This chapter is written by a woman, a widowed pastor's wife.   She has since remarried.
She experienced loneliness in different stages of her life: Minister's wife, Missionary Wife, and Widow.

She starts off the chapter minding us to remember what our Lord and Saviour went through while he walked on earth.

Being misunderstood, Being busy, Called upon by countless numbers, Being scrutinized, having to be a companion to many, and so forth.  Jesus was sad, alone, surrounded, needing to withdrawn, needing to minister.   He did it all, he experienced it all, and through it all.. NO SIN.   All we can do as pastor's wives is try to follow his example for us.

Loneliness will be discussed under these three headings: Causes, Cures and Comforts.

Causes

• Isolation:  Pastor's wives are often advised to keep people at arms length, don't make friends, protect your husband's ministry.  But that isn't the example of Christ.  He lived with his people, he made friends, he talked, he laughed, he cried with his people.   Be a friend to your people.. be friendly...you don't have to BE a friend to everyone, but you can act friendly and caring.  Be wise with whom you share life details with.
• Perfection: Be transparent, not trying to make yourself look perfect, be able to show some of the areas you are still working on in life.
• Burdens: Ministry life can be hard, your husband (the pastor) can be called away at a moment's notice, or people may stop by uninvited.   It can be hard when you need your man and you just can't have his attention when you most want it.   Don't hold it against him because therein lies the start of loneliness.
• Change: Change can be hard...needing to meet and get to know new people, leaving friendly faces behind.   People might be set in their groups and find it hard to include someone new.
• Rejection: When your husband comes under attack.  It's a hard one to deal with.   You need to be mindful not to become bitter and hold yourself apart (and thereby become lonely).
• Loss: illness can keep you apart from fellowship.
• Thought Patterns: Watch your thought patterns.  They can be poison to the building of friendships.

Cures

• Rest in Christ: See loneliness like storm tossed waters, and Christ as your lighthouse guiding you to safety... focus on him.
• The Word: Study the scriptures, know God well, hide him in your heart.
• Prayer: talk to your Saviour, have daily times of prayer
• Good Theology: Know the Lord, study him.
• A Strong Marriage: A good marriage is worth it's weight in gold.  Guard it and nourish it.
• Godly Friendship: pray over your friendships. Be wise about who you associate with, seek a good mentor.

Comfort
Loneliness doesn't always have a quick fix, but you need to fix it.  to work at it and not let it consume you.   Find a way to connect with GOD first and then with others.   Remember that God is the God of comfort.  He minds you full well.

My thoughts:
Well...I don't know.. I can't say this was my most favourite chapter read thus far.  Perhaps because I have lived it.  I have felt VERY lonely in our current pastorate until I did something important... I started looking at the hearts of the people here.  Seeing how they care about my hubby, even if some push and prod at him.   I've learned to look past the "we want you to change to meet our standards" to see a people who care enough to genuinely ask "How are you doing?"  to see their giving hearts and caring conversation.   It matters and it changed my heart.  I also learned to find MY way in this small town community.  To find a spot where I am at home, and this is good.   God has been an aide even when I wasn't expecting it.  So loneliness can be beaten back, our heart attitude makes a huge difference in the battle.

This chapter, Depression: A Dark Valley is written by Mary Somerville, who has helped her husband/pastor through the dark valley of depression.

First off, know this... depression can hit anyone.  Even a person who is cheerful, resilient, athletic, and hopeful.  Even they can become depressed.

Causes of depression are varied: overwork, injury, loss of employment, hormonal imbalance, exhaustion (physical/emotional) and more.  One doesn't always know the cause, but it's real.

Depression can range in severity from mild to severe.   Symptoms are: depressed mood, diminished pleasure in activities, weight gain or loss, insomnia, loss of energy, purposeless physical activity, feelings of worthlessness, diminished ability to think, indecisiveness, thoughts of suicide, and more.

So how does one deal with depression?

