A Prayer for You and I

Father in the name of Jesus, I come before You today giving You praise and thanking You for being my God. For Your help, protection, blessing, mercy and grace.  Without You I am nothing and I thank You for never leaving or forsaking me.  Lord I ask that You forgive sin and iniquity in my life, known and unknown.  I ask that You bless the people that come across this post, that You help them in the way they need help. Only You know what we all truly need and I submit my will to Your will right now.

Lord help us all to know You better, to quiet the voices that tell us no, that say we won't be anything, that speak against our purpose, teach us to war in the spirit instead of the flesh.  Teach us to speak life into our situations and to shun evil.  Above all draw us closer to You, let us have the like mindset of Christ, let us love what You love, and hate what You hate.  Let us be anxious for nothing, but by all things in prayer let our request be made known unto You.  In your mighty Son Jesus Name, Thank you Father, -Amen.

The God of the Do-Overs

Are you in need of a do-over?

How about a do-over of the do-over???

Well thank goodness we have an advocate with the Father that knows we not gonna get it right 100% of the time.  He knows we won't get it right not even 75% of the time. So our Father, the God that loves us as His own, gives us renewed mercies and a second chance.  Sometimes a third, and fourth chance too!


I found myself in need of a do-over and to be honest it wasn't my first. The enemy tried to make me feel bad, like a failure, like God would be too disappointed in me to help me.  But Satan is a liar, the bible calls him the father of lies. The God that we serve is faithful.  He knows that we won't get it right all the times, its one of the reasons we get a new mercy every morning (Lamentations 3:23).  I have to admit I let the devil talk for a while, so much so that I started to feel physically sick.  Then I was reminded of Ephesians 6, where it tells us to take on the whole armor of God.  Our Father has given us provisions to help protect us from the lies and darts of the enemy, we have to use them.

When life starts screaming at you, we have to learn not to scream back, but to take the authority we have in Jesus and make it sit down and get it together.  If you need a second chance to do it right, take it.  God didn't renew mercy in the morning for nothing.  He is not the out of luck God.  He is not the too bad, so sad God.  And he's definitely not the too little too late God.  He is Merciful, Compassionate, our Helper!  He is the abundance God.  Everything about Him is abundance and all that are in Him enjoy abundance.  So I encourage you to take your inheritance.  Live the life God has planned for you, and if you loose your way remember there is no condemnation in Christ.  All you have to do is repent, ask for forgiveness (1 John 1:9) and that grace and mercy is sure to come your way.

God Bless U 

Work your Negative into a Postive

In this everyday life we are surrounded by circumstances and issues.  So how do we keep a good attitude, a right mind, and a joyous spirit???  It's about your attitude.  Before you ever go through something you need to figure out what your approach will be to get through it. 

I used to be a super negative person.  Not because I wanted to be, but it was a predisposition to my own life circumstances.  As a result of previous experiences, I always looked for the bad.  Even when I was on "Great Street"  I continually looks for "Terrible Alley".  In my mind, nothing good could last for long, especially not to me. 

As I have gotten more familiar with God and His word, He started showing me my own behavior for what it was.  Negativity, with no Hope. 

Being negative is a tool the enemy gives us to keep us down.  To keep us from living our purpose, and most importantly to keep us from living the life God desires for us to live with hope of goodness and abundant life.  Notice I said the enemy gives it to us.  Once we accept the negativity there is no need to hang around because it's solely at our discretion whether we carry it with us or discard it immediately.  There is a spirit of self doubt, low self esteem, and anger that can come with negativity.  So we have to be fully prepared to deal with it and not let it linger.

Notice I did not write "turn" your negative into a positive.  From experience I know that it's not that easy.  I know that retraining your thought process is hard work.  I know that you have to work everyday not to let negativity creep in. I today, still work extra hard to remain positive in tough times, and not to allow myself to fall down the rabbit hole of negative thoughts.  If you were like me, sometimes I wasn't happy until I shared my negative thoughts. I would be at work and something would change in procedure, and it was my greatest joy to get with my coworkers and complain, then call my mom and complain, then get home to my husband and complain some more.  But, where did it get me???  I was the only one feeling like crap, and of course the people that allowed me to come dump my madness on to them felt bad too. 

As I started living out God's word and drawing closed to Him, I realized just how like people attract each other.  I was ready to live in the promises of God, but those around me had set up residence in Terrible Alley.  It made me realize what a deficit I was when I was like that.  So I started taking baby steps, the negativity did not just go away, I had to work the bad into good.

