steal (Matthew 6:20).

I praise You, my Jesus. Thank you for leaving Heaven to come to this fallen world to save us from Hell… and from ourselves.

Thank You for giving true Joy for those who trust You. For Your Joy is better than happiness.

Better than any earthly comfort or gift.

Merry Christmas, Sweet Savior. Merry Christmas, my Friend.

The post My Christmas Letter to Jesus appeared first on Soaring With Him Ministries.