Let us join together in believing for your healing. God's divine healing hand reaches out to you now. Have faith. Believe. Trust. Receive healing now. In Jesus' name!
Allow healing to show in your body, your mind, your life. Let it flourish. Let it manifest. Be healed now. In Jesus' name!
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I am working on a new prayer book called God, I'm Tired Of Praying: What To Think About How You Feel. Though it will have some pages in the back to record your thoughts, it is not a journal like my recently published book I Am Prospering Everyday: Scripture Declarations & Prayer Prompts.
God, I'm Tired Of Praying includes my blog prayer series You Are Here: Tired Of Praying & Weary as well as new content not shared here at my blog.
It's all about acknowledging that you are struggling in your prayer life, you're losing hope in prayer and you no longer feel like doing it. The greatest message in this book of encouragement is that in your heart you don't want to forsake your prayer life. You are seeking an answer to an overwhelming feeling of hopelessness about prayer.
This will be a good book for you and others that you know to have handy in the valleys as you grow in your prayer walk. Watch for me to announce the publishing.
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Dear Father: Thank you for your Word which is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. I thank you that it will take root in the broken up stony ground of my heart and bear much fruit. I know that it will transform me by the renewing of my mind. Help me to rightly divide your Word of Truth so that I can apply it to my life in a practical way. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen!
~ Praying is being aware of God's presence. It's a silent type of prayer. It's when the feeling passes over us in an instant that we are not alone. It is remembering at any moment of the day or night that God is with us and listening. ~
~ Proverbs 15:1 Are you angry, upset or disappointed in someone? Do you want or need to respond to them? Don't do it until you pray. Also, sleep on it for at least one night if possible. It will make a world of difference in your response, your relationship with God and in your Christian walk. ~
~ Dear Father: I'm thankful to be in the Kingdom of Your Dear Son. Help me to continue to grow in faith and obedience. In his name I pray. Amen. ~
~ Dear Father: Thank you for leading me to pray before action so that I can divert disaster. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. ~
Consider this. Some unwanted events happen in life because we neglect to do things a certain way. Often, we don't understand what we are supposed to do. Sometimes we do know our roles but in ignorance or self-centeredness we choose not to fulfil them. Prayer can heal all of that.
God has provided a way for us to receive the benefits of prayer, even when we don't feel like doing it. It is through asking His Holy Spirit to pray for us when we can't find the words. It's not a crutch. It's a real source of supernatural help when we can't do it ourselves.
The Holy Spirit is faithful. He will utter words for us that we don't know how to say. He will talk to Our Father for us until we can form the words again for ourselves. In this way, we don't have to miss our prayer time with God, even though we may be tired and weary.
Many who know and love God want to continue to have faith in the only personal contacts that we have with him. These are our prayer lives.
They include our formal, scheduled prayers and our hurried, on the spot prayers. Most of all, they are simply the ways that we choose to talk to The Most High God everyday, throughout the day. The ways that we think of him when we lay our heads on our pillows every night. The ways that we wake up and greet him each morning.
I know that you are one of these Christians who would like to continue to believe in your prayer life. Our Father wants you to know that your every prayer and conversation with him and even your desire to pray and share with him means everything to him. He receives your desires as prayers.
You Are Here: Tired Of Praying & Weary III
You Are Here: Tired Of Praying & Weary IV
You Are Here: Tired Of Praying & Weary V
Trials in life are so hard that it's easy to be reduced to begging God. I say reduced because begging is a fear state. It is beneath the position that God has provided for us through Christ's sacrifice. We are, in fact, heirs to the throne and joint-heirs with Christ. The actual enthroning hasn't happened yet because that is reserved for the New Heaven and the New Earth.
~ We no longer feel like praying when we feel that we need to beg. ~
Remembering this truth, however, can put us in the right, high position mentally and emotionally, as we live out our lives on this earth. That mental position is important in receiving from God rather than begging for what we already have. Why would we need to beg? Begging leads to exhaustion and a compromised prayer life. We no longer feel like praying when we feel that we need to beg.
Isn't it wonderful that as we pray for God's will that his will is actually the same as our will? We pray for what we do because we think it is best for us. Our Father wants the best for us, as well, and more than we do. Though he often needs to tweak our prayers and the results, he is always on our side.
~ Begging leads to more begging. ~
Relinquishing our doggedness and fear-focus in begging and instead praying one time for God's will about something does not mean that we will not be happy. It doesn't mean that we will never get a favorable reply to our fondest wishes. It means that we are more likely to. Begging leads to more begging. The prayer of faith pushed through, when we feel that we just can't pray another day, leads to results.
Refuse to beg. Determine to receive. God's Holy Spirit will show you how.
