Pray for Marriages (The Tipping Point)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

 

Anyone who is married realizes that the marriage partnership isn’t always 50-50. It’s more like a pendulum where the weight can frequently shift.   Other times it’s more like an unevenly balanced seesaw where one side has a preponderance of the weight and the joy has departed. It is in moments such as these that marriages are the most challenged. 

 

When one makes it through trying times, it is because someone has prayed for them. WE are that someone. Our prayers are efficacious and fruitful, yet most of the time we have no idea how and the Lord chooses to use them.  We may be saddened when we don’t see results from the prayers we’ve prayed for specific persons, but don’t for a minute think that the Lord hasn’t bestowed grace on them. “Results” are in God’s timing, for he gently tends to the garden of each soul, nourishing it and bringing it back into balance.

 

Please pray and trust in the Lord’s wisdom. Pray for those you don’t know as well as those you do. There are married couples right now in desperate need of prayer, at a critical tipping point, yet have no one to pray for them.  Will it be you?  I hope so!  Know that one day they may be the very ones praying for you. 

 

Therefore, …  we do not cease praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding to live in a manner worthy of the Lord, so as to be fully pleasing, in every good work bearing fruit and growing in the knowledge of God.  Colossians 1:9-10

 

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

 

Prayer revitalizes souls. Pass it on! 

Pray for Families (Shifting to Gratitude)

Greetings Prayer Warriors, 

 

Sometimes I can get so caught up with the concerns and worries of life and the multitude of things to complain about that I forget to pause and focus on all the things I should be showing gratitude for.  Does this happen to you?

 

Think of all your friends and family members whose small kindnesses you take for granted. Think of the person who is very direct with you (or has no filter), but whose words have made you change for the better. Think of the coworker who always smiles at you or give you a word of encouragement or reassuring glance. What about parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, or children who elevate your life in so many ways?  There is no time like the present to focus on showing them gratitude! 

 

Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up, as indeed you do. I Thessalonians 5:11 

 

Most of all, we need to give praise and glory to Him who blessed us daily. The Lord our Savior who is our rock, our comfort, our shield and our healer. He is our peace, our joy, and our Love. There are endless words to praise Him with, so let’s never stop showing gratitude to Him. And while you are praying prayers of thanksgiving, don’t forget to thank Him for your family, whom he chose specifically for you.  And while you ponder that, thank Him for His sense of humor too!

 

Therefore, we who are receiving the unshakable kingdom should have gratitude, with which we should offer worship pleasing to God in reverence and awe. Hebrews 12:28

 

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

 

Fill your heart with gratitude and then share it by passing this on! 

Pray for Families (The Importance of Play)

Greetings Prayer Warriors, 

 

If you care for the health of your family, don’t forget to take time to play!  It bonds families closer together, plus beautiful prayers come from having fun and restoring the spirit. 

 

Join me as I play and pray.  I’ll be praying for you and your families!

 

The LORD has done great things for us; Oh, how happy we were! 

Psalm 126:3

 

Find your delight in the LORD who will give you your heart’s desire. 

Psalm: 37:4

 

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

 

Play and pray. Pass it on!  

Pray for Marriages (Divine Perspective)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

 

I thought I knew love on my wedding day

A heart so full, I couldn’t wait to say,

“I do! I do! Until death do us part,

I promise my honor and give you my heart!”

 

Who contemplates sickness, we both had our health, 

When you’re rich in love, you don’t seem to crave wealth.

Yet our marital life changed and evolved in a way

I never thought possible, not even for a day. 

 

But the Lord had a plan to humble us both, 

The trials began and boy did we loathe, 

The potholes and cracks we traveled upon,

The dreams that were dying, the fraying of bonds.

 

I fell to my knees, I begged and I prayed,

Tears streamed from my face; Lord help us today!

That we might have life, and relearn how to love, 

Through the struggles and strife, we need help from above!

 

I heard in my soul, let Love enter in, 

If you die to yourself, I’ll forgive all your sin.

Then peace will abound, and I’ll show you the way

But the journey will continue, so you’ll still have to pray. 

 

I now know True Love, of the infinite kind,

My heart is now mended, it’s origin divine. 

My marriage was saved and in a way was reborn, 

My praise is unending, because I was transformed.*

 

I, then, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace. So be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.  Ephesians 4:1-3, 5:1-2

 

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet 

 

With humility and supplication, continue to pray! Pass it on!  

*composed by me

Pray for Families (Transformative Mercy)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

 

Think of someone you find fairly intolerable, a relative or acquaintance, whose presence at best, feels like a thorn in your side. Next, imagine they are welcomed into your tight-knit friend circle. This must have been how it felt to the apostles when Saul, now Paul, was brought into their community. They didn’t yet grasp how the generosity of Christ’s mercy could truly transform someone. Yet, they would be called to imitate Christ, welcome Saul, and treat this man whom they feared and despised, as a brother.

 

I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and an arrogant man, but I have been mercifully treated because I acted out of ignorance in my unbelief.  

1 Timothy 1:13

 

We all have some Saul in us. We can be ignorant of the truth and self-righteously arrogant. We can murder with our tongues and throw rocks with our glaring and dismissive eyes. Yet blindly, we only despise these qualities when we see them in another. 

 

It is time for self-reflection. Who even knows that they are ignorant of the truth/Truth?! Are you a Saul? Or is there a Saul in your life? Wouldn’t you love to receive Christ’s mercy flowing through another with a heart of love and compassion? Can you also see that this is how you must treat other Sauls? Both mercy given and mercy received is truly transformative.  

 

Our time here on earth is only in preparation for the next life. May our love and mercy continue to grow. Let us pray for each other and our families, that we may imitate Christ’s mercy and, in the end, receive our heavenly crown complete with a new name. 

 

“Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the victor I shall give some of the hidden manna; I shall also give a white amulet upon which is inscribed a new name, which no one knows except the one who receives it.” Revelation 2:17

 

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

 

Transform someone’s life. Show them mercy when they least expect it! Pass it on!   

Pray for Marriages (Uprooting the Overgrowth)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

 

Marriage is beautiful and filled with delights despite having numerous challenges and obstacles.Yet, depending on the day, are you ever confused as to whether it’s leading you toward sainthood or perdition? 

 

How can you be assured that you are on the right path?

 

Let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:15-17

 

Reflecting on the above scripture, are all your words and actions toward your spouse, reflective of Christ, honoring Him and giving Him glory? Where do you slip up? In your snarky tone? Use of divisive vs. encouraging words? In your pride and selfishness?  

 

Until we dig deep enough within ourselves to get to the root of our actions, and then seek to uproot that sin, we will continue to be surprised at its regrowth. Like a weed, it will overgrow our inherent goodness and kindness. Conversely, uprooting it will allow beautiful virtues to take root in our hearts.

 

Holy Spirit, shed light upon our souls so that we can see all that separates us from God. Help us to acknowledge our sin, be contrite, and utilize the sacraments if we have access to them, that we may be showered with a wellspring of His grace. With humility, may we seek and offer forgiveness and reconciliation towards one another, as a testament to His mercy. May are lips always praise you, Lord, for then they will have time for little else!!

 

The decision to grow in holiness and glorify God in all we say and do is a daily choice. So, what’s it going to be? Saint or sinner?  

 

Let’s all continue to pray for one another so that we may be united in heaven to praise and thank Him!

 

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

 

The commitment to love is made one day at a time. Pass it on! 

 

Pray for Families (Wisdom and Love)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

 

Wisdom is a precious gift that we seek to obtain.   It is something that can’t be rushed as it matures over time.  My mother would always say in regards to wisdom, “You can’t put an old head on a young body.”  True.  We want the young to be as wise as we are, however youth is a time of beauty without much wisdom.  Wisdom is timeless, peaking as our beauty is fading. They seldom go hand in hand. 

 

There is a time for everything, and everything in it’s time.  It is the perfect lesson in patience, as we mature into a greater knowledge and understanding of God’s plan.  

 

There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens. Ecclesiastes 3:1

 

Lord, help us to realize you have laid a unique path out for each one of us, and help us to understand that what looks to be a crazy journey can actually be your perfect plan to shape, conform, and transform us or our loved ones.  Grant us the grace needed to grow in understanding, kindness, and patience, even with ourselves. Bless our families as we grow in wisdom and beauty of heart.  May our hearts radiate love in endless praise of you.  Amen.

 

Therefore, I prayed, and prudence was given me; I pleaded and the spirit of Wisdom came to me. Beyond health and beauty, I loved her, and I chose to have her rather than the light, because her radiance never ceases.  

Wisdom 7:7, 10

 

Peace, Joy, and Love, 

Janet

 

Be wise. Radiate Love. Pass it on!