What is Prayer Without Humility?

Prayer is such a powerful and beautiful thing. It connects you to Christ in such a personal way and a great way to please God. But do I pray every day? No. Actually, I haven't really prayed in a long time. And I feel like a lot of Christians don't end up praying as much as some think they do because we all share the same pride:

We all end up thinking we're more holy than we actually are.

"Do I need prayer? Nah... God knows I'm a Christian already."

"Why do I need to? He knows I love Him. I know He knows what's on my heart. I know His plan will carry out no matter what."

These thoughts are always in my head. I end up going to bed without praying more often than I'd like to admit. I know I am a true follower of Christ and I know that God's plan will carry out no matter what or that I can somewhow "make up" for the time I didn't spend praying by going to service or reading my Bible. Sometimes I'll pray because I'm feeling guilty for not spending enough time in conversation with God. That guilt can sometimes be good! It can motivate us to pray even more. But notice that I said it can only be good sometimes. 

Most of the time the cycle will repeat itself. Zealous prayer --> Habit --> Loss of passion --> Lack of prayer --> Eventual guilt..... etc, etc. It goes on and on. 

All of the time it leads to disappointment.

God wants us to pray to Him. He loves it. He wants you to bother Him. I don't love it when people complain about things to me 24/7, but hey, God does. That is prayer. He will never reject you, He will always answer, and He loves this Divine conversation (Check out Luke 18:1-8).

I don't spend enough time in prayer. I don't pray every single day. I'm too proud. I'm not humble enough. Isn't that what I strive for as a Christian-- humility? By not praying consistantly and passionately, I'm taking advantage of my God. I know God has total control, but I'm not walking in His plan with Him. But in reality, I'm the one who thinks they have control. Eventually, there will be times when I will realize that this idea of control was just an illusion, and I will have no other choice than to be brought to my knees. 

I believe that the core of the problem is our pride, no matter how often we admit that God has control of our lives. We get so annoyed when our prayers aren't answered immediately or not in the way we want them to be. How stupid are we? If you want a real humbling passage to read, check out Job 38-40:5. I really, really reccommend reading this passage. We read it together as a community at service tonight and I was so completely taken-aback. 

"And then the Lord answered Job in a whirlwind:

Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words?

Brace yourself like a man, because I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.

Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much......................Who kept the sea inside its boundaries as it burst from the womb................Have you ever commanded the morning to appear and caused the dawn to rise in the east? Do you realize the extent of the earth? Tell me about it if you know................. Who created a channel for the torrents of rain? Who laid out the path for the lightning? Who makes the rain fall on barren land, in a desert where no one lives...........

You are God's critic, but do you have the answers?"

No. We don't. We fail to realize how big our God is. How do we come to think we are more holy than we really are? 

Jesus gave us the perfect prayer. He gave us the perfect outline and taught us how to talk to God. You know it by heart: "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name......" This is an outline, and it is composed in this order:

1. Praise His name.

2. Lay down what dominates your heart.

3. Pray for His will to be done. Make your truest needs known. 

4. Pray for help. You are a sinner. We're all imperfect. We have to beg not to be lead into temptation. 

I sincerely hope that you take more time to focus on prayer. If you have any questions about your relationship with the Lord, or have any prayer requests at all, I'd be more than happy to help. Text me or message me on Twitter (kathryn_forbes) or Facebook. 

Song: 

"The Struggle" by Tenth Avenue North

Shout outs to Kelsey Brockett, Jen Tucker, and Caroline Scott for giving me some awesome insights on prayer and what it means to them. Love you all! 

Miniature Eden

We are members of a broken world. It has always been broken, and it always will be. Take the events that took place on Friday in Newtown, CT. Many innocent children as well as men and women lost their lives at a date and time when they least expected it. We, as a country, are mourning for these people and many are throwing out ideas about gun control as ways to prevent events like this from happening again. But here is the reality, and I want you to understand this: It will happen again. As much as we try to interfere, we cannot prevent others' sins. Tonight at service, our pastor explained how we must always remember that

Man cannot solve what is wrong with man. 