You Are Here: Tired Of Praying & Weary III
You Are Here: Tired Of Praying & Weary IV
You Are Here: Tired Of Praying & Weary V
This morning was a morning when I did not feel like praying. How many of those mornings have you had lately? I felt so sluggish emotionally. So down. So weary. So hopeless. I made myself get on my knees, on my prayer pillow so my knees wouldn't hurt.
I made myself thank God for all that he has done for me, the things of which I was unaware. I thanked him for what he is doing, the things of which I am unaware. We know in our hearts that Our Father is always working things out on our behalf, don't we?
Basically, I made myself repeat things that I believe, no matter how I feel. My prayer wasn't long and when I pray like this I feel so bad. I almost feel like my prayer is fake, except I know that it is not. It is the prayer of a devoted person who refuses to give up on God.
You're tired of praying and weary and can't pray another day?
Fight for your prayer life! Don't let it die! It is your supersonic, personal line of communication to the Most High God, Our Beloved Father. Repeat, repeat, repeat what you know in your heart of hearts! The repetition will carry you through until you can pray unique, targeted prayers again. All are valuable to God and can be used by his Holy Spirit and by Jesus, Our Lord and Savior.
You Are Here: Tired Of Praying & Weary III
You want reading the scriptures to make a difference in your life and you read the Bible everyday in order to be transformed. You are always seeking ways to understand what the ancient scriptures mean to you today and how you can allow them to change and renew you.God's Holy Spirit is always helping you to discern and rightly divide the scriptures so that they make sense to you. This is how paraphrasing can help. We do it everyday when we read scriptures, ponder their meaning and ask God to open our understanding and give us revelation knowledge on the messages.The 32 scripture declarations in this journal are taken from the King James Version of The Holy Bible. I have then included paraphrases of each one. This means that my understanding of each scripture, through my Bible studies and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, has been written in simple, modern-day, American language. It is the way that we read and understand the scriptures in order to apply them to our lives in a practical way.As you read the scriptures and their paraphrases, you will find space after them to write your own understanding and prayers. With the prayer prompts that I've included, you can expand your prayers to Our Heavenly Father through writing out your thoughts.Also included are blank, lined pages at the end of the book, under the title My Power Scriptures. The word My means you. This is where you can make a log of 20 of your favorite, most life-changing scriptures. One two-page chapter is set aside for each scripture.
I believe that God The Father, God The Son and God The Holy Spirit are one and separate in the help that they give to us. They never contradict each other and they each can be relied upon for specific things. The love of The Father caused him to choose to restore us to himself. Through the Son, he provided for that to be done through Christ's pure sacrifice. Through his Spirit he helps us to become more like him.You will find me referring to each member of The Godhead in different places throughout this book but if it was not for the love of The Father, we would never be saved. It is he who provided for our eternal salvation. My prayer is that this scripture declaration and prayer prompt journal will aid you as you grow in the Lord. May Our Father bless you richly in every way, through his precious son, Jesus of Nazareth, The Christ, the only Savior of mankind.
Learn more here about I Am Prospering Everyday: Scripture Declarations & Prayer Prompts.
Available in hardcover and paperback.
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When we pray consistently for someone, God will often give us something that he wants us to do for that person. If so, it will be something that is consistent with how he wants to answer our prayer. It may be something that we'd never think of doing for that person.
It may be something that we are reluctant to do. It may be something that is difficult or it may be fairly easy. It may be something that aligns with what we are already doing in our lives or it may cause us to stretch a little. It may be something that will obviously bless us in our journey, or maybe not obviously.
When we pray for someone, though we may know some things about them, we don't know the extent of their needs. We don't know what it will take for God to answer our prayers for them and for his will to be done in their lives. Just be prepared to obey the Holy Spirit's surprising request and prompting. When God uses us in his plans for people that we pray for, we can be assured that it will not only bless them but us as well.
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Help us to receive a deeper understanding of the ways that we should allow charity to reign in our lives, for we know that it involves more than our initial thoughts on what love is. Thank you for the knowledge and help us to be more obedient. Amen!
Though we pray faithfully, we forget to ask God for many things, big and small, before we step out and try it ourselves. It's easy to go to God with the big things. Sometimes, we go to him for distressing and devastating things when we haven't been giving him the daily time that we should. Our Father, however, does not condemn us and we can always devote more time to building our relationship with him.
What about the small things that we could ask him about? He has time and time again given me favor about something that I was thinking about but never asked him for. I know it was him because after he blessed me he lovingly touched me through His Spirit and let me know. I always feel bad when he shows me this because I know that what I received was what I was thinking. I know that it only came from him and I feel bad because I didn't ask him, that I didn't acknowledge that he was there.
