Pray for Marriages (Strength in Combat)

Memorial Day

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

As people enjoyed this extended holiday weekend, I wonder how many paused or even realized that today is Memorial Day, a day we honor those who shed their blood for our freedom.

No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.  John 15:13

Physical death is the ultimate price, yet there is another death that is just as meritorious.  It is the dying to one’s own will for the sake of the greater good. In the case of the military family, it is also the spouse’s sacrifice of their own desires for those of their deployed partner.

Those who suffer in accord with God’s will hand their souls over to a faithful creator as they do good. 1 Peter 4:19

Please pray for those marriages where one or both spouses are in the Armed Forces. One battles the enemy in combat or the difficulty of preparing for it, while the other combats isolation, loneliness, the trials of managing a household alone, and temptation.

Lord, in your great mercy and kindness, be the binding that won’t allow these marriages to break.  Strengthen them in their weaknesses and fortify their love.  May you be the link that spans their distance, whether it be physical, emotional, or spiritual.  Send human angels to assist them when they feel overwhelmed, to comfort them in their trials, and to befriend them in their loneliness. Thank you Lord for being their refuge, their fortress, and their forever faithful friend.  Amen.

May grace and peace be yours in abundance through knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 2 Peter 1:2

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Pray that military couples dwell in the shelter of the Most High!  Pass it on!  

Pray for Families (An Unexpected Relationship)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

Nothing is more exciting than to witness how the Lord goes to such lengths to seek each one of us out.  No matter where we are on our faith walk, He beckons to us to take a step closer.  It usually is through the kindness of others, that we feel His love, His touch, His encouragement.  Sometimes we sense He is personally calling to us.

Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening. 1 Samuel 3:9

Today I met a beautiful woman whose encounter with the Holy Spirit changed her heart forever.  She worked in the service industry.  She saw a large amount of tip money setting out unguarded.  She knew no one would know who took it.  Plus, it would help her make her car payment for which she didn’t have the money.   But she had recently encountered Christ, been changed by the presence of the Holy Spirit, and knew she was somehow different.  She now felt how wrong it would be to steal the money regardless of the reason.  She didn’t take it.  The next day, she made enough in tips to cover her car payment.

“Sow for yourselves justice, reap the reward of loyalty; Break up for yourselves a new field, for it is time to seek the LORD, till he comes and rains justice upon you.” Hosea 10:12

How faithful the Lord is!  Let us pray for our family and loved ones, that each may be touched and changed by the power of the Holy Spirit.  May their ears be open to His voice, their hearts be receptive to His love, and their minds be illumined by His light. May each one experience an intimate life-changing relationship with Christ. All glory be to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit!  As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.  AMEN!

The LORD, the LORD, a God gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in love and fidelity, continuing his love for a thousand generations, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin.  Exodus 34:6-7

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

He beckons you to His peace, multiplies your joy, and showers you with His everlasting Love. Rejoice and sing praises! Pass it on! 

Pray for Marriages (The Importance of “Yes”)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

Being a volunteer at a hospital is a delight.  Being able to pray with the patients is a total gift!   So often during prayer, I see the love of God being poured out to the patient and even to their family. What gifts they received by their “yes”!  Sadly, many do not want to engage in prayer, so they answer, “no thank you, not today.”  If only they knew the gift that remained unopened!  However if we each examine ourselves, we too would see all the times we say “no thank you” to the Lord.  Who knows what gifts he had in store for us!

When you know your marriage needs prayer, do you ever say, “no thank you” because you are too angry with your spouse to pray for him/her?  When love is lacking in your marriage, do you ever ask the Lord for an extra helping of His love, or do your sometimes say “no thank you” because you want time to wallow in self-pity?  Rather than asking the Lord for some self-control, do you ever say “no thank you” because you’d rather have the fleeting joy of letting the sword of your tongue fly freely? 

A soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse one breaks the spirit.

Being a witness to God’s grace in the hospital awakens me to the gifts He has awaiting us.  He knows we too are in need of some type of healing. 

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God.  Ephesians 2:8

An endless supply of grace awaits you. Prayer is the avenue by which you will be able to grow in humility and gain the confidence to open yourself up to His grace.  Open this gift by cooperating with His grace. He wants both you and your spouse to experience His gift of love.   He will teach you how to love and be loved for He is Love.  Kneel in prayer and begin with a “Yes please! More please!”

Let us pray for more yeses so that His healing grace and renewing love can heal marriages!

And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. Romans 5:5

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Say “Yes!” and pass it on!  https://simplyinspiredprayer.blogspot.com

Pray for Families (Warriors against the Darkness)

Greetings Prayer Warrior,

Wake up call of the week: 

"In your nation, God is being eroded, eclipsed, liquidated."

-Cardinal Robert Sarah at the National Prayer Breakfast, Washington, DC

He continued to describe attacks on the family as “demonic”.

Satan is leading his growing army, but the Lord calls out to each of us, his disciples.

Arise! Shine, for your light has come, the glory of the LORD has dawned upon you. Though darkness covers the earth, and thick clouds, the peoples, upon you the LORD will dawn, and over you his glory will be seen. 

