You Are Here: Tired Of Praying & Weary IV

Tired, discouraged and weary of praying?

Have you ever wondered why God allows you to feel that way, tired, discouraged and weary of praying? To paraphrase one of my readers, it's enough that while we are living on this Earth we can't see, touch and be physically hugged by him. So when we keep faithfully praying for something, with no tangible sign that we are being heard and no perceived change in our circumstances, that's where the tiredness comes from. It's exhausting and frustrating! It's hard to keep going on, to believe in the power of prayer, to trust God.

But that's just it, I do believe that often he is speaking to us, but we don't yet see or hear it. For one thing, I truly do believe that if we change our prayer from asking/begging for a thing to thanking him for it once we ask the first time, we will see changes.

I've also learned that when we pray, we often do so with a preconceived notion of how and when the prayer will be answered. We are looking for the answer in a certain way. When we open up to God and choose to accept how ever he may work it out, we stop looking for OUR answer and open up to receive HIS answer.

God never answers our prayers without it also blessing the inner person.

"So when we keep faithfully praying for something, with no tangible sign we are being heard and no change in our circumstances, that's where the tiredness comes from." Yes, I feel this entirely, and just because I share insight into this doesn't mean that I no longer suffer. I still sometimes am reduced to begging God, because of my trial, but I'm doing much better and have grown much more than when I wrote the first Tired Of Praying message.

A lot of my prayer answers were preceded by an inner change in me. God never answers our prayers without it also blessing the inner person with growth and strength. Sometimes, we just simply keep praying the wrong things, or ineffective things. As we grow in God, we learn how to dissect and evaluate our prayer habits and improve them. Without growth in God, our prayer lives never improve.

Sometimes, we pray for things that are never going to happen, especially regarding other people. We may pray and pray and beg and beg for someone to live, but they weren't meant to. It was their time, and even if it wasn't their time to us, God saw fit to allow them to leave. No amount of pleading, fervent prayer or prayer tweaking would have made a difference. 

Growing in the Lord helps us to continuously adjust our prayers.

The key is growing in Christ. What is that? Being assured from within that we are changing from the effects of reading the Bible regularly, praying faithfully the best way that we know how, and being obedient when we feel that pricking about anything from the Holy Spirit. Growing in the Lord helps us to continuously adjust our prayers, so that they can become more effective and not hurt us. 

Prayers are supposed to strengthen and refresh. Prayers are supposed to give hope, not pain. Prayers are supposed to be a refuge from any and everything, whether inner or outer. Prayers are supposed to be that coveted time with a dear friend and Heavenly Father, who will talk with us on our level. We are not supposed to be subjected to prayer, to feel that it is not working. Prayer is supposed to be subject to us, to bring about the desired effect. Prayer is the greatest resource that the Christian has. 

Prayer is the greatest resource that the Christian has!

The next step is to crush the fear that things will not work out, that nothing will ever change, that you will never be happy. When the desire to beg and plead for that same old thing tries to rule you again, stop the thought and thank God for what you originally prayed for. Thank him that it has been done, according to his will. Your faith in his will is what will bring about change. Move on and petition or ask God for the next thing, leaving the old thing at the Cross. From then on, thank him for that old thing until you recognize an answer, however and whenever it shall come.  

You Are Here: Tired Of Praying & Weary

You Are Here: Tired Of Praying & Weary II

You Are Here: Tired Of Praying & Weary III

You Are Here: Tired Of Praying & Weary V

How Do We Pray When Damage Is Inevitable?

We are never without recourse in a time of trouble.

Sometimes I just feel overwhelmed when I want to pray for those in catastrophic situations. Despite changes that can avert destruction, there is what seems to be inevitable in projected reports. There is the history of recurring events. Lastly, but not least, are the prophecies in the Bible about what will occur as the time for Jesus' return nears.

I wonder sometimes what the use of praying is. What good will it do in circumstances like this? This makes me feel like we are sitting ducks, and that there is nothing that we can do. We are never, however, without recourse, and that recourse is still prayer. There is never a time when prayer will not help.

First of all, if we have faith that God can do anything, we pray that absolutely no damage will be done. That's it! We pray that somehow the storm will be turned away from human harm. We pray that it will miraculously abate, dry up and dissipate.

