prayers
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”Therefore, IF anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap IF we do not grow weary. – Galatians 6:9 Dear Heavenly Father, we confess that some days it feels like we’ve been put through the wringer. Our emotions are frayed and our hopes and dreams have been hung out to dry. Forgive us, for in those times, we have allowed our faith to waiver. We know Your Word says that when our faith is tested, our character grows as we turn and rely once again on You. So, help us keep our focus on You and not on our trials and tribulations. We long to have that golden precious faith that Peter mentioned. “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:6-7). We pray for our local elections and the strength to keep fighting the political battles. May we not lose our ability to witness your love to EVERYONE we meet. We ask for your blessing on our rally this Sunday. Please bring the right people and let our voices be heard by many. Let us bring hope and encouragement to all who are praying for protection from a Democratic president. We pray for President Trump, his legal advisers, and campaign staff, as they challenge election results. We pray for all of the ballot counters here in Tarrant County as well as all over the country. Please put a stop to all of the fraud, Lord. And bless those volunteers who are doing it correctly. We pray for discernment for the president and vice president as they consider the needs of the country. We pray for the State Department as diplomatic relationships and negotiations are made with foreign nations. We pray for the Treasury Department as foreign and domestic economic measures are discussed and decided. You are so good, and we love You, Lord. In Jesus’ Name Amen. If – The Biggest Word in the Bible The word ‘if’ is interesting. It is one of the most important words in the Bible because it speaks directly to our responsibility to God. Most promises in the Bible have conditions and the word ‘if’ speaks to those conditions. Our responses to God’s commands affect our relationship with Him and determine our receiving from Him. Jesus used the word ‘if’ all the time. Almost half of the 574 occurrences in the New Testament are in the four Gospels. Jesus always put the ‘if’ on man’s side and never on God’s side – If man does, God will. This is a wonderful article about how the Lord uses "if" when he speaks to us, teaches us, and blesses us. https://www.hopefaithprayer.com/biggest-word-bible/  LISTEN TO THE POEM HERE:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSSqc1qG238 IF by Rudyard Kipling If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, Or being hated, don’t give way to hating, And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise: If you can dream—and not make dreams your master; If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same; If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools: If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breathe a word about your loss; If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’ If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch, If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, If all men count with you, but none too much; If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run, Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!
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 So, this is a poster given to Mike and myself many years ago. I love to look at it and remind myself of all the things that God says/believes/thinks about me. I look at it and believe every single word. I have always had a great gift of faith for which I am incredibly grateful. If He says it, then I believe it. Some people read these words and believe some of it or maybe none of it about themselves. They think He must be talking about someone else. I don't fool myself and think I have these special qualities all on my own. I know without a doubt that it is only because Jesus lives in me that I can claim these attributes or gifts. Without his healing grace and patient leadership I could achieve little to nothing. Right now I am focused on "I have the peace of God, which surpasses understanding" Phillippians 4:7 I definitely do not understand what is currently happening in this world but I trust in Him and know that any peace I feel, day to day, comes from His Spirit. It's very hard to wait in the middle of chaos, uncertainty, and downright evil. But God. This short blog fit right in with what I was feeling this morning! It’s hard to let go of what makes you anxious Matthew 6:34 – Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. The medical director of the emergency department at a hospital in San Jose, California, said his hospital is gearing up for an influx of patients suffering from “election stress disorder.” He told his staff to be “extra aware for those patients that are presenting with symptoms that could represent an acute heart attack or an acute neurologic disease like a stroke.” No doubt, 2020 has been a stressful year for all manner of reasons. Stress and anxiety do manifest in physical and mental symptoms. The political divide and election have produced a tremendous amount of stress for Americans. Rather than prompting them to meaningful conversation, for many it has degenerated into name-calling, mud-slinging, rock-throwing, and even deadly riots. Even among many Christians, stress is not being well managed. At its bottom, stress leads to addictions, divorces, hospitalizations as in San Jose, and even suicide. Among the many dynamics involved in dealing with your stresses, the most important one can be found in prayer. Even before everything else fails, pray that God would restore your peace. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7). AS THE LORD LEADS, PRAY…
