Pray for Marriages (Identiiying with the Saints!)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

Thank you, Lord, for the saints! I love them not because of all their perfections but because of all their faults, since I can relate to those! Meditating on their lives should give everyone hope, for we are shown that even the greatest sinner can become a saint!  St. Peter, one of the first apostles and a good friend of Jesus, denied even knowing Him, not once, but 3 times, yet Jesus gave him the keys to the kingdom, making him the first pope! Saul (later to be St. Paul), self-righteously took it upon himself to murder Christians, but the Lord later used him as a perfect tool to build Christianity.  Beloved David was both an adulterer and a murder, but in the end, the Lord blessed him and his descendants.  

The Divine Healer seeks to transform all hearts no matter how hardened or injured they’ve become. And sometimes, like he did with Paul, He jolts us from our wayward, self-destructive path. In that moment of grace, if we respond to it, we too will be given the opportunity to refocus our lives and toward the path of righteousness. 

As we pray for marriages, let us ask the Lord to transform each heart according to one's unique need. May old scars heal, allowing the heart to flow with tender love. May stony hearts be pulverized so that they may once again beat with empathy and compassion. May the hearts that are surrounded by impenetrable fortresses be healed of fear and mistrust, becoming instead a castle of love. 

And I will give them another heart and a new spirit I will put within them. From their bodies I will remove the hearts of stone, and give them hearts of flesh, so that they walk according to my statutes, taking care to keep my ordinances. Thus they will be my people, and I will be their God. 

Ezekiel 11:19-20

Lord, you know exactly what it takes to command the attention of each one of your children. Hear their prayers, our prayers, so that we may find the path that leads to everlasting life. Help us persevere when we want to quit, help us love when we don’t feel like it, help us forgive, so that we may be assured of your forgiveness.  Lord be our strength! Amen!

Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

1 Corinthians 15:57

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Prayer provides the next rung on the stairway to heaven.  Persevere in prayer one day at a time! Pass it on!

Pray for Families (Self Reflection and Amendment)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

In the midst of each day, carve out some quiet time and spend it with the Lord.  Ask Him to show you what in your life pleases Him and what offends Him. Don’t resist His answer, because sin makes us blind to the true state of our souls.  Reflect on the latter and make an amendment to change. Pray for the fortitude and will to do so.  After your own self-evaluation, ask Him how you should direct your prayer for each family member. Pray that they too may become more pleasing to the Lord. 

“Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.”  Matthew 8:2

Then I remembered the mercies of the LORD, his acts of kindness through ages past; For he saves those who take refuge in him, and rescues them from every evil. Sirach 51:8

Good Shepherd, keep us all within your loving gaze and never tire of seeking us when we are lost. Save us from the thicket into which we frequently and often defiantly wander. For you alone remain our protector, consoler, healer, and loving Father. You alone are always compassionate and merciful to the contrite of heart. Hear our collective prayers for our family and loved ones that we may all walk through the narrow gate to a heavenly eternity with you. Amen.

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Collective prayer for one another is very powerful. Punch up the power by passing it on!  

Pray for Marriages (Peace,His Will, and Mercy)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

Peace!  In these interesting times, filled with chaos, infectious worry, and a true lack of leadership all around, I wish you peace, the peace only to be found in Jesus Christ. For in Him we can let go of anxiety, worry, and fear. 

Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

Today I feel called to pray for the many who no longer see any need for marriage, or believe the step before marriage is to live together and decide later. While it is easy for most to justify, (it was prudent, cost-effective, convenient, etc.) it won’t be so easy when standing face to face with the Lord.  Somehow saying everyone was doing it or you wanted to save up money for a wedding won’t cut it. One will see how their unbridled passions increased the pain of His Passion.

If they cannot exercise self-control they should marry, for it is better to marry than to be aflame with passion. 1 Corinthians 7:9

Let marriage be honored among all and the marriage bed be kept undefiled, for God will judge the immoral and adulterers.  Hebrews 13:4

Lord, we are a stubborn stiff-necked people who never like to be told what to do. We pray for ourselves, loved ones, children and grandchildren, and those who have remorse or will have for past indiscretions. Help all to understand that your laws and commands were put in place for our ultimate good, not as a means to restrict or punish us. Free will is a double-edged sword, so we give you thanks for your merciful love and willingness to forgive a contrite heart. May we forever desire to console the Sacred Heart we have much offended.

