Prayer

Discovering the Power of Prayer Week #3: Praying When We Don’t Know What To Say

September 25, 2017 • 8 Comments

In week three of the Discovering the Power of Prayer Blog Series, my dear friend and fellow blogger Jennifer Watson shows us how to pray even when don’t feel like it or we can’t find the right words to say.

There are times in our life where we wrestle with words and find it difficult to know what to pray, or even how to pray. When our hearts are in despair, our expectations of what God can do lower. Even though we know that our feelings are not facts, our feelings can still minimize who we know God to be and give us spiritual amnesia concerning all of the ways God has met us in our time of need and answered prayer. And so, our prayers become small and safe.

Are we praying small and safe prayers?

There’s a story of a man in Acts 3 who was carried to the gate of the temple daily who had been lame from birth. This had always been his condition-dependent on others to put something in his hand that could sustain him. He was dependent on the people who carried him to a place where he could be seen and, hopefully, leave that day with money and food to make it through the day. The next day he would be in the same place asking for the same things. But, God had a plan far greater than the temporary:

3 Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.[a] 2 And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. 3 Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. 4 And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” 5 And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. 6 But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” 7 And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. 8 And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. 9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

This man looked at the disciples expecting to receive something from them but, his expectations were too low.

As I read this passage, I felt like God was saying to me, “You are asking for something so small, but I am wanting to give you far more.” In my prayers I was expecting something, but I was settling for small and temporary instead of life altering and lasting. The thought that my expectations and my prayer life had become too calculated, safe, and small wrecked me. This is when I started to become familiar with praying scriptures, a practice that drastically changed my prayer life.

Here’s a thought: Why look for a handout when we can have the wholeness in Christ that we need?

Maybe you feel like the people that have hurt you have simply been carrying you to a beggars spot and you feel stuck. You don’t have to beg for the blessings of God. What you need is a breakthrough where you move beyond enemy lines to take hold of the promises of God by praying His Word over your life.

Why look for a handout when we can have the wholeness in Christ that we need? @jreneewatson

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How we recover from low expectations and a stuck prayer life is by focusing on our God who is stronger than any doubts or challenges we face.Read More

Discovering the Power of Prayer Week #2: Five Easy Ways to Pray More Every Day

September 20, 2017 • 11 Comments

In week two of the Discovering the Power of Prayer Blog Series, my friend and fellow blogger Jennifer Moye joins us to share simple ideas for how you can start praying more each and every day. If you missed week one of the series, you can still access that post here.

Five Easy Ways to Pray More Every Day

“I would love to have a prayer life, but I just don’t have time for that right now.” This was a statement a friend shared with me the other day. She is a busy mom of 4, working full time outside of the home. She is overwhelmed with life and just can’t bear the thought of one more thing added to her daily list. I get it. I think a lot of us are like her. We have somehow gotten the idea that prayer looks like an hour long quiet time, tucked in my war room (aka my closet with the door barricaded shut), and uninterrupted quality time with Jesus.

Don’t get me wrong, this would be wonderful! But if I am completely honest with you – this looks like a good opportunity for a nap. Just keeping it real today.

Ephesians 6:8 tells us to “pray in the Spirit on all occasions, with all kinds of prayers and requests.” While hours of devoted time in prayer are wonderful, scripture tells us to be in prayer constantly and with all different types of prayers. For many of us, the above idea is just not feasible in this stage of life. Does that mean we give up all together? No! Prayer in its simplest definition is simply paying attention to God. Perhaps a conversation that involves slightly more listening that talking. That’s it. No fancy rules or formalities. Just you and your creator talking about the day.

Here are five easy ways to pray more every day. I hope you will find them helpful!

The #1 easiest way to pray more every day is to just be aware of Jesus. #PowerOfPrayerBlogSeries

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Rise and Shine

You know the how the old Sunday school song goes, “Rise and shine and give God the glory-glory children of the Lord?” There is some serious merit to that! Whether your alarm clock looks like a black rectangle from the depths of Hades or the beautiful face of a snotty-nose, full diapered 2 year old – the best way I have found to start the day is to find 30 seconds to pray before my feet hit the ground. There isn’t a better way to start the day than acknowledging my Savior and taking a short moment to ask Him for guidance for what the day will bring. God equips each of us with spiritual gifts and armor designed to help us thrive in this life and bring Him glory. We must never forget that prayer activates this armor (Ephesians 6). In our daily lives, if we leave out prayer we are walking around with talents and weapons designed to help us fight our enemy – but they are like useless, heavy junk without being activated.

