Tag Archive | prayer

Strong Support

Sep19

“For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. . .” — 2 Chronicles 16:9

Are you completely His? If you are then He has found you and wants to strongly support your heart. A heart that desires His will, not our own. A heart that wants to abide with us. Can you imagine a God, Creator of us, wanting to abide with us? Well, He does. His desire is to commune with His creation. All of His creation. Be in prayer for God’s creation. Hearts are needing to be turned toward Him because we all need the strong support of God.

Have a blessed day knowing that you have the strong support of God with you (if).

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

Do You Pray?

Sep17

Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way. — 1 Samuel 12:23
I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience the way my forefathers did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day, — 2 Timothy 1:3

Do you pray for others? Prayer opens the door to share the gospel with others. Are you praying for your unsaved friend, neighbor, family member? Can your prayers make a difference in the lives of other people? Jesus is actively working to bring all to Him. In prayer we can see where God is working and be open to His calling. Pray for the salvation of others.

Do you pray for others? Do the burdens of others burden you? God cares and hears the prayers of His saints as they pray for others. Your love for God is demonstrated in your willingness to intercede for others just as Jesus intercedes for you.

Do you call upon the Lord on behalf of others? The battle is still raging and we need to pray for one another to stay steadfast in our walk with the Lord. Pray for strength for one another. Praying for one another builds community, unity and steadfast love for one another.

Do you count it a privilege to pray for others? Are you thankful for every opportunity to pray others? How is your intercessory prayer life? Are you fulfilling God’s call to pray for one another? Only you can answer that question but God already knows the answer.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

Quiet Time

Sep12

In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice; In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch. — Psalm 5:3

Did God hear from you this morning? Did you give Him glory, confess your transgressions, thank Him and then ask? Are you eagerly waiting this morning for the answers to your prayers? Are you looking for the glory of God to be revealed today? Quiet time is a special time and puts a new perspective on the “same old routine”.

Have a blessed weekend.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

Prayer

Sep11

For I hope in You, O Lord; You will answer, O Lord my God. — Psalms 38:15

YOU WILL ANSWER,
O Lord my God. (period, end)

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

Power of Prayer

Aug30

The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, And rescues them. — Psalm 34:7

Have you ever  awoken at an odd hour and not been able to get back to sleep? You have this unexplained feeling that you’ve been awaken for a purpose? Yesterday morning I woke around 4 a.m. and tossed and turned for about thirty minutes when I finally gave in and got up. That feeling of purpose was there so I began to pray for my husband, still in bed sleeping away, and my children. I wondered if something was going on with my daughter, as I’ve said before, since she is having her baby next week. I took each of my kids and their significant others to the Lord in prayer.

Well unbeknownst to me my son was in a car accident. On his way to work he fell asleep at the wheel. He woke up in time to see himself headed to the back of a van, slammed on his brakes and veered to the right just catching the passenger side rear bumper of the van. He was banged up a bit but is doing fine. His car actually looks in pretty good shape too. The van driver was fine.

Talking with my son at 7:30, when he called me from the Emergency Room, he told me that he was thankful for the van being in his way or he would have entered a busy intersection and who knows what would have happened. We have a lot to be thankful for.

I don’t know about you but when God calls us in the middle of the night or in the early morning we need to listen and pray, pray hard. We may not know what we are praying for but the power of pray can call down angels from heaven to encamp around those who fear the Lord. I do not regret the lost sleep nor the time spent in prayer. When I think that my prayer could have been the difference between life and death for someone it is all worth it.

Prayer is powerful. God is more powerful. Take any time you are awake in the quiet of the night or day and talk to God. You could be making a difference in someones life just by praying.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

When God Moves

Aug24

Have you been there? When you know something is coming but you’re not quite sure yet what it is? When you are on the brink of something great that God has been preparing you for? When the floodgates of opportunity open up for you? When you’ve been walking in the desert waiting, knowing that at any moment you are about to step into the promised land?

Well, I’ll have to tell you that my life has been a whirlwind of God’s movement since Thursday.

If you recall my devotional on Friday, August 22, you will know that God blessed my obedience with six beautiful ladies coming to my house and enjoying a time of fellowship and introduction to my best friend, Jesus Christ.

Nothing, I mean nothing happens by accident. In God’s perfect plan, He knows all that is going on. Another blessing from my wonderful Father came my way when a free admission ticket dropped into my lap for Women of Faith. I was looking forward to going on Saturday.

God also knew that I would be offered a chance to go to the Friday night program. This of course wasn’t offered to me until 45 minutes before I was to be picked up. Since this was Friday and I had worked all week to make my house presentable for Thursday night fellowship I had decided to take Friday as a “lazy “day. I did laundry, which means all my clothes were dirty, so I lounged around in my PJs all day. When I received the phone call I had not seen soap, water, shampoo or a hairbrush all day. Exactly — 45 minutes to get ready, and do I even have any clean and dry clothes to wear?

I debated whether I really wanted to go. I went ahead and started getting ready, asking God whether I should go or not. I was like the verse in James that says, “like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind”. When I was ready I still have not made a decision until I read a verse from my phone. “Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his holy mountain, for the Lord God is holy”. (Psalm 99:9) I had my answer and off I went for a wonderful evening of worship.

