There are not 5 easy ways to pray!

Hello my friends … I caught up the other day and then, life … So this is …

Day 11 (on the 13th) =) so let’s get to it.

Prayer … there is no easy 5 step way to pray. Why? Because when we fully understand prayer we find that it is quite simple.

We don’t need a 5 step plan.

We don’t need a script or a prayer template, though God does provide one, which we went over in an earlier post.

I’m here to tell you that once you’ve set aside time to pray, you’ve essentially set aside time to spend with God.

Prayer is about relationship with God. With Jesus.

Prayer is a conversation with God. It’s that communication we all need in a relationship.

I sincerely just have conversations with God all day long. Sometimes in my heart and mind. Sometimes in the Spirit (or in tongues). And sometimes just me walking around the house on a normal day talking to God about what His Word says about my situation.

Sometimes it’s just to tell Him that I love Him … that’s the praise part.

Like we went over in an earlier post … The Lord’s Prayer of The Our Father (depending on your particular faith) is that template that God provided. And as funny as it is there are 4 steps in that template …

“This, then, is how you should pray:

9 “‘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 today 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 the evil one.

For thine is the kingdom,
The power, and the glory,
For ever and ever.
Amen.

Verse 9-10 are Praise to God. Acknowledging His Sovereignty.

Verse 11 is acknowledgement that God is our provision.

Verse 12 is us asking God for forgiveness as we forgive others. *Important note – if we are not forgiving others we will not benefit from this part of the prayer.

Verse 13 is us asking God for His help withstanding temptations

The ending is something we put in (it’s not in the bible therefore does not have a verse number) … it is personal praise of God and Who He.

Having shown, again, the EXAMPLE … it’s only an example, we can see what our prayers should be comprised of.

When we talk to our friends and loved ones … we are encouraging (praise), we often acknowledge what they mean to us, and what they provide for us in our relationship with them. When something goes wrong we (should) ask their forgiveness. And often we ask them to be accountability partners in life, helping us to avoid life’s pitfalls.

If we communicate with our friends and family in this way … how much more should we communicate with God on this level.

Think about it, there are people in your life that you speak and communicate with every day! Your wife, husband, mother, friends … and your children.

Do we, you and I, remember to include God in that list? We need to!

And I just said … we communicate daily with our children. Well, God seeks the same! He wants to speak into our lives daily, continually!

I promise you this … If and when you call on God the Father, Daddy, He is always going to listen and answer. He is always going to have time for you. He’s never going to send your call to voice mail!

Prayer is dependent on our relationship with God the Father. The more we communicate with God; our Love, our dreams and fears and needs and wants, the deeper our relationship with God becomes. And the more intimate the relationship the more effective the communication.

If there’s one thing most agree on it’s that a good relationship has good communication.

God is looking for you to talk to Him. What would you say to Him today.

Lord, I thank You today for always being there for me when I need to talk. Thank You for listening and guiding me in this life with Your invaluable input! Lord, You are my provision and my confidante. Your advise and guidance are priceless to me, You are never wrong. Thank You for knowing my heart and my needs. Thank You for being a great parent and know when NO is the answer and helping me to understand those times when No is the answer.
Lord, help me to always chose You first in the hard times and may I always remember to be grateful in the good times.
I Love You Father. You are my one and only.

In Jesus’ name, amen.

Thanks for stopping by for this humble little post. God bless you.

31 Days of Prayer

God’s hedge of protection … Caught Up!

Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice!
Have mercy also upon me, and answer me. Psalm 27:7

Day 10

Today’s focus has been all about protection. I’ve been praying for calm and peace against the anxiety, a lie of the enemy to distract me from praying.

I chose Prayer for my 31 Day Writing Challenge because that is where I am in my day to day. I’ve been praying more and more. And when I pray I pray God’s Word and only the solution. Because, after all, God knows what I need, often before I even know what I need.

Isn’t He wonderful.

Matthew 6:7-8

7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

I think we all begin, when learning to pray, with those begging prayers. And then we graduate to praying over and over, with many unnecessary words, as if God somehow cannot understand the severity of our need, or hear us.

Then, hopefully, we come to understand that God not only hears us, He knows our need before we do, and He answers us!

Again, isn’t He amazing!

So what is this hedge of protection? Many Christians have grown up in the Lord praying this hedge of protection. At our church we got into a conversation during fellowship about God’s Hedge! =) Wondering if it was actually in the bible and if it actually exists.

