Pray for Families (Discovering Christ)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

If I were to guess at the #1 prayer intention of most parents, it would be that their children (young or adult), would convert/revert, or begin to follow Christ more closely and grow in their faith. And soon!

Little do we contemplate how long one’s own faith journey took. Baby steps, blind walking, sand traps, detours, rest stops, desert tours, hiatuses, fireworks, and infernos. It certainly wasn’t a straight line. But once one truly discovers Christ, they desire it for everyone they know, especially their children. Who doesn’t want to compress the timeline?!

Yet, while you pray for your children, Christ helps you grow in the virtues of faith, hope, patience, and love. If our faith can move mountains, what might our collective faith do?  

May the LORD, your God, show us the way we should take and what we should do.”  Jeremiah 42:3

Lord, you know what weighs heavy on the hearts of each one reading this. Today we lift up to you as a beautiful bouquet, all of our children and even the grandchildren. Hear the yearning of each individual heart as it petitions on behalf of each child. Grant each the grace needed to open their hearts and minds to you. Penetrate the cracks in their lives and show them that in you, all things are possible. Lead them to the path you created for them, helping them over the hurdles that seek to discourage them from discovering your kingdom. Grant each parent an outpouring of love, that it may radiate through them to their progeny, a pure reflection of you, an irresistible light. You are our hope. As always, Jesus we trust in you!  Amen.  

“Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your household will be saved.”

Acts 16:31

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Rejoice in hope, persevere in prayer and pass it on! 

Pray for Marriages (Crushing Division)

 Greetings Prayer Warriors,

You know people, and you may be one, who hate math. The dreaded subject in school was to be avoided whenever possible! You may then be surprised to learn that Satan's favorite subject is math, because he  loves division! He loves to create political division, racial division, and religious division. His most favorite kind of division is the separation of marital unions. He tries many different formulas until he finds the snare. Is it vanity, pride, or lust? Anger, sloth, or gluttony? Does he direct you to what you want and don’t have and fill you with envy? He never stops perfecting his division as he ponders through which of your senses he should tempt you.  

He thinks he’s a prodigy! He tries endless equations to figure out how he can create the most divisions! He really enjoys long division. The longer you’ve been married, the more he savors his success!  

Seeing or experiencing a marriage slowly disintegrating is heart-breaking. The pain is real, the hurt is real, and the sense of isolation is real. The desire to point fingers is real too!

Avoid foolish and ignorant debates, for you know that they breed quarrels. A slave of the Lord should not quarrel, but should be gentle with everyone, able to teach, tolerant, correcting opponents with kindness. It may be that God will grant them repentance that leads to knowledge of the truth, and that they may return to their senses out of the devil’s snare, where they are entrapped by him, for his will. 2 Timothy 2:23-26

Lord, there is someone right now, reeling from the pending collapse of their marriage. Lord, we know that you can bind all wounds, heal hurtful memories, change hearts, and allow forgiveness to enter in even when one thinks it is impossible. Jesus, share your loving heart with those who can no longer love. Send your Spirit to raise their hopes, redirect their gaze, and renew their faith. Finally, send your Mother to crush the head of Satan, to remind him that what you have joined, no one is to separate. Your promises are true. Hear our prayers and use them as the mortar that seals the cracks. Amen.

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. Ezekiel 11:19

No one truly ever walks alone, as long as we envelop them in prayer. May our collective petitions to God be a source of real comfort.

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Bring hope to another. Pass it on! 

Pray for Families (The Coming of the Kingdom)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

We live in a world in constant motion, both literally and figuratively. We mimic it, always on the go, always doing, driving, working, cooking, cleaning, fixing, watching. Or maybe it’s just sitting and flipping through social media and all other types of media…endlessly. We tell ourselves we have so much to do, to meet the expectations of…well who exactly?

Are we gifting our presence to our loved ones? When we are with family, where is our gaze? What consumes our time? Do you understand the value of your presence? Is your time well spent?

Set an example for those who believe, in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity.  Be diligent in these matters, be absorbed in them, so that your progress may be evident to everyone. 1 Timothy 4:12-15

Reflect on the above and spend some precious moments performing a maintenance check of your life. Don’t forget to factor in the time you spend with He who loves you.

Let your life be free from love of money but be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never forsake you or abandon you. Hebrews 13:5

Work for enough here, but more for the Kingdom of God! Be a light to others, especially your family. Spend time with the Lord in prayer and find your strength there. He never leaves you alone in this world, because he wants you in the next!

Behold, the kingdom of God is among you.” Luke 17:21

Lord, unite all of our families, take our hands, and help us proclaim the kingdom!  Amen.

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Continue to pray for one another! Pass it on!