Shower Power

If you work outside the home, this one will probably be easiest for you. This is an easy time to shout out to our Father praises and petitions. Some mornings I find myself in tears standing in the shower.

As the water flows over my face and covers me completely, I find myself in awe that Jesus’s sacrifice covers me from the consequences of my sin in the very same way this water crashes over me. He chose to wake me up this morning and give place air in my lungs – He even chooses me to do His work here on Earth.

Now, if you are a stay at home mom, or work inside the home this one may be a little more of a challenge. Let’s just be real honest – I don’t always get a shower every day – not with three little ones running around. But when I do, you can ride on the fact that my naked hinny will be having a conversation with my Creator in the shower!Read More

Discovering the Power of Prayer Week #1: Understanding Prayer

September 11, 2017 • 9 Comments

When your TV shows burning buildings and people running and screaming around NYC, it doesn’t matter if you are in the middle of eating a doughnut and playing your favorite computer game. You drop everything and give your undivided attention to the news.

That was me on, Sept. 11, 2001, and I remember they day like it was just yesterday. How could anyone forget such a tragedy?

I remember watching the plane fly into the second tower. I remember watching my mother cry and running into her arms out of sheer terror. I remember not understanding what was going on. I remember feeling an urgent need to get on my knees and pray.

But I wasn’t the only one praying. In the days and weeks following Sept. 11, many local schools, workplaces, neighborhoods and churches gathered for a time of dedicated prayer. Even the evening news aired reports of people all around America joining together in prayer. We prayed for peace, healing, unity and courage — for the victims and their families, for ourselves, and for this great nation. And while it was a sad time, it was also a beautiful time because those prayers brought us closer to each other and to God.

You may think it bold of me to say, but I believe those prayers are what allowed this nation to rise from the ashes of that tragic day.

Because prayer is powerful. And when we understand prayer — what it is and how it works — we can experience this power in our very own lives.

Understanding Prayer: What It Is

At its core, prayer is having a conversation with God. And the beauty of this kind of conversation is that we don’t have to do our hair and make up or formally write down our prayers prior to entering God’s presence. All He asks is that we show up. It doesn’t matter the time or place. God is always there, and He is delighted to respond to us when we come to Him in prayer (Psalm 34:4).

There is no cookie-cutter prayer formula, and prayer looks different depending on the day.

Sometimes prayer is sitting in silence and waiting for God to speak. Sometimes prayer is praising God for who He is and what He is doing. Sometimes prayer is falling on our knees and bearing our soul. Sometimes prayer is weeping. Sometimes prayer is simple raising our hands and saying, “Lord, I surrender. Have your way in me.”

While the world and Hollywood often portray prayer as a way to present requests to God, there’s so much more to it than that. Prayer isn’t just a chance to lay our burdens at the Father’s feet. It’s also a chance to worship and praise Him.

Psalm 100:4 tells us to enter His gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. So when we come to the throne, our first response should always be to praise God. If you’re feeling downcast and don’t know what to say, you can simply thank Him for who He is! Thank Him for being a personal God who made it possible for us to come to Him through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Thank Him for caring and loving this world. Thank Him for not giving up on us, no matter how many times we fail.

Prayer Nourishes the Soul

One of my favorite writers, C.S. Lewis, once wrote, “God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other.” Prayer is more than a conversation — it is food for our souls! It brings healing. It brings safety and salvation. It is a refuge that can renew a weary soul. We were made to rely on the Lord in prayer.

We were made to rely on the Lord in prayer. #PowerOfPrayerBlogSeries

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An Invitation to Discovering the Power of Prayer {8-Week Blog Series}

September 6, 2017 • 5 Comments

Dear Jesus, thank you for this food and bless it to our bodies for our strength and health so that we may bring glory and honor to you. Amen.

This humble dinner prayer pretty much sums up the extent of my childhood prayer life. It’s not that my family didn’t pray. On the contrary, I come from a long line of prayer warriors. My gramma and grandpa are some of the most devoted followers of Jesus, and they modeled prayer well for us growing up. But for some reason the power of prayer didn’t become real for me until I had to face the world on my own as an adult.

