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Because I know prayer changes things, we must pray and keep on praying. Here are some posts that will build your faith and inspire you to persist until you breakthrough to victory.
Trust Him- Jesus Will Never Leave You! Fall is my favorite time of the year. I can’t begin to describe the splendor of this year’s fall canvas. Vibrant hues of bright yellows, delicious oranges, explosive reds and emerald greens kissed a flamboyant blue sky. We watched brilliant golden leaves flutter and twirl their way to […]
I promise this blog is not about politics, but I just had to share this video with you. I wonder how many other people are beginning to feel just like the little girl on this video. But if you are like me, that’s the only thing on my mind…who will America choose? Choices… […]
There I stood with my face pressed up against the fence between my hands clutching the chain links longingly. I don’t know how often I did it, often enough that it infuriated my mother. Our neighbor had parties, some of which were birthday parties, other events were fun family get to gathers. And I […]
My mom wasn’t really into Halloween when I was a kid, but she let us go Trick or Treating. Perhaps she was driven somewhat by fear, which kept us very close to home at all times, so I’m not sure how I ended up at my grandparent’s house three blocks down the street on Halloween Night. […]
Have you ever sincerely prayed, “Lord, your will be done.” and when God answered your prayer, you found yourself saying….nooooooooooo!I changed my mind. I find myself there now. Jason, my oldest has been job hunting. Time for a change. Time to move up the corporate ladder. He’s great at what he does. Awesome work […]
He won. But he lost more than he won. Maybe you read about it! This news story is almost too disgusting to discuss. Don’t read this blog, if you’re eating. Edward Arch bold won The Live Roach Eating Contest, but died afterward. I’m not kidding. It really happened. There just isn’t an EWWW loud enough […]
I’m glad no one walked up on us that afternoon. It must have been a funny looking sight. There we were, four adults, squatting and staring at two tiny creatures. I wasn’t wearing my glasses; so I had to get on my knees and lean really close to watch. It was the antics of two […]
Everyone has a nickname, but some names that are better than others. Nick names like Bubba or Bogger; Wingnut or Skeeter hardly scratch the surface of names that kids get labeled with. Some folks earn their nicknames, while others are tokens of endearment. I don’t know how Catfish got his name, but he definitely made […]
Breakfast Saturday morning ended the ladies conference. Mama T, Thelma Wells, was hilarious and inspiring. I laughed my way to hope filled truth. The altars were packed and overflowing with people. God showed up! It was absolutely amazing to experience and see what God was doing. But by Saturday afternoon, or at the very latest Sunday afternoon, I am confident some people were already wondering, “God where is “my” miracle? God, I cried my eyes out, but nothing has changed. Did you even hear me?”
We seem to be asking the same question the psalmist asked in Psalms 119:84a NLT “How long must I wait? …” Wait is another four-lettered word we hate! (Remember the blog, The Four-Lettered Word That Will Change Your Kid) Wait? We hate to wait. We don’t want to wait for our fast food, nor the instant potatoes, nor the microwave to heat supper in the steam bag container. We want to pray and instantly see it materialize before our very eyes!
Oh, I wish it worked that way! I’ve seen a few instantaneous miracles, but most of the time my miracle required some waiting, some leaning on His wisdom. Actually it requires a five-lettered word that is on the endangered list—faith.
Faith is a pregnant word. Faith must be activated like yeast to do what it is designed to do. Relational prayer activates faith. You believe because you know to Whom you are talking. Waiting gives it time for the process to take place. I don’t know what process your in, but I guarantee you, one is going on–if you’ve engaged your faith. Satan wants to steal your faith and stop your victory.
OK! You’ve prayed, now you must move to step 2. The prayer position must move to a “wait” position. Let’s move “wait” off the “curse word” list and put it where it belongs as a necessary “success secret” in the life of a believer. This doesn’t mean you pick up a magazine or move to the television to occupy your time while you wait.
We need to understand how to wait. The dictionary meaning of wait is “to remain stationary in readiness or expectation.[1]” Psalm 62:5 NLT “I wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him.”
Wait is a faith position. For a bird, it is an outstretched neck, as it peers into the water for breakfast. For a fisherman, it is a baited line in the water, with eyes on the bobber. For a pregnant woman, it is nourishing her body as she waits for her baby to be born, not premature, but right on time. For a believer it means nourishing your spirit with Scripture and worship.