Get a thorough physical check up.
See if there is anything physically going on that could cause a depressive spirit.   Check hormones, thyroid, and such like.  Check your sleeping and eating habits.  Do you exercise?  Are meds needed?   If so, for how long? 
Examine your guilt.
Often, depression and guilt go hand-in-hand.  So examine yourself, is there something you need to repent of?  Christ's blood covers ALL our sin, just seek it out, repent of it, and be cleansed of it.
Seek Counsel.
Seek help from others, another pastor perhaps, or even a biblical counsellor.   They can help you see blind spots, encourage you, pray for you, be a sounding board etc. 
Fight the fight.
Know that you are in a battle, depression knocks warriors out of the battle, and can steal your hope, your spirit, and your soul.  Don't believe the lies of hopelessness you are being fed.  FIGHT!
Read your bible and pray
If you are depressed, take the time to read your bible, to turn to the great counsellor.   This is a daily battle, read about others who have fought this battle and won, see their struggles and their winning, the way the Lord sustained them and helped them.
Pour out your soul
Talk to the Lord, tell him your struggles and your needs, your worries and your fears.  Confess to him how sometimes you just can't see him, or hear his voice, find things you can praise him for, your health, a bible, a book, a flower.. anything, find it and praise him for it. 
A view beyond yourself
Realize that you need to see beyond yourself.  Even if you are depressed you can still pray for others, you can still call, visit or write to people.
The bride of Christ
Access the church, attend services, don't withdraw even though you will want to.  The Bride of Christ is there for all her people.  You need the prayer, support and help from the whole church.  
Do your duty
Fulfill your responsibilities as much as you can.  Ask God for help if needed.  Don't pull away from meaningful work and activities, because if you do so, it only adds to your depression.  Rest often, but work as well as you can.

Most of all DO NOT GIVE UP!  God can and will see you through this time.   Remember that "weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning."  (Ps 30:5)

Lyrics

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
That calls me from a world of care,
And bids me at my Father’s throne
Make all my wants and wishes known.
In seasons of distress and grief,
My soul has often found relief
And oft escaped the tempter’s snare
By thy return, sweet hour of prayer!

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
The joys I feel, the bliss I share,
Of those whose anxious spirits burn
With strong desires for thy return!
With such I hasten to the place
Where God my Savior shows His face,
And gladly take my station there,
And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
Thy wings shall my petition bear
To Him whose truth and faithfulness
Engage the waiting soul to bless.
And since He bids me seek His face,
Believe His Word and trust His grace,
I’ll cast on Him my every care,
And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
May I thy consolation share,
Till, from Mount Pisgah’s lofty height,
I view my home and take my flight:
This robe of flesh I’ll drop and rise
To seize the everlasting prize;
And shout, while passing through the air,
"Farewell, farewell, sweet hour of prayer!"

William W. Walford is the author is this sweet, quiet hymn.  We sang it this morning and church and I have to tell you, this whole week has seemed filled with the topic of prayer, two reviews done.. both on the thought of prayer, and a sermon about prayer... and this sweet hymn... think God is trying to tell me something??

There seems to be two William Walford around at the time, and which one is the author is up for some debate.  (source)  The same source that gave me that information also wrote these words
When not referring to matters of taste, “sweet” indicates something that is pleasant, agreeable and delightful. The word also has an older meaning–which might have been known by Mr. Walford–and that is respected, indicating that the hour of prayer is esteemed and held in high honour. All of that surely describes well our times before God’s throne.

I read that and thought wow...that adds an extra layer to this hymn doesn't it.   To not just think of how the author appreciates his time of prayer, but how he respects his time of prayer, almost like he covets this time...

THIS THIS my readers is what I need to learn to do.  To covet, to deeply respect and long for, my time of prayer.   To treat it like the treasure that it is, and through that to learn to be the prayer warrior that God calls me to be.

