Pray for Marriages (Perseverance)

Good Morning Prayer Angels,

Marriage is such a diverse frontier. Everyone’s experience is unique and personal. Perfect marriages are rare, perhaps because the Lord often uses this avenue to perfect us. While some marriages are obviously bad, other marriages are just not good. For both, the pain is real and can often lead to feelings of hopelessness and despair. How does one know what God wills for marriages in these situations?

Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. James 5:10-11

Nothing is sustainable without faith, hope and prayer. Please continue to pray unceasingly for marriages, especially for those couples who are too worn down to pray for themselves.

Peace, Love, and Joy,
Janet

Pray for Families (Culpability of Silence)

Dear Prayer Warriors,

September 22 was the beginning of the 40 days for life campaign, whose goal is to put an end to abortion in America. http://40daysforlife.com/about.cfm

As many of you know, a primary assault on the family is the killing of the unborn. The following prayer arrived in my inbox and it jolted me out of any self-righteousness or complacency and showed me my own culpability.

Lord, we thank you for those who have repented of
committing abortions and have resolved to defend
life. We too repent and resolve.

We repent of every instance in which fear has made us
silent when we should have spoken. We repent of the
ongoing bloodshed in our land, and for thinking that
we can deprive the unborn of protection but keep it
for ourselves.

We resolve that we will advance the cause of
righteous candidates for public office, and that we
will be more afraid of offending you by our silence
than of offending others by our speech. We resolve
that we will proclaim your name to the nations,
through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

It is with certainty that almost everyone who reads this knows someone who has had an abortion or has had one themselves. We must pray for the healing of all those who have been involved with abortion, that they be open to the restorative grace and mercy of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Through that healing, may the bonds of family be strengthened and renewed.

Mother Teresa understood the effect of abortion with clarity.

"It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you live as you wish"

“We must remember that life begins at home and we must also remember that the future of humanity passes through the family"

As we pray for families, let us acknowledge our own culpability and ask to be strengthened in Him who loves us.

Peace, Joy, and Love,
Janet

Pray for Marriages (Learn How to Love)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

We all have such an inherent need to be loved. If we were lucky, we first felt love from our parents. Then in adolescence our search begins, hoping to find that special someone that will satiate our craving for love and that will love us according to our own personal criteria, forever. What a steep order for anyone to fulfill. Along the way, our hearts are often crushed by those we thought were “the one”. If only we realized then, that there is only One who can love us fully, completely, unconditionally, and eternally--our Lord, Jesus Christ. If we first learn to love and trust Him completely, would then our ability to love be perfected by the time we marry? Would marriages be different?

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.

Mark 12:30

Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.

Eph 6:24

Seek a deeper love of the Lord. Carve out some quiet time where you can be wholly present to Him. Ask Him to show you His love, and teach you how to love as He does. Practice being more loving in your marriage, then pray for all marriages.

Pass it on.

Peace, Love, and Joy,
Janet

Pray for Families (Reconnect)

Good Morning Prayer Warriors,

As I boarded my aircraft heading home to Seattle last night, I noticed my seatmate happily using his cell phone. Slight jealously arose in me as only minutes prior I had come to the panicked realization that I had left my iphone at my mother’s house. With no iphone to distract me from real human conversation, I began to talk to him. 2½ hours later we finished our conversation, only because the plane landed. I won’t share the part about him being an Emmy-winning TV producer/director/writer, but I will share what I learned about family. And something tells me that his devout Irish-Catholic mom who loves her rosary, somehow shaped his love of family.

He is the oldest of 34 cousins. He brings them together from all over the country every year. He showed me, not in words but in his expression, the beauty of keeping your extended family tight. When he talked about his family, his face lit up more than it did when he was talking about any of his numerous professional successes.

The beauty of family is that for the most part, they love you unconditionally. They have seen us at our best and our worst. We can reach to them for help or to help. They are the refuge in the deluge! Without tight family connections who would be there for us in the long haul?

