Pray for Families (Enjoying the Gift)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

Think back to your favorite childhood memories.  A joyful smile floods your face, doesn’t it?  Rest there a while.   My guess is your cherished memories are not about time with “things” but with people: relatives, family, & friends.  Yet how easy it is to immerse ourselves with “things” when we are trying to fill a void in our life.  Other times we selfishly fill the void with people whom we treat like “things” which we discard when we have no further use for them.

Family and friends are a gift.  Our Lord shines through them so that we might experience his unconditional love and friendship and seek to draw nearer to Him.

Empty yourself of your needless wants and desires and make room for the only thing that can fill the void.  Jesus.

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you of two minds.  Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you. James 4:8,10

Lord, help us let go of all that separates us from you.  Bless our families, that together we may experience the fullness of your love!

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Gather your family and cherish the time together. Feel the heaven-sent love!  Pass it on!  

Pray for Marriages (Plank-filled Eyes)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

“Stop judging, that you may not be judged. For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.  Matthew 7:1-2

“Not judging,” does not mean tolerating and accepting bad behavior. We were given an intellect to use for a reason. However the next passages seem to illuminate this further.

Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’ while the wooden beam is in your eye? You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye. Matthew 7:3-5

How easy it is to look at the other’s faults, particularly one’s spouse.  No wonder so many marriages are splintered! We are challenged however, to hold up a mirror to ourselves first.  Not a rose colored mirror in soft light.  Hold that mirror in the harshest of light!  Own your own imperfections (to your spouse) before speaking of theirs!  Together, make commitments for positive change.  However, even if the desire for change is one-sided, witnessing love in adversity is very powerful because such love emanates from Christ.

Lord, help us not to focus on our spouse’s faults, but instead on our ability to love despite them.  May we never tolerate or accept bad behavior, but rather love the person as you would, but challenge them to amend their ways. Tweeze out our imperfections and restore our sight! Help us grow in virtue and love, that we may one day become a perfect reflection of You. You converted the greatest of sinners, so our hope remains!  Amen.

All change begins with prayer. Continue to support marriages with yours!

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

I'll keep on saying, keep on praying! Pass it on!  

Pray for Families (Holy Fire!)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

May the love of the Lord enter into your hearts in a new and powerful way!

When I’m not feeling very loving, I ask the Lord for his heart. Unfortunately, that happens more frequently than I’d like to admit since the imitation of Christ calls for a sacrificial, merciful, and self-emptying love.  Christ showed us how to live and love, which were essentially one and the same. Mercy and love permeated everything he did and said. 

Because you are precious in my eyes and honored, and I love you.  

Isaiah 43:4

Not surprisingly, we all need some practice in this area (and lots of grace)! Spend time consciously loving your family, especially when they seem most unlovable.

Love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.

1 Timothy 1:5

Lord, take my heart and conform it to yours. Take the small ember of my love and fan it into a holy fire. May this fire of your love warm the hearts of family and friends, so that their hearts might be transformed as well.  Conform our lives to yours, sweet Lord.

And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. Deuteronomy 30:6

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Love needs to be practiced for the Lord to perfect it! Pass it on!  

Pray for Marriages (Inspiration from His Disciples)

Greeting Prayer Warriors,

As a follower of Christ, it’s easy to ponder both the complexity and simplicity of “love one another”.  But faith in action is much harder, especially in one’s own home.  When marriage moves from the hilltop to the valley, living the gospel seems much harder.  Perhaps one can find inspiration from Jesus’ disciples.

In everything we commend ourselves as ministers of God, through much endurance, in afflictions, hardships, constraints… by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, in a holy spirit, in unfeigned love, in truthful speech, in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness at the right and at the left. 2 Corinthians 4, 6-7

Lord, help each of us to live the gospel message of love in our marriage.  With your grace, accelerate our growth in the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  Keep us firmly grafted to You, that we may blossom fully, radiating You in all that we do. Bless all marriages, especially those most withered, that all might come to a new and greater life in You.

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Cry out in prayer to the Master Gardner.  Pass it on!  

Pray for Families (A New World)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

What is this world coming to?

Isn’t it easy to look at another’s behavior, attitude, or words and ruminate over how they annoy, offend, hurt, or disgust you?  It is much harder however, to look at one’s self and ask, “Can my behavior be classified as any better?” OR “Was my response to their behavior equally annoying offensive, hurtful, and disgusting?” How easy it is to be prideful with false feelings of superiority! Yet we rarely pause to consider what is creating the other’s storm. Our call to action is a simple: love.

Above all, let your love for one another be intense, because love covers a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8

We all are imperfect in some way, which is how the Lord humbles us. If we had no challenges in life, how would we ever come to realize that we needed a Savior? Praise you, Lord, for the brokenness that leads us to you! Heal our imperfections!

