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Retreats, Women’s Events, Workshops

See the “Retreat Series” and “Speaker Topics” pages for an overview of topics I have prepared for various groups. 

Articles

The “Articles” category features articles I have written for publications and mailouts, mostly on prayer.  These articles were written for women but have application for all believers

Articles Posted on This Page:

* “ABC’s of Prayer”

* “Help For the ADHD Pray-er“

* “I’ll Stand in the Gap For You“

* “Opening the Windows on Your Prayer Life”

* “Prayer is For Pansies“

ABC’s of Prayer

   

 

What is prayer?  Simple, you say, it’s our way of communicating with our heavenly Father.  As God’s children, we have the privilege of bringing our praise, our requests, our questions and our concerns to the throne of grace!  What could be simpler?  Then why is it that so many of us get tongue-tied and unsure of whether or not our words are acceptable to the Lord when it comes time to pray?  Women are known to be very adept at using words – so what’s the problem? 

 

Maybe we think the process of prayer is more complicated than it really is and it prevents us from exercising our privilege of taking things to God as our Father! Perhaps our view of God is that He’s like a CEO of an important corporation that needs some kind of carefully screened and worded communication so as not to ‘waste His time’!  Is that really what God wants from His children?  As I study the scriptures to see what it says about prayer, I don’t think so!

                                                                        

Let me illustrate with a little story that happened several years ago when my son, Scott was about 7 years old.  Scott had received a colorful nylon kite as a birthday gift in February.  He was anxious to try it out and finally, one day in April it was windy enough to take it on a trial run.  He took it out behind our house where the local ball diamond sits and ran around the field trying to get it into the air.  After a few attempts, he succeeded! From the kitchen window, I watched his excitement as it soared higher and higher and higher and then………firmly tangled itself in the 30 foot spruce trees that border the ball diamond!!  He tried desperately to yank the kite down, but to no avail! 

 

When his dad got home, they marched out to try to rescue the tangled kite.  Dad pulled, he shook, he shimmied up the tree as far as he dared, but the kite was not to be dislodged!  The best he could manage was to break the string and some of the branches! 

 

For many days, Scott would go and stand by the trees looking longingly up at his precious kite.  The neighborhood boys would taunt him and say, “I’m going to get your kite down and keep it!”  “I know how to get it down and it will be mine!” and they’d shake the branches and mock him until he bolted back home, holding back a well of tears.

 

One day, as I was working by the sink, I looked out and saw the colorful kite stuck in the trees, as it had been for nearly two weeks.  It seemed to mock our futile attempts to retrieve it and a great sadness came over me as I ached for my small son’s loss.

 

 “Why don’t you ask Me to help you?” I heard the Lord prompting.

 

 “What?!  That’s just silly to ask such a trivial thing, Lord!  There are much more important things to ask of You – why should you care about a boy’s kite?” I argued. 

 

“Try me.” He seemed to respond to my protest.

 

“OK, Lord,” I began, still feeling a little foolish for making such a request, “Would You please untangle that kite and bring it down for one very disappointed little boy?  We’ve tried everything we could think of, but it just didn’t occur to us to ask You, Father.”   

The air outside was as still as it could be when, again, I felt the Lord prompting me to step out in faith.  “Scott, come and get your shoes on!” I called.   Scott came upstairs from playing with a puzzled look on his face. 

 

“Why, mom?” he said as he pulled on his sneakers.                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

“Because your kite is coming down, son,” I replied boldly.  He glanced out the window to see his kite still high in the tree, gave me one of those ‘Are you crazy, mom?’ looks, but ran out behind the fence anyway. 

 

From where I stood on the step, I saw a lone gust of wind come out of nowhere, pick up the kite, shake the tangled tail from the branches, twirl it in the air gracefully and safely land the kite about 5 feet from where a vibrating boy stood with outstretched arms! He ran back with his prized kite in hand – grinning from ear to ear, thrilled, but baffled. 

 

“How did you know the kite was coming down?” he asked, shaking his head.