Isaiah 40:31 NLT “But those who wait on the LORD will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.”
Remember to Pray, really Pray for America. This link is some prayer helps and declarations.
Check out this powerful declaration over America!
Resources for Teaching Children to Pray
[1] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wait Accessed Oct 2, 2012 © 2012 Merriam-Webster, Incorporated
I love to listen to Ron Hutchcraft’s “A Word With You” via radio or podcasts. He has the amazing ability to take ordinary life, things I understand really well, and use them to help me understand the spiritual, something I hardly understand at all. He uses what I understand to help me understand what I […]
I got my socks blown off last week (I lose more socks that way!) and it wasn’t even my fault. I was cleaning the kitchen, Praise the Lord! Might as well do some praising, it doesn’t do any good to grumble about dirty dishes, especially since the food was good and it wasn’t even burned this time. Beside that, praising God makes everything better, but I digressed.
You know me. I’ve got to do more than one thing at a time, that’s why I burn everything. So, while I washed dishes I was listening to Bryan Jarrett. I love that man. Listening to him is like trying to drink from a fire hydrant! Honestly, in the first five minutes of that sermon my faith was ignited and my socks went missing. Most of the time I skip the introduction and go right for the meat of the sermon. But even his first five minutes was riveting. I had to listen again and again.
If you have my Prayer Object Lesson Kit for Kids you know I love the verse in Psalms 34:3 KJV “O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.” If you’ve ever played with a magnifying glass you understand that it allows you to focus and analyze more clearly what you are seeing. Worship causes us to stop and focus on the nature and wonders of God. It is a powerful way to move into God’s presence to experience the wonder of who He is.
Pastor Jarrett expounded on this verse. Magnify means make bigger. Yet our worship cannot make God bigger. God is already big, really BIG. So big in fact that it take a universe that spans the distance of billions of light years to reflect His glory. God is immeasurable. God is unfathomable. But if we can’t make God bigger, why does the Psalms tell us to magnify God.
Listen to his explanation: “Our worship does not change the nature of God. Worship changes the perspective of the worshiper. When the Psalmist says come magnify the Lord, He was not saying ‘Come make God bigger’. He was inviting you into a mind shift, a perspective shift where you right size your God, and in the process of right sizing your God you right size your mountain. You right size your difficulty. You right size your perspective.”
Wow! When our perspective is right, we understand God is big and our problems are little. That’s the kind of perspective that turns a youth into a giant killer. It turns a fiery furnace into a revival center where you dance and praise God. It turns a lion’s den into a place to catch up on your rest.
Bro. Jarrett explains there are two methods of magnification:
1.A microscope takes something small and make it bigger, so we can see what it looks like and examine it more closely.
2. A telescope takes something enormous, but because it is so far away we can’t see what it looks little. So the telescope makes it look bigger so we can see what it looks like; so we can be awed by its splendor and beauty. Like the pictures taken from the Hubble Telescope.
Bro. Jarret explains that God is not little. And because God is so big, our praise is like a telescope. The church is like a magnificent observatory filled with telescopes. When we begin to praise God, it gives us a lens to focus on God and see more clearly what He is like. Our praise focuses our attention on Him and brings Him into our view so we can see more clearly what He is like.
Magnify enables us to take something big, like a star that is much bigger than the Earth, pull it closer, so we can analyse it and see it in all its glory for what it really is. Our worship magnifies Him by bringing his presence near. Our worship gives us the opportunity to study, feel and experience and know God for Who He is. Worship is the lens that allows us to see how wonderful, powerful and glorious He really is. Worship brings His presence near.
He also quoted from the classic sermon of Dr. S.M. Lockridge. It is one of the most powerful sermons ever given. I’ve listened to it dozens of times, and every time I am moved to tears and worship! He paints a graphic word picture of Christ our King, Redeemer and Savior. Here’s the link to the audio with slides of this amazing sermon entitled That’s My King
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Listen to Bro. Jarrett’s sermon. Even if you only have 10 minutes, you’ll be blessed. https://northplacechurch.com/resources/watch/ Select Incomparable/Magnify Don’t forget to take off your sock first though.
And if you haven’t read his book, Extravagant, run, better yet, take the car and get to the Bible book store or Christian Book Distributors online and get his book! It will bless you. Great book!!!
