Thoughts on Prayer

"The example of the Lord Jesus was not one of prayer in crisis only, but of prayer as a way of life."

"If we only understood the importance of prayer, we would give up sleep before we would give up prayer. Jesus did."

"Busy, busy, busy.....Work, work, work....I have so much to do today, I must spend the first three hours in prayer."

and my favorite,

"Of all the examples we can draw from Jesus' humanity, perhaps none is more compelling and more practical than the example He set for us with His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, When He asks, "Father, if Thou are willing, remove this cup," He shows us that we can ask the Father for the desire of our hearts. When Jesus concludes with "...yet not my will, but Thine be done," He teaches us the importance of surrender to the will of the Father. When that is our heart, we can bring any honest entreaty to our Lord."

He is Risen!

Isaiah 40:28-31

"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up on wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not grow weary."

This is the passage God has given me this week. He has used this to encourage me in more ways than imaginable. I love that I have a Savior who never tires, or grows weary of hearing my petitions. I am so thankful that He wants me to cry out to Him! I serve such an awesome God!

My Children

Being Thankful

I have been reflecting on all of the things that the Lord has blessed me with, and am amazed at all of the things I can think of (and I know that I am missing some)!

While I am overwhelmed with gratefulness to God for all He has blessed me with, His blessings do not surprise me. The Bible tells us that the Lord blesses those who walk upright, those who love Him and obey Him, those who trust Him, those who honor Him in their daily lives.

I am by no means perfect – I struggle with sin daily. While I am not pleased with this, I do know that if I confess my sin to the Lord, He is faithful and just to forgive and purify me.

What I do know is that I am in a good place with the Lord. I feel like I have truly learned what it means to be a follower of Christ, and that I have fully embraced it. My life is not filled with compromise, and I find it a joy to obey the Lord. I trust that He is sovereign and that He knows every single detail of my life. God is in control, not me!

Following Christ is not always easy. In fact, Jesus tells us that it requires full surrender of our lives to Him. For justification, this is about trusting in Christ alone to save us from our sin. For sanctification, it gets a lot more practical – removing the things of this world that are not honoring to Him, be it certain television shows, tabloids, gossip, etc.

There are times when I do not understand everything that God is doing. I don't get it sometimes. But I then take those times to rehearse the promises God has given me in scripture:

"For I know that plans I have for you, declare the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart."
~Jeremiah 29:11-13

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His lovingkindness is everlasting."
~Psalm 136:1

"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good, to those who love God, and are called according to His purpose."
~Romans 8:28


"Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all mean generously and without reproach, and it will be given him. But he must ask in faith, without any doubting..."
~James 1:2-6

"I love the Lord, because He hears my voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live.
~Psalm 116:1-2

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."
~2 Corinthians 1:3-4

"I will give thanks to You, O Lord, my God, with all my heart, and will glorify Your name forever."
~Pslam 86:12

Those are just a few of the verses that I have been dwelling on lately, and I have taken great joy in each one of them. It iss so freeing to know that I am not in control, but God is. He is the One who knit me in my mother's womb twenty-nine years ago, and He is the One who will guide each step of my life, no matter how short or long it may be!

Our Pastor shared a quote from Charles Spurgeon on Sunday that I absolutely loved:

"The Bible that is falling apart usually belongs to someone who is not."

I want this quote to be true of my life. I want to take everything to the Lord first. I want Him to be the One who directs my steps!