5 things we can do while waiting on God Trust in Him Micah 7:7 “But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me” (NIV) Pursue our faith This is an opportunity to enter into His presence like never before. God draws us to Him when we go through trials. Proverbs 8:17 “I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.” (ESV) Serve others Remember that God gives us simple tasks now to prepare us for something bigger later. There is a purpose. Luke 16:10 “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities” (NLT) Be watchful Psalm 5:3 says, “In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly” (NIV). Be grateful Many times we become hyper-focused on one issue that we forget to look around and see what God has already done in our lives. Thessalonians 5:16–18 “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (NIV)  We do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us. – Romans 8:26 Heavenly Father, You are so good. You know how frail we are, but You never leave us without provision. Your gift to us of coming before Your presence in prayer is the stress reducer we all need right now. Restore peace to our hearts and minds. Restore a sense of calmness across America, according to Your will, we pray. Give that same peace to those who will be the ones to lead us over the coming years, for You are the God of All Peace. •We pray for our own personal clarity of mind, and that we would be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might (Ephesians 6:10). •We pray that God would help us and others to loosen our grip on our anxieties, letting go of them and placing them in the mighty hands of God. •Help us to be faithful to pray for those in authority over us, now and in the days to come. •We pray for those dealing with election stress disorder to find faith in God as One who cares deeply for them. • We pray for President Trump as he continues to fulfill the duties of his office. • We pray for the tabulation of the votes to indeed be accurate. •We pray against those in this country that continue to preach unity but actually spread hate Matthew 6:5-13
“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Today was a tough day. It started with a 2.5 hour root canal and proceeded to get worse when I came home to clean the pool of leaves and ended up falling in. With my phone in my back pocket. Yes, I know better than to do this with my phone in my back pocket and I ignored the voice of the Holy Spirit not once but twice reminding me to put it on the table away from danger. I did not wave the voice away but I did say, "okay as soon as I get back around to the other side". I never made it that far. I beat myself up for hours today over my foolish choice. As of this writing I still do not have a working phone and have spent many hours trying to fix this problem. If only I had listened. How often do we create our own problems by delaying our obedience or turning a deaf ear or blind eye to the cautions from the Spirit? I am grateful that God gives us another chance, over and over and over. He is patient with us but I have to wonder if he had a good chuckle over my fall into the pool. I don't think he would ever maliciously laugh at me or take pleasure in my struggles, but it had to look a little humorous. Especially as I climbed out of the deep end (no small feat), ran for the back porch, and hastily removed all of my wet clothing while praying that no neighbor was peering into our backyard! And since my Lord knows he has already provided a way out maybe he indulged a little. I knew immediately that God would have a way for me but it didn't help me have a better attitude for hours and hours. Another poor choice that I hope I do better with next time. Any part of the day that I could have salvaged and made productive was lost to my poor attitude and self-pity. Has he ever let me down or left me without a path forward? No. I hope that in the future I will remember how blessed I am in pretty much every single area of my life. Now, I am thinking about the real struggles faced by real people everyday and how they persevere in circumstances that I cannot even fathom. The character they must have built inside to keep on fighting even when they can see no end in sight. My "struggles" pale in comparison. My prayers tonight are that God wold reveal himself to those people and that the Holy Spirit would guide believers across their path to share the hope of Jesus Christ with them. I also pray for me - that God would strengthen me inside like them. Help me to not sulk or mope or even beat myself up. But instead, that I could resolve to forgive myself because we all make mistakes. And that I could quickly learn to embrace the lesson and then move on to be productive for Him and not waste the time He has given. None of us knows the day or the hour so we had better make the most of each day and each opportunity. James 3:2, NLT Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way. Romans 8:1, ESV There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14, NIV Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. A song to lift our spirits and remind us of His power and love Great I Am - New Life Worship Mountains shake before you, the demons run in fear At the mention of the name, king of majesty There is no power in hell Or any who can stand Before the power and the presence of the great I am PRAYER FOR OUR COUNTRY: Heavenly Father, an old hymn comes to mind where it says, ‘Mold me and make me after your will, while I am waiting yielded and still.’ We need Your healing touch in this nation and pray that you will gently mold us back into a country that brings glory to You. Like a lump of clay in Your hands, You may need to press us, pinch us, wet us down, and keep us spinning on Your potter’s wheel for a bit. But our trust is in You to craft us into what You want us to be, for Your own sake, we pray. -We pray for national healing. -We pray that Christians would seek unity with one another, regardless of political positions, knowing that it is God’s purposes that are being worked out. -We pray for election officials where vote counting, or recounting, is yet underway. -We pray that candidates, whether in victory or in defeat, will fight for the truth that Americans deserve and be ready to accept the election results when the fight is complete. -We pray for our Supreme Court Justices and ask for supernatural wisdom and courage. -We pray for clarity in understanding how God could be reshaping us through these national circumstances. Amen |
Why pray?Lifting our elections up to the Lord helps all of us keep the focus on the most important topics as well as softens our hearts to love everyone, even those with whom we may disagree. Believing differently shouldn't stop us from sharing God's love and His Word with others. Archives
May 2022
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