Prayer leads to faith...

Good morning all-

How are you today?  I hope you woke up with thanksgiving in your heart?  I sure did. I find waking up praising Him gives me courage to face the challenges of the day and there are always challenges. This morning as I woke, I opened my devotional and read about Daniel and how his prayer was in motion but there were stop points that kept it from happening. It was going to happen just like God said but it took time, more time than probably he wanted.

Have you ever been in a  situation where you've prayed  hard and months and days went by with no answer? I think we all have. Well, there are many reasons for us not getting immediate answers I think.  There are many reasons we might not see our prayers come to fruition. For example, is it part of God's will? Two, if it's in His will, it might not be in our best interest for immediate results and lastly, He loves when we seek Him faithfully so we may have to wait to hear from Him.

It's been my own experience that prayer leads to faith. Like a flower needs the spring rains we need situations in our life to lead to greater faith.  I wish faith was blind but all we have to  do is look at the history of the world and know that it's not.  On top of  that, we want a carefree life, one with the least amount of challenges and the most reward.  Well, sorry to break your bubble, but that's never going to happen. Every person within their lifetime will see challenges and for those of us that know  Christ, we will be on our knees, growing our faith and casting forth His word, or at least I hope that's our response.

I have learned that prayer is a life long education.  I prayed when I was 5 years old. I can remember uttering the Lord's prayer through my teens and when I was really battling the world it was the Lord's prayer that led my boss to ask me to an evangelist meeting and that's where prayer once again brought me to Jesus.  Throughout my life, people have said I have a  direct line to God. I've always brushed it off but I can honestly say it's been my prayer life and praying His will for people that has given those around me strength in dark times, hope in depression, guidance in confusion, and joy in the little things. My rainbows, as I like to call them, happen when God meets the people I'm praying for and they know it.

Prayer is a vital channel to our Lord.  He hears every prayer. My faith has been built in the power of prayer.  I wouldn't be who I am today without hours of prayer for myself and others. I believe there are no selfish prayers.  God knows what we need and if we are praying for the right reasons and they align with His will, we will see it come to fruition. It may take many years but it will come.

Right now, I have a wonderful friend on a spiritual journey.  She may even read this blog today. If you do  my little iron gypsy, I pray that this adventure will bring  you closer, widen your faith and provide all that you need to help people get healthy. You're an inspiration to me and I thank you for your friendship and your willingness to help people renew their bodies and their minds. 

I leave you with this thought today. We aren't praying enough, we aren't loving enough and we aren't believing enough. Open your eyes my sisters to new experiences and never give up! I'm not giving up and either should you!

Matthew 17:14-20

When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”
“O unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment.
Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

When will He come?

Good morning all-

Have you ever asked yourself the question, "When will He come?" Honestly, I haven't for a long time until I was 35,000 feet in the air and I thought, "Jesus, when will you come?" I'm not sure if it's #Annegrahamlotz# call for us to be looking or just that I'm looking.  Either way I've been asking myself that and many more questions.  Here's just a few:

• Why do we hate God's people?
• Why do we judge others and not ourselves?
• What makes us right in our views when we don't seek God first?
• Who is in authority?
• Do I love myself, my family, my job more than I love Him?
• Have I even started to fulfill my purpose or am I too busy for Him to begin it?
• When did I start believing that being quiet when people need connection is the answer?
• When did I begin to stop dreaming of when He would come?

I want us never to forget why we are here and what we are here to do and that includes me.  We are called to:

• Love God above all things
• Love our neighbor more than ourselves
• Seek and find Him
• Call His people to Him and spread the word
• To live all our days in thanksgiving for we were saved
• In suffering and in abundance
• Until our last breath

Our call is to love Him with all our whole heart.  So with this post today I hope you find Him, I hope you remember why you're here and I hope that God saves all of us.  Please pray for the leaders of every country and for Christians to remember the call and why we live. It's for Him not us.

Loving you my sisters.  May God bless you and keep you all your days.

John 3:16           New International Version (NIV) 

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Lord lead us to You always. Let us not forget why we are here or who we are in authority too. Please begin a revival of hearts in young and old and please help the people hear Your powerful word.

ONE DECISION, ONE CHANCE, NO LOST OPPORTUNITIES...

Good morning all-

This week marks a one year anniversary of me listening to God's voice and leaving a job I loved.  I had been in prayer for over 5 months when the Lord started knocking on my heart to trust in Him with every fiber of my being.  I remember plane rides that were so full of prayer and petition wondering could I do what was written on my heart.  Like the ocean tide these thoughts would flood in and wash out and in the quiet I heard the gentle whisper to jump.

One year later, I jumped!  The Lord has provided in a way that astounds me.  The trial was horrendous and at the same time awe inspiring.  I made one decision, I knew I had one chance and I didn't want to lose the opportunity so with courage from the Holy Spirit, I did all that and was blessed.  The time is now. 

Jesus had the same thing happen to Him.  He had a decision, one chance to save the world but it came at a tremendous cost.  He had to give His life for yours and mine.  I wonder how often His mind raced. I wonder how often He heard the wind whisper trust in Me.  I wonder how long some of His nights were as He realized the magnitude of those days leading up to being crucified.  I believe He did.  He knew that His friends would leave Him and that He lived and taught the man that would prove to be the death of Him and yet, He made one decision, took one chance and lost no opportunity to be the Savior of the World.

I was reading last night an article on President Bush.  He paints portraits of men and women that served Him and He knows them by name.  The portrait will be about courage.  Men putting their own lives and limbs on the line for this country and I was in awe.  He cares that He made one decision that changed the course of many.  There's another man that knows the names of His warriors, Jesus Christ.

I don't know what your going through right now but I know that Jesus does.  You might be in a flood, or in a fire.  You might be in the pit of despair or at the brink of death, make one decision, take one chance and call on Jesus.  He is the Savior of this world.  The world will drag you with it but the power of the cross is active and ready to hear your call.  He waits.  How do I know?  Because throughout my adult journey He waited patiently for me to trust Him enough to resign from a job that paid well. Some might think I did it without realization of what I was doing and to them I would say, not a chance.  I did it by walking side by side daily with my Savior. Over time, my relationship got stronger and my trust became deeper.  That relationship has been one of my most valued possessions and even now as I pray for my family, I am using the tools Jesus taught me to stay strong, to pray with unending fervor and believe that He will see His will to the end.

You are worthy to receive the greatest gift your life will ever know.  Trust in what you can't see. Trust that God our Father knows exactly what you need.  Jesus is not some mindless prophet. He is real and He was the Son of God.  He died for you. He loves you and He knows exactly where you are.  You may be able to hide from the world but you can't hide from Him.  If a president knows the name and story of every soldier in a portrait, imagine how much God knows about you.

You have a decision to make.  Choose Jesus.  Choose to trust a God that breathed life into you.  Choose a God that loves you no matter what.  He is here for you now and He will wait for you.  He waited for Peter to get strong enough to lead a church.  He waited for Paul to be blinded and created a man that brought His name to thousands.  He waited for me to trust in Him blindly so that He could do great things.

Don't put Him in a box. Don't put words in His mouth.  Read the Bible and visualize the last days leading up to the cross. He sweated blood and the angels had to minister to Him.  He was scared but in the end He said, Your will.  Not His will which was to escape the horrendous suffering He would undergo but God the Father's will over His.

ONE DECISION, ONE CHANCE, NO LOST OPPORTUNITIES!!!!!

For He rose again just like He said He would and that my sisters is the power of the cross.

Matthew 26:38-40New International Version (NIV)
³⁸ Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
³⁹ Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”