A Special Place

On the Sabbath Day we went outside the city gate to the river where we thought we would find a special place for prayer. Some women had gathered there, so we sat down and talked with them.
She worshipped God, and He opened her mind to pay attention. (Acts 16: 13-14)

Sabbath Prayer
Abba Father, upon Your Holy Name I call, I come with an attitude of praise a mind set to worship. Father I seek to enter Your Holy presence for a time of communion. Lord I bring my heart to you asking Father to be filled with Your goodness, your peace and kindness, fill me with tenderness and compassion, pour Your love into me and help me to return it to you by giving it to others for Your glorification. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit and guide me to Your truth and to oneness with You Father God, Your Son the Christ and Thy Holy Spirit. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen

Sabbath Mediation
Quiet your heart, spirit, soul and mind, read today’s scripture again slowly, savoring each word. Think about each word turn it over and over in your mind asking God to speak to your heart. Ask God what He would have you to learn from the scripture. Ponder the following questions:

What would God have you include in your Sabbath time?
Where would God have you spend some of your Sabbath time?
With whom would God have you spend time with and what would He have you to do with those you spend time?
When you spend time with God what will He do?
When you are in worship with others, if you enter with an attitude of worship will you leave the service without any knowledge of God? Will you leave without guidance?
What questions/thoughts come to you as you ponder these scriptures?

Life Applications
Does God require you to take any steps to apply what He has revealed to you to your life?
Consider how you will apply what God has spoken to you. Set a time to begin application.

Prayer
Father guide me and strengthen me to apply ___________to my life. When I stray from Your plan dear God please help me to return to your word. In the precious name of Jesus I pray. Amen

Sabbath Study
On the Sabbath Day we went outside the city gate to the river where we thought we would find a special place for prayer. Some women had gathered there, so we sat down and talked with them.
She worshipped God, and He opened her mind to pay attention. (Acts 16: 13-14)

One of the women Paul found at the river was Lydia. Lydia worshipped God, her whole family was baptized. Lydia wanted to spend as much time as she could with Paul, probably to continue to study the word of God so she invited him to her home. Lydia was a true believer and she put first things first as she was found in a special place on the Sabbath and God opened her mind to listen closely to Paul and learn from Him.
Lydia had gathered with other women to worship the Lord. We need to gather together with other women to study the word, to encourage one another, to pray, to sing hymns and songs together uplifting and praising God. When we spend time with other godly women we learn from one another, we open ourselves to hear from God as we know God often speak to us through others and He is known for revealing different things to different people even with the same scripture. When we gather together God will open our minds and He will cause us to pay attention. We learn from Lydia our women’s ministry should sometimes be open to men, she was open to instructions from Paul. Women’s Ministries should not be an exclusive club but a ministry for all ages and sexes.
These passages speak to my heart how important it is for us women to look for places away from the church, our homes, etc., to come together. A park, a river, a beach, the mountains etc. Retreats in special place will do much to pull us from the world, yes even the family. We need to be restored and refreshed, we need to have God pour into us and this is often difficult when we don’t let the world go and put ourselves in places where we can totally focus on God. Jesus often pulled away from the crowd and when off with His disciples. To become effective disciples we too need to be taught by the Savior in a place of no distraction.

My Offering- to Dig Deeper In Your Word
Father May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice. Psalm 141:2
Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. Ecclesiastes 5:1
Because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. Hebrews 10:14

My Praise-to live a life of sacrifice
At his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the Lord. Psalm 27:6
I will sacrifice a freewill offering to you; I will praise your name, O Lord, for it is good. Psalm 54:6
Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy. Psalm 107:22
Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that confess his name. Hebrews 13:15

My Worship- to be obedient to Your Holy Word
Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." Mark 6:31
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Acts 2:42
And live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Ephesians 5:2


Prayer
Lord we give thanks for this sacred time with you. May my offerings of time, sacrifice, meditation, study, prayer, and praise be acceptable and pleasing in Your sight. Help me to carry this gift of Sabbath in to my everyday, ordinary life and may You be glorified by all my acts. In Jesus Name, Amen