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

Prayer is a gateway to temperance, conversion of heart, and peace. Pass it on! 

Pray for Families (The Heart of the Matter)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

Families are the heartbeat of our culture, and if God is at the center of the family, we are flooded with peace, love, hope, trust, and renewed faith. Subsequently, we become beacons of Christ’s Light in the world. However, when families are broken down, and God is moved aside not only in the home but in the communities, anxiety, heartache, disappointment, and disillusionment enter in, and our world becomes darker. 

So, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in him, rooted in him and built upon him and established in the faith as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. See to it that no one captivate you with an empty, seductive philosophy according to human tradition, according to the elemental powers of the world and not according to Christ. Colossians 2:6-8

Perhaps your children, your spouse, your grandkids, or other relatives have lost their faith and you are seeing that ripple through the family tree. Don’t despair because hope remains. It is for these times and as in other times throughout history, that Jesus suffered for us, allowing His heart to be pierced that all may have new life. Blood symbolizes life, and it was through His death, Christ expiated our sins, transfusing us with new life. He is the source of all consolation, reconciliation, and peace. He is the fountain of all holiness and rich is his mercy. He is our resurrection and the hope of all those who trust in Him. 

What a beautiful, Sacred Heart!  Let us praise Him as we pray for an outpouring of His love and grace! Bring Him into the heart of the matter for He is the ultimate life support. Place those that are causing you the most heartache into his most Sacred Heart.  May he renew them with each heartbeat, refresh them with his merciful love, and ignite a fire of within their hearts for Christ.

“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

Return to the heart of the matter. Pass it on!  

Pray for Marriages (The Path to Holiness)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

Many years of marriage passed before I learned that the role of each spouse was to get the other to heaven. Apparently, Adam and Eve never thought about it since they began their journey “in heaven”. But since their fall from grace, we are climbing uphill! Our need for “elevating” grace is abundant if we are to succeed. 

As difficulties arise or even persist in a marriage, know that it is through these difficulties that you will be perfected. Consider your reaction to your spouse with every conversation or event. Your reaction will guide you to the virtue you need to grow in. Perhaps it’s patience, or even long-suffering. Maybe it’s temperance or charity. Could it be humility or kindness? Offer up your angry, suffering, indignant, or bleeding heart to the Lord for the perfection of your spouse. Your virtue will increase.

Live in love, as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma. Ephesians 5:2

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another. Colossians 3:12-13

While sometimes this may seem easy, other times unachievable, our prayers for your marriage will seed the clouds of grace which will the Lord will shower upon you. Let us all pray for marriages, especially each other’s. May our hearts will be perfected by love.

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

With sacrificial love, be a fragrant aroma for the Lord. Pass it on!   

Pray for Families (Love and Light)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

I saw a wonderful t-shirt recently that was emblazoned with “Make America Godly Again”. It made me smile, then made me think. The more we move God out, the more division that occurs. To reset, we need to draw closer to the Lord through prayer and the sacraments so that we may absorb and radiate His compassionate love into our hearts and back out into the world. It starts with the woman/man in the mirror. The only way for the world to get the big hug it needs is to first drop the labels and bias within our own families, (the loser, the slow one, the fat one, the narcissistic one, the radical one, etc.) and start loving, hugging, and being more tolerant in one’s own family. (That does not mean accepting bad behavior, but to reprimand in love.) 

We urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, cheer the fainthearted, support the weak, be patient with all. See that no one returns evil for evil; rather, always seek what is good [both] for each other and for all. 

1 Thessalonians 5:14-15

Know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to accomplish far more than all we ask or imagine, by the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:19:21

It all begins not with an “I’ll try,” but with an “I will” for I can do all things through him who strengthens me.  Philippians 4:13

The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? Psalm 27:1

Light up the darkness. Pray with and for your family, then go and be his light in the world!