It is and it does!

In Job 1:10

“Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land.

This is satan talking to God, trying to prove that we are protected by Father and without His protection we would curse Him [God]. Most know the story. If you don’t I encourage you to read it.

So the God’s Hedge of Protection is real and working! So we continue to pray it around us and others when we feel the need of protection from the enemy and life’s perils.

So, again, I offer you a template of a prayer, to begin a discipline of praying God’s protection around us.

Hedge of Protection – adapted from Prayers that Avail much. (fill in the blanks, with “I” or the name of the loved one you are praying for.)

Father, in the name of Jesus, I lift up __________ to You and pray a hedge of protection around him/her. I thank You, Father, that You are a wall of fire round about __________ and that you set Your angels round about him/her.
I thank You, Father, that __________ dwells in the secret place of the Most High and abides under the shadow of the Almighty. We say of You, Lord, You are his/her refuge and fortress, in You will he/she trust. You cover __________ with Your feathers, and under Your wings shall he/she trust. __________ shall not be afraid of the terror by night or the arrow that flies by day. Only with his/her eyes will __________ behold and see the reward of the wicked.
Because __________ has made You, Lord, his/her refuge and fortress, no evil shall befall him/her — no accident will overtake him/her — neither shall any plague or calamity come near him/her. For you give Your angels charge over __________, to keep him/her in all Your ways.
Father, because You have set Your love upon __________, therefore will You deliver him/her. __________ shall call upon You, and You will answer him/her. You will be with him/her in trouble and will satisfy __________ with a long life and show him/her Your salvation. Not a hair of his/her head shall perish. Amen.

Scripture References:
Ezekiel 22:30
Psalm 91:4,5 AMP
Zechariah 2:5
Psalm 91:8-11 AMP
Psalm 34:7
Psalm 91:14-16 AMP
Psalm 91:1,2 AMP Luke 21:18

This prayer is adapted from the scriptures above.
Today I prayed for my mom with this today. Mainly because I was at my wits end and didn’t know what to pray. And low and behold, and fully expected, God answered me.

This prayer does one other, very important thing. It prays the solution. It is not wordy and does not beg or repeat. It speaks God’s own words and the solution. A discipline that we all must hone. We must begin to pray God’s solutions.

And when we do … those solutions manifest. The more disciplined we are in these prayer the more and more we will notice God’s Hand upon our lives and we will come to an intimate knowing of His faithfulness to His Word and to us.

After all, He is the Best Daddy!

Lord, I thank You right now for those answered prayers. I thank You for my mother’s safety and soundness. Lord I ask that You continue to provide her with sound thinking and the motivation to get those things done in her life that she needs. I thank You that these things will manifest and become routine in her life, that she will come to a place where she cherishes these gifts from You. Lord again I call the blood of Jesus Christ over her and her household and our entire family. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

Thanks for reading my friends. God bless you.

31 Days of Prayer

David’s Prayers for Protection … Psalms

Day 9 … hopefully my last catch up from behind post! =)

I hope to be on track from this point on.

That said … some situations in my family have surfaced in the last 48 hours. Mainly concerning my mother, who is elderly and lives, defiantly, alone. She adamantly refuse help and to all her children any access to the things that need to be done to make her secure physically, mentally or financially. She is nothing if not independent!

Much to my frustration.

If you’ve ever read WAY back in this blog you would have found that me and my family (parents and siblings) did not have healthy lives, upbringings or relationships. It has definitely been a rough road, our lives together. Fast forward to today … And I feel frustrated in regard to my mother’s choices for her life. And … I feel deeply and profoundly that I must do as the Word requires and honor my mother and father regardless of how I feel about our past, present or future.

Am I caring for my parents and my grandmother with the correct attitude?

I believe I am. The past is what it is … that does not negate that they are my parents and I should honor that. Period.

A good attitude does not mean that I should enter into a relationship without boundaries to safe guard myself … and that is how I came to needing this prayer today. For mother, and for my sister and myself as well.

Psalm 71 is a prayer of protection written by David, as much of the Psalms were. It begins …

In you, Lord, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
In your righteousness, rescue me and deliver me;
turn your ear to me and save me.
Be my rock of refuge,
to which I can always go;
give the command to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
Deliver me, my God, from the hand of the wicked,
from the grasp of those who are evil and cruel.

Psalm 91 is a psalm that contains ALL of the promises of God … written by Moses, it is believed. This Psalm a favorite of many amazingly confirms the above and ends (verses 14-16) with the ultimate promise of God’s love and protection!

It begins …

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
Surely he will save you
from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

The beginning of Psalm 91 is a prayer that affirms the prayer’s knowledge that God are the very thing David begs in his Psalm 71 prayer.

Much of praying needs to be the solution!

As I was writing this post, God answered the prayers I didn’t know how I was going to pray! Isn’t that amazing! He knows our hearts. He knows our needs before we can even articulate them.

Just in reading these Psalms and typing them and just putting them deeply into my heart, my prayers were answered.

That’s how prayer works, particularly when we pray God’s Word. Praying God’s Word, as I said in my last post, insures that we are praying God’s will for our lives and troubles.

God loves this … He wants us to chose him to help him. He becomes strong in our lives when we are weak and turn to Him to solve our problems.

2 Corinthians 12:9

he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

My encouragement to you is read the Psalms and use them in your prayer life, regularly. God has provided an entire Book in His Word for us to use for prayer! Amazing right?

Lord,

I thank You with all I am for the answered prayers today! I thank You that my obedience to your Word and guidance to seek You first has become a lifestyle for me, insuring Your presence in my every moment. I glorify You, I honor You, always!

Lord, thank Your Word, for the Psalms You provided for us to pray within Your will, always. Thank You.
Lord I pray a hedge of protection around me and my whole family. I pray the blood of Jesus Christ over this family right now! Lord You, alone our Rock and Redeemer. Our Refuge and Fortress. You rescue and deliver us from the enemy. Thank You Lord that You’ve given Your angels charge over us. I surrender all to You, You are the Lord of my life. Thank You Lord. May my life glorify You. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Thank you for reading my dear friends. You’re always in my prayers. God bless.

31 Days of Prayer

Oh, this day! I will rejoice …

photo credit: facebook crossmapworld

Day 8 …

Oh! This day!

Thank you, Lord, through it all I did not lose my peace. Today I lived by faith. I stepped out in faith, in the face of fear. I pray(ed) in faith. Thank you, Lord, for this faith you gave me. Thank you, for the widow to go to you first. To seek out godly people for prayer, for amazing friends with amazing prayer skills.

Lord, I look up … To You, where my help comes from. I know where my Help is … It is in You, alone.

You alone know what I need in all of today’s circumstances. I trust all to you, and I surrender all to you..

Oh, this day, Lord. I rejoiced in praise and am glad in it.

In Jesus’ name, I pray. In all thanksgiving. Amen.

Thanks for reading my loyal friends. You’re in my prayers, always. May God bless you.

  

A Prayer of Gratitude

Day 7 – Catch up.

When you wake each morning to the new day are you grateful?

Even in the turmoil of those not so great days do you find something to be thankful for?

I know … this is not always an easy thing to do. I found that it’s a discipline. A purposeful lifestyle.

I cannot count how many times, in the past, that I’ve wanted to strangle that loving, good hearted person who reminded me to count my blessings in times of trial! Even today, sometimes, I find that I feel a twinge of that familiar frustration even as I remind myself to be grateful in the face of troubles!

But God!

Yes … I have found in my life, that being thankful has not only taken the sting out of troubled situations and heartache, but it has also allowed God’s favor to work in my favor!

An example.
Several years ago, in the early days of my Christian walk, I had a car accident. Technically my fault. As I pulled into a Wawa on my way to work I heard a thought in my head. “Everyone has to have a front parking space near the door.” As I pulled around there were plenty of spots to park across the way … but there, shining in the sun was an open spot, right next to a new, green pick up that had pulled in ahead of me. I took it! I drove directly into the spot and was immediately blinded by the sun … the gentleman in the truck swung his door open and I hit it! As I hit it … not seeing anything, I, for no real reason, began to chant “Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus.” over and over, out loud.

Well the scene continued in the vain of a car accident. While I prayed and thanked God that the man had not swung his legs out when I pulled in, the police were called and insurance was exchanged and reports were filled out. I was spent at the end. Nervous and fearful, but praying.

Fast forward to the end … This accident did not garner me a ticket. I was not sued. It didn’t show up on my insurance. NOTHING!

That was God. That’s what being thankful to God, even in our simple day to day lives garners us!

The Favor of God.

Even when bad things happen, we are blessed with a God solution! Amen.

I may have said this already, and I might say it again, and again. I pray God’s Word back to Him. In the Old Testament Moses regularly reminded God what He had said and promised. This is essentially the same thing. Praying God’s Word insures the we are praying according to God’s Word.

We cannot go wrong that way! It works EVERY time!

So right now I pray … My prayer of Gratitude today.

Father, I thank You for this day you have made. I will purposely rejoice and be happy in this day.

I rejoice always, and pray continually, giving You thanks in all circumstances; for this is Your will for me, God, in Christ Jesus. I will not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, I will present my requests to You, God. I thank You for Your peace, God, which transcends all understanding, that it guards my heart and my mind, in Christ Jesus. Thanks be to You, God! For You give me the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Help me to thank You God, as I ought, and rightly so, because my faith is growing more and more, and the all the love I have for others is increasing. I Give thanks to You, Lord, for You are good; and Your love endures forever. I will let the peace of Christ rule in my heart, since as a member of one body I am called to peace. And I will be thankful. I will devote myself to prayer, being watchful and thankful. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

The Scriptures below are all in the prayer above.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Philippians 4:6-7
1 Corinthians 14:57
2 Thessalonians 1:3
1 Chronicles 16:34
Colossians 3:15
Colossians 4:2

Thanks for dropping by to read! You’re always in my prayers. God bless you.

31 Days of Prayer

Prayer Day 6 … Catching Up.

Day 6

Hello my Dear and Faithful Readers,

As you can see I’m attempting quick little catch ups, as my life is spinning away at the speed of light here! Plus, I did make the decision to participate in the 31 Day Writing Challenge on October 3rd! Crazy, right!

Anyway … this and the next two will be short but direct prayer! I hope you are blessed and enjoy. God bless you!

God’s Peace

Philippians 4: 4-7

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

What most of us seek in our day to day life is a semblance of peace. But why seek the appearance of something when we could have the actual thing?

The Word, here in Philippians 4, gives us clear instruction to attain TRUE Peace … the peace of God.

The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, 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.

Lord,

We know you are near. Nearer to us than anyone could ever imagine they could get! You live not only among us, but in us. And for that Lord, I am continually grateful. You not only walk beside us, You reside within our very being. Such a wonderful miracle when realized. Lord I thank You today for this intimacy and ask You that all may enjoy thins intimacy with You. I thank You that Your peace is attainable because we acknowledge You within us and trust our lives to You alone. Lord, teach them, teach me, that this intimacy is what guards our hearts and mind. That to truly attain this day to day relationship with You is as simple as opening Your Word and allowing it to live and breath within us. I honor and praise You for all You are. For Your love and patience with us. And I thank You Lord, from the depths of my being that I am able at this moment to share Your peace with You. Such comfort it is to this sorrowful heart of mine. Just the warmth of Your heart beating within mine brings me a joy even as I sorrow. I pray that everyone may feel this, may benefit from Your peace even in the turmoil of this life. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

Thank you again, sweet reading friends, for stopping by to my humble little blog here. You’re always in my prayers. God bless.

31 Days of Prayer

Loved …

Day 5

I wanted to express something that I have a hard time putting words to.

My husband died just short of 6 months ago. And as a young widow, (I’m 50, and still find the feel of the word widow strange in my mouth somehow), I am so blessed to have this feeling at this time.

Like I said, the love of my life, my life partner, the man that I KNOW God made for me passed away. And in all of the pain and sorrow and numbness this one thing has not changed, in all of the tornado of change that has encompassed my life these last several months.

I can still FEEL the love of my husband!

A good friend said to me yesterday, she drug me out of my vortex of depression for lunch, she said …
“What you and Don had was enviable.” And she went on to say the she wasn’t sure if she and her husband had what Don and I had. Right now I am praying that she come to this place in her relationship.

She expressed further that everyone who knew Don and I, as a couple, knew that we were ONE.

See it’s God thing. We lived our live, as best we could, according to God’s plan for us.

God has a plan for us … all of us. And when we enter into this plan of His … people see it. And we feel it, even after it seems to have ended … See God’s plan for us NEVER ends.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 Amplified Bible 

God Set Eternity in the Heart of Man
11 He has made everything beautiful and appropriate in its time. He has also planted eternity [a sense of divine purpose] in the human heart [a mysterious longing which nothing under the sun can satisfy, except God]—yet man cannot find out (comprehend, grasp) what God has done (His overall plan) from the beginning to the end.