Love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Never flag in zeal, be aglow with the Spirit, serve the Lord. Rom 12:10-11

Continue to pray for the strengthening of families. Reach out to a relative that you haven’t spoken with in a while and reestablish the connection.

Peace, Joy, and Love,
Janet

Pray for M.O.M. (Nourishment)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

I checked into an L. A. hotel last night that was flooded with celebrities from the Music Industry. The VMA Awards (Video Music Awards) was happening right next to the hotel and all the limos were pulling up in right in front of my hotel. This blocked cabbies from dropping off hotel guests, but mine refused to find the alternate entrance and dropped me off in the middle of the street. If it weren’t for a kind security guard, they probably wouldn’t have let me the paying guest, in the front door! So what does this have to do with marriages? I believe more than a few of those celebrities could use some of our Monday prayers!!!

Like celebrities, we can drown in the busyness of our day. Marriages need to be nurtured and fed each and every day or they will weaken and slowly die of starvation. So too our faith. If we nourish both on a daily basis, they will grow from a fragile seedling to a strong oak with deep roots.

I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. John 15:6

Discover new ways to nurture your marriage and your faith on a daily basis. Feel the difference it makes in your life.

Peace, Love, and Joy,
Janet

Pray for Families (Healing of Hurts)

Good Afternoon Prayer Angels,

On this beautiful Friday, I am in the Southern California sun visiting family. As my sister and I sift through boxes of old belongings of my dad, our emotions go from warm memories to hysterical laughter. Families have a way of touching every emotion possible, don’t they?

Unfortunately, some times family memories can be painful. Perhaps an isolated incidence causes you pain or perhaps the pain spans generations. This pain can linger or resurface at unexpected times.

So today faithful warriors, please pray for the healing of all hurts in your family. Pray for each family member. Next consider any generational pain that exists and ask the Lord for healing Pray for negative generational cycles to be broken. Fast from something as part of your prayer, then ask firmly in faith.

Mend your ways, encourage one another, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. 2Cor 13:11

Peace, Love, and Joy,
Janet

Pray for M.O.M. (Find refuge in the Lord)

Good Afternoon Prayer Warriors,

The beauty of marriage is that one is given a helpmate, a best friend to provide constant companionship, support, and encouragement, so that we may never be alone in our labors. When this relationship stops being synergistic and mutually self-giving, it usually begins to falter. The resultant pain can be overwhelming, often resulting in feelings of fear, loss, despair, and hopelessness.

I look to my right hand, but no friend is there. There is no escape for me; no one cares for me. I cry out to you, LORD, I say, You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living. Ps 142: 4-5

We pray for marriages because so often one forgets that the Lord is always present, always waiting, always ready to provide comfort, love, and strength.

I raise my eyes toward the mountains. From where will my help come? My help comes from the LORD, the maker of heaven and earth. Ps 121: 1-2

The Lords never fails.

I pray that the Lord blesses all the faithful prayer warriors, as you are angels to me. Continue to pray for marriages, and please invite others to join in.

Peace, Love, and Joy,
Janet

Pray for Families (Dependence on God)

Dearest Prayer Warriors,

I learned a long time ago, there is no such thing as the perfect family, but rather just those families that look perfect from a distance! Still, we yearn to have that perfect family. Families today are very heterogeneous. There are 2 parent families, single parents, divorced parents, parents caring for their adult children, and adults caring for their aging parents. Distance between family members can add to the stress, while shrinking finances and escalating expenses add to the burden.

In God’s eyes, we are all one family in the Body of Christ. He too wants us to be that perfect family, and so often he is perfecting us through fire.

The hardest part is to let go of our will, trust in Him to take care of our needs, and to honor his will for us. We want so much to be in control, especially when life becomes extremely difficult.

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life?” Matt 6:25-27

Please pray fervently for families, as so many are overcome by stress and hopelessness. Through our prayer, let us pray that God gives all families the grace to depend wholly on Him.

Let us invite a friend to prayer. Pass it on.

Peace, Joy, and Love,
Janet