 Isaiah 60:1-2

When a family disintegrates, psychological wounds and scars appear and the ability to love with an open heart becomes more difficult.

“The rupture of the foundational relationship of someone’s life through separation, divorce or distorted imposters of the family such as co-habitation or same-sex unions is a deep wound that closes the heart to self-giving love into death, and even leads to cynicism and despair. These situations cause damage to the little children through inflicting upon them deep existential doubt about love…."This is why the devil is so intent on destroying the family. If the family is destroyed, we lose our God-given anthropological foundations, and so find it more difficult to welcome the saving good news of Jesus Christ: self-giving, fruitful love.” 

-Cardinal Robert Sarah

The Lord can heal all wounds, but we must battle against the lure of the devil calling us to foster hate, to move toward self-indulgence, or fall into despair. Instead, each of us must be attentive to what the Lord is calling us to do.  He needs warriors to arise, in voice, in prayer, in witness, and in action.  What is he calling you to do?  Begin by dropping to your knees in prayer, seeking to know his will.  He will call to you, “Arise!”

And do this because you know the time; it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed; the night is advanced, the day is at hand. Let us then throw off the works of darkness [and] put on the armor of light. Romans 13:11-12

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Pray ceaselessly for the darkness to flee and for His light to shine once again on the family. Pass it on!!  

Pray for Marriages (God’s Perfect Plan)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

As women have become stronger, more independent, self-supportive, and fulfilled, conversely (and somewhat in response) men seem to have become more complacent, less motivated, less protective, more dependent.  However, in fair balance, some women have focused so much on their career development that they have lost sight of the beauty and importance of motherhood. As a result, they have become absentee mothers similar to men throughout the decades who were so focused on their careers that they became absentee fathers.  Stating the obvious, this is not healthy for children let alone a marriage.  A relationship suffers when a couple unyokes, becoming two people with individual goals. 

Husbands, love your wives, and avoid any bitterness toward them. Ephesians 3:19

You husbands should live with your wives in understanding, showing honor to the weaker female sex, since we are joint heirs of the gift of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered. Finally, … be of one mind, sympathetic, loving toward one another, compassionate, humble. Do not return evil for evil, or insult for insult; but on the contrary, a blessing, because to this you were called, that you might inherit a blessing. 1 Peter 3:7-9

The Lord has a beautiful plan for each one of us that incorporates the beauty of our womanhood or manhood.   We were made different for a purpose. When we fulfill God’s will for us, 1+1=3. 

Everyone should live as the Lord has assigned, just as God called each one. 1 Corinthians 7:17

Let us pray that we allow ourselves some daily quiet time with the Lord and ask Him how we can be all that he created us to be. Whatever he may have called you to, may He be the third person in your marriage and show you how you can glorify him by fulfilling his plan for your marriage.

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Prayer is a precious gift. Pray for one another. Pass it on! 

Pray for Families (Purity)

Feast of Our Lady of Fatima*

Greetings Prayer Warriors! 

This week, it seemed everywhere I looked my eyes were accosted with seeing more of other female’s body parts than I cared to.  While watching G-rated television, a woman on the show literally dressed to “show”.  I silently screamed at the TV, I don’t want to see your______!  Then later in the week I went to order a tuxedo for my son’s prom. I tried not to stare, but in my bewilderment I couldn’t figure out who I was more distracted by, the sales lady who had a low zipped top or the other sales lady who I thought forgot to put her pants on that morning.  Silly me, her “top” was a very, very short romper!  I can only imagine what was going through the minds of the mainly all male customers.  It begs the question, “Is impurity of body, mind, and heart a victimless action?”

I offer you for reflection, this passage found in the diary of St. Faustina.

An inner recollection took hold of me immediately, and I saw the Lord Jesus tied to a pillar, stripped of His clothes, and the scourging began immediately. I saw four men who took turns at striking the Lord with scourges. My heart almost stopped at the sight of these tortures. The Lord said to me, I suffer even greater pain than that which you see. And Jesus gave me to know for what sins He subjected Himself to the scourging: these are sins of impurity. Oh, how dreadful was Jesus' moral suffering during the scourging! (Diary, 445).

If you struggle with impurity of any kind, stop and meditate on the above.

"More souls go to Hell because of sins of the flesh than for any other reason.”  Our Lady of Fatima

(Sins of impurity are less likely to be repented of than other sins)

"What does it profit a man if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his own soul?" Matthew 16:26

“Certain fashions will be introduced which will offend Our Divine Lord very much. Those who serve God ought not to follow these fashions. The Church has no fashions. Our Lord is always the same.” Our Lady of Fatima to Jacinta

Let us pray for families and each family member, so that with the Lord’s heavenly grace, each can resist temptations to impurity, be they visual, mental, or physical. There is always a reason for our hope, because we are blessed to have a merciful and loving Good Shepherd, who continually seeks his lost sheep.

Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath of water with the word, that he might present to himself the church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.  Ephesians 5:25-27

Let we, the church, give praise! How awesome is He who suffered and died so that we may have life!

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

His love endures forever!  Pass it on!

*Story of Fatima