Back to the hymn study.  :)  

More about Walford. 
Thomas Salmon, a New York native, spent some time in Coleshill, Warwickshire, England, where he became acquainted with William. He tells this tale of what happened one day, while he was visiting the blind pastor:

"...He repeated two or three pieces which he had composed, and having no friend at home to commit them to paper, he had laid them up in the storehouse within. "How will this do?" asked he, as he repeated the following lines, with a complacent smile touched with some light lines of fear lest he subject himself to criticism. I rapidly copied the lines with my pencil, as he uttered them, and sent them for insertion in the Observer, if you should think them worthy of preservation."  (source)

Walford, a blind preacher, with a prodigious memory.   Amazing isn't it?   A person, who owned a trinket shop, so easily discounted, composing hymns that are still well-known today.    God works in such interesting ways.  :)

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Today I have for you a different prayer oriented book, non-fiction, written by Susie Larson.  I have not made it all the way through this book yet, that will take some time, but it's a great book, let me tell you why.

First a bit about the author: Susie Larson is a talk show host, according to her Facebook page, her goal is to draw people into a deeper relationship with God so they can live a more powerful life on earth.   Know God more, live out your faith better.  :)

The book is divided into three main sections

• God, your fortress
• God, your father
• Jesus, your king

With each section further divided into four chapters.

Written in an engaging style.  Filled with scripture and quotes from a variety of sources, Ms Larson draws the reader into the heart of God through prayer.

I loved how she made the book good for single or corporate use.  With Personal as well as group reflection questions.  She shares from her heart and life to draw us to think deeply about our lives and the things of God.   What stops us from moving forward into our relationship with God?

Ms. Larson whole focus, it seems throughout the book, is to help people know how to pray, how to know the Lord more, how to move past "our stuff" so we can see the heart of God more clearly.  To that end she's pulled out quote to help us remember important ideas.

Not only did the author close off each chapter with prayer, she also included a variety of prayers in the back of the book, to help us learn to pray for things such as : prodigals, being equipped, your family, for who God makes us and more.   Just aids to get one started in praying more effectively.

This is a book to learn and grow from.

As I said earlier, I have finished the book, I cannot vouch for everything written, but I've read a good portion of it, and worked through much of it and glanced through the rest of it so I could write you a good review. 

My suggestion: if you want to learn to be a more effectual Christian and effective prayer warrior, pick up this book.  Read, learn, grow.  :)  Read this book expecting to be be changed.

Your Powerful Prayers, reaching the hard of God with a bold and humble faith.

Written by Susie Larson.
Published by Bethany House.
Approximately 220 pages.

Provided by Nuts about Books

My most recent book to review is a Christian fiction book called The Pray-ers / Book 1 Troubles, published by CTM Publishing Atlanta and written by Mark S. Mirza.  This is a book that uses a fiction format to teach the importance of prayer. 

Published by CTM Publishing Atlanta, and written by Mark S. Mirza.  Mr. Mirza's heart is to teach people how extremely important prayer is, and to encourage people to pray more effectively.

To do so he looks into the lives of three Christians, who have learned to be effectual men of prayer.   These men span the centuries and have struggles in their lives like all believers do, the question is... will these struggles defeat them and drive them away from God, OR will these struggles deeper their faith and conversation with God.  

The whole point of The Troubles, is to help people understand the important of prayer, that many things affect our prayers and we should not be ignorant of them.  Author Mark S. Mirza has put together a fictional tale where he shows the action of Satan's minions in the lives of the saints.  What they can and CANNOT do, according to the will of the Lord God.    He does his best to not give more credit than is due to Satan's minions (demons) than he has to be not capitalizing their names.    Until you get used to the style it makes for some difficult reading, but once you are used to the names used, it just flows along.

The Christian lives followed are:

• Biblical Epaphras and his fictional nephew,
• Post-Civil War Georgia, the real itinerant preacher Alexander Rich
  
• Modern-day Georgia, Dr. Dale, a fictional descendant of Alexander Rich.
  