Next, if we can't bring ourselves to pray that, because we find it incomprehensible to believe, we pray that damage will be minimal and no lives will be lost. We pray that everyone will find safe shelter and that homes will remain standing.


Finally, if that type of prayer does not resonate in the face of a catastrophic event, we pray that the hearts of everyone who does not know him will be turned to Jesus. We pray this for those who are in the eye of destruction and for everyone involved.

All of these prayers really can be combined into one cry to God for help:

Help Us Lord!

Help Them Lord!

Have Mercy On Us Lord!

Deliver Them Lord!

Dear Jesus My Savior

You said you would never leave nor forsake those who love you.

Help those in this terrible situation come
to love you in all circumstances.

I know that you are at the right hand of Our Father,
always praying for us.

Dear Father God

You said Fear thou not, for I am with you.
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you. I will help you.
I will hold you up with my right hand of righteousness. 

 For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand saying
"Fear not, for I am with you".

(Isaiah 41:10,13) 

Help those in this destructive situation come to love
and rely on you in the same way. 

Have mercy on them and everyone involved,

friends, relatives, neighbors, co-workers,

first responders, medical personnel,

city/government officials,

clergy.

So in writing this encouragement to help others, I talk myself into victory.

Victory in faith.

Victory in spiritual action.

Victory in prayer. 

I Believe In Prayer, No Matter What!

Start Each Day With Thankfulness

I thank God 

For a successful day

Filled with faith, hope and focus

 

 

Matthew 6:22

 

Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body.

When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light. 

(NLT)

 The lamp of the body is the eye: if therefore your eye is sound,

your whole body will be full of light.

  (WEB)

 The light of the body is the eye; if then your eye is true,

all your body will be full of light.

  (BBE)

 The eye is the lamp of the body. Therefore, if your eye is healthy,

your whole body will be full of light.

(CEB)

 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single,

thy whole body shall be full of light.

  (KJV)

 

Finding Romance, Love And A Christian Spouse

We should always pray and expect God's confirmation when we feel we have met the one.

I recently saw a video that someone shared at an online group, where a young Christian woman was advocating that we don't have to wait on God for a mate. She said that this principle was a part of Christiandom, or some contrived word like that. She felt that too many Christians sit around waiting for God to give them a marriage partner, when they can pick the person themselves. I feel that it is a combination of both. We should make an effort to be active and put ourselves out there to meet people.  Along with that, we should pray and expect God's confirmation when we feel we have met the one.

Moderation and merging of both searching and waiting for Christian love is important.

I think that to put all of the responsibility on ourselves to choose a holy person to marry is foolish and dangerous. However, I think to wait indefinitely on God to drop the person into our laps, while doing nothing to be friendly and attractive, is also foolish and self-defeating. Both attitudes are needed, but a moderation of both, a merging of them.

Don't go by feelings, which got you into romantic trouble before.

Dating around to feel our way to finding someone with whom we click got us into trouble before. Going by our feelings got us into trouble before. Depending upon our own devices is the reason that we are alone today. Being led of the flesh is the reason that we have so much baggage today, so that the Holy Spirit can barely get our attention.

We Christian woman have to learn how to submit to a man after God's own heart.

My point is that Christians lean too far to the right or the left about everything. The Bible plainly says to not lean to the right hand nor the left, keep our feet from evil. (Proverbs 4:27) The order of the relationship and marriage has to be established by God, in the beginning, for the union to be successful and righteous. This is even more so in today's world, where for generations women have had to assume the authority of men. This is because men have become so slack and lax in being men and heading the families as God desires. We, as Christian women, don't have any idea how to submit to a holy and righteous Christian man. Most of us have only known strong, overbearing women and weak men. We don't have healthy examples of the order in the Christian marriage.

God will confirm in the heart of the woman that indeed that man is the one.

So, to establish the relationship on Holy ground or a powerful foundation, we have to be able to submit in the beginning. In that regard, I believe in the way that many other Christians believe, that God will confirm with the man that yes indeed he has found a wonderful Godly woman who would be a faithful, holy and diligent wife to him.  The man will then show his interest in her and she will return that interest. Most important though, not the man, but God, will confirm in the heart and spirit of the woman that indeed, that man is the one.