It's impossible. How can imperfection solve imperfection? How can sin and hate estinguish hate and sin? Our hearts are hardened and made of stone. That's what the Bible describes a Godless heart as: stoney. 

But the great news is that we have the oportunity to be given new hearts. God offers us Divine surgery in which He willingly gives us a whole new heart. Take Ezekiel 11:19-- 

"And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their bodies and give them a heart of flesh."

When you accept Christ, he transforms you. Your heart is now tender, awake, sealed with Divine empathy...it runs to the spiritually thirsty with open arms, and most of all it is ferocious in wanting more of Christ. 

But God doesn't only transform your heart...He also transforms your mind. In Luke 24:25, Jesus says that when you come to Him, your mind is awakened. 

You can't truly pursue Christ unless your mind and heart are new. There are so many people who call themselves Christians, but in reality, don't know anything about Christianity. There are so many people who collect Bible verses and can recite the Bible backwards and forewards, but they do not know God. 

The new heart God gives us is extremely powerful. It WANTS to go into the dark places of the world in order to give light. It gives us the compassion we need in order to be true disciples. This new heart is a miniature Eden for those who are lost. It's the glimpse of God that others see when you preach to them. It is what draws others to Him. 

Is your heart made of flesh? Or, more importantly, have you invited God to transform it? He is willing to if you would only accept. 

Song: "Forever Reign" by Hillsong

Shoutout to my best friend Caroline! Having to take finals while being sick..... Good luck babe! :* 

Not A Fan

What if someone told you that they were not a fan of God?

I remember driving home one day with my mom Freshman year. Every day, we passed by a church that has one of those small billboard things that talk about upcoming events or a random Bible verse. What really caught my eye one day was that it said "We are not fans of Jesus".
Obviously, this stood out to me, and I found out later that that was the whole purpose.

I ended up Googling "Not A Fan" because I figured it had to have some sort of meaning other than that they were a church that didn't like Jesus because obviously that doesn't make any sense whatsoever. I ended up finding out that Not A Fan is actually a movement. They have videos, online stories from the "Non-Fans", and a book. So.....I bought the book.

It opened up with the definition of a fan: an enthusiastic devotee, follower, or admirer of a sport, pastime,celebrity, etc. A fan is someone who goes to every football game to support the Cowboys. A fan is someone who wears a lot of Cowboys t-shirts, has a Cowboys bumper sticker, and dresses their baby in a mini Cowboys cheer uniform. A fan is someone who really really likes it when the Cowboys win. But what do they do when the Cowboys lose every game of the season or if he or she moves to a different city? Are they still going to support the Cowboys? Chances are, they probably won't. 
When I was in middle school, I was obsessed with the Jonas Brothers. Obsessed. Like, it was really weird. I had all of their albums, went to 2 of their concerts in a span of 3 months, and had a lot of giant posters on my wall. But, needless to say, the Jo Bros have gone out of style. And, as in madly in love as I was with Nick Jonas, I'm not anymore. 

Are you seeing a pattern here? A fan is someone who is 100% devoted when things are going great, but their passion fades when their object of adoration is forgotten or unliked. 

The book went on to explain that the majority of people who claim to be Christians aren't really completely devoted followers, but just fans. The fine line between fandom and devotion can appear blurry on the outside, but God is never fooled. He knows where you place Him in your heart. 

Matthew 7:21-23: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’  And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’"

So many people who think they love God, don't see that they're actually just fans. They profess with their mouths that Christ is their savior, but they fail to live out their faith.

Maybe fans just want to get to heaven....or maybe they want to seem like a devoted Christian. Either way, they don't truly love the Lord.

A completely devoted follower is one who loves God more than anything. Their life truly proves their faith. A true follower is told constantly that they don't need to "take this whole God thing this far..." One of my favorite quotes made me thing for a while about what category I could possibly fall under:

"The critical question for our generation--and for every generation--is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?"