I had read that the power of a righteous person was powerful and effective (Jame 5:16), but I didn’t understand the role prayer played in my life. From what I could see, prayer was something Christians reserved for Sunday mornings, mealtimes and before bed. Prayer was that “thing” you had to do to make sure you were paying reverence to God and being a good Christian.

It wasn’t until I joined a ministry team in college that I began to understand more about the role of prayer in our lives.

Here’s some of what I learned prayer is NOT:

Prayer isn’t frivolous.
Prayer isn’t wishing upon a star.
Prayer isn’t a chore to check off our to-do lists.
Prayer isn’t formulaic.
Prayer isn’t a shot in the dark.
Prayer isn’t lip service.
Prayer isn’t a last resort.

As I surrounded myself with people who were passionate about prayer, here’s what I learned prayer IS:

Prayer is an invitation to enter into God’s presence.
Prayer is an act of surrender.
Prayer is a no-strings-attached conversation.
Prayer is a gift, and it should be our first response in both times of blessing and great need.
Prayer is a tangible way to bring joy, love, hope and peace to our lives.
Prayer is a lifeline when we find ourselves in the darkness.
Prayer offers our souls space to rest.
When spoken in faith, prayer works and God answers. This might not necessarily be on our time table, and it might not be the answer we want, but He responds to those who call and faithfully seek Him (Matthew 7:7).
When spoken in faith, prayer is powerful and effective, just as God’s Word tells us in James 5:16!

Prayer is an invitation to enter God’s presence and experience His peace. #PowerOfPrayerBlogSeries

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I’ve said this before in a different blog post, but at the risk of being redundant, I want to post the quote here again:

Prayer is not too good to be true. Prayer is the truest and surest thing we have in this life.

If we think our prayers are useless and not worth the effort, they will be useless. They will not make a difference to use one bit. BUT, the moment we choose to believe our prayers have merit in the eyes of the Father … this faith in prayer changes everything.

As followers of Jesus Christ, we don’t have to wish upon a star or cross our fingers like those who do not have hope. Because of Jesus we can know the Father hears us. And we can expect God to answer us because He says He will.

“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” {Jeremiah 33:3}

Discover the power of prayer and transform your prayer life today. #PowerOfPrayerBlogSeries

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Next week, we will begin an 8-week journey toward discovering the power of prayer. You’re invited to join us on that journey, and I hope you’ll stop by the blog or sign up to my email list to catch each weekly post!

A Prayer for When You Need An Attitude Adjustment

February 13, 2017 • 10 Comments

“Snowball fight!”

The kids cheered and giggled as they rounded the corner of the apartment hallway near me. Like most winter days I was walking my dog inside, trying to stay warm and away from the big frozen ice cube that had become the world outside.

Within seconds the kids ran past me — snow pants, mittens, hats and all — and burst through the door, where their winter wonderland adventure could finally begin.

They smiled and laughed as they catapulted white blobs into the air.

I looked at them and furrowed my forehead, feeling dazed and confused. As an adult, there’s something about seeing children play in the snow that makes it hard for me to believe I ever reacted to winter in the same way.

Because here’s the honest truth: I don’t like winter anymore.

When we moved to Minnesota back in 2014, I put on a brave face and feebly embraced it. In my mind, if we were going to be true Minnesotans, I had to at least make an effort. I drove to the second-hand sports store and bought some hockey gear and snow boots. I let my hockey-playing honey re-teach me how to skate. I agreed to a two-hour, outdoor engagement photo shoot in February (he proposed to me on an icy lake in January).

I was all in. And then, suddenly I wasn’t.

I don’t know when it happened, but somewhere along the way I became a winter Grinch. I actually teared up when the first snowfall hit this year. And they weren’t tears of joy.

When I stepped outside, my thoughts immediately grew as cold as the temperatures outside.

So what’s a girl to do when she can’t seem to focus on anything but the negatives in life? She gets an attitude adjustment.

As much as I’d like to sit around and complain about winter, I know focusing on the negatives won’t get me anywhere.

I have to have a different perspective.

Maybe you’ve been in a situation where you can’t see anything but the negatives, too. It doesn’t have to be a disdain for winter, but the irritation is the same … that feeling of discontentment, despair and wanting things to be different than they actually are.

I think we all can learn a lesson from the kids who were having a snowball fight outside my apartment complex. And the lesson is this: Life is often what we make it.