 

As we sat on the step together holding the kite, I reminded Scott how God loves us and wants to be included in every part of our lives.  He wants us to tell Him about the good times, the sad times and ask for His help when we need something.   I had been slow to ask God for help, but He had been waiting to answer all along!  God had reminded me that He could take what seemed like an impossible situation and work it out for good – all I had to do was ask!  We thanked God for His answer and celebrated the kite’s return!

       What an elementary lesson we both learned that day about prayer!   

                     These simple, basic truths about prayer can be found right in the Word!

 

“A” – Ask and don’t be Anxious About Anything!  “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (Philippians 4:6 NIV)

“B” – Believe!  “Have faith in God……Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”  (Mark 11: 22, 24 NIV)

 “C” – Constantly pray about everything! “They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.” (Acts 1:14 NIV)

 

If God cares about a small boy’s kite, God cares about every detail of your life, too!     Do you practice the ‘ABCs of Prayer’ in your own life?  Or are you waiting for ‘important things’ or ‘the right words’ to say before you pray?  I encourage all of you, especially those of you who are new in your faith, to bring every request to your heavenly Father in prayer.  God is more concerned about the motives of our heart than He is about the ‘right’ words or requests. His answers are not always immediate, nor are they always the ones we expect, but He does hear and answer when we call out to Him in faith.

 Sandy Semenyna, Baptist General Conference of Canada National WM Prayer Team Coordinator

Help for the “ADHD Pray-er”

“Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10) is a verse that makes me squirm!
Being still for any reason just doesn’t come that easy to me. My ‘inner clock’ usually ticks pretty fast and my mind and body are most often in perpetual motion! It seems I always have something to do, somewhere to go, something to plan or prepare for and a never ending list of things to remember! Even when I do stop to rest for a little while, I’m like a cat that suddenly has to be in another room for no apparent reason! It’s what my mother used to call “hyper” as she would place a firm hand on my bouncing legs and say, “Sit!”

I’m familiar with ‘hyper’. Not only have I lived with myself these many years, I’ve been a special needs teacher for more than 25 years. It has a more scientific label now – ADD* or ADHD*, but it essentially means a person who has great difficulty focusing their attention for any length of time and being…well…still! (Have you heard the one that goes like this: “How many kids with ADD does it take to screw in a light bulb? Wanna go ride bikes?”)

Although I have learned to be still and pay attention during most situations where it’s appropriate to do so, one area of my life that I have to really work at staying focused is during my prayer times. Despite my best intentions, my mind wanders and my prayers come out as a jumbled ‘mish-mash’ of praise, problems and requests. Worse yet is when one minute I’m praying intently for a wayward teen and the next minute I’m wondering what color I should repaint the bathroom! I am definitely an “ADHD Pray – er”!

We all know how important it is to spend time in prayer. We’re admonished to pray intently, continually and in every situation. We also know how clearly the bible speaks about ‘waiting quietly before Lord’ and being still so we can hear Him speak. So, what’s an “ADHD Pray – er” to do when she can barely last 5 minutes before her mind (or feet!) are racing somewhere else?
_______
* Attention Deficit Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

The following is a list of ways to help you to become more focused as you pray, but it is more of a long term ‘training process’ than it is a ‘quick fix’. Remember, God is also familiar with ADHD, and although it must disappoint or at times even anger Him when we won’t be still or give Him our full attention, He knows our weakness and waits patiently for us.

1. Choose to pray at a time of the day when then you are least likely to be distracted. This may mean rising earlier than the rest of your family, going for a walk alone during your lunch hour instead of out with your co-workers, or even locking yourself in the bathroom with the fan on late at night!

2. Find a place of solitude and quiet to pray. Some of you will have to work really hard at this one, particularly if you have very young children. You may need to have a family meeting to clearly but kindly tell everyone that when you are in your ‘prayer closet’ you are not to be disturbed unless someone is bleeding or has stopped breathing. If they continue to interrupt you, you will need to firmly say something like: “You are not bleeding and you are obviously still breathing, so I will not be able to help you for another 10 minutes. However, since you have interrupted me, it will now take me 15 minutes to finish my conversation with God.”