I sincerely hope that you think long and hard about which category you would fall under: fan or completely devoted follower. Your decision makes a difference of eternity.

P.S. Faith Noah- you've had my Not A Fan book for over a month so I hope you've read it by now ;)

Matthew 6:19-21

I don't know about you, but my motivation comes in waves. One moment I will feel driven to finish everything school-related with the goal of getting an A, but the next I'll just sit there and think, "What good is this going towards?"

We're taught that certain things are important: grades, manners, healthy eating habits, how we dress, who we hang out with... Everyone tells us that each of these things are what we should focus on the most, especially grades. But think for a moment: when it's just you and Jesus standing face-to-face, what will you have done in this life that He will be sincerely proud of?

There is so much that we have put on such high pedestals. We lose track of the fact that none of these accomplishments will go with us to heaven. 

Sure, great grades are important. We all need to focus on getting into good colleges. But who said we needed to dedicate 100% of our being towards it? I know most of us don't always work on getting that A, but I know that my fellow procrastinators are always thinking in the back of our minds: "I have so much to do and I need to do them all perfectly."

Why do earthly things need to be perfect? Whose approval are we trying to gain? Your parents'? Your teacher's? Yours? 

None of the above offer pure joy and love. God did not create you to spend all of your time focused on grades, self-image, and being well-liked. He created you to love. All of the stress in your mind disables you of loving.

Take a moment to think of all of the distractions in your life. Now take another moment to consider all of the distractions that you put on a pedestal. Will these things affect the good you do for others or for God?

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." 
--Matthew 6:19-21

Do It The Right Way

It always confuses me when people dislike others just because they're bold in their faith. I understand that people get annoyed when others throw every fact they know about the Gospel and how important it is to be saved in their faces. But does that really mean every Christian is like that? Definitely not.

Here's the thing though: Christians are supposed to be bold.

You have 2 jobs as a disciple:
- To worship and glorify God
- To bring others closer to Him

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. --Matthew 5:14

A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Jesus is making it so clear that as a Christian, you will stand out. You are different from everyone else.

One time a friend flat-out said to me, "I don't like Christian. I just don't do the whole Christian thing. Christians are so annoying."

Ok, I'm hardly ever speechless, but when I heard those words come out of her mouth, I honestly had no idea what to say.

The more I think about it, the more I realize how many people are turned off by Christians. It bothers me to no end, but then again, you have to view it from both sides. We view them as ignorant and judgmental people, but they see us as just plain judgmental.

Do you consider yourself a bold Christian? If so, admit it: you've judged someone for doing things wrong or having a little too much fun at a party. I'll be first to admit that I do all the time.

Who are we to judge? What effect does our judgement have on that person? Only God is righteous enough to judge them and how they live their lives. Only God's judgement matters, ours does not. We fail every day, we are all sinners. Just because we proclaim our love for Jesus does not, by any means, give us a license to judge.

Think of the impression that gives my friend on Christianity. It seems pretty unwelcoming and scary if someone judges everything you do, right?

It is our job to show them what God's love is truly about, but we must go about it in appropriate ways. I truly believe with all of my heart that each person comes to Christ differently and we must find that door and lead them through it.

If you want to be a bold Christian, do it with intentions of love and humility.

It's More Personal Than You Think

"I love God a lot, but I don't have time to worship Him or anything. I guess I'm always just too busy."

I hear these words so much when people ask me for God advice. My answer is always that worship doesn't have to be as official as you think it does. You don't have to be in a church, with your youth group, or at summer camp to worship a God who is grateful for your praise always. 

I don't have one specific way of worshipping, either. I don't think anyone does. If we did the same things all the time, we'd forget their meanings and just go through the motions. 

You feel this too--I know you do. I do. Don't you ever just sit in church and think, "This is so boring....get me out of here....I'd rather be sleeping"? WE ALL DO. Every single one of us has probably felt that way multiple times, I know I have (hey, I'm not gonna lie about it!). But great news: there are other ways to spend time with God. 

