Potty Prayers

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. — Isaiah 55:10-11 (NIV)

About 3.5 years ago I was going through many struggles. My life had gotten outta whack. One day I was talking with the Children’s Pastor at my church (and great friend) just going on and on about how I had to go do this and had to go do that. I was looking for direction because I was overwhelmed, stressed and freaking out. He walked out and came back with this little booklet called “Open Windows.” Some of you may be familiar with these little books. They come out every so often and they have little devotions in them to read everyday.

I looked down at the book and thought “yeah, right! This is not going to help me! It’s going to take a lot more than this little book. I need to be reading my Bible at least an hour every morning; spend another hour in prayer; be at church every time the door is open…” He could see the look on my face but I didn’t say what I was thinking. He asked me if I would commit to reading one devotion a day and said he would be checking in with me to see if I had done it. Even though I didn’t think it would solve anything, I committed to reading one devotion a day.

Moms of young children will appreciate this part — I put the book in the bathroom. The one thing I know that I will do every day is go to the bathroom. It’s literally the only peace and quiet I get sometimes — but at least it would give me time to read that one devotion.

He checked in with me every time he saw me — “have you been reading 1 devotional?” Yes, I would tell him, although I didn’t see that it was doing any good! It took about 3 weeks and I began to notice a change in me. Suddenly, one devotion wasn’t enough — I had to read more! There were days when I would read ahead 3-4 devotions just because I could not get enough of God’s Word!

It’s from this experience that I got the name “Potty Prayers.” I know it sounds weird, funny and probably not very respectful to God. But one of the most awesome things about God is His Word will not return empty. His Word will accomplish His purpose for sending it to us. So no matter where you read it – as long as you read a little bit each day – you will be blessed.

My Prayer: Lord, I don’t know how you are going to use my ramblings here, but I pray that you will bless everyone who reads this. If that’s just one person, it is so totally worth it. Thank you for giving me the courage to start writing this and for giving me the words to write.