3. Make a rotating list of prayer requests. A small scribbler or journal divided into 5 – 7 days will help keep your mind on the needs of a few different people and requests each day. Your prayers will be more specific and thoughtful and you will be less prone to getting bored by praying for the same thing every day in rapid fire so you don’t miss something.

4. Put key words on sticky notes and post a few in visible areas. Use words like: ‘Faithfulness’, ‘Compassion’, ‘Humility’, ‘Patience’ and as you pass these words pray for those attributes to be evident in the circumstances of your life and in the lives of people around you. The word ‘Salvation’ will remind you to pray for unsaved family, friends and neighbors, ‘Suffering’ will remind you to pray for the sick or troubled and so on.

5. Use a prayer pattern to guide you. Some of the more popular ones are: “ACTS”, “AWCIPA”1. (Admire God, Wait, Confess any sin, Intercede for others, Pray for yourself, Admire God some more). These tools help to keep you from darting all over in your thoughts and will help you to remember what God desires to hear from us.
- Sandy Semenyna, BGCC WM Prayer Coordinator

1. Miles McPherson in “21 Jump Start”

I’ll Stand in the Gap for You

 

I may never understand this side of eternity why the Holy Spirit catapulted me out of my seat that day to leap over two rows of occupied stadium seats to speak to a young man that I didn’t know.  Why, out of 15,000 participants at this youth conference, him?  Why, in a crowd of youth pastors and sponsors who appeared more connected to youth culture and definitely more physically able to run ‘body hurdles’ – me? 

     I haven’t always been this quick to respond to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, but on this occasion, sleep deprived as I was, I knew the voice and I decided to act before I had a chance to talk myself out of it. The startled young man (to say nothing of what my husband, the other sponsors and my youth group thought as I uncharacteristically started body surfing the crowd to get to him!) looked at me with a puzzled expression.  He had just taken his seat at the close of a powerful service where the speaker had given an invitation for people to commit their lives unreservedly to God and to stand as a sign of their covenant to seek God’s will.  The speaker prayed for those who stood and the ushers handed each one a Hershey kiss as a reminder of God’s ‘kiss of blessing’ on their lives – all except this one young man who, somehow, had been overlooked by the ushers. 

     “I don’t want to weird you out or anything,” I said, “but the Holy Spirit has just prompted me to come over here and tell you that I will pray for you for this year.  What is your name?” “Graham,” he said quietly, still trying to take in what I had just said. Then after a few seconds he thanked me and hugged me tightly for a long time.  He told me where he was from (a town about 6 hours from where I lived) and what church he attended.  We chatted very briefly and not wanting to make him more uncomfortable than he already was, I told him again, that I would be praying for him and went back to my seat. 

     We saw each other a few more times that weekend and each time he would smile and wave.  At the close of the conference, as the crowds stood to exit,  I told him in sign language I would be praying for him. Then it was his turn to leap over rows of seats and he came to give me a last hug and to thank me for praying. 

     True to my word, I began to pray daily for this young man.  Each day as I read the Word, I would ask God to draw my attention to something in the passage that I could pray for Graham.  My prayers included asking God to keep him from drunkenness and sexual immorality, to give him a clear and alert mind as he studied, and to have the desire to passionately obey the Word.  I kept a pad of paper in my bible where I recorded the scripture passages and what I had prayed that day for Graham.  This went on for just over three months before I heard the Spirit prompting me to cease the season of intense prayer. Then, just as I have done for nearly all of my “kids”, I added Graham to my prayer journal, where each day of the week lists teens that we have ministered to during more than 15 years of lay youth ministry and I pray for all of them through the course of a week. I composed a letter of encouragement to Graham, giving him the list of scriptures and prayers I had prayed on his behalf. I found the address of his church and sent it along with a big package of Hershey’s kisses.  Not wanting him to feel obligated to reply, I didn’t include my last name or address on the package.  I then briefly explained the parcel to his pastor and asked him to deliver it.  

     A year later, as the time for  “YC”  approached, we, again, made plans to take our teens to the conference.  Each Tuesday as I prayed for Graham, I would think about how wonderful it would be to run into Graham and find out how his year went.  Just three days before the conference, I prayed, “Lord, You know I would love to see Graham, but with over 16,000 people coming this year, I know the chances are very small. I might not even recognize him again if he walked by in the crush of people.  If I never see him again this side of eternity, I will be ok with that, but Lord, it sure would be nice if You would arrange a meeting.” 