Then comes Saturday. The conference was entitled “From Survival to Revival”. Let me begin by saying that two sessions were entitled Renew and Restore, which are two of the keywords in my mission statement. I am currently doing a Bible study and one week was on recharging, another topic of one of the sessions.  And then there was the final session on Revive. I believe I was there to be revived by God so I could be ready for the mission He is about to unfold through me.

Christine Caine, one of the speakers, spoke out of Joshua chapter 1 where God told Joshua to cross over into the promised land. The promise. Loud and clear I heard, through Christine, that God has prepared me and am I ready to cross over to what He has promised.

God gave to me a promised vision many years ago but He has been at work in me preparing me to cross over to that promise. Am I ready? Yes, although I am afraid, not of where or what God will do through me, but of my failure to lean on, trust in, surrender all to Him. I will move forward with my Lord because I know He loves me and He has promised to be with me always. So my weekend has been a whirlwind that has blessed, challenged and humbled this servant of the Most High God.

Was all this just coincidence? I don’t think so. I hope this testimony encourages you to be ready to be used by God. Sit at the Saviors feet and learn. Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Trust him with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. God has great plans for you and it is an exciting journey.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

 

Anticipation

Aug22

Have you experienced being called by God to do something and you are so excited and are confident that things are moving forward toward that goal God has placed on your heart? Well about a month ago God rekindled in my heart a vision I had about 3 years ago. I have prayed, planned and waited on God’s go ahead. When God is ready to use you it is so exciting, scary, exhilarating, challenging all at once. But God doesn’t just drop a plan in your lap and expect you to fulfill His plan alone. No, He continues to walk with you revealing His plan as you trust in Him.

Last night I had some young women over to my house to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with them. Now this plan had been moving forward for a month now and I kept praying that God would use me for His glory and that I was not going to expect anything but would anticipate that God would do something this night. As of Wednesday I had confirmed that 3 women would be coming. I continued to trust the Lord that even if it was just those 3 that God had a plan for them.

Wednesday morning He sent me this scripture passage via a text that is sent to me each morning:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set free those who are oppressed,
19 To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” — Luke 4:18-19

What affirmation that Jesus is with me and still fulfilling His purpose through me. Jesus came to preach the gospel, release the captives, free the oppressed and He is still doing it through His followers. Seeing and reading this passage encouraged me so much. I heard God telling me that Jesus would be with me and through me He would continue what He started many, many years ago.

Then yesterday’s scripture was:

You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. — John 15:16

I took full advantage of this verse believing that God has chosen me to share the gospel with these young ladies and I was bound and determined not to let my Lord down. I would bear fruit, fruit that would remain. I prayed some more for these ladies and the night. God leads through scripture. God encourages through scripture. And through prayer He used me last night to His glory. He blessed me with a very receptive group of women. That group totaled 7 of us. Is my God not amazing?

Seven women. Anticipating His greatness and work He blessed me. Of those 6 beautiful women, all participated in the activities and listened intently to what I shared. Best of all . . . they all want to come back next month. I am overjoyed at the work of the Lord through this imperfect person He calls His child.

I can’t wait until next month to see what He has planned. I will wait in anticipation of His work. No expectations, just anticipation. God is awesome and I am blessed. Thank you Lord for using me.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

God Really Cares

Aug21

casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. — 1 Peter 5:7

What are you worried about? What in your life is causing you anxiety? Do you know that God cares for you and that you can take anything and everything to Him in prayer?

God is Sovereign which means He is in control of all things and knows what is happening in your life. If God is in control of your life, that means you can trust Him. Who else can you trust with every aspect of your life? God says He can and He will. If we trust Him than it is a sin to worry/have anxiety. Our faith is weak when we worry. Why are you carrying the burden of worry when the Lord is waiting to hear about all that makes you anxious? He cares for you.

Okay, lets say that we are good at taking our worries and anxieties of life to God and spilling it all out to Him. That is wonderful. But do we take it back or leave it in His capable hands, trusting Him to see us through and give us direction? Take each specific worry or anxiety to God telling Him all about it. After each specific statement tell Him you trust Him to take care of that which is worrying or causing anxiety in you. Then trust Him for the outcome knowing He cares for you. To God be the glory in your life as you cast ALL your anxiety and worry on Him. He really cares for you.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

“The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith. The beginning of faith is the end of anxiety” — George Muller
“Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength” — Corrie ten Boom

How About You?

Aug16

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; When shall I come and appear before God? (Some messages read see the face of God) — Psalms 42:2

I don’t know about you but I am so looking forward to seeing the face of God, standing before Him, seeing His glory. All fear gone, all hope fulfilled, O glorious day! There is only One living God and my soul thirsts for Him. My soul is quenched by reading His word and spending time in prayer with Him. But then I get thirsty again. I need the thirst quenching words of God daily. How about you?

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

Keep Seeking

Aug11

Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. — Colossians 3:1-4

“IF you have been raised up with Christ”, keep seeking, keep seeking . . .
Being in Christ is more than just having the security of heaven eternal. It is a responsibility. We must keep seeking and setting our minds on the things above, “not on the things that are on earth”. What profit is there of the things on earth when they all will be nothing when Christ returns? And compared to the light of His glory they are nothing now.

“And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.”

Seek Him daily in Bible Study and prayer.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon