{"id":2605,"date":"2014-03-31T04:00:39","date_gmt":"2014-03-31T09:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.brethren.org\/?p=2605"},"modified":"2014-03-31T04:00:39","modified_gmt":"2014-03-31T09:00:39","slug":"happy-anniversary-dear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/blogtest\/2014\/03\/31\/happy-anniversary-dear\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy anniversary, dear"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2364 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/LENT_real_rest_FRONTPAGE-214x300.jpg\" alt=\"LENT_real_rest_FRONTPAGE\" width=\"214\" height=\"300\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: large;color: #993366\"><strong>Knock, Knock<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #993366\"><strong>Matthew 7:7-11<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #993366\">Prayer for the day:<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<i>Dear God, Sometimes I imagine \u201cthe road less traveled\u201d behind the many doors I have knocked on that did not open. Other times, I have wondered if the right doors opened. If this is really what I wanted, what I was looking for, and where I am supposed to be. Only You know my whole life, beginning middle and end, and You are guiding me. Please, open the doors that you have prepared for me. Lead me to find You in all parts of my life. Teach me to ask for the important things in life. Amen.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #993366\"><strong>Question for reflection:<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\nI like the part of the Bible that says \u201cask and it shall be given\u201d because I am good at asking. I like the bit about \u201cseek and ye will find\u201d because I am always looking for something. And I really, really like the line that says \u201cknock and the door will be opened\u201d because I sometimes treat life like one of those game shows with three doors and I always think I know what doors has the prize behind it. So, I have not just knocked on the \u201cwinning\u201d door, I have kicked, leaned, pulled, and wedged my foot against the frame. And more times than I care to admit, I have found myself in the wrong room. Yes, ask for what you need and seek because it is the only way to find. But sometimes, God knows what we need more than we do. Sometimes, no matter how many times we ask, it isn\u2019t given. We can\u2019t find it. And the door remains closed. And that is the will of God, for our benefit, believe it or not.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What has remained elusive in your life, despite asking and looking?<\/li>\n<li>Do you understand, now, the other plans God had in store for you?<\/li>\n<li>Are there doors that seem stubbornly stuck in your life?<\/li>\n<li>What would happen if you knocked \u2013and waited?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">~ Gimbiya Kettering, Intercultural Ministries Coordinator<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><em>Congregational Life Ministries of the Church of the Brethren is offering these simple prayers and questions in connection to this year&#8217;s\u00a0<span style=\"color: #993366\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brethrenpress.com\/SearchResults.asp?Search=lenten+devotional\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #993366\">Lenten Devotional\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span>written by Duane Grady, pastor of Cedar Lake Church of the Brethren (Available from\u00a0<strong><span style=\"color: #993366\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.brethrenpress.com\/\"><span style=\"color: #993366\">Brethren Press<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/strong>in print and E-Book formats). Join us as we look and listen for the coming of the Word through the reading of scripture, Duane&#8217;s reflections, times of prayer, and conversations on t<\/em><em>his\u00a0<\/em><em>blog.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Knock, Knock Matthew 7:7-11 Prayer for the day: Dear God, Sometimes I imagine \u201cthe road less traveled\u201d behind the many doors I have knocked on that did not open. Other times, I have wondered if the right doors opened. If this is really what I wanted, what I was looking for, and where I am<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[94,344,375,493,538,687,921,1115,1133,1194],"class_list":["post-2605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotional","tag-ask","tag-doors","tag-elusive","tag-gimbiya","tag-guide","tag-lent","tag-prayer","tag-stubbornly-stuck","tag-teach-knock","tag-wait"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/blogtest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/blogtest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/blogtest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/blogtest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/blogtest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/blogtest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2605\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/blogtest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/blogtest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/blogtest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}