     The first night of the conference was exciting as thousands of people streamed into the arena to worship and hear the Word preached with clarity and power.  The next morning was equally exciting and the afternoon of workshops and concerts were terrific.  I tried not to search faces in the crowd and just entered into the worship and teaching times.  After a supper break with our teens, we returned to the arena for the second evening of sessions. We were a little early, and feeling tired and a little restless from sitting, I decided to take a short walk before everything started.  The walkway behind our seats was crowded, so I went up a floor to walk around the next level, which was almost deserted.  I had just come out of the stairwell to the walkway, when I saw a familiar looking young man walked toward me.  He stopped, looked at me, and said, “What is your name?”  “Sandy,” I replied, “and your name is Graham.”  His face lit up as he said, “I have been praying that I would run into you! I brought your letter with me!”  We laughed and thanked God for His goodness!  And, although nothing that God does should really surprise me anymore, I learned that his family had moved to small community where a former member of our first youth group just ‘happened’ to be helping with his youth group!   

     I still do not understand all the purposes of God in this call to ‘stand in the gap’ for this young man, but I do know that God has His hand on Graham’s life for a special purpose.  I will continue to pray for this young man that I barely know as he prepares to attend bible school in the fall.  Why?  Because the Lord asked me to do it.  Does God need my prayers in order to work in Graham or anyone else’s life?  No, but He does ask that I intercede for others. “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone.” (1 Tim. 2:1) He delights in showing us what He can do when we obey Him in prayer beyond ourselves and those closest to us.

                                           

     “I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap  on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none.”  (Ezekiel 22:30)

 

     Who is God calling you to ‘stand in the gap’ for?  Your pastor?  Your neighbor?  Your unsaved relative?  The local drug dealer? A political leader? The obnoxious kid who rides his bike on your lawn? Your boss?  Those in bondage to a cult? There is no shortage of people who need the Lord to intervene in their lives – but I do believe there is a shortage of people who will stand in the gap and ask Him to intervene through intercessory prayer. Will you step out in obedience and faith?

                                    Sandy Semenyna, BGC WM Nat’l Prayer Coordinator  

Opening The Windows on Your Prayer Life

When spring finally arrives in this part of the world, there’s something exhilarating about being   able to crack open the windows for the first time and chase the stale winter air out with each fresh breeze!  How often do we, as believers, get stale in our prayer time – same thoughts, same words, same requests? It can feel like we’re breathing out stale air with every prayer!  Do you need to take a fresh look at how you pray?  Let the following headings guide you as you pray and expect God to speak to your heart in a new way as you seek Him.  Then choose one or more suggestions from under each heading every day, reflect on the scripture passage and let your prayer closet get a good ‘airing out’! 

Worship & Praise God for:

*  His faithfulness (Psalm 36:5-6)*  His unfailing love (Psalm 32:10)*  His compassion (Psalm 103:13)*  His holiness (Rev. 15:4)*  His strength (Psalm 28:7)*  His power (Luke 1:37)*  His watch over us (Psalm 121)*  His care (1 Peter 5:7)*  Never abandoning us (Hebrews 13:5) (Matthew 28:20)*  His plan of salvation (Acts 4:12)*  The gift of His Son (John 3:16)*  Being true to His word (John 1:1) 

Pray for cleansing from your sin:                                                            

*  Ask God to search your heart and show you anything that displeases Him (Psalm  139)

*  Confess your sins (Psalm 32:3-5)*  Ask forgiveness for your failures and wrong attitudes (I John 1:8 – 2:1) 

Pray for the salvation of others:

*  Ask God to save your family and friends who don’t believe in Him (1 Cor. 10:33)

*  Pray that Satan’s hold on people through drugs, alcohol, pride, entertainment, money,  cults,

    false teaching, etc. would be broken  (2 Tim. 2:25-26)

*  Pray that the Spirit of God would be preparing the hearts of unbelievers to hear the gospel