God never changes and his order is supreme.

Basically, God will tell the man and the man will tell the woman, and God will confirm to the woman. It may sound old-fashioned and distasteful to some, but no matter what the variation is, you will find this holy process in all of the great, true, authentic and enduring Christian marriages. God never changes and his order is supreme.

The sad thing is that most of the time we operate in the flesh when it comes to romance and marriage. There is another, more excellent way, to work with God to put the flesh under. As reborn spirits, we possess the power to crucify the flesh that seduces and misleads us. We can learn a new way of experiencing romantic love. That infallible way is God's holy way.

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Draw Nigh To Hope


for more insight into Christian growth


and resources for living a life devoted to God.

Dear Lord Help Us

A prayer and reminder for when you are feeling anxiety, distress, depression, hopelessness or unhappiness.

DEAR LORD:

Help us to keep our minds on you.

We thank you for the peace that passes all understanding and for joy unspeakable in the midst of struggle, fear and disappointment. We know that our joy in you is where our strength will always lie, and that YOU will keep us in perfect peace, because we choose to bring our minds back to you always.

AMEN.

You Are Here: Tired Of Praying & Weary III

Guilt is debilitating and useless, and comes from the influence of the devil.

 I know how it is to weep your heart out because of distress over a circumstance. I know how it feels to be overcome by struggle, fear or tragedy. Breaking down in tears is a relief, but it is also horrifying and exhausting. We often feel guilty for being human, though we ARE human. God acknowledges this by coming in human flesh to experience what only humans can, and dying for our human frailties.

When we feel tired of praying and believing in prayer, guilt tries to set in. We feel like we should be able to do better, fix things, make something work out, not grieve, not feel trauma, not feel bad. Guilt is debilitating and useless, and comes from the influence of the devil. If we are ever guilty of anything at all, there is always the answer of accepting a washing that makes us whiter than snow, through what Jesus did.

There is no level of black guilt that cannot be covered by Jesus' sacrifice for us. All we need to do is ask to realize what is already there for us. Feeling overcome and tired, and not feeling like praying anymore is nothing to feel guilty about. It is human. God knows that we are human. He created us.

After we have accepted how we feel, and have called upon the Holy Spirit to pray for us (see You Are Here: Tired Of Praying & Weary) , we should as devoted, growing Christians, desire to get our prayer life back on track. Sometimes it helps to change up how we pray, the words and scriptures that we use, the times of day, the subjects, etc. At the same time, we should continue to thank God for specific things that we have asked for. Don't keep asking, begging and pleading with God for the same thing. You ask him once and you have it. You ask according to his will and it is done. Plain and simple. I John 5:14-15 says If we ask anything according to his will, we know we have the petitions that we desire of him.

Sometimes it helps to change up how we pray, the words and scriptures that we use, the times of day, the subjects, etc.

The next step is to crush the fear that things will not work out, that nothing will ever change, that we will never be happy. When the desire to beg and plead for that same thing tries to rule you again, stop the thought and thank God for the answer. Thank him that it has been done, according to his will. Our faith in his will is what puts us in a position to receive his answers to our prayers.

Now move on and petition or ask God for the next thing, leaving it at the Cross. From then on, thank him for it until you recognize an answer,

however and whenever that should come.  
 

You Are Here: Tired Of Praying & Weary

You Are Here: Tired Of Praying & Weary II
You Are Here: Tired Of Praying & Weary IV

 You Are Here: Tired Of Praying & Weary V

POETRY: I Choose Joy

 

I choose to laugh

In the midst of trouble,

And in the midst of sorrow,

I choose joy.

~ SJHolland ~

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him,

so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Rom 15:3 NIV

 

You Are Here: Tired Of Praying & Weary II

Hope has fled, but we know that hope is our only hope.

I believe that most people are crying out for help, because they pray and pray and don't seem to get any relief about the most important things in their lives. I wrote the first You Are Here: Tired Of Praying & Weary from a heart of understanding, because this has happened to me for so long about many things. Though I can certainly see the hand of God in my everyday life, I am often just tired of various other things.

