Category: prayer

What do you want Me to do for you?

What do you want me to do for you?

As Christmas draws close, I am feeling pressure to complete my gift buying. I asked a few people on my list what they would like. Some of them were very helpful in providing a specific list but others offered very little assistance.

This experience caused me to consider, “How specific am I in my prayer requests?

Throughout the Christmas story we see a human dependence on God expressed through prayer. Zechariah prayed, while all the assembled worshipers were praying outside. Mary prayed through song. Anna never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.

Jesus, the main character of Christmas is known for His extended times in prayer.

Many years after the manger, as Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man sitting by the roadside called out, “Jesus Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Luke 18:38) Jesus’s reply is very interesting! ““What do you want me to do for you?” ” (vs 41) Jesus asked him to be specific in his request! “Lord, I want to see,” he replied.” Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.”

I asked those on my Christmas gift list for specific gift ideas because I wanted to bless them. Jesus wants us to be specific in our prayers because He desires to bless us. When the blind man immediately received his sight, he “followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.” (vs 43)

When we are blessed through answered prayers, our response is to follow and praise Him, and when others see it, they also praise God. God is glorified through answered prayers.

Consider how you can be more specific in your own prayers and be ready to give God full praise should He answer your specific request! We may not receive the answer we hope for but oh how praise worthy is the Father whom we ask!

EDITED – Originally written for Immanuel Baptist Church 2016

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

Alarmed Prayer!

Most of us have experienced a ringing phone at an awkward moment. We usually scramble to silence the ring as quickly as possible.

As I was speaking at a Women’s Retreat a phone went off in the auditorium. I continued speaking assuming it would quickly be silenced. Then I realized it wasn’t just one phone, it was multiple phones throughout the room.

Not Just Another Trip to Church

Church changed my life today!

As I drove to church this morning I quoted 2 Timothy 3:16 and asked the Lord to use my time there to teach me, rebuke me, correct me, and train me in righteousness. I knew God’s Word would be taught and I was hungry to completely soak in everything He had for me! I did not want to go through the motions. I longed to be fully present.

Enticed By Miss Beauty!

When Steve arrived home from his work day he mentioned he had met with a former Miss Kentucky concerning a work project.

I jokingly told him, “No worries, I got you covered!” “What do you mean?” he asked. That very day I had specifically prayed, “Lord, should Steve have the desire to be unfaithful, do not allow the opportunity. Should the opportunity be present, may the desire be absent.”

Years ago, a friend shared this prayer with me and it has become one of my regular prayers.

Although I long to be an excellent wife (Proverbs 31) I am well aware how far and often I fall short. Since we live in a world that is plentiful of opportunities and the grass often looks greener on the other side of the fence, it is important we cover our marriages in prayer.

¹³When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; ¹⁴but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. ¹⁵Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. James 1: 13-16

Former Miss Kentucky is probably a classy lady and was in no way trying to entice my husband. But just in case he meets “Miss Enticement” I find great comfort in praying God’s protection over my husband as he steps out into the battleground!

Is there a specific prayer you pray over your marriage?

Image courtesy of “Portrait Of Happy Girl Showing Red Apple” by photostock at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

A Mother’s Most Effective Tool!

Another milestone for this mother! Last week our youngest child, Samuel, graduated from college. Although, witnessing fruit in the lives of our children continues to be incredibly rewarding, I’m pretty confident my kids are not perfect!

If you hang out with them long enough you may see their imperfections – just like the same would be true of their mom! I’m thankful for those imperfections as they continue to support our need for a Savior. And because if they didn’t exist it would mean they had gone on to be with the Lord. No matter how hard we strive to progress in holiness, none of us will reach true perfection this side of heaven.

I strongly believe prayer has been and continues to be my most effective parenting tool! I recently pulled out my little white notebook where I have recorded very specific prayers I have prayed over my children for many YEARS.

Here are a few of my most consistent prayers.

BEAR FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT DAILY

May ________ walk by the Spirit and bear fruit daily in the work that he/she does and increase in the knowledge of You.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…” Galatians 5:22-23

LOVE (the greatest commandment and a fruit of the Spirit)

LORD, help ____________ love You will all her/his heart and with all his/her soul and with all his/her mind. Matthew 22:37
LORD, help _____________ to love his/her neighbor as himself/herself.
LORD, give _____________ a heart to love and pray for his/her enemy. Matthew 5:44
LORD, give _____________ a love & desire for your Word & may that desire grow daily. Allow Your Holy Spirt to teach him/her. Give them a clear understanding and passion for You through Your Word. 1 Peter 2:2

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. ⁸Love never fails.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a

DESIRE RIGHTEOUSNESS

LORD, may ________ desire righteousness and be repulsed by his/her own sin and experience Godly sorrow that would lead to repentance.

PROTECTION

LORD, put Your hedge of protection around ____________. Guard his/her heart, mind, and body. Although, he/she may be surrounded by evil may it not touch him/her.

I would love to know what specific prayers you pray over your children!

I WANT TO PRAY LIKE THAT!

When the speaker ended her session and began to pray, her prayer was so powerful I had to open my eyes to watch her pray! “Lord, I want to pray like that!” I had attended the conference to spiritually recharge and came away with a hunger for prayer like I had never experienced before.

The power of her prayer exposed her connection to the One who holds the power to answer prayer.