    (Hebrew 3:7-8)

*  Pray that believers would come into the lives of the unsaved and boldly share the Gospel

    (Acts 4:29)*  Pray that you would be bold in sharing the gospel with unbelievers in your life (2 Tim. 4:2)*  Pray that you would be a godly example to the unbelievers in your life (Titus 2:7)

*  Pray that unbelievers would see the emptiness of the world and want something more       

    (I Peter 1:18-21)*  Pray that unbelievers would be hungry to hear the Word of God (Nehemiah 8:2-12)*  Pray for people in areas of the world where the gospel is not preached (Romans 10:14-15) *  Pray for people to go into all the world with the gospel (Mark 16:15) 

Pray for the needs of others by praying for:

*  The sick (James 5:14-15)*  Your family and friends  (Phil. 4:6)*  Our government (1 Tim. 2: 1-2)*  The lonely (Psalm 68:6)*  The poor (Galatians 2:10)*  Your boss (1 Tim. 2:1-2) *  People who are facing crisis and loss (James 5:13)*  Other believers in your life to be growing in their faith (Ephesians 3:14-19)*  Your pastor and other Christian leaders (Ephesians 6:18-20) 

Pray for your needs and ask God:   *  To give you a desire to please and serve Him (Galatians 6:8)*  For understanding as you read the Bible (Psalm 119:27)*  For courage to share your faith (1 Cor. 16:13)*  For direction for your future (Proverbs 3:5-6)*  For God’s leading throughout the day (Psalm 143:10)*  For purity of thought (Philippians 4:8)*  For humility towards others (Titus 3:2)*  For compassion for those in need (Ephesians 4:32)*  For help in difficult situations (James 5:13)*  To help you be faithful to Him no matter what (Rev. 2:10)*  To help you to be self-controlled (Titus 2:11-12)*  To restore joy in your life and to be willing to do His will (Psalm 51:7, 12)*  To help you to make good use of your time (Ephesians 5:16, Colossians 4:5)*  To keep you from saying things you shouldn’t (Matthew 12:36)*  To be kept from the love of money and possessions (Matthew 6:19-21)*  To be able to distinguish good from evil (Hebrews 5:14)*  For persistence (Hebrews 12:1-3)

*  To grow the fruit of the Spirit in your life (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,  

     goodness, faithfulness, gentleness & self control) (Galatians 5:22-23) 

Thank God for:*  Hearing your prayers (1John 5:14)*  Your circumstances (1 Thess. 5:18)

*  Saving you (Hebrews 7:25)

*  His goodness and mercy (Psalm 25:6-9) *  Wanting you in His forever family (Matthew 18:12-14)*  The people who are helping to shape your life (1Thess. 1:2-3)  

Tips: 

1. Start a prayer journal in a small coil book, scribbler or blank journal.  Set up a rotation of people to   pray for and other prayer requests for each day of the week – leaving lots of space to add requests as you go and record answers to prayer. 
2. Set aside a time every day to pray that NOTHING but a true emergency can interrupt.
3. Choose a place to pray that is quiet and free from distractions.
4. Pray even if you don’t feel like it – prayer is to prepare us for “the battle” and to help us put on the armor of God (Ephesians 6:1-20). The battle will happen whether we feel like it or not!
5. Get in the habit of praying throughout the day, wherever you are and in whatever you are doing.    These short conversations with the Lord will remind you that He is always with you and desires to guide your life.

 Sandy Semenyna  -  BGCC Nat’l WM Prayer Team Coordinator

Prayer is For Pansies

       

“You’re a pansy!”    “Don’t be such a pansy!”    “This isn’t for pansies!” 

     I’ve never given much thought to put-down phrases like these, even though I’ve used them before and probably had similar words directed at my own wimpy or fearful reaction to a challenge.  Calling someone a pansy in our culture is not a compliment!  It implies that you are somehow weak, frail, childish or even totally useless.  I now know why the pansy has earned such a ‘faint-hearted’ reputation and I’ve come to the conclusion that prayer is for pansies!     

     Let me explain. It all started back in the late spring once the danger of frost had finally passed (hey – I live in northern Alberta!) and I began to think about bringing bursts of color into my yard.  For some reason, as I went to greenhouses and farmer’s markets, I was drawn to the beautiful array of pansies available.  I just had to have several of every color and variety – yellow, purple, blue, white, pink, orange, two-tone, three-tone – you name it!  Of, course, I’d grown pansies before, but this year, it was to become my ‘theme’ flower!       

     Happily, I stuffed planters, pots and baskets with their cheerful little bloomin’ faces and admired their boldness and beauty!  I carefully tended them, keeping the soil mulched and watered and enjoying just the right amount of sun.  Their velvety petals were wonderful nestled in with other plants or bunched together like little schoolgirls!     

     When it came time to depart for our family vacation, I gave care instructions to our college –bound daughter, who would be staying home to work at her summer job and look after the place while we were gone.  Feeling totally exhausted from a very busy year of work, ministry and family commitments, I was looking forward to some ‘down-time’ away from the phone, computers and responsibility –  the freedom to do as I pleased!  Enjoying her new adult status, our daughter was looking forward to having the house all to herself – and the freedom to do as she pleased!                                                                                                                              

     The vacation was wonderful – lots of hot sunny days of rest and relaxation!  No  deadlines, no schedule, no routine, but also no privacy.  And although I was being physically and emotionally restored every day, my quiet times of prayer and meditating on the Word were squeezed into small corners of time, often interrupted, or postponed while we visited new people and places or even outright neglected,  resolving to do it tomorrow. As the holiday time lengthened, my prayers shortened. This “freedom to do as I pleased” wasn’t doing much for my spiritual well being.     

     Meanwhile, back at the ‘Pansy Palace’, “freedom to do as she pleased” wasn’t working out so good for my pansies.  In a phone call home a few days before we were to return, my daughter prepared me for what was ahead.  “Mom, some of your plants aren’t looking so good.”  And sure enough, although everything else was in good order, my plants were audibly gasping as we drove up the driveway!                                                                               

     “What happened?” I asked as I searched for a bloomin’ happy face, a velvety petal or even a green leaf in the barren pots.  “Well, first it rained a lot, so I didn’t water, not realizing the plants under the eaves don’t get rain, then I went to……and then the girls came over…..and I was busy…and it kind of got away on me….I’m sorry.” Her face fell as she confessed that she didn’t realize how much responsibility came with her new freedom.     

     The next day, the two of us headed out to the garden to deadhead, tear out the thriving weeds and try to salvage what was left of the plants.  As I sadly clipped off the shriveled stems and crusty flowers I grumbled to myself, “How hard would it have been to take 20 minutes out of her busy social life to water and look after my plants?  I had a lot invested in these things.”     

      The Spirit of God spoke right to my heart.  “Yeah. I know just how you feel.  You were so parched from life and I wanted to refresh your soul, mulch the soil of your life, prune and deadhead your dryness.  But you were just so busy doing what you wanted to do.  See what’s left of these pansies?  They can’t flourish for long without constant care and attention from a loving gardener.  Neither can you because you’re such a pansy.  I have so much invested in you – I just longed for you to seek my face that you might reflect my power and glory. I wanted to water your soul. ”     

     The psalmist, David, put it best when he said, “  I spread out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.” (Psalm 143: 6)  The prayer-less believer is a parched believer – prone to weakness, fear, fainting and withering – a real pansy!!  Jesus Christ knows our weakness (see 2 Cor. 12 : 8-10) yet still chooses to reflect His glory through our lives when we remember what pansies we really are, submit our lives to His lordship and seek Him with our whole hearts.     We ‘pansies’  desperately need to be under the gentle loving care and pruning of “the Master Gardener” through prayer, meditation on the Word of God and exercising our faith if we are to going to survive in this hostile world!                 

       So, pray on, all you pansies.  Meditate on His Word!  Praise Him for His mercy! Give thanks! Confess your sins and weaknesses!  Make your requests known! Pray for the needs of others!  Lift your bloomin’ faces to reflect the glory due His name!

                             Sandy Semenyna, BGCC WM Nat’l Prayer Coordinator