I have to admit, that I love fiction, I've read more than one book about the struggle between Satan and God, many of them fictionally based and they all bring one thing to bear, okay, a couple of things to bear...
1. Imagine the most self-centred person you know and multiply that by a million, add fear to that mixture and a loathing of God and you have a demon.   They gloat, they preen, and they revel in themselves.   When it comes to believers they are sneaky and backhanded, and happy to let us fool ourselves.
2. God helps his people through the power of faith in him and conversation with him.   Nothing more is needed.  Well faith in him based on the word of God.  :) 

This fictionalized account brings this all to bear for me in this book.

Mark S. Mirza frequently footnotes scripture so we can see where he gets his assertions from.  He has his own method of citing scripture, often pulling up just one section of a verse to highlight his point.   Mr. Mirza is the founder of Common Thread Ministries, which offers coaching and help to individuals and churches in prayer. He leads the men's prayer ministry at First Baptist Church in Atlanta, as well as being a speaker and teacher in the area of prayer.

Think about that for a moment... to learn to live life you like you breathing prayer.  That's the point of this book.   Live life as a Christian = breathing out prayer.

  Prayer is vital!   We see it in the lives of the believers throughout the book.  We have front row seats that how, without prayer we lose battles, battles that should not be lost.

My Thoughts:
I honestly have mixed feelings about this book, I really do.   I see prayer as relationship between God and his individual people (as well as with his people corporate).   I think it's really really important to for people to know what nullifies the prayers of God's people.   Praying without really believing that God will answer your prayer?  Well what's the point in asking God then?   Prayer while you are ACTIVELY living a lifestyle contrary to the word of God?   Well.. again.. you are openly defying God himself, and you expect him to answer you?   I do not see prayer as a list of "these are the rules".  And my hesitation with this book, is that some struggling believers might simply see a list of rules, a list of do's and don'ts, that they won't see the living relationship that each of these believers had with God.   The real relationship that made their prayers real and honest and answerable by God.

IF you are a weak believer and you are interested in reading this book, may I ask you to do this: Read it with a strong believer.  Read it with someone you can bounce ideas off of and talk and learn and grow.   If you are a strong believer, see that YOUR PRAYERS MATTER.  They do!   They nullify the work of the devil, they showcase the power of God and that my dear readers is what it's all about.  We serve a Lord God who has won the battle already!   Let's win the small battles by focusing on bringing God glory through our faithful prayers.

Social Media Links:
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Website: The Pray-ers.

Hashtags: #hsreviews #prayersnovel #christianfiction

Pricing information can be found here, you can purchase the paperback for $23.95, or the epub for $4.99.

Lyrics

Christ, whose glory fills the skies,
Christ, the true, the only Light,
Sun of Righteousness, arise,
Triumph o’er the shades of night;
Dayspring from on high, be near;
Day-star, in my heart appear.

Dark and cheerless is the morn
Unaccompanied by Thee;
Joyless is the day’s return
Till Thy mercy’s beams I see;
Till they inward light impart,
Glad my eyes, and warm my heart.

Visit then this soul of mine,
Pierce the gloom of sin and grief;
Fill me, Radiancy divine,
Scatter all my unbelief;
More and more Thyself display,
Shining to the perfect day.

Well... that was an interesting voyage through all kinds of different tunes for this lovely hymn, I've always known this tune to Lux Prima and wow..the others just sounded quite different to me.  :)   What tune do you sing this hymn too?

These are the four tunes used:

• Day-Star, Sam­u­el S. Wes­ley, 1872
• Fred til Bod, Lud­vig M. Lin­de­man, 1871
• Lux Pri­ma (Gou­nod), Charles F. Gou­nod, 1872
• Ministres de l’Éternel, Ge­ne­van Psal­ter, 1562

Written by Charles Wesley.   This hymn was originally called "A Morning Hymn".