He has set eternity in the heart of every man. A desire for the divine in all areas of their lives!
And that’s what I believe I am feeling!

I can sit quietly and still feel the depths and fullness of my husbands love. That love did not go to the grave with My Love … as My Love is not in that grave, as Jesus is not in that tomb … He is in eternity with Father God.

This fullness of love I feel is how I know exactly where my Donald is and what he is doing.

Not once have I wondered about that. Not once have I felt the loss of Don’s love for me. Not once have I wondered if I’ll ever be loved again.

I think I honestly worried about that loss of love more when he was alive and I believed that somehow he’d leave like everyone else had.

So in light of this writing challenge theme I chose … Prayer … let me pray.

Lord,

May each of your children, today, feel this amazing fullness of love that You’ve provided for all us. May each of us recognize that desire for the divine that You’ve put in our hearts and help us to pursue that divine, help us to pursue You, without distraction. I thank You for this Love that You have for us!

Lord, I honor and praise You today, and everyday, for this amazing Love you have for me. That You would gift me with the continuing Love of my sweet, beloved husband.

Lord, I know that You know my heart, but I must acknowledge that I am in awe of Your caring and loving protection of me and my heart at this time of my life, and I ask that You continually extend that Love to all of Your children. I pray that they come to such an intimate relationship with You that they are able to feel just what I feel at this moment. I pray that they have a revelation knowledge of Your Love.

Touch each and everyone of them Lord. Soothe their every sorrow, as You have and continue to soothe me. You alone are worthy of my praise Lord. May my every word, action and breath glorify You, Lord.

In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

Thanks for stopping by to read my quick little 31 day catch up posts. Short but sweet and from my heart. You’re in my prayers. God bless you.

31 Days of Prayer

Prayer … Just an example …

Day 4

God gave us an example of prayer … remember, it’s an example!

Matthew 6:9-13New King (NKJV)

9 In this manner, therefore, pray:

Our Father in heaven, (Addressing God in His sovereignty.)
Hallowed be Your name. (Praising and acknowledging His name and His Holiness.)
10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven. (Acknowledging Him for His hand to move in our lives.)

11 Give us this day our daily bread.(Acknowledging Him as our provision.)
12 And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors. (Asking for forgiveness as we promise to extend the same to all.) 
13 And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one. (Acknowledging Him as our protector.)
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen (Giving Him the Honor and Glory for all things!)

This prayer outlines how we should pray, when we pray continually. We should be acknowledging, honoring and glorifying God in all or our prayers.

This said … this is God template for prayer. All prayer is personally ours, individually. The way I pray is different from the way you pray; and that’s perfectly fine. God built each of us differently and He knows us personally. So there is no ONE way to pray.

I have several prayer books … The one I use regularly is …

However, I use these as templates … they were originally someone else’s personal prayers according to God Word. So they make researching the scriptures for God’s will in my prayer life ultra easy. But I rarely pray the prayers directly from this, or any other prayer book, because my needs, while similar are vastly different from what the people who wrote the prayers in the books for themselves at the time of their need.

I encourage you to find examples that fully acknowledge, honor and glorify God in prayer to help you to pray more effectively in your life!

Lord,

I thank You for the examples of Godly prayer You have provided for us! I pray I (we) always remember to give you the proper Glory and Honor and Acknowledgement in all of our prayers. And I thank You from the depths of my heart for all of Your faithful and loving answers to prayer. Let us always remember that You always hear us, always answer us and never forsake us.

In  Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

Thank you, my reader friends! You’re in may prayers. God bless you!

31 Days of Prayer

Prayer … The Final and Necessary Piece of the Armor of God.

* Reader FYI: I’m about to do a whole lot of Catch Up here for the 31 Day Write Challenge. I have 5 day to catch up with … and God gave me at least 3 of those days worth of Prayers! God is good.

Day 3 ~ The FULL Armor of God!

The Armor of God and Prayer

The Whole Armor of God
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,[c] against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— 19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—

We’ve been taught for years to “put on” the Full Armor of God … and we followed the silly teaching of acting out this process. Distracting us from what “putting on” truly means.

The “putting on” of the Armor of God means to apply each piece of the Armor to our lives. And in all of those teachings in the Faith movement of God verse 18 was not given as much attention as it needed.