Proverbs 4:23 tells us, “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”

Guarding our heart means we have to first guard our mind. Because what the mind thinks influences how the heart feels. If our thoughts are cold and bitter, then you can guarantee our hearts will eventually grow cold and bitter, too.

Life is not just what we make it, but what we choose to focus on.

If you’re like me, it’s tempting to cop an attitude, complain or be negative when life doesn’t go your way.

But we don’t have to complain or focus on the negatives, because we’ve been given a choice. And that choice is to instead turn our eyes whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely and admirable (Philippians 4:8).

It’s the choice we make when we need to have a better perspective (or a total attitude adjustment).

I wrote about Philippians 4:8 in an article for iBelieve.com a few months ago, but today I want to talk about what it looks like to practically apply that verse to our lives.

Instead of being all “Bah! Humbug!” about something, we can use Philippians 4:8 to help us shift our thoughts and change our perspective.

Here’s what the exercise looks like (I’ll use my disdain for winter as an example): Just take the components of Philippians 4:8 and write out a positive thing to focus on for each category.

WHATEVER IS …
TRUE: Winter won’t last forever and soon I’ll be outside again.
NOBLE: Winter is an opportunity for me to be reminded of how amazing my husband is. He drops me off nearly everywhere we go!
RIGHT: Winter is a time to grow even closer to God, because more time inside means more chances to read the Word.
PURE: I might not like snow, but it’s a beautiful reminder of what Jesus did for us on the cross — He washed our sins white as snow!
LOVELY:The weather outside is frightful, but with my space heater the weather inside is perfect for writing.
ADMIRABLE: Winter brings with it my two favorite holidays.

And suddenly, winter doesn’t seem all that bad!

This is how we give ourselves a better perspective and an overall attitude adjustment. This is how we keep our hearts from growing cold and bitter. I hope this exercise encourages you, and I hope you’ll make it a part of your daily life.

We can feel negative emotions, but we don’t have to become a slave to them.

Pray with me: Lord, I confess that sometimes I choose to focus on the negatives, instead of focusing on what you’ve called me to focus on. Help me take the words of Philippians 4:8 to heart. In every moment of every day, help me focus on whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely and admirable, so that my attitude may reflect and honor you. As I practice shifting my perspective, keep my heart from growing cold or bitter. Teach me to remember that I am not a slave to my negative emotions. Because of your Spirit, I can tell those emotions to be removed and turn my eyes to the things of you, instead. In Jesus’ name, amen.

17-Day Prayer Challenge {Grow Your Faith In the New Year}

January 9, 2017 • 16 Comments

Bright colors illuminated the living room as the TV camera flipped to capture the Times Square Ball Drop. 59, 58, 57, 56, 55. Meanwhile, family members bustled around the house, partaking in the usual New Year’s Eve festivities.

With a glass of champagne here, and a glass of sparkling grape juice there, the night was full of laughter and cheer.

24, 23, 22, 21. I watched the countdown with great anticipation. 10, 9, 8. And though my body was planted firmly into the couch, the hope and promise of 2017 made my soul feel like it was about to fly right out of my body.

3, 2. I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited for a new year.

1. And now it’s finally here. Thank you, Lord.

I’m not sure what your 2016 was like, but in my little sphere of the world, it was a tough year. Death, rejection, sickness, relational discord and violence ravaged the lives of many people I know, including myself. It was painful to watch. Painful to experience and endure. But love, joy, hope, faith and the promise of a new year remain.

I’ve been praying a lot for 2017 — for God to make beauty out of the ashes — and in those prayers I feel nothing but hope for the year ahead. Regardless of what happens this year, I’m expecting God to do some pretty amazing things. And I’m hopeful that with this fresh start, my faith will only continue to strengthen and grow. I’m hoping this for you, too.

Today, I want to invite you to feed your faith in 2017 by joining me in this 17-Day Prayer Challenge that will help you hit the reset button on your walk with Jesus. Each day’s prayer challenge revolves around one area of focus, but you can feel free to add to it as you feel led by the Spirit.

Ready to have an incredible year? Let’s get started!

Day 1. Pray that God would awaken the passion inside of you to live for Him and Him alone. Ask God to set a fire within you — a hunger for more of Him and His Word. Pray that your desire to be close to God would only continue to increase. Spend a few minutes remembering and journaling about how you felt when you first came to know Jesus. Ask God to make you feel that way again.

Please join me at iBelieve.com to read and download the rest of this prayer challenge.