Reciting scripture is powerful.  Even if you don't get it all the way.  Even if you are not feeling it.  Speak that scripture into the atmosphere and you will feel a chance.  Then I started writing down my negative thoughts as they occurred.  When I wrote them down I would then think of an alternative to combat it. Once I did that, I would actively and symbolically throw them away.  Yes, there were times I had a trash can full by the middle of the day.  What that help me do is not to internalize what I was feeling.  Most importantly when the negative would come and get in the way, and I could not scripture it away, nor write it away, I would pray.  I would pray until I felt better.  I would tell and still do say to God over and over again, "this is not how I want to think, please give me the mind of Christ.  It was not, and has not been easy, but it works.  I find myself on the positive side of things now.  I don't look for the bad, I expect the good.  Why, because scripture tells me that "all things work for the good of those that love God" (Rom 8:28).  And I do love Him, with all my heart I love Him.

Pray to God, tell Him you love Him and that  you want to change your mindset, that you are in need of a renewed mind.  Purpose within yourself that you will work your negative into a positive with the strength of God on your side and go ahead and walk it out starting today.  I promise this change is for the better!

~God Bless U

Wise Words from CS Lewis

Don't ask God to remove the hard parts, they are for your making. Ask God to help you through them, to mold you along the way, and to reveal His heart in the process.
-Christina

Trust God

Jeremiah 29:11 tells us, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope”. 

I was up early this morning working on a chapter of my book and this is one of the scriptures God gave me.  At a time like this I find it to be great comfort and encouragement that He has my life in His hands and that He's just as concerned about what I'm concerned about.  Thank you Jesus, for covering me, for strengthening me, and for loving me. 

I want to remind you all the there is no better place to be than in the Will of God.  You can be sure that He has mapped out ever contingency, ever turn, and every road for you.  He wants us to believe in Him and know that He has the best plan. Don't waste your days worrying and questioning God about your life.  Just trust Him to lead and guide you to greener and more fruitful pastures.  Remember the wilderness experience with the children of Israel?  Joshua 5:6 and Numbers 32:13 tells us they moved about in the wilderness for 40 years  because of their murmuring and complaining, and their unbelief which caused God's anger. Don't be like them! Trust that God will lead you, and trust Him to prosper you, and trust Him to strengthen you and to be with you always. 

I encourage you today in this,

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding. 
(Proverbs 3:5-6)

God Bless U

Tonight's Prayer

The Lord is my Sheppard
I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in still  waters
He restores my soul.
He leads me in the path of righteousness
for His name sake.
Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
I shall fear no evil.
For You are with me
Your rod and Your staff,  they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
In the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil my cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life
And I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever,
Amen.

*23 Psalms was on my heart tonight. It is a timely prayer, no matter the situation or circumstance. Pray it in heart felt sincerity and experience what God has set aside especially for you.

God Bless U

Count it All Joy

I attended a funeral today and found I had a few things on my mind.  I didn't know the deceased very well, but some members of her family are very near and dear to me.  I found myself sitting among those grieving and asking God to just help them. Help them get through this day, help them get through their grief, and to help them heal in every part of their lives.  In asking God to help them it made me take account of just how helpless I was feeling in the situation.  I was among these hurting people and there was nothing I could do to take their pain away, after all there is no real humanly comfort in death.  That kind of comfort is spiritual and it comes from God. I really started to pray and ask God to reveal His Word to me in this and it wasn't until I sat down to share with you all that I caught it real good.  The scripture of James 1:5 keeps coming to my mind, "Count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience."  The part that really resonates with me is the count it ALL joy.  In other words not just the good times, or happy times, but all times. 

 

As I started to meditate on this I began to ask God how can I find joy in a funeral and people's grief?  Then He began to show me that many things take place during these sad occasions.  Often times funerals and births have a way of healing rifts in the family. They bring people closer.  They also remind us of our humanness.  If we have distorted our focus to the world these occasions serve to put our focus back where it belongs. On GOD.  People rededicate themselves to God , so that they are found ready when their departure comes and some just come to realize that death is not something to fear, but to learn that it too is part of the plan in God's will.    Grief certainly has it's place, but God wants us to lean on Him for strength and healing.  Also lend your ear to what He may be speaking in these types of seasons.  Remember that all things work for the good of those that love God and that are the called to His purpose. 

 

God Bless U

Faith in Action

Struggles come to wear us down and to make us feel like all hope is gone.  Whether your struggle is with your family, on your job, bills, school, health, physical challenges, or anything else. I want to encourage you that your breakthrough has to be steeped in hope!