I know the feeling of not believing that you can go on praying another day. I know how it feels to not feel like praying, when deep inside you know that is your only hope. And what does that say? That hope has fled at that moment. That is when we are between a rock and a hard place. Hope has fled, but we know that hope is our only hope. Only the Spirit of God can untangle that heart condition and send what we already know, the repairing Blood of Jesus, flowing again through our paralyzed consciousness.

Only the Spirit of God can untangle the heart condition.

That is why we must rely on this Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit. It is the same Spirit that raised Jesus Christ of Nazareth from the dead. It is the same Spirit that resides inside everyone who has accepted Jesus as Savior.  It is the same Spirit that brings The Word, the Bible, to life within us, and brings about the changes that we need to live renewed lives. This is the Spirit that has promised to pray for us when we are just too tired and weary. So don't give up on your prayer life. You have a faithful Helper.

 

God bless you and your entire family today.

May He have mercy and save the souls of each and

every one who does not know Him.

Most of all, may he increase your faith in your prayers

and your desire to pray.

In Jesus' name and according to God's will I pray,

Amen.

You Are Here: Tired Of Praying & Weary

You Are Here: Tired Of Praying & Weary III

You Are Here: Tired Of Praying & Weary IV

You Are Here: Tired Of Praying & Weary V 

A Well-Watered Garden Is Yours

The  Lord will guide you always,

He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land,

And will strengthen your frame.

You will be like a well-watered garden,

Like a spring whose waters never fail.

Isaiah 58:11 NIV

The Bible tells us the truth about God and what he thinks about us. All you have to do in order for your life to become a well-watered garden is to receive, speak and believe the Word. God makes many promises to us in his Word, and he does not lie. He is a faithful God, one in whose word we can trust. He causes everything dead to live again.

If you will allow him to, he will bring back to glowing life your dead dreams, hopes, abilities, beliefs, possibilities and faith. It is never God's will that you should live in a dead, barren and parched life. He is the life-giver, through his precious Son, who is The Way, The Truth and The Life. 

Watch the sprigs of luscious growth begin to form

as you open to God's way,

receive his word

and believe his promises.

How Can I Forgive?

How to forgive when it is so hard.

Forgiveness is in the realm of your possibility.  Yes, you can forgive anyone and everyone by just speaking the words.

How to forgive when I don't feel like it.

You don't have to feel it or understand how you could ever possibly do it. All you have to do is make a decision to speak the words I forgive. Speak them to yourself and God.

How to forgive when I'm still angry or hurt.

Read the Word that says don't repay evil for evil, but overcome evil with good. Forgive those who despitefully use you. Pray for your enemies, and the Word will do the rest in you. 

Matthew 5:44

1 Peter 3:9

Romans 12:21

 

Take Pleasure In The Lord

Delight Yourself In The Lord Today!

~ REMEMBER ~

Pleasure In The Lord

Raises Our Quality Of Living

Loving God Makes All The Difference In The World

Delight yourself also in the Lord,

And He shall give you

the desires of 

your heart.

(Psalm 37:4, NKJV) 

How To Be Saved

Romans 10:9

(NKJV)

If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 

  If you would like to know that you are saved, say this simple prayer:

Jesus, I believe that you are the Son of God, and the only

Savior. Come into my heart, and save me now. Show me

the way to understand and turn away from all things that

do not help me. I don't have to fear death anymore, and

thank you for Eternal Life with You.

Amen. 

Is Knowing God Without Jesus Christ Possible?

Scripture shows that man cannot know God without Jesus Christ.

Decades ago, when I lived in Los Angeles and worked in West Hollywood for a self-employed contractor, he made a pronouncement to me. It was because I was a babe in Christ, and had enthusiastically shared my new conversion with him. One day he stood before my desk with a harsh look on his face and spit out that he knew God and didn't deal with anyone else. I knew he was speaking of Jesus Christ, because he even added a mumbled "that Jesus person"-type of comment. He made me know he was rejecting anything that had to do with the so-called Savior that people like me promote. 

Can man know God without Jesus Christ? If a person believes that, then he/she cannot know the Word of God very well. Scripture plainly shows that we cannot know God without going through His Son. Why would anyone who professes to know God not read what has been revealed as God's Word? Why wouldn't he/she read The Book that has stood the test of time better than any other tome, and is the most popular book on earth?  And when read liberally, how could any person come away still believing that God can be known without acknowledging His Blessed Son Jesus Christ?  I believe that anyone with that stance cannot be reading the Bible.

If God were your Father, you would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. John 8:42

He that is of God hears God's words. John 8:47

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. John 14:1

I and my Father are one. John 10:30

He that believes on me, believes not on me, but on him that sent me. John 12:44

He that honors not the Son honors not the Father which sent him. John 5:23

It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that has heard, and has learned of the Father, comes to me. John 6:45

If I honor myself, my honor is nothing: it is my Father that honors me; of whom ye say, that he is your God: yet ye have not known him; but I know him. John 8:55
None of God's creation can know him without accepting Jesus Christ, His Son, as the way, the only way to commune with God, to be saved and live forever in peace. God set it up that way out of necessity. So, if you are insisting that you know and love God and that you don't need any of that Jesus Christ stuff, read this,


And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God loved the world so much, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believes on him is not condemned. John 3:14-18
No matter how strange or bizarre it sounds, Jesus Christ is God's Son and God has made the stipulation that anyone desiring life after death has to ask Jesus to save them. Anyone who wants to approach God and have a relationship with Him has to do it through His Son, Jesus Christ. That's the way it is, that's the way it will be.

It's a simple little requirement, but for which pride and fear makes it almost impossible for a person to submit to. When you feel that tug, though, you know that God is calling through His Son. His Holy Spirit is pressing you to accept the Life that He is offering through His Son. When you feel that inner tug, that means the door is open and you are being encouraged to walk through. You're being invited to partake of life forever. It won't always be so. One day that tug will never be felt again, the door will have closed, and your chance will be gone, forever.

How To Be Saved

Romans 10:9

(NKJV)

If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 

  If you would like to know that you are saved, say this simple prayer:

Jesus, I believe that you are the Son of God, and the only Savior. Come into my heart, and save me now. Show me the way to understand and turn away from all things that do not help me. I don't have to fear death anymore, and thank you for Eternal Life with You.

Amen.

Where Is The Benefit In Feeling Beaten Down?

Sometimes we suffer and are sad because of circumstances that God allows upon our lives. Sometimes we don't feel that we can overcome the devastating feelings, which cause us to drag around listlessly doing our daily tasks. We know that we love God, and we still are able to make ourselves read the Bible and pray during these times, but we feel so beaten down by situations.

We know that God allows these things for our benefit, but where is the benefit in feeling beaten down? Well, we should remember that the beaten down feeling is not the goal of God. That feeling and the circumstance that brought it are being used to get our attention. There is something that he wants us to grasp that is above what the circumstance has caused us to feel. To have us look up to it, he had to spur us up. Like the pointy, sharp boot spurs that a cowboy presses into the sides of a horse to startle him with a little pain to get him moving, God spurs us to move our spirit and thoughts in a certain direction, away from and above the sorrow of what he has allowed.

So when we who are devoted to God enter into a period of trial and tribulation, we should not deny that we feel lost, hopeless and just plain tired. We want to benefit from the experience that God has chosen to use. We don't want to waste it, or have to take that lesson again, so we admit and accept how we are feeling. In the midst of it, we who trust God should then ask ourselves, What is it that would help me to feel better right now? For this exercise, the answer is not money, a vacation or anything outside of us. It is something within. It is thoughts or a way of thinking that will in turn control feelings. It is thoughts that go beyond what we could make up to feel better, because that is why we feel so depressed, because our own thoughts cannot handle it.

This is where being already built up in faith helps us tremendously. Reading the Bible and praying always, when things are going well and we feel great, builds up in us a strong storehouse of faith, hope and scripture references. So when we are suffering like this, if we can reach up and understand something that would make us feel better, a promise from God, a past answered prayer, a strong scripture passage that speaks especially to us, a revelation, a confirmation, that will be one of the things that God is trying to point us to, away from the actual crushing distress. This something that only we would know will pull us up inwardly (not by our own bootstraps which often break) to higher heights of strength, faith, victory and understanding of God. That is when we attain a new level in Christ, which was God's purpose all along.