Peace, Joy, and Love, 

Janet

Reflect Love and Light!!  Pass it on! 

Pray for Marriages (Wine of Gladness)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

Undoubtedly, the turbulence in this world in having an effect on marriages, which in turn affects the family. Marriages that were unstable, are like ripe fruit ready to fall to the ground at any moment. But with prayer and petition, the Lord can take the ripened fruit of your marriage, crush and ferment it and transform it into something even better: wine of gladness.

Ah, my Lord GOD! You made the heavens and the earth with your great power and your outstretched arm; nothing is too difficult for you. 

Jeremiah 32:17

There are marriages suffering greatly right now, feeling crushed in the wine press. Many are ready to give up, throw in the towel, and shift gears. So often in trials one assumes their crosses are permanent, but the Lord never gives one more weight than they can bear, especially when they invite Him to help them carry their cross. He gives them the stamina and perseverance they need, perfecting them through their cross.

“My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” 

2 Corinthians 12:9

Hear our prayers Lord, as we ask on behalf of all of our married brothers and sisters in Christ that they be given the strength to withstand the pressure upon them. Shower them with the grace to be bold, humble, merciful, truthful, patient, and clean of heart. Heal their inner wounds exposed by the crush. Help them to rebuild the communication bridges destroyed by insults, lies, anger, silence, and/or distrust which have left them are stranded on opposite shores. The cross always spans the divide, so give them the perseverance to complete the task, allowing for reunification.

In all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us. Romans 8:37

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Wine of gladness needs time to become priceless.  Pray for patience and pass it on!  

Pray for Families (Love Through Prayer)

Greetings Prayer Warriors, 

The events of this week have taken our minds off of COVID-19, but news of senseless killings only heighten anxiety, fuel discord, and remind us of the increasing lack of kindness and respect for human life in this world. The Evil One is seeking to divide and create chaos. It is imperative we as warriors go into battle prepared to fight the spiritual fight. 

Draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power. Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens. Ephesians 6:10-12

Victories do not come without much prayer. As the Lord encourages us to follow Him, we are reminded we are asked to walk the way of the cross. 

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, and over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. Colossians 3:12, 14

Do not worry if you feel weak in strength, fortitude, or perseverance, for you only need to be strong in faith.  

“My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.”  

2 Corinthians 12:9

Draw your family more intentionally into prayer.  If you can, pray the rosary, the most powerful spiritual weapon around.  Ask the Lord for an outpouring of grace so all of humanity may be given new hearts capable of loving one another as Christ has loved us. Pray for all those who lost their lives this week, especially those who were the victims of racism and hate.

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Love and prayer are the answer. Pass it on!                                                                                                                           

Pray for Marriages (Positively Fanning the Flames)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

Many relationships seem to move through a process of joy, pain, healing, reinjury, distrust, pain, healing, joy, and so on.  We can see this in difficult marriages and are seeing this in society today.  Just when relationships are mending, the scab gets ripped off again fanning the flames of discord and division.  

Is it ironic, a coincidence, or telling that the more we push God who is Love, Truth, and Peace out of the public square and our homes, hate, division, and distrust grows?

We need God who is Love, more, not less. Under Him, our Father, we His beloved children, are one family. Sacrificially, He gives Himself fully to us and in turn we are to mirror His self-giving love to one another. Without Him, we become orphans, savages, and easy prey to the Evil One. With Him, we can give ourselves fully to our spouse, and in loving imitation of Christ to others.

Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love. In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him. In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another.  1 John 4:7-11

Begin now by inviting or re-inviting the Lord into your home and hearts.  

Additionally, consider inviting our Blessed Mother. She brings wisdom and tenderness into every situation. Call upon our heavenly mother who will run to every child she hears and tend to their wounds. She will grasp their hand and guide them to Love.

May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement and good hope through his grace, encourage your hearts and strengthen them in every good deed and word. 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

Never lose heart. Instead, through prayer for one another, expand it in Love.  

Do not be conquered by evil but conquer evil with good. Romans 12:21

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Pray to the Holy Spirit that the Flames of His Love will continue to penetrate our marriages, our homes and our world to bring about much needed healing. Pass it on!