Pray for Marriages (Decisions, Decisions!)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

There is a story of a lawyer who had a woman who came to him to seek a divorce from her husband. He told her he’d take the case, but for one month, she’d have to treat her husband like she was madly in love with him. A month later she called the lawyer to say she no longer needed his service, as she and her husband had fallen back in love!

Acting in a loving way usually elicits a positive response. Actions often precede “feelings”. 

God in the beginning created human beings and made them subject to their own free choice. Sirach 15:14

We choose our response to every given situation. When a spouse is lashing out, how will you respond? You can choose to enter the arena or remain silent. Or perhaps a question could be asked, “Honey, tell me about your day.” Perhaps the anger directed at you isn’t about you at all. Have you ever noticed that people vent and rage with the people they feel safest with?

If you choose, you can keep the commandments; loyalty is doing the will of God. Sirach 15:15

Yet, you may be thinking, what they did was intentional, deliberate, and aimed right at you. Perhaps. You still have a choice of how you will react. Which will bring you a more lasting peace?

Set before you are fire and water; to whatever you choose, stretch out your hand. Sirach 15:16

Lord, if we are sure of anything, it’s that we need your grace, your wisdom, your love, and your peace.  Be our guide each day as we seek to fulfill the vows of marriage. Shower us daily with your grace, softening our hearts. Give us the wisdom to see beyond moods, listen past the tones, and get to the true heart of the matter.  Fill us with your love, that we may pour it back out to our spouse, especially on days we don’t feel like it. Finally, grant us your peace in the daily stressors of life, in the midst of disagreements, and when all feels like it’s crashing down. Help us to know that you're right there by our sides. Jesus, you are our only hope!

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. John 14:27

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Choose peace. Pass it on! 

Pray for Families (All You Need Is Love)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

One rarely admits that following the Lord is hard. But in a de-Christianized culture, it can feel like a steeper climb as fewer people are cheering you on. Yet the Lord only asks one thing of us: Love.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ Mark 12:30

We all love the Lord in our own way, but He calls us to love Him in a radical way. It calls for a complete surrender to God. Letting go of the steering wheel is frightening! But until we do so, the second part of His call to love will be unattainable. 

The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:31

Consider prayerfully pondering these. If we pray for the conversion of a family member or loved one, wouldn’t such love emanating through us speak more loudly than any words said to them?

Lord, you know our hearts. They are filled with good intentions as well as many weeds that choke them. Teach us how to pull the weeds so that there is more room for love to grow. Please grant us that grace! May we then share our love in abundance, especially with our family. May our love ignite a spark that helps our family to grow in love, all for the glory of God. Jesus, we trust in You! Amen.

Love always wins. Keep praying!

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Spark another and pass it on! 

Pray for Marriages (A Garden of Glory)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

Anyone who has been married and finds themselves beyond the honeymoon stage will begin to have disagreements or even different perspectives on situations. If not discussed or resolved, those have the potential to lead to fights, and sometimes people don’t fight fair. A lifetime of marriage provides fertile soil. Most choose to plant beautiful thing there, but when one is inattentive or insensitive, they invariably can sow some weeds of disunity, anger and resentment that seek to choke all that could bear fruit. 

What to do? The best weed killer is forgiveness. Apologies go a long way too. That is impossible without humility. Humility doesn’t begin with, “But I was right!” Forgiveness is not condoning. Forgiveness won’t erase your memories. It won’t make you the superior one. However, when one forgives a hurt, injustice, or wound, in imitation of Christ, a torrent of graces will be released, rehydrating all that is wilting, including you. Forgiveness sows new seeds in the heart. The weeds will die, but still need to be pulled. The flowers will bloom, but still need fertilization and ongoing watering.  Attentiveness needs to be nourished.

Consider this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:6-7

Lord, take off our blinders and help us to see that “it takes two to tango." Help us see that holding on to anger and resentment slowly poisons us. Help us to drop the excuses that prevent us from focusing within. As we see our own brokenness, in your mercy, heal us. Grant us the virtue of humility, that in recognizing our own woundedness, we may have compassion upon our spouse’s. Help us each to forgive one another and plow together to create a garden of praise that may glorify You.

If we say, “We have not sinned,” we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 1 John 1:9

May the Light of the Son bring forth bouquets of reconciliation and forgiveness in all the gardens of our hearts!

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Reflect the Son! Pass it on!  

Pray for Families (A Heart Outpoured)

Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

In case you didn’t know, June is the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, its celebration dating back over 350 years. We honor His heart because all of your needs can be met through the heart of Jesus! In need of love? Rest in the heart of Jesus. Feeling alone and needing friendship? Run to the heart of Jesus. Dealing with trauma and pain? Immerse yourself in the comfort of His Sacred Heart! Does darkness fill your soul?  Come to the light of His heart which beats brighter in your presence. Hungering for more? Receive the Heart of Jesus in Holy Communion. 

All life’s woes