Did you know that The 18th-century Englishman Charles Wesley (1707-1788) wrote, according to eminent 20th-century hymnologist Erik Routley, “more than 8,989 poems with over 6,000 of them qualifying as ‘hymns.’” That’s 3.4 poems per week, Routley added, “assuming him to have died in the act of writing.”  (source)  Not only did he write a lot of poems, he also wrote them to be theologically sound.

Now that the school is getting back into full force, art class has started again. YEAH!!! So once again I pick up my Pastor’s Wives book to continue working through it. Imagine it...two uninterrupted hours to read, think and write. :)


This chapter is written by Sarah Ascol, preacher’s kid and pastor’s wife.

Having your priorities in order is very important.
You need to figure out what is most important in your life and move forward from there.

1. Your God “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” Matt 6.33
2. Your Husband.
- do not give into the temptation to put your children first, put him first.
- love him and work hard to preserve and prosper your marriage
- putting hubby and marriage next helps the family to weather the storms of ministry life
3. Your Children.
- don’t make your children casualties of ministry life.
- we are called in scripture to learn to love our husbands and our children.

These three things come before the church. Don’t sacrifice any of them.


Things to remember:
Just because your children are preacher’s kids doesn’t negate the fact that they are sinners in need of the Lord’s work in their lives. “repeatedly present the truth of their sin and Jesus’ sacrifice on their behalf”. Be honest about your own sin too. Show your repentance and your need for change as well.

Don’t forget that you have a need to serve your church as well. Figure out in what way you too can serve the church. Know that in the raising of your children as people of strong character that you are serving the church. The church needs people who will stand strong for her, who know what they believe and why.

Life is a Fishbowl
Accept the fishbowl for what it is... an encouragement and a challenge to do the best you can. You can fight it (but to what avail??) or you can use to grow and develop as a person. It’s all a matter of what perspective you take of it.

1. talk about it so your children know that you know it’s a real thing they are dealing with.
2. think about how their situation is like Jesus’. He was always on display. See how Jesus dealt with the pressure and related to the people around him.
3. model it. Show how you can respond with grace to the pressure people place on you.
4. Be the champion of your children, make sure they are treated no differently than other children.
Do your best to shelter your children from conflict within the church. You can’t shelter them from everything, but you can make your home a bulwark, a place of refuge. How to do this?
1. don’t use them as a sounding board
2. keep things from them that they simply don’t need to know.
3. teach them good theology and how to go to God’s word for answers. Show them how God is faithful.
4. Make sure your children know other adults who are of sound theology. This gives them others to turn to in times of crisis.
So what do you do if you are in a crisis?
1. talk with your children openly about what it going on, keeping it age appropriate.
2. Let them ask questions.
3. Give them the opportunity to say “no, I am not going to that church gathering”. If they don’t need to be at that all church gathering where hard things can be said, let them stay home.
4. Remind them that they have friends, adult friends that they can trust as well.
5. Encourage them to honestly talk it out with God.
6. Always, always point them back to Christ and his redeeming work.

“One of the greatest fears for a ministry mom is that her children will grow up hearing the truth of their need of salvation but choose to reject it and go their own way.” (p.189) Remember this “The same Jesus who rescued you from your sins is the one who can rescue your prodigal daughter or son. The redemption he offers is the only hope for the pastor’s children too.”

Remember, that ultimately any children you have are God’s. They are not your own. He is the one who put them together, he is the one who melds together their hearts, he is the one who has written out the story of their lives. All of their days are his. :)

My Thoughts:
Lots of wisdom in this chapter.   It's important to let your children be your children and not the "CHURCH's" children.  Its important to insulate them from the stresses of church life as much as possible, and to teach them to grow in the fear and knowledge of the Lord God himself.  Appreciated this chapter.

“The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost.” Romans 5:5

Lyrics:

Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly Dove,
With all Thy quick’ning powers;
Kindle a flame of sacred love
In these cold hearts of ours.

Look how we grovel here below,
Fond of these trifling toys;
Our souls can neither fly nor go
To reach eternal joys.

