Pray for Families (Giving Gratitude and Glory)

Greetings Prayer Warriors!

 

The year is coming to a close and I want to express my gratitude for each one of you, those who have been with me from the beginning and those who’ve become a prayer warrior along the way, even if only for a day. When we look at the highs and lows over the year, prayer is the constant, the leveler, the support, the hope, and the blessing. 

 

Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice! Your kindness should be known to all. The Lord is near. 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 4:4-6

 

As we countdown this year and enter the next, spend some time giving praise and thanksgiving to our Lord, for even in your burdens and trials He blessed you, even if it’s not yet apparent to you.  Count your blessings and in all gratitude give glory to the Lord. 

 

“Amen. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving, honor, power, and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen.” Revelation 7:12

 

Finally, thank Him for each member of your family, for each one will be reflected in the heavenly crown that awaits you. For the Lord helps you grow in holiness and brings you to perfection through those he has chosen to place in your life.

 

Through him the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord; in him you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Ephesians 2:21 

 

Wishing you a blessed New Year, filled with more peace, more love, and more joy. 

 

Peace², Love², and Joy²,

Janet

 

Double both your prayer and gratitude and pass it on again and again. 

Pray for Marriages (To Bring Life and Light)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

 

I am fascinated, perplexed, intrigued, confused, encouraged, and enlightened by the Word of God. For it speaks to each of us right where we are at yet remains timeless.

 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God. John 1:1-2

 

When I contemplate that God and the Word are one, it brings to mind how the Lord created marriage to be a total union, where two distinct persons become one, acting on behalf and for the good of the other.

 

The two shall become one flesh.  So they are no longer two but one flesh. Mark 10:8

 

And through this Word comes life and light.  The union of a married couple is also to bring about life, and to educate each “life” through their actions and words to be a light for Christ.

 

All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race.  John 1:3-4

 

God sent his Word, Jesus, in the form of a baby.

 

And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.  John 1:14

 

What an incredible mystery! He calls married couples to bring about light and life, in union with God, just as He did. How many married couples are open to this call? Have you not noticed over the decades that as more and more couples say no to life, this world has become darker?  And just as the Word has been pushed out of schools, hospitals, town squares, government, etc., life diminishes and darkness grows.

 

Lord, we pray for all married couples of child-bearing age. Rid them of all selfish desires that dampen their desire for children.  Help them to freely give of self to their spouse. Open their hearts to your Word, that they may desire to bring life into this world according to the will of the Father. May they trust in your providence, and be open to love and life.  Make the barren fertile, and the fertile strong in faith, hope, and love. Guide them in the formation of their children, that they may grow up to be as torches of your love and light. And finally, Lord, help us all to rebuild a society that once again is firmly “under God” and views children as “gifts” from above. Encouraged, empowered, and enlightened by your Word, may we stand up, stand firm, and stand together in bringing you to all who dwell in darkness. 

 

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.  John 1:5

 

Jesus, Word made flesh, and light and life of the world, we trust in YOU!

           

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

 

Be a spark and pass it on!

Pray for Families (Blessings on Christmas)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

 

Some days are best for prayer-in-action, and today is one of them.  Glorify Christ in all your do and say, and give endless praise.

 

“Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

 

Merry Christmas!  

 

Wishing you the blessings of Everlasting Peace, Christmas Joy, and Enduring Love,

Janet

 

Make the world a merrier place. Pass it on! 

Pray for Marriages (From Sorrow to Joy)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

 

While the Christmas season is a time of joy for most, it can be a difficult time for those who have recently lost someone: a child, a parent, or a loved one.  With a gaping hole left by their absence and a festering wound that feels like it will never heal, it is hard to be joyful. Sometimes the pain can tear a couple apart rather than bring them together. 

 

Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. Matthew 5:4

 

Lord, we ask you to stand in the gap.  Be the soothing balm for their wound, even if they are blaming you. Fill them with hope that they may experience joy again. Surround these couples with your angels so that Satan may not drive these couples apart. You Lord are Truth, Love, Peace, and Joy.  Fill the hearts of the dejected, the lonely, and the isolated with your presence, always an indescribable joy. We are grateful for the grace you pour out on marriages, and ask for an abundance on those struggling the most. May your peace reign upon marriages forever!

 

I will turn their mourning into joy, I will show them compassion and have them rejoice after their sorrows. Jeremiah 31:13

 

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Pray for marriages experiencing sorrow. Pass it on!

Pray for Marriages (Carnival of Love)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

 

Marriage is one big carnival!  There’s the Tunnel of Love, rollercoaster, Tilt-a-Whirl, bumper cars, and haunted mansion, just to name a few. We pray for marriages during all the “amusement” phases, but more specifically it is when we are in the darker spaces, on the scarier rides, enduring endless bumps, and caught off guard as the bottom falls out, that we need prayer the most.

 

Together, let us pray:

 

Lord, when I am frustrated and crawl into my figurative cave, be the spark that shatters my darkness.

When I want to use my tongue for evil, singe that thought and help me redirect my words to active prayer.

When I am spinning out of control, catch me and hold me close to your Sacred Heart. 

When I wallow in self-pity, help me to refocus and reach out to others in need.

When I am sinking into despair, illuminate my soul with your saving grace. 

Help me to always trust in your Divine Plan. 

Help me to bring your unfathomable love into my marriage. 

Most of all Lord, help me to acknowledge your enduring love for me by praising you forever.  Amen.

 

Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving, honor, power, and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”  Revelation 7:12

 

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

 

Prayer and Praise is the gift that keeps on giving. Pass it on. 

Pray for Families (Obedience and Wisdom)

Greetings Prayer Warriors, 

 

Everyone who has kids can remember a time when they temporarily lost one of them.  It’s a horrific feeling followed by the unparalleled joy and relief of a reunion. Thus, when I read in the Gospel of Luke the story of Mary and Joseph unwittingly leaving Jesus behind in Jerusalem, I felt a real kinship with them as parents! 

 

Next, I contemplated Jesus’s response to being found. He didn’t understand why they didn’t grasp what he was doing. Sounds like a typical reaction of a child to their parent!  But then, 

 

He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus advanced [in] wisdom and age and favor before God and man.  Luke 2:51-52

 

Although Jesus felt he should be elsewhere (in His Father’s House), he obeyed his parents and went home with them. Jesus shows us the importance of honoring one’s parents. Note the fruit of obedience is an increase in wisdom and favor before God and man!  Contemplate how “rightly ordered” obedience leads to wisdom. Consider Jesus’ humility as well. What does a family and even a society look like that honors God and family?

 

Sweet Jesus, from a young age, you showed us how we are to live in this world: with humility, respect for family, obedience to one’s parents, and evangelization to those who may need to be challenged.  With great self-awareness, empower us and our families with a tsunami of grace!  Help us to not only grow in the virtues, but to guide others in obtaining them as well.  Help us to discover the Heavenly Father’s will for our lives that we too may step out boldly in the direction he calls us. Help us to lead this society back toward your Father’s House. Hear our prayers, for family, friends, and all of your Father’s children.  Jesus, we trust in You, but help us trust in you more! Amen.

 

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

 

Make the first bold step. Pass it on!

Pray for Marriages (No Longer Living for Oneself)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

 

The hardest part of marriage is when the rose-colored glasses fade. Dreams of a perfect life meet with the reality of two people who are only human, filled with flaws, hurts, and good intentions. Life was never meant to be easy. For Jesus says, 

 

“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself? Luke 9:23, 25

 

These are tough words, when a marriage is rocky. Tougher though is not to hope in Jesus and know the abundant life he promises.

 

I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly. John 10:10

 

There are many people today struggling in their marriages. One’s natural instinct is to run from pain not towards it.  Jesus is only asking that you pause, and accept the cross one day at a time.  It is through the cross that you will meet Him who is Love. There, He will give you the Love you desire and comfort and guide you. He may also ask you to carry your cross on behalf of your spouse. Yes, the one you don’t happen to like right now. The Lord may not change your spouse right away, but guaranteed, He will change you. 

 

He indeed died for all, so that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

 

Lord, we pray for those spouses who feel lonely, isolated, hurt, fearful, hopeless, abandoned, betrayed, and heartbroken.  Seek them out and pull them close to your Sacred Heart which is filled with so much mercy and love!  Guide them into your perfect plan for their marriage and their life.  May they not fear the cross you have allowed, but instead find joy in your presence. Give them the gift of perseverance, that they may reach the destination you have planned for them. Lord, you are the Divine Healer of heart, mind, soul, and marriages, hear our humble prayers and be swift to answer them! Amen.

 

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

 

Pray for a marriage and bring hope by passing it on!

Pray for Families (Letting Go to Let in)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

 

Who doesn’t love to preach forgiveness, yet struggles with those long held grudges? Who doesn’t desire humility yet struggles with all the injustices that injure their pride? Who labors to pray for everyone yet secretly delights when their antagonist falls? Lord help us! We are deeply human, and greatly in need of God’s grace!

 

Do not repay anyone evil for evil; be concerned for what is noble in the sight of all. If possible, on your part, live at peace with all. Beloved, do not look for revenge but leave room for the wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” Romans 12:17-19

 

All justice is God’s. He needs us to be reflections of Him, shining hope, love, and light in this darkened world, and frequently into our dimly lit homes as well. 

 

What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:4-5

 

Heavenly Father, help us to let go of anger and those long held grudges and resentments that have no effect on those who have wounded us, but only shackle us in a pitiful, darkened cell of our own making.  We trust in your justice and mercy, and vow to release all that has imprisoned us so that your grace and light may fill that void. Pour compassion, humility, and love into our hearts, and lend us your calm and assuring voice so that we may bring hope not only to the masses, but to our families as well.  

 

Wait eagerly for the LORD, and keep his way; He will raise you up to inherit the earth; you will see when the wicked are cut off. Psalm 37:34

 

Truly, the LORD is waiting to be gracious to you, truly, he shall rise to show you mercy; For the LORD is a God of justice: happy are all who wait for him! Isaiah 30:18

 

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Shine a light in the darkness.  Pass it on!