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.
Two snakes startled me as I walked through our backyard gate. I looked around with embarrassment to see if anyone had seen me dance and shriek. Each snake slithered off to find safety in the cracks in the foundation of our home located directly below our lovely kitchen. Who wants to come for dinner?
These two garden snakes are harmless and an added value to our garden but I do prefer they not nest in our foundation. Does anyone know a good mason?
They remind me of our real enemy, that ancient serpent, who is called Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. (Rev. 12:9) He prowls around seeking someone to devour and he certainly made a presence in my life recently.
My husband and I had a very heated discussion. The longer we’ve been married, the less often we have these types of conversations. Yet, here we are 27 years into our commitment of marriage in the middle of an all-out discussion. I knew his words were true but in the heat of the moment they were so hard to swallow and stung my pride like a hornet. In that moment I had the following thought about MYSELF: “Who do you think you are? You can’t do ministry if you can’t even be a good wife. Stop doing ministry. Give up on serving the Lord with speaking and teaching. Nobody wants to hear what you have to say.”
It wasn’t the first time I had these specific thoughts. They had become a pattern! Each time I find myself in a situation that exposes my own sinfulness I encounter thoughts to retreat from any type of service or ministry to the Lord.
The snake was attacking my foundation! He was leading me to believe my good works, abilities & acts of righteousness have somehow earned me the right or position to serve Christ! My religious thinking had taken place of biblical truth. God measures me (and my failures) through the blood of Christ. My worth flows through Him!
The last thing the enemy wants is for any of us to pursue what Christ has for us. Serving Christ requires dying to self and pursing Christ’s best for us. I am fully aware; apart from Christ and His grace in my life my works of righteousness will never be enough outside of a grace filled relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ. It is only through His work in my life that I have anything to give. My pouring into others can only come through the abundance of what the Lord has already poured into me.
We are instructed to be sober-minded and watchful of our enemy – Satan. (1 Peter 5:8) When I walk in my back garden I am well aware of the presence of snakes, even watchful of them. Even though I may not see them I know they are around. As we go about everyday we must be wise to the presence of our lurking enemy.
Copyright©2016, Gloria Stucky
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.
13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, 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
Copyright©2016, Gloria Stucky
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
“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)
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a
DESIRE RIGHTEOUSNESS
PROTECTION
I would love to know what specific prayers you pray over your children!
Copyright©2016, Gloria Stucky
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:
16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may 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, 19 and 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?
Copyright©2016, Gloria Stucky
¹ Spirit Filled Life Bible commentary, page 1632
²The MacArthur Study Bible, page 1807
A young man knocked on our front door asking for the following prayer:
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, 10 so 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!
Copyright©2016, Gloria Stucky
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?
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.
30 Now 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?
Some may say my husband and I sit a little too close in church! The last thing we want to do is distract others from worship. But what they may not know, I used to sit alone in the pew.
After I entered into a relationship with Christ I began regular church attendance without my husband. For 4 years I sat in the pew alone! I sat surrounded by lovely couples who held hands and looked into each other’s eyes; laughed together at the funny stories; even threw the occasional elbow as the pastor made convicting points. The pastor even showed great honor to his own wife.
As the couple in front of me sat shoulder to shoulder and he caressed his arm around her, tears would stream down my cheek because I longed to share worship with my own husband who remained at home. My relationship with Christ was the most important piece of my life and yet I was unable to share this life changing relationship with my husband. Outside of having his own relationship with Christ he would never understand the magnitude of such worship & the value of corporate worship!
All these years later, having him sit in the pew next to me never grows old! It serves as a constant reminder of the power of our redeeming God. Not only, by grace, did He save my soul, He redeemed the soul of my spouse and has allowed two people (neither of us deserving) to experience His redeeming power and the awesome privilege to worship as a couple. As a result, we can’t help ourselves but be expressive of our love in worship of our Savior.
How can we keep from getting a little too close when we are bound as a couple by the blood of Christ as one flesh!
There may be a day one of us is gone and the other will return to the pew alone. Until that day, Sunday will remain the most powerful marriage counseling we can attend.
For the single reader who longs to have the pew filled next to her, my heart goes out to you my sweet friend. But today’s blog is for my married friend whose husband chooses to be absent. You can worship alone with great confidence in the redeeming power of our God. We are free of burden of criticizing or condemning his absence since we have been given great influence with our behaviors. He can be won over without your words by your behavior. When he sees your Savior through your eyes He’s irresistible!
3 Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, 2 when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. 1 Peter 3: 1-2 NIV
I have witnessed the power of living God’s word and watching God draw my husband to Himself. Thankfully, by God’s grace (definitely not by my own works) I’m not alone in the pew anymore. I pray and long for the same for you.