Praying Scripture: Difficulty | Hardship

Today we’ll continue our ‘praying scripture’ journey and look at scriptures (turned into prayers) that speak truth into times when we are facing difficulties and/or a difficult season of life. These prayers are just examples. Feel free to use them as they are or modify them using your own words and specific situation(s).

Click here for prayers on anger and frustration.

Prayer 1

Lord, help me see this struggle as an opportunity for joy, as an opportunity for my faith to be tested so that I can gain endurance to make it through to the other side of this. Thank you for your faithfulness in comforting me during my struggles so that I can point others to you as I give them the same comfort you’ve given me. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Scriptures:

  • Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. James 1:2-4
  • He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. 2 Corinthians 1:4

Prayer 2

Lord, I know you are working in this situation. Please open my eyes so that I may see you at work. I want to see you. I want to believe You when you say that all plans are worked out for my good and Your glory. Lord, help my unbelief. Thank you for your faithfulness. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

Scriptures:

  • 16 “Don’t be afraid!” Elisha told him. “For there are more on our side than on theirs!” 17 Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!” The Lord opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire. 2 Kings 6:16-17 (This is an amazing account in the Bible. It’s well worth your time to read the whole chapter!)
  • 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11
  • 24 The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” Mark 9:24
  • If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny who he is. 2 Timothy 2:13

Prayer 3

Lord, what I am facing now is so incredibly difficult. I get lost in it often and it robs me of my joy and thankfulness. Help me be joyful in all circumstances so that my life points to you. Lord, please guide my gaze upwards, fixating my eyes on Jesus so that I continue to run with endurance this race you have set before me! In Jesus’ name, amen.

Scriptures:

  • 16 Always be joyful. 17 Never stop praying. 18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
  • Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Hebrews 12:1-3

You may notice that the prayers include a “so that” clause. For more on “so that” prayers, click here.

What scriptures do you pray when you are experiencing a hardship?

Acts of Love and Kindness Chart

Commit.

And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:6-9

Commit.

It’s my focus word for 2018. I’ve chosen to commit to teaching my children (and others) about Jesus. Of course, I will continue to teach my children about Jesus and weave it, hopefully, ever so seamlessly into my parenting beyond just this year. But, this year, this is the year that’s going to get me started on that path!

Last month my 2.5 year old and I (who am I kidding, it was just me) created an ‘Acts of Love and Kindness’ chart. At this point, you’re probably assuming I’m going to link you to a pin on Pinterest showing you where I found this idea. Am I right?? Well, guess what!? I did NOT find this on Pinterest, although I’m sure it’s out there :). I came up with the idea on my own! Actually, I take that back. I’m SURE the idea was given to me by the Good Lord above. I do NOT come up with ideas like this so easily!

Below the title of the chart, I included the second half of Galatians 5:14, For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Each circle on the chart represents something my daughter can do for someone else that is kind or loving. Every time she does something that’s on the chart, she puts a sticker in the corresponding circle. We love it!

IMG_5935

I’d love to hear your ideas! What ways do you teach your children about Jesus and how to be like him?

Workout Playlist – Christian Music

Here’s a 45-minute(ish) playlist of Christian music that’s great for a workout. It includes a warm up and cool down song. Enjoy!

What are your favorite Christian workout songs?

Christian Music Workout Playlist

Our Unexpected Journey: She’s One…And Thoughts on Being a Mom

OneOur baby girl, who isn’t so ‘baby’ anymore, turned one this month! How is that possible?!? Many people have told me children grow up so quickly, but I never realized what they meant until this month when my baby turned ONE. Wasn’t it just the other day that I was holding her in my arms at the hospital???

Some moms say they wish time would slow down or that their baby would quit growing up so quickly. But, ya know, I’ve thought about it, and I don’t want to have this mindset. I want to be intentional about enjoying every moment.

This child of mine was longed for and prayed for years before she was ever born. THIS is what I ‘wished’ for, why wish for something else? I want to embrace every moment. I want to spend quality time with her. I want to teach her things…new words, new tricks, new animal sounds, right from wrong, about Jesus and how much He loves her, how to serve, how to be polite, how to run and jump and climb, how to do a summersault, how to pray, how to read and write, how to share, how to give hugs and kisses and high fives and fist bumps. I want to watch her grow and learn and explore and share and interact. I want to do all of this!

Continue reading »

Praying Scripture for My Husband

PrayTheScripturesBibleIn a recent small group Bible study, we discussed the importance of and power in praying scriptures. If you pray directly from God’s Word (with the appropriate motives), you know it’s aligned with His will. How awesome is that?!?

I hate to admit it, but I’m just not great at regularly praying for my husband. Improvement in this area is a must! I’ve chosen several scriptures to pray for him, and I’m so excited to start praying these on a regular basis!

Oh, also, you’ll notice many of my prayers contain the phrase so that. Our pastor once suggested that our prayers should be so that prayers. For example: Lord, please help me be slow to anger, slow to speak, and quick to listen so that I am a reflection of you. I’ve come to absolutely love so that prayers. It makes me pause to think about my true intentions behind praying for whatever it is I’m praying for. Is it out of selfishness? Anger? Jealousy? Or is it out of care and concern for someone? Love for Jesus? My desire to be more like Jesus? I encourage you to begin praying so that prayers, too!