Instead, I did the old habit of thinking fleetingly about a want or need and quickly shoving it on the back burner to bring it about later by myself. My Father let me know, however, that he was there and heard my thoughts. I did not talk to him about those small things but he chose to respond. He let me know that he wants me to ask him about the small things, because he is there for me, always listening.
Some Christians say it's being obsessive and that we don't have to ask God about every little thing. Well, I say ask God about what they are saying. I know from him communicating with me after he blesses me with simple little things that he is telling me to rely on him more, communicate with him more, love walking with him more. Committing to asking him about small things and for help with small dilemmas will help us to walk better with him. Determining to consult him about small decisions and to ask him for small blessings will help us to draw closer to him.
God's way of doing things is the very best way. We can only learn what his way is by seeking his face everyday. We have to spend time with him in the ways that are available to us. We need to be consistent and persistent. How do we seek his face and learn his ways? We read his Word, The Holy Bible, everyday and we talk to him everyday.
Before we read the scriptures, we ask Our Father to illuminate his scriptures for us. To give us revelation knowledge through his Word. We ask for the ability to rightly divide the Word of Truth. We thank him for breaking up the stony ground of our hearts so that his Word can enter in, take root and bear much fruit. We thank him for transforming us through his Word and helping us to rightly divide it. We ask him to give us discernment of his Word so that we can apply it to our lives in a practical way. We confess that we want to see circumstances and people in the way that he sees them. Most of all, we thank him for helping us to see our lives and ourselves in the way that he sees us. We make sure that we open the Bible every day and read something, no matter how much or how little.
The second way to seek God's face is to meet with him and talk with him everyday. There are 3 types of prayer that will help us to understand God's way of doing things, formal prayer to God, conversation with God and listening to God in quiet time. Formal prayer is when we have a format in which we pray. It is a rotating combination of words, phrases, scriptures and favorite statements that we give to God at a specific time of day. This is the prayer that we pray each day, such as in the morning when we commit our way to him before we face the world.
Though it consists of our favorite format, it shouldn't be repetitive, traditional or ritualistic. The word tells us that our traditions and rituals make his word of no effect. (Mark 7:13) The most important use of the formatted prayer is in committing our path to God at the beginning of each day. Our formatted prayers are not enough to learn God's way of doing things because they consist mostly of us talking. While commitment and statements of confession are very important to our growth, there is a more important way of seeking God's face.
We need to have conversations with God throughout the day. This is when we talk to him candidly and openly. We revere him as Our Heavenly Father but we talk to him as a friend. If you want to pray and talk to Jesus, that is ok because Jesus is God also. For me, I find that praying and talking to God works better. I also talk to Jesus and thank him for many things. Because God is the one who sent Jesus to shed his blood and have his body broken for us and who raised Jesus from the dead, who cares for me and has numbered the hairs of my head, and is my only Heavenly Father, spending time with him and committing all to him works best for me.
Jesus is Heir To The Throne and I am joint heirs with him. I will rule and reign with him and without him I can do nothing, so my relationship with The Lamb of God is just as important, but different. It is God's Holy Spirit that bore upon me so that I could accept Jesus as my Savior and it is God The Father who holds the time of Jesus' return. The most important things about my existence and origin I can attribute to God but not to Jesus. It is through Jesus' obedient sacrifice that I am able to seek God's face but God sent Jesus so that I could be restored to fellowship with him, God The Father. (I Peter 1:21)
When we have conversations with God throughout the day we should simply tell him our feelings, our hopes, our confusions our angers. Yes, he knows our thoughts, our hearts, but building a relationship means that we need to tell him about our lives. Our father wants to commune with us, laugh with us, cry with us, share with us. Many of us don't know how it is to have a real father, so we have to learn, to practice having a true, pure, holy relationship with God.
We've seen TV programs and movies where fathers were loving and kind. We can take cues from them on how to cultivate a loving, sharing relationship with Our Father. It's just a matter of pretending that he's there, imagining him listening, seeing in our minds' eye him nodding his head, choosing to believe that he's answering and conversing. As we reach out he will help us and make it real to us. Before long, we'll look forward to sharing with him day and night.
The third type of prayer is to be quiet and just listen for the still, small voice of God's Spirit to talk to us. For me, this is the hardest. It's difficult to quiet the mind talk. To not be distracted. I try to sit somewhere quiet, where I can look at the sky if I can. I have chosen to sit 15 minutes each day and just listen for God's voice. Very few people would hear him in the beginning of the process. It takes time, patience and commitment. It takes time to be able to truly quiet our minds. Don't worry if you don't hear anything for a long time. The most important thing is to have this quiet time before God as often as you can and to stick with it. The reward will come. Our Father is faithful!