Hope is faith in action.  Think about this... have you been out in public and watched a kid get excited about something, then run over to their parent jumping up and down asking can they have whatever it is?  That's the concept of faith in action. Hope!  The kid believes the parent will get them what they want, so they are actively anticipating receiving it. That's HOPE!

The key to overcoming those struggles that come to weigh you down, throw you off course, and remove you from your destiny is your faith in action. The Word tells us Satan comes to kill, steal, and destroy. That's true, he comes to kill your dreams, steal your joy, and destroy your hope. Don't let him!  You have the power to overcome every obstacle that gets in your way!  Just don't lose hope!

In this world we are taught to be critical and doubt everything. That is the enemy's biggest trick. Unbelief will, can, and tries to take everything from its victim.  Have you ever met a person that just didn't believe anything. Couldn't take your word for nothing. You could say " it's such a nice day outside". But before you can form your next sentence they replied " I don't know, it looks like rain to me"! Unbelief is miserable.  And it keeps the company of hurt, pain, and deceit.

But Hope!  Hope opens doors. Hope brings life. It brings fullness of joy. With hope you are an overcomer! You're more than a conquer! 

Now don't just hope for anything!  And hope isn't about wants. You can hope for a fancy red car, but that won't bring you life. Lol. No, what you hope for is Jesus. Everything is found in Him! When we have faith in God, and we put that faith into action and place our hope in all that He is, all that He has for us, and who we can become in Him our situations start to change. Our struggles don't have the same hold on us as before.  We come to understand that He supplies everything that we need and we can turn that struggle over to Him. After all there is nothing too big for God. Unbelief binds, but Jesus frees!

I dare you to hope. I dare you to try God at His Word. I promise if you do, you'll never be the same again. All it takes is faith the size of a mustard seed, and God will respond with a whole orchard worth of love and power!  Put your faith in action, and let the hope flow!  He's waiting.

~God Bless U

Everyday Opportunities

I often struggle with what is profitable to blog. I never want to just write for the sake of publishing a post, or throw something together. I always look to be found downloading from heaven. Not my will, but God's will be done. 

Just this morning I realized God's not going to say write this especially for All things by Prayer! When He told me to start this blog he made it real clear that this would be a journey for those that come across it and for me. It would be my experiences, steeped in scripture that would provide the context for this blog. Thank you Jesus, for insight, for settling me down to receive and be reminded of your purpose. I thank you for the opportunity to share your Word and spread the Truth!  Amen.

Be encouraged man, woman, or child that has come to read this. The lesson:  God's not always going to show you the grand purpose of things. Some things He calls you to do may even seem small and useless against this great big world.  But be encouraged to just play your part! He knows better, and has better than what we can ever imagine.  Just ask Naaman (2 Kings 5)!

Do it, not because it makes you happy, or brings you glory, nor because it's popular, nor easy.  Do as God has instructed because He said so. There is no better reward, nor is there a better place to be than in God's Will.  I look forward to sharing the small, everyday things with you for both of our growths.  After all this is "ALL Things"! 

~God Bless

Pray about Everything, All the time!

Prayer is always right. Some people look at prayer like some big colossal thing that people who are religious do. That's not true. Prayer on its most basic level is communication with God. So in essence communicating with God is always right!

The Word says through prayer and supplication let your requests be made known unto God. The Word also says we should always pray. I believe that's because God wants us to stay in constant communication with him. No matter what we do, no matter what we try, even when we miss the mark, as long as we communicate with God we can't go wrong.

"Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up."
    ~Luke 18:1

Jesus is always and forever will be our greatest example. He told the disciples we should always pray. We also see that He stayed in constant prayer (communication) with God. I know everyone is probably familiar with WWJD, What Would Jesus Do. I know it sounds corny, but really and truly if you just ask yourself, you'll probably come up with the answer... Jesus would most likely pray before doing anything else. 

So I encourage you to be like Jesus,  Pray Always!

~God Bless

Run on...

I have been battling with myself about continuing this blog. Like all things that God has entrusted to us, it's important that we keep His vision and not our own.  I want so badly not to mess up the things of God. I want people to be encouraged and I want everybody to come to this blog and receive the information they are searching for.

After taking some time off I feel not only compelled to continue, but encouraged to run on with the vision God gave me.  

I pray my own strength and ask that you continually make mention of me in your prayers that I stay and WORK in my calling.

God Bless U & Keep U in All Things