Pray for Marriages (Adopt a couple)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

It’s said that singing is like praying twice.  Let me add that praying for someone else is twice as nice!  It benefits them and it benefits YOU!

This week, pick a married or engaged couple you would like to adopt in prayer and pray for them.  Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you to the couple most in need of prayer.    Try to pray for them daily for at least a week.  Perhaps you will be inspired to pray for them even longer!

…Pray for one another, that you may be healed. The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful. James 5:16

May the Lord abundantly bless you and your families for your commitment to pray for one another.

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Share the joy and blessings of praying.  Pass it on!

Pray for Families (Mercy and Love)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

Imagine a moment (just one J) where you have completely messed up.  REALLY messed up.  You are expecting  “fireworks” to ensue be it from your boss, your spouse, your friend, your parents, or your peers (depending on the situation,).  You brace yourself for the worst …… but instead you receiver forgiveness, and mercy.  You are completely disarmed by such love.  Speechless, you are filled with humility and gratitude.  This is what Christ’s love is like. 

We go through life, making messes all over the place; poor decisions, hurtful words,    selfish actions, and complete inaction when help is needed.  We offend the Lord over and over.   Yet He awaits each of us, hoping we will ask for His forgiveness and mercy, and when we do, His mercy overflows and we are drenched in forgiveness.

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, brought us to life with Christ (by grace you have been saved) Ephesians 2:4-5

Hear Him knock at your door of your heart. “Open it”, He calls, “do not be afraid for it is I, your Savior, your Redeemer”. He waits patiently, ready to disarm you with His love. Open the door of your heart. Beckon Him to bring Mercy and Love. Then ask Him on behalf of your family as you bring each of them to Him in prayer. Mercy and Love will heal their wounds.

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, [then] I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me. I will give the victor the right to sit with me on my throne, as I myself first won the victory and sit with my Father on his throne. Rev 3:20-21

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Introduce Mercy and Love to the masses.  Pass it on!  

Pray for Marriages (Weak and Weary)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

We have all seen the stoic and brave-hearted. We’ve also seen the weak and weary, not to mention the broken-hearted; Those who struggle to make their marriage work and those who have lost hope in the fight; Those who can’t imagine a better  marriage and feel stuck in their misery; Those who are eternally hopeful.   They may be your friends, family, coworkers or strangers.  This may be you.  It is for you and these sweet souls that we pray this week. 

He gives power to the faint, abundant strength to the weak. They that hope in the LORD will renew their strength, they will soar on eagles’ wings; They will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint. Isaiah 40:29, 31

Lord, help the weary discern your will in their marriages.  We do not know what is hidden, but in prayer we ask your guidance, protection, strength, grace, and peace for them.  Sustain them in your love.  Help them rest in your loving hands, so that they know what holy love feels like.  Heal them in their brokenness, and recreate in them new hearts to love.

We are not discouraged; rather, although our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to what is seen but to what is unseen; for what is seen is transitory, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4: 16-18

You are not alone.  It is for you we pray!

For the grace of God has appeared, saving all.  Titus 2:11

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Sustain hope.  Ask more people to pray. Pass it on!

Pray for Families (By His Wounds We Are Healed)

Good Friday

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

He was pierced for our sins, crushed for our iniquity. He bore the punishment that makes us whole, by his wounds we were healed. We had all gone astray like sheep, all following our own way; But the LORD laid upon him the guilt of us all. Isaiah 53: 5-6

Take time today, as a family if possible, to meditate on Christ’s Passion. His actions exemplify how to live a life of love, which glorifies the Father. Such pure abandonment to the will of God will bring healing to ourselves and to our families.

Imagine Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Meditate on his total trust, surrender, and abandonment to the Father. 

Lord, help me to trust that you are in control of my life, so that I may surrender more fully to you. You know what’s best for me, even when it’s seems difficult.

See the guards shackle him and take him away to be scourged. What sins shackle you and thus shackled Him? 

Lord, break my chains!

Jesus is crowned with thorns, spat upon, and mocked. 

Lord, help me see where my heart is hardened to my own or another’s brutality of words or deeds. Create in me a new heart O Lord!

See Him with Pontius Pilate. The crowd elects to release the murderer, Barabbas, versus sparing the innocent blood of Jesus. Where in our life, our city, our nation, do we defend the murderous and pierce the innocent?

Lord, have mercy on your people! Lead us into to the Truth!

Jesus carries the cross out of unfathomable love for us.

Lord, help me carry my cross out of love for others as well. Help me to love more selflessly!

Jesus is mocked, tortured by whips, thorns, & spikes, then stripped naked, humiliated, and crucified without compassion, all for love of YOU. 

Lord, help me to see where I have hurt you by choosing other things over you in my life. Grant me the grace to always put you first in my day and not crowd you out of it with activities that I love more than you. I promise you (__) minutes of every day.

We praise you and thank you Jesus, for carrying our burden of sin and redeeming us so that we may have everlasting life with you. May our families be healed by the precious blood and water that flows from your Sacred Heart as a perpetual fount of mercy for us. Jesus we trust in You!

They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. John 17:16-17

Peace, Joy, and Love,
Janet

Share the good news of our redemption--Pass it on!

Pray for Marriages (Pray Passion-ately)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

As we enter into Holy Week, may let us take inventory of our actions and behaviors, especially within marriage.  Let us contemplate the Lord’s Passion as an example of the holiness we should aspire to. 

Humble yourself as a servant. 

Pray from the depths of your soul for all who are dear to you, especially your spouse. 

Ask that your cross(es) be taken from you, but not your will, but the Father’s will be done.  

Let us not fall asleep, but be alert in prayer for one another.  

Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test. 

If you sin against the Lord do not despair, but rather seek forgiveness.

May we never deny our relationship with Jesus.

May we remain humble and peaceful in adversity, and have complete faith and trust in God.

May we carry our cross in love.

May we not cling to things of this world, but only seek His Kingdom. 

“Truly, this was the Son of God!” Matthew 27:54

How can I repay the LORD for all the great good done for me? Psalm 116:12

The Lord is our light and our salvation. Pray a never-ending prayer of praise!

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Challenge someone to meditate on Christ’s Passion.  Matthew 26-27.  Pass it on! 

Pray for Families (Dysfunction to Perfection)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

I don’t know of any families that are perfect, only those that look perfect from the outside.  In reality, every family is disordered or dysfunctional in some way.   Most just learn to put the fun into dys”fun”ctional.    It is how we get through the day, the week, the year, life!  We pray because of our lack of perfection.  We will not see perfection this side of heaven, but we can at least hope we are walking toward it!   We are most blessed to have a loving and merciful God who continues to pour out his grace upon us.  So let’s start the walk to perfection, even if we take only take baby steps.  Here’s an acrostic to use as your stepping stones:

Persist in daily prayer for yourself and your family

Embrace your own cross because someone else’s isn’t going to look any better than yours.

Remember to keep holy the Lord’s Day.

Focused quiet time for prayer is a must, even if it is just 5-10 minutes/day

Every thought, word, and deed can be used to praise God so don’t waste a one of them!

Contemplate God’s love for you by contemplating His sacrifice for you.

Trustful surrender to His will is necessary, as we can achieve nothing on our own

It is in giving that we receive.  Be generous with your time, your talent, & your resources.

Our Blessed Mother will be your guide & advocate.  There is nothing He will refuse her!

No sin is greater than His mercy.

More than that, I even consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things and I consider them so much rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having any righteousness of my own…but that which comes through faith in Christ. 1 Philippians 3:8-9

It is never too late to start saying yes to God.  Take the first step on the stone, our Rock and our foundation!

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Invite some family members to walk the path to perfection.  Pass it on!