In vain we tune our formal songs,
In vain we strive to rise;
Hosannas languish on our tongues,
And our devotion dies.

Dear Lord! and shall we ever live
At this poor dying rate?
Our love so faint, so cold to Thee,
And Thine to us so great!

Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly Dove,
With all Thy quick’ning powers;
Come, shed abroad the Savior’s love
And that shall kindle ours.

Written by Isaac Watts, Come, Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove, is one of several hymns written by the "Father of English Hymnody". 

Isaac was born of a nonconformist father who was jailed because of his beliefs.   He was educated in Southampton and his ability at verse got him noticed and sent along to higher education.   From Wikipedia I learned this:
From an early age, Watts displayed a propensity for rhyme. Once, he responded when asked why he had his eyes open during prayers:

A little mouse for want of stairs
ran up a rope to say its prayers.
Receiving corporal punishment for this, he cried:

O father, father, pity take
And I will no more verses make.

Everyone assumed that he would be ordained in the Church of England but like his father he chose to become a nonconformist.  (source)

He wrote most of hymns when he left the academy at 20 years old. 

He ordained as a pastor at age 24 in an Independent Church.   However 10 years later, he contracted a bad fever that broken his constitution, and he gained a co-pastor.   He wrote a great many works.  By the end of his life he had written more than 500 hymns.

Do you have a decision to make?   Do you struggle with knowing if the Holy Spirit is actually helping you make that decision?    Here's a book to help you out.   Seriously, it's worth a read.  :)

This book is written to people who
1. Needs to make a decision via God's guidance and not sure how that guidance will come
2. The experienced believer curious about the authors thoughts
3. Those with no real strong interest but are mildly curious

Three groups of readers, with their questions answered in the pages contained within.

My thoughts:

I thought the author laid out his thoughts carefully. 

Short chapters, with one thought clearly leading to the next.

I appreciated that he makes it clear...whether a believer knows it or not, they are led by the Spirit.   Based on Romans 8.  So we never have to question that truth. 

The author walks a careful line between supernatural knowledge, and the careful reasoned approach, after-all.. God can impart knowledge and help any way that he wants to.  A proviso is provided though that one needs to be careful that counting on a series of impressions to make a firm decision needs to be weighed out.    USE those impressions, appreciate all that God can do and how he can do it.  Seriously.   It's good, but sometimes those impressions do need to be weighted with reasoning.

There is so much truth in this book, it's just a little one at 48 pages and I wish I could tell you more about the truth contained within it's pages.   So just go out and get it for yourself, really.  :)

"We love Him, because He first loved us. 1 John 4:19

Lyrics

Savior, teach me day by day
Love’s sweet lesson to obey,
Sweeter lesson cannot be,
Loving Him who first loved me.

With a child’s glad heart of love
At Thy bidding may I move,
Prompt to serve and follow Thee,
Loving Him who first loved me.

Teach me thus Thy steps to trace,
Strong to follow in Thy grace,
Learning how to love from Thee,
Loving Him who first loved me.

Love in loving finds employ,
In obedience all her joy;
Ever new that joy will be,
Loving Him who first loved me.

Thus may I rejoice to show
That I feel the love I owe;
Singing, till Thy face I see,
Of His love who first loved me.

This Sunday was the first time I had ever sung this hymn.   I thought it a great hymn and hope we sing it again soon.  It fit really well with today's Sermon on God's Love.

This Hymn was written by Jane E Leeson as a children's hymn/sung prayer.   She primarily wrote poems, some of which were turned into hymns.

"She was a member of a strange and spurious sect known as the Holy Catholic Apostolic Church" this church met in Bishopgate.  (source)   Later in life she joined the Roman Catholic Church.    

Miss Leeson wrote 13 hymns that are remembered, this is one of her most commonly sung hymns.  For information on the hymns she wrote you can visit this site. Beyond that, we don't know a whole lot more about this poet.