In the below verse Paul specifically prayed for power for the Christians in Ephesus:

¹⁶I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:16-19 (NIV)

The word used for power in verse 16 is from the Greek word Dunamis. “Dunamis, Strong’s # G1411: …Dunamis means energy, power, might, great force, great ability, strength…This is the norm for the Spirit-filled and Spirit-led church.” ¹

“Spiritual power is a mark of every Christian who submits to God’s Word and Spirit. It is not reserved for some special class of Christian, but for all those who discipline their minds and spirits to study the Word, understand it, and live by it. Although the outer physical person becomes weaker with age, the inner spiritual person should grow stronger through the Holy Spirit, who will energize, revitalize, and empower the obedient, committed Christian.”²

If I use my Smart Phone or other device without connecting to a power source it will eventually lose all power. I used to have a phone that made an incredibly annoying sound when it needed charged. It would continue until connected to the power source or until it was completely dead. It was annoying enough that on several occasions I had to get out of bed in the middle of the night to locate the device in another part of the house to put an end to such misery. I often wondered if I too am an incredible annoyance to those around me when I am not regularly connected & charged by my power source – Jesus Christ!

The key to praying like that is to be connected the One who holds the POWER to answer our prayers. Are you connected or do you need to recharge?

Image courtesy of “Power Switch For Energy” by Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

¹ Spirit Filled Life Bible commentary, page 1632

²The MacArthur Study Bible, page 1807

PRAY THAT SHE’S NOT PREGNANT

A young man knocked on our front door asking for the following prayer:

Pray that she’s not pregnant.
If she is pregnant, pray that it’s not mine.
If it is mine, pray that she will have an abortion.

I stood stunned by his request! He was desperate for a way out of facing the consequences of his own choices which had led him to our door.

This was not his first knock. Since the Lord had favorably moved on his behalf previously, and he recognized the value of prayer, he now returned.

When our prayers become a desperate cry for relief from continued consequences of our sin we must turn from and consider replacing those behaviors.

If we replace our desperate prayers with deliberate prayers concerning our behaviors we will begin to see life changing results. Paul specifically prayed the following prayer for his friends:

“…be filled with the knowledge of his [God’s] will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” Colossians 1:9b-10

We must be diligent to get in the Bible where we gain knowledge of God’s will. I have witnessed firsthand the power God’s word has in changing lives & relationships. Wisdom becomes the ability to accumulate and organize principles from the Bible while understanding is applying those principles to everyday life, then we are in the position to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fulling pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

Let’s be deliberate in our prayers asking the Lord to fill us with the knowledge of His will and to give us the strength to walk in a manner worthy of Him!

Image courtesy of “Man Keeps His Hands on Head” by photostock at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Can You Give Me A Ride to Vote?

Steve (my funny husband) pointed his finger in my face demanding that I cast my vote for the presidential candidate of HIS choice. If you know my husband you know he’s a big guy! He can be intimidating with his height and deep voice. Perhaps I should not have laughed when reminding him of my right to vote for the candidate of my own choice because he then threatened to take my car keys away if he couldn’t count on my vote. I then let him know it would not be a problem since we live close enough to the polls to easily accommodate walking.

Together we had a great laugh since we were just having a little marital fun at the expense of my great grandparents, Ma & Pa Keith.

Many years ago my great grandmother, Ma Keith, planned to vote her own choice. Pa Keith didn’t like the fact that her vote would cancel out his vote so he woke early before her and took their only horse to town to cast his vote. He stayed away from home all day which left her with no form of transportation to get to the polls. Since they lived in the mountains of Kentucky walking to town was not an option.

Although, we were making light of the challenging situation we are faced with in this election, we take serious the matter at hand. We may not agree on the candidate or the different approach to voting this time around yet we wholeheartedly agree on the responsibility to vote! So we prayerfully vote, desiring a leader established by God to lead this country with Christian values & integrity.

Whatever we need to do to get to the polls, let’s do it! Let’s prayerfully consider our vote.

Can somebody give me a ride?

I will not tell a lie! (or will I?)

When is the last time you told a lie? Be honest! If you agree to pray for someone but don’t follow through, does that make you a liar?

The fact that there are so many verses in the book of Proverbs on lying suggest that maybe this is an area more of us struggle with than we want to admit.

After a friend shared a real hardship in her life she walked away and I said: “I’ll be praying for you.” The next time I saw her I was reminded of my words and felt completely ashamed and convicted that not once had I lifted her in prayer. I had every intention but daily life had completely washed it from my memory! Although it was not intentional, my lack of action had made me a liar!

If I begged you to pray for me would you pray? Paul begged his brothers and sisters to join him in his struggle through prayer.

³⁰Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in prayers to God for me (Romans 15:30 NKVJ)

The word he used for “strive” means “to struggle in company with, i.e. (figuratively) to be a partner (assistant): – strive together with.”

Agreeing to pray is not just a nice thing to say or a way to show someone we care. Committing to prayer is agreeing to put on the armor and head to the front lines on their behalf.

Sharon Jaynes, in her book The Power of a Woman’s Words wrote: “Many ancient shields had brackets attached to the sides. These brackets were a type of latch that soldiers could use to lock during battle. When the shields were locked together, the soldiers moved as one force, forming a barricade against the enemy. Alone, the shield was a small defense. Together, they formed a human wall. Do you see the significance? When we lock arms in prayer with others, we are locking our shields together and forming a powerfully strong fortress of defense.”

Before committing to go to battle on behalf of another, let’s be sure we take the commitment serious and follow through in joining them in their battle.

Will you pray for me?