My Last Lecture

Okay, by request one of my friends asked that I post an essay I wrote. This essay was for my freshman seminar class, and basically we had to give a last lecture, what we would want to share with the world before we leave it. So I wrote mine and shared it with Lindsay and a few other friends. Well, here it is:

What Would Jesus Do?

                A lot of you don’t know me very well, so first I’ll share a little bit about myself. I grew up in Appleton, WI. My parents are still married, and I am the oldest of five kids. I was raised in the Church of Christ, which I am extremely grateful for. I’m sure I wouldn’t be the person I am today if I hadn’t been raised in that church.

Honestly, I came to York College solely for the spiritual aspect. I was afraid if I didn’t go to a Christian college, my faith would slip away. I am so glad I ended up here. I have met so many amazing people who have supported me and helped me with my spirituality. Today I want to share with you what I have learned in my time here.

When I arrived at York, I wasn’t sure where I stood in my faith. I believed, but I felt wasn’t praying enough and that I just didn’t have that ‘spark’ in my relationship with God. I wasn’t sure what was wrong, why did I feel like God just wasn’t there? If I was sure I believed, then why was I still having all these questions?

I was struggling with this for a while, but during high school days my answers came. One of my ‘prayer warriors,’ Roger Dunnam, came to visit that weekend, and I got a lot of time to talk to him.

I was very blunt with him, and jumped into what I was dealing with. I asked him, “I’ve been struggling a lot lately with my relationship with God. Why don’t I feel something, I mean, I’m praying as often as I can, but I feel like I have a one-sided relationship. I see other Christians who seem to be so excited for Jesus, they worship and are raising their hands when they sing, they seem to have it all down.”

Roger stopped me right there. He said, “Amber, first of all, people worship in different ways. There isn’t a right way to worship, except that you’re actually worshipping. Some people lift their hands and sing their hearts out, while others, like you, may be quieter about it. There’s isn’t a set in stone way, it just matters that you are worshipping.”

As soon as he said it, I felt like it was the most obvious thing ever, but already I felt my burden starting to lift. But my heart was still heavy; I still wasn’t sure why I wasn’t feeling anything.

Roger asked me how often I was reading my bible. Apparently, not often enough. He had me open to the book of James, where he shared some eye-opening verses with me. He had me read James 1:22-25:

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it – he will be blessed in what he does.”

                What? This wasn’t the answer I was looking for. Roger sensed my confusion, and explained the verses to me.

                Most of us know the Ten Commandments, what the greatest command is, and know what is good and bad. We may have them memorized, and for the most part we are living like Jesus told us. But the answer to my question was becoming clearer as Roger went over these verses with me. We know what the bible tells us to do, but like the man in the mirror, when we’re not reading our bibles, we forget what we’re supposed to do. The bible tells us that if we look into the perfect law and not forget, and do what we have heard, then we will be blessed.

                As I thought deeper into it, it made more and more sense to me. If we follow Jesus’ will, and obey his word, we grow closer to him.

                I see it like this: when I’m not getting along with someone, I try to put myself in their shoes. If we do this with Jesus, we could better understand him and feel closer to him. By obeying his word, and living like Jesus did, we grow that much closer to knowing him.

                How many of you remember when the phrase “What would Jesus do?” was popular? I had a WWJD bracelet and thought it was the coolest thing ever. But I was young enough that I didn’t truly understand the meaning behind it. It’s possible that a lot of people didn’t get it either. It was just cool to wear something that had to do with Jesus. Because Jesus is cool.

                But how many of us took those words to heart? I know I didn’t, but now as I’ve had this epiphany, I realize someone was on to something when they said “What would Jesus do?”

                I have a New Year’s resolution, though I plan to put it into action before the New Year even comes. If I remember to put myself in Jesus’ shoes, and ask myself, “What would he do?” then I can grow closer to him.

                I’m still a work in progress, but these are my words of wisdom for today. And I don’t expect immediate results. Living a life like Jesus did, accepting and loving everyone, putting others first, it’s going to take a lot of work. I expect it to be hard at first, and very trying. It may take time before my heart’s fully in it, like Jesus’, but I’m sure that with time, it will get easier, and maybe not a challenge anymore, but a lifestyle.

                I want to challenge you to this lifestyle as well. I thought I was alone in that I thought I had no ‘spark’ for God. Roger told me I wasn’t, and by continuing to live a Christ-like life, eventually that spark would come. It takes time, but the results will be rewarding and life changing.

                Cheesy as it is, I want to leave you with these words today. What would Jesus do?

The Power of Prayer

I think often times we don't realize the power prayer has. We may say our prayers before our meals, or before we go to sleep at night, and sometimes, maybe those are the only prayers we say in our day. I understand that we often get so busy and lost in the commotion of the day, and we forget to take some time off to talk to God.

For me, sometimes I find it easier to pray if I just consider it talking to God. There's songs I sing at church camp or in chapel, and a lot of them describe God as King of Kings, Lord of Lords, alpha and omega, so on and so forth. But there's one name that we have for our Father that really hits me - friend.

I don't think that in my journey I've yet hit the stage of calling God my friend. I think we're still at accquaintances, somewhat friends. But I long for Him to be my best friend, and when I think of it that way, I'm that much eager to get to know and talk to God. And when I think of Him as a friend, I can think of Him  in ways similar to my earthly friends.

For instance, I can't go a day without talking to my closest friends. It's hard. Have you ever tried? Not that I ever have, but when I was back home for Christmas break, I went days without talking to any of my college friends, and it drove me crazy. Imagine if our relationship with God was like that.

What if He's driven crazy when we don't talk to Him? God wants the most intimate and personal relationship with us, and sometimes we can't find time in the day to say hi. All it takes is a few minutes set aside to pray and talk to God. Sometimes I even pray when I'm in the middle of something. If I'm working, and my task isn't all thought-consuming, I take the time to thank God for the day. I pray in the shower, or whenever I have a few moments of downtime.

I want to be so close to God, and be such good friends with Him, that when I'm having the busiest day of my life, I'll be driven crazy until I can talk to Him. And at the same time, I don't think that should be possible. Really, praying doesn't require stopping and dropping all you're doing to pray. If I'm walking to a class alone, I pray, or even sitting here on the computer, I stop typing every few minutes to say something to God.

Praying doesn't have to be scary, like I once thought it was. I used to be really unsure in my prayers. I didn't want to say something wrong, or sound to selfish talking about all my problems. Sometimes I thought I wasn't sincere enough in my praises. And a lot of the time, I would stop praying because I thought it was getting me nowhere.

There are many different ways to pray, I've learned. Sometimes just taking a few minutes to talk to God, and I always mentally tell Him, "God, I invite you into my mind and heart," and then as I think of everything that's on my heart and mind, I don't feel alone, because I know that God is with me.

Sometimes my prayers are songs. If I'm singing in chapel or church, or even just listening to some good Christian/gospel music, I just lift up the lyrics to God, praising Him, thanking Him, and telling Him what's on my heart.

A lot of the time, I like to open my bible to the book of Psalms. When I read them, I can relate to a lot of them, and lift up the words of them in prayer to God.

And this is one of my favorite quotes, by an anonymous, but seemingly-wise person: "God hears your prayers, even the ones that aren't fitting into words."

So even if you don't know the words to say, God is all-knowing and there for you. He doesn't need you to speak to know what you're going through.

I could probably write a novel on all my thoughts on prayer and all the ways to pray. But I want to leave you with one last idea. With every person you know, you're relationship exists because of communication. You can't know someone you've never talked to. It's like that with God.

If you're not sure you believe, or maybe you're where I'm at, or maybe even further in your journey and stronger in your faith, I want to remind you that you can't get anywhere in your relationship with God unless you pray to him. Talk to him. If you're not sure you believe in Him, tell Him. He'll open your eyes eventually. If you're just beginning your walk with Him, talk to him, pour out your heart, you have nothing to lose with God. And if you're far down the path, I shouldn't need to tell you what to say, but thank and praise Him everyday.


"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express." -Romans 8:26

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." -Philippians 4:6-7

"Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear my prayer." -Psalms 4:1

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." -Matthew 7:1-2

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petetion, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." -Phillipians 4:6