Simply insert your husband’s name where it says my husband, and you’ve got a prayer personalized for him!

Prayer 1:

Lord, I pray that my husband loves You with all his heart, all his soul, and all his mind so that all he does and all he is is a reflection of You.

Scriptures:

  • Jesus replied, “You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.” Matthew 22:37 (NLT)
  • And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ. 1 Corinthians 11:1 (NLT)   Continue reading »

Declutter Mission

Home HandbookI’m on a mission to declutter this year. We have way too much stuff for our space. Actually, we have way too much stuff, period. There’s no need for it. Why are THINGS so important to me? In the end, my things aren’t going to matter anyway.

Instead of a New Year’s Resolution, our pastor encouraged us to pick a word to serve as our theme for the year. I chose the word surrender, as in surrendering to Christ and His plans for my life. I really want to live a life for Him, but it’s just so dang difficult! Why??? Grrr.

Anyway, I think letting go of many of my material things is part of surrendering my life to Christ. My focus should be on the eternal, not the temporal.

“Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things” (Colossians 3:2).

While doing some searching online, I stumbled upon Your Simple Home Handbook by Elsie Chandler. It has really good suggestions for decluttering, even though I probably won’t declutter quite to the extent suggested. I’m starting with baby steps! We’ll see how it goes. So far, all I’ve semi-decluttered is my closet. Pretty slow pace, huh?

What declutter plans have worked for you?

Our Unexpected Journey: An Answered Prayer

After years of prayers and prayers and prayers, we are so thrilled to share that our baby girl arrived on June 5th, 2015. She’s happy, healthy, and beautiful (I know, I’m biased :))!

Newborn

I’m totally in love with this girl! Her little toes and feet are just adorable; I can’t help but kiss them. And, if I’m kissing toes, you know I’m in love :). I’m not a fan of feet!  Continue reading »

Our Unexpected Journey: We’re Expecting!

It's a Girl!After two an a half years of miscarriages, doctor appointments, surgeries, and countless prayers by countless people, Mark and I are super excited to share we are 20 weeks pregnant with a baby GIRL due in June! This is truly a miracle :).

As many of you know, we experienced four miscarriages. After our first two, we were referred to a specialist who found I had a very minor uterine abnormality that could be partially corrected with surgery. We were excited to hear this news because this meant something could be done to potentially increase our chances of a successful pregnancy. Choosing to have the surgery or not, though, was a bit of a tough decision for us. Here’s why…

  1. The uterine abnormality was so minor that the doctor wasn’t even sure himself that it was causing the miscarriages. He said he’d seen women with much more severe uterine abnormalities than mine have successful pregnancies.
  2. The surgery was minimally invasive and low risk; however, there were obviously risks associated with it, as there are with every surgery. If something went wrong during the surgery, my body could have had an even more difficult time carrying a child or, worst-case scenario, my body would be unable to carry a child. This is what really scared both of us. I just kept thinking, “If I have this surgery and my uterus is irreversibly damaged causing us to NEVER be able to have children, will I be able to get over it (especially since our doctor couldn’t be sure the abnormality was causing the miscarriages)?”

We stayed in constant prayer, and it wasn’t until two miscarriages later that we truly felt at peace with the decision to have surgery. I truly believe the Lord was with us throughout all of this, helping us make these decisions.   Continue reading »

The Reason for the Season…

The Reason for the Season…is Jesus! I thought this would be a fitting time to share the story of the birth of Jesus.

Luke 1: 26-38 New Living Translation (NLT)

The Birth of Jesus Foretold

26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, 27 to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. 28 Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!”

29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. 30 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”

34 Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”

35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. 36 What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month.37 For the word of God will never fail.”

38 Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.   Continue reading »

Get Prayd.

Prayd Landscape

It all began with a light-hearted conversation during our Bible study about creating a prayer app. From there the idea grew, and my husband and his buddies began working on a prayer app – Prayd.

None of us had any idea how this would all pan out. We knew it could be anything from a complete failure to an utter success. One thing we knew for sure, though, was that we needed to pray about it! If the Lord was in it, and if my husband and his buddies kept their sights on Him, we knew something great could come from this.

Now, almost a year (filled with hours and hours of great work) later, the app is now live! Prayd allows prayer requests to be connected with pray-ers. God, the Father of Jesus Christ, gave each of us unique talents, abilities and personalities. These personalities are on full display in prayer—our hearts naturally go out to people struggling with needs that we can relate to. Prayd enables this by helping people find pray-ers and helping pray-ers find people (prayd.net).

Let me tell you, in just the few short months this app has been live, it has been such a blessing! I cannot believe the number of people joining the Prayd community by submitting prayer requests and praying for others in need. I have been so extremely blessed by simply having the opportunity to pray for strangers! It’s so weird, I did not at all expect to be so blessed by this; it’s amazing how the Lord works :).

My prayer is that others using the app are somehow blessed as well. I pray this app continues to further the Kingdom and connect others to Jesus Christ through the power of prayer!

Join the community. Get Prayd.

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