To honestly apply the Armor of God to our live we MUST pray. It is presented in scripture as an indispensable spiritual exercise of a well-prepared Christian. As we put on the whole Armor of God we must remain prayerful.

“Paul is essentially saying, ‘Now look, you have the whole armor of God, but don’t forget to call upon God who promises you the provision of His strength and armor. He who gives you the weapons can also teach you how to use them effectively to overcome all the wiles of the enemy.” ~ Pastor V. Netzel, Bayshore Fellowship, NJ

Prayer is our connection to ask and receive from God the special divine help we will need in our spiritual battles and day to day lives.

As Christians we can become complacent about the necessity of prayer. Especially those of us who enjoy frequently answered prayers! We believers must avoid slipping into spiritual egotism, a place prayer cannot thrive.

I look at it this way. Our prayers are our everyday communication with God the Father. Seriously, I just have talks, conversations with God, and I regularly see His hand on my life and in my circumstances. Thankfully I have not come to a place where I am so full or proud of my standing with God that I don’t feel as though I must prayer.

In fact I continue to be in such awe of the power of my (our ) prayers that I continue praying with joy.

Prayer is our encouragement … particularly when we pray the Truth of the Word of God! It keeps our spiritual weapons and armor well maintained. Prayer binds it all together. It strengthens the believer and guides him in his day to day and especially in times of struggle.

It is the open line of communication with our commanding officer as soldiers in the army of God! It is our call to our Father God for security and comfort. It is our personal talks with Daddy in our day to day.

Prayer is the answer to all our needs and the way we personally honor and glorify our Father Creator.

So …

Father, right now I give You all the honor and glory that comes from my life. My successes and victories are Yours, a gift of Your love to me. I thank You for that, always.

Father today I pray that all of us, as your children and soldiers, learn how to properly apply Your armor to our day to day lives, not just in times of crisis. I thank You that we have this ability through You Son, Jesus. And that through Your Holy Spirit we will be guided in the proper application of Your armor and that we complete and secure it with continual prayer for the battle, the day to day and for one another.

Lord, I pray that each one who reads this be given revelation knowledge of Your Armor and that they begin to pray continually. I pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.

Thanks for dropping by and reading my faithful friends! You are in my prayers. God bless

31 Days of Prayer

Prayer Changes Lives ….

Day 2

Prayer changes lives. My life is proof of that, literally.

This challenge will, hopefully, change the course of my grieving process. Which after 5 months I have found I need it to end. There’s a quote from a U2 song … it goes something like:

” There is no end to grief. There is no end to Love.”

These are so true.

So anyway I have gathered my tools for this 31 Day Prayer Challenge of mine …

I literally began my walk with the Lord 13 years ago … (Just an interesting and just realized side note – my husband and I married after 13 years together. This year we were married 13 years; and he died in our 13th year of marriage … and now my solitary walk with God began 13 years after my husband I first got saved. I’m sensing a theme.) We will have to wait and see what God is doing with all those 13s!

So the little prayer book is my husbands and when I opened it he had the page marked on “The Home” chapter. So I will begin there …

Lord,

I thank you today that my home, my family, is established on your word; the utmost of sound and good foundation. Through godly wisdom my home is securely built. Jesus is the Lord of this house . Whatever our task Lord we roll all of works upon you, I commit and trust them wholly to you. I thank you that you cause my thoughts to become agreeable to your will and so my plans shall be established and succeed.

Lord, you alone are my sufficiency. You are my husband and my supply. The Lord of my life; spirit, soul and body. I surrender all to you. I entrust it all to your protection and care.

As for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Dear readers, I try to prayer scripture always. I do this because God is bound by His Word and always honors it. Therefore when we pray His word we can be certain that we are honestly praying His will for our lives and situations. His Word is the perfect prayers for our day to day lives. There is no situation that we encounter in our lives that is not covered in the Love and Wisdom of God’s Word.

During this challenge I hope to help you become active in God’s Word in prayer. For me, I’ve found it to be the only way for me to get out of my own way in my prayer life. =)

Meaning I cannot manipulate God’s Word. To pray it I must study it for it to manifest in my life. And like I said in the very beginning of this post … Prayer changes lives … it has markedly changed mine.

Thank for stopping by and reading! You are in my prayers. God bless.

31 Days of Prayer