Seeking God's face to learn his ways makes all the difference in appropriating and manifesting his promises that we find in The Bible. It's one thing to be saved. It's another to live in the fullness of God. Getting closer to him and sharing with him is a peaceful place, not only to learn his personality, but for restoration. We begin to recognize his ways of doing things in our lives and can work with him, not against him. We enjoy going to a place where we can bare all, be exactly who we are and know that we are loved deeply, no matter what.
Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4
Some Christians say this means that God will give you the desires that you should have. Other Christians say it means that he will fulfill the desires that you have always prayed for, your fondest wishes, your purest and most beneficial desires and long-standing hopes. I believe it is both. They both are important to Our Heavenly Father.
Our relationship with God should be a two-way street. If we don't believe that he cares about our desires, then we are not relating to him. It is of great value that we decide to hear his thoughts and plans each day but he also wants us to turn over to him our thoughts and plans.
What about our long-standing desires that have not happened? Well, that doesn't mean that they will not, or that God has said no to them. We should continue to believe him that we will realize them, no matter how impossible or unlikely it seems. As we allow his will to come about in our lives, we will see how he imparts his desires for us into our desires. All will be well with us, always, as we grow in trusting him.
So, don't toss aside your most important goals and dreams. God cares for you. He cares about what is important to you. The most important thing is that you tell him what your desires are. Be specific and understand that he wants us to spell it out to him. In that way, we show that we believe he hears, cares and wants to communicate back and forth with us. He wants to hear from you as you purpose to hear from him each day.
Do you ever have annoyed, frustrated or angry thoughts about anyone? Do the attitudes or behaviors of some people send you into a fit? Are you tempted to have ill will towards those who have misused or mistreated you?
Have you ever had fleeting or lingering thoughts of wishing problems or misfortune on others? Do you ever find yourself fussing and arguing with yourself about the life that someone lives? I could go on and on and if you profess to have never had any of these types of thoughts or feelings, then you are probably not human.
I have been on a track for a couple of years now where the Holy Spirit reminds me to stop and pray for these persons. You see, it's not just a matter of us crushing the offending thoughts. While that is an intense and worthy process, it's not enough.
Crushing these thoughts essentially buries them but they are not dead. They are like seeds that can sprout again. God gets to the root of the problem so it can be killed. He wants us to do more than bury unpleasant thoughts about others and generate benign thoughts about people who incense us.
Our Father God does not want us to suffer any more thoughts that sprout from roots of malevolence. He wants us to be free of malignant thoughts, no matter how mild or fleeting they are. It's a matter of immediately confessing and accepting forgiveness through the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ, Our Savior, and then stopping to pray for the person. It doesn't have to be a long, intense prayer. It can be brief but it should be heartfelt.
When we turn our growth over to God we begin to recognize opportunities to grow. The Holy Spirit prompts, prods and pricks us when a chance is available to do it God's way. It begins from within, where the roots that need to be purged are. God is precise. He wants it all dug out, every offensive thought that hinders. That still, soft voice of his Spirit will remind us. All we need to do is obey, like I did this morning.
The way that God does it for me is to say in my spirit, Did you pray for her?, during or after a hostile thought. He'll say in my spirit, Have you prayed for him?. He won't say I'm wrong for the thought or that I know I should not have been thinking that.
My Father understands why I had the thought and I sense his loving kindness and his mercy. Now, when thoughts like that come, I end up stopping what I'm doing and praying for the person. If I can get on my knees I do. I offer a quick prayer of forgiveness for myself and blessing for the person.
We should forgive the persons for whatever it was that made us offended, vindictive, judgmental. They may not even know us but we know of them and God is not pleased with our thoughts. He wants better for us. Sometimes, the source of our rancor is in our minds or we are just in a bad mood. At other times, our spiteful thoughts can be justified because of real, hurtful events and experiences.
Whatever the source of these types of troubling thoughts, we don't have to suffer brushing them under the rugs of our minds where they can trip us up later. We can go further and be cleansed of them. Rather than pretend that you never have thoughts like these, submit to God and allow His Holy Spirit to help you. It will make all of the difference in your spirit, attitude and growth. Be pruned! Be purged! Be strengthened!
Dear Heavenly Father:
I feel optimistic today!
Let not my optimism come through fleshly feelings because my flesh is unreliable. I refuse to walk in the flesh.
I pray that my optimism comes through confidence in your right hand of righteousness, discernment of your angels surrounding me and comfort from your Holy Spirit.
My optimism is through my faith from walking in the Spirit.
When I am out of the Spirit, show we the way to return to the Spirit so that my Godly optimism may abound.
I thank you that I have a hope and a future and that my way grows brighter everyday!
In Jesus' blessed name I pray.
Amen!
In the video below, Dr. Charles Stanley, of In Touch Ministries, answers prayer questions such as:
