Welcome back, Curlfriends! I hope and pray you’re welcoming this new month with great expectation from God. To have healthy expectations from anyone, we must first know the Person with whom we’re relating. To expect God to move in your life in any way, you have to understand His nature…does what you desire fall in line with what He will do and what He desires for you? How do we begin to understand His nature? By getting close to Him. That is what we’ll discuss in this month’s blog entitled A Lasting Flame: Three PractiCURL Faith Steps.

I presented the above dance work in graduate school shortly after deciding to prematurely end my studies. I was in one of my emptiest spiritual spaces - the most estranged I’d ever felt from God. My faith fire was low. I’m still surprised I could muster up this much choreographic material to complete the semester. Unbeknownst to me, I was at the perfect weakness for God to establish a better, more long-lasting, and pure relationship with Him. I had come to the very end of my own embers.

Now, we do not desire for our fire for the Lord to get to this level before we hear from Him and are strengthened again. Our desire is to remain in the healthy in-between of smoldering (unproductive, slow-burning with nothing but smoke) and conflagration (a hugely disastrous firestorm), but the beauty of God is that even with an embers-low faith, the opportunity for restoration is always there. With God, embers are just as hot and useful as a full-flamed fire. This low place allows God to shift how we see Him, ourselves, and our journey together. Honest to God, He will use any chapter of life to reestablish healthy intimacy with you.

I want to share the practiCURL steps He took me through in my fragility as I restarted my faith fire, teaching me how to healthily handle the smoldering and conflagration phases of growing with Him.

1. Prayer (tinder) - In fire-starting, tinder is an easily combustible material that ignites a flame. It is the smallest of all materials you’ll use.

   Spiritually, let’s consider the smallest as the most intimate and personal of experiences. It’s what you grab first. You must steal away moments in life to devote to hearing from God, just as Jesus did (Luke 5:16). How? - with Seclusion, by Speaking Out, and Being Still. The best prayer time is planned. Now, not all prayers are planned and definitely do not require scheduling - thank You, Father! Sometimes we’ve been traveling on our road of life and it’s beyond time to rest so we gather the first fire-making materials we see (use the words and knowledge we have right then) to rewarm our souls, and prayer that’s spontaneous like this STILL WORKS WONDERS. However, coming prepared with your tinder results in a miraculous experience. Tinder: a grateful heart, a scriptural story, a song, a list, and a plea.

   Curl check: Have you ever spent special time with a good friend? In the time together, you go from lauding their amazingness “Curl, you’re so smart,” to recalling a time y’all did something unbelievable together “you remember that time at the beach when…” then singing a particular song that jogs your memory of how long y’all have been friends “Motown Philly back again…” You start listing out people you both know, thinking about the last times you all hung out, and most times after all those hours you hug and depart, sending each other off with an “I love you, take care, please be careful, have a great week, be blessed, let me know when you make it home, etc. Prayer with God should be one of those special times as well.

   Come with vocabulary full of reverence toward God, laud over Him - Promise-Keeper, El Shaddai, Protector, Lover, Redeemer, etc. Thank Him for sharing His goodness with you and you’ll witness your body shift into a place of peace. Talk to Him about a scriptural story that’s moved you - as a reminder of the marvelous nature with which His Word has always been true and His character dependable. Let that recollection lead you to sing a song describing His grace and mercy “You’ve been so good to me…” Then get beyond yourself and lift up hopes that God will do the same and more for your prepared list of brothers and sisters, strangers, children, leaders, nations, the demon-possessed, and the unbelieving. Close your part of the conversation with a personal plea considering all you’ve talked about. Finally, sit in quiet stillness for the Holy Spirit to speak over all you’ve said. ***Keep a pen and paper/notes app close by because the gems He lays on you, you’ll want to jot them down immediately. Matthew 6: 5-15 (The Model Prayer)
   Prayer is where we hear from God

2. Bible Reading/Studying (kindling) - this is not a step two per se, but a must-have partner to tinder material is kindling material. This is larger in size, keeping a fire going beyond its start. It increases in size compared to tinder.

   Recalling scriptural stories in your prayer experiences is only possible when you’ve spent dedicated time in the Word learning God’s ways toward mankind (Psalm 1:2-3; 1 John 2:3). The Holy Spirit is your greatest teacher here (John 14:26; 1 John 2:27). Check out the image at the bottom with Bible translations from most Word-for-Word to those most thought-for-thought, and consider adding a new translation to your studying collection.

   Curl Check: during Bible reading, respect the type of learner that you are: auditory, visual, hands-on, and approach your study time in that manner. I like to write out full chapters to commit them to memory. I use many translations, and sometimes all at once, with tons of questions etched in the margins of my notes. I verbally talk it out: “what does a king’s train represent? (Isa. 6:1)” “why was it important to know that the dead man’s mother was a widow? (Luke 7:12)” “what happened to the tribes who did not go into Canaan? (Num. 32:1)” “was the requirement of a sacrificial lamb due to Cain’s act of the first murder - You needed to reverse that curse too? Make even death submit to You? (Gen. 4:8-11)” “Did Jesus tell the woman to come to Him instead of the other way around because He knew of her great ability even in her weakness - she could still push her way back to faith? (Luke 13:12)”

   I’ve found that at the most unplanned times, the Holy Spirit will send answers my way - eye-opening revelations that radically change my thinking. So, don’t be afraid to ask questions AND leave them alone. Lastly, Commentaries and Bible Companions are great resources, especially, for cultural information about the times/context/norms of Scriptural days. Overtime, they help greatly with your observation skills. However, for understanding Jesus’s commands, God’s ways, and deepening your discernment, my humble suggestion is to use them sparingly so as not to create a crutch on anyone else’s interpretations. Heed to the Holy Spirit. Wait on the Father. Be okay staying in the unknown on some spiritual things until OR if God wants to reveal them to you (Daniel 2:22; Matthew 11:25; 1 John 1:5.).

   Last thing: give yourself grace. You’re learning. It won’t be quick, easy, or always on schedule. If you are regularly a morning or evening “quiet time” person or you’re just a stickler to schedules, and the day doesn’t allow for your timeline - you overslept, an emergency arose, you’re depressed, you’ve busy - find some other time. Do not pigeonhole the privilege of intimacy with God to one time of day and forfeit your opportunity at communion with Him because it does not happen how you expect. Your kindling material will not always look the same, be in the same place, or produce the same results (same faith fire in you).
   Reading/studying is where we learn from God

3. Sharing (fuel) - dried out wood is the largest material used in fires and works best when it comes from a dead tree.

   That’s a whole word! A curl that’s emptied herself of her ego, opinions, fleshly desires, and selfish perceptions of God is the largest, or in this case the most useful material in the Body. We’ve heard that we must die to ourselves (Matthew 16:24-27; Gal. 2:20; 1 Peter 2:24). Well, in sharing God’s Word and His plan in the earth (Ephesians 1:3-14 (ref. 9 &10); 2 Peter 2:13), dying to yourself is the most necessary task. This is not time to be the one who says it best, knows they’re right, or cannot be corrected (Romans 12:1-3). After we've practiced prayer and dedicated study, as Jesus instructed His disciples, it’s time for us to venture outside of our safe bubble - go to work, school, the store, a gathering, etc. - and follow the opportunities God sets up for us to speak His name, to let our fire warm others (Matt. 28:19-20). Someone in front of you at checkout unexpectedly gets an extra discount and looks around in awe, you could jovially respond “God is so good, good for you!” Give God glory in all things at all times. The man at the street corner would like a burger, fries, and soda from the restaurant right down the street, and you packed your lunch with money to spare. Be the blessing you pray God gives to others.

   Curl check: We must work against our insecurities, humble ourselves, avoid conflagration, put God in the forefront of our minds, and remember that the fire He’s set in us is for the betterment of others as well. Whether fragile or in a strengthened season, we are always in a good place to be useful to others and God (2 Cor. 12:9-10). At the third step in creating our faith fire, our intimacy level has reached beyond private time to great influence. We share what we know about who God is, what He's done for us, and His nature to do greater going forward.

   Sharing fuels our faith and fulfills our purpose (discipleship)

Would you believe that you can and should do all of these in ONE day? Yes, the daily practice of Tinder (Prayer), Kindling (Reading/Studying), and Fuel (Sharing) is necessary for us to be strengthened in our journey. In these, energy and power are reestablished. Begin to commit your days to the practiCURL steps and watch God take your fire to higher heights - greater peace, deeper discernment, abundance of joy, overwhelming healing, radical revelations, soul prosperity, and an inextinguishable relationship with the Holy One.

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I love you, Curls!

Shine, Smile, and Love Curlfriends!

Fire analogy inspired by Premier Firewood Co. Article