God loves our attention. Hey, if I created the universe, I'd love recognition too! But He also loves it because we're taking time to think about Him. When I hear "worship", I automatically think "spending time with God". They're synonyms. 

When I interviewed for my job at Sky Ranch Christian Camps last year, they asked me what my favorite way to worship God was. I thought about it for a moment. What was my favorite way? I had done a lot, but my favorite was just simply having a conversation about Jesus. Seriously: that's not only my favorite way to worship, but my favorite thing to do ever. Wanna get to know me? Just say "Hey...you like Jesus, right?" and we can talk for 3 hours. Is this worship? YES!!!!! The question is, how is it not? You're spending time with God and diving deeper into His love. The best part about it is that you're sharing what you know about His word to other people and you're getting insight on what others feel, too. 

Another thing I do (okay, I try to keep up with it, I really do) is prayer journaling. Working on books of the Bible, dissecting verses, writing to God...you get more out of it when you write it out. It's a slower and more thoughtful way. You have time to digest everything as you fill those pages with ink. 

Music. Alright, this is a runner-up to conversing. Did you know that they're such a thing as Christian music? Okay, well if you did, did you know that if comes in literally every genre imaginable? Some people are so opposed to it. Why? It's literally just a normal song you'd hear on the radio...just with better lyrics. I try to listen to it in the morning when I wake up so that I can start my day of right before I go to school. My favorite Christian music is worship music, though. At night, I blast it in my car and those are some of the most prayerful moments I have. 

Check out some of these worship songs...I know a million but these are the ones that truly leave me in awe of what a powerful God we serve.

"Cannons" by Phil Wickham http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_GNVWAo1pY

"After All (Holy)" by The David Crowder Band http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXElUPuIDTw

"Overcome" by Jeremy Camp http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqXZD_z3eCc

"You're Beautiful" by Phil Wickham http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zg4cYdP1ngw

"How He Loves" by The David Crowder Band http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCunuL58odQ

Invisible Tattoos

The title of my blog is Invisible Tattoos, and I guess I should explain why. 

I have a lot of scars. Some are physical but most are emotional. Either way, they're all part of my story. 

At the beginning of my story, I had only tattoos. Ok, no, they aren't literal tattoos. "Tattoos" are what I consider to be wonderful memories and milestones about my journey in Christ. Tattoos are voluntary. They're picked out carefully and are usually made in memory of something remarkable... a loved one, a special date, a piece of scripture..... They never come off and we know that: that's one of the reasons we get them! 

I received my first tattoo in June of 2009 when I accepted Christ for the first time. 

I received my second when God gave me a glimpse of my calling in 2010. 

I received my third in 2011 when I preached in front of 200 people for the first time. 

All of these moments were so special to me and I always considered them to be part of my "peak" as a Christian. 

I considered myself an awesome Christian for a long time and was always happy with whatever God threw at me. The only thing was that everything God was throwing at me was positive. 

My sophomore year, things became negative. I went through my first heartbreak, for one. But I was also bullied. The two things together took such a toll on me that I spiraled and lost grip on everything I had held onto so tightly before: including my passion for God. 

Now there is a lot to this story that I'm not going to post on my blog, but the most important thing was that I got better.

January through June of 2012 were the hardest months of my life and I would never choose to go back and relive those days, but I am so happy they happened.

Those days were scars in my mind. Everything bad that could've happened did and I reached rock bottom. I considered myself a bad Christian back then. But looking back, those moments aren't scars to me anymore. They are tattoos. Those hard times molded me into the person I am today and, to me, make the most beautiful tattoos. 

That's how I got the name Invisible Tattoos. I hope to use this blog as a way to share with you what God has proven and taught me. Part of my calling is ministry, and I hope my words minister to you all. 

Sitting in the spot where I accepted Christ for the first time and received my calling...my 1st and 2nd tattoos