The light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times greater, like the light of seven days, on the day the LORD binds up the wounds of his people and heals the bruises left by his blows. Isaiah 30:26

Let us pray for family, friends, and the one in the mirror.

Lord, help us to find our way to you. Heal us from all that mars our beauty, especially on the inside.  Purify our words so that they may build up, not tear down. Clean our minds from all that diverts us from focusing on you. Redirect our “busyness” to that of serving one another. Give us warm hearts filled with your tender love, so that all those we meet will come to know you and seek you as they experience your love emanating through us. Then we will be able to answer the question, “What is this world coming to?" with a resounding, “YOU!”

Power came forth from Jesus and healed them all.  Luke 6:19

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Love and prayer. The only weapons needed to create a better world.  Pass it on!  

Pray for Marriages (Faith in the Midst of the Storm)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

When marital storms are brewing, it is exceedingly hard to trust God. Yet He tests our faith, not to mention our patience.

"Did you really mean your vows to your beloved when you spoke them in my presence?" He seems to ask.

"Save us, Lord; we are perishing!" our hearts cry out.  Matthew 8:25

"Be still and know that I am God," we hear Him reply.  Psalm 46:10

We pray over and over, "God for us is a refuge and strength, a helper close at hand in times of distress."  Psalm 46:2

He replies, "By waiting and by calm you shall be saved, in quiet and in trust your strength lies.  Isaiah 30:15

Let us pray for all married couples to be given the graces necessary to be still and quiet, to be patient and calm, and for an increase in faith, hope, and love.  

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Prayer can calm the soul. Pass it on!

Pray for Families (The Prodigal One)

Greetings Prayer Warriors, 

Everyone knows the story of the prodigal son.  I used to get so tripped up on how unfair it seemed that the wayward son received the celebratory feast.  But now I see it speaks of the father’s mercy, mirroring God the Father’s mercy.  We all go wayward in our lives at some point, feeding our passions and every little passing desire.  We mistake our self-removal from familial love, rules, structure, and/or morality for real freedom.  However in time, we find that we’ve become slaves to our passions and they soon shackle us. But just like the prodigal son’s father, we have a heavenly Father always waiting for us to return to Him so that He can release us from our chains and return us to the true freedom we never appreciated.

"Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son." Luke 15:21

God showers us with undeserved mercy because He can never stop loving us, His children.  He wants to give Himself fully to us for He is Love and Mercy!

“Now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.” Luke 15:32

Take some time and contemplate where in your life you separate yourself from the Father.  When you stand in His light, what makes you want to run?  Claim the dust bunnies in your life and bring them before the Father and ask for His mercy.  Then pray on behalf of your family members that they too may become totally reconciled to the Father.

"There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance."  Luke 15:7

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Let’s increase the joy in heaven!  Pray for true repentance as well as the conversion of others because everyone needs a heavenly hug! Pass it on!

Pray for Marriages (Rewoven like New)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

As we move toward summer and the days lengthen, so too do moods improve!  Why not leverage this natural boost to do something positive for your marriage? Ask the Lord what is right for your marriage. Activities together?  Time away?  Evening walks? Light-hearted talks? Reminiscing about your early love? Prayer time? The Lord knows best. Spend some quiet time with Him.

LORD, you have probed me, you know me: you know when I sit and stand; you understand my thoughts from afar. You sift through my travels and my rest; with all my ways you are familiar. Even before a word is on my tongue, LORD, you know it all. Behind and before you encircle me and rest your hand upon me.  Psalm 139:1-5

God of compassion and love, send your Spirit to guide me especially when I am unsure of which way to go or what to do. May I be attentive and docile to the promptings of your Spirit, for I trust in your promises.  May your loving hands reweave the bonds of our marriage, as you become the third strand.

I prayed: “LORD, God of heaven, great and awesome God, you preserve your covenant of mercy with those who love you and keep your commandments. May your ears be attentive, and your eyes open, to hear the prayer that I, your servant, now offer in your presence day and night. Nehemiah 1:5-6

“Behold, I make all things new.” Then he said, “Write these words down, for they are trustworthy and true.” Revelation 21:5

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

No marriage is beyond his grasp.  Pray that someone’s marriage be made new again! Pass it on!  

Pray for Families (Simple Prayer)

 Greetings Prayer Warriors,

With a humble heart and open mind, ask the Holy Spirit to help you identify the family members most in need of prayer.  Then with all your heart and all your mind, simply pray for them.

I will pray with the spirit, but I will also pray with the mind. 

1 Corinthians 14;15

Bless our families Lord, especially those individuals in most need of our prayers!

Peace, Joy and Love,

Janet

Ask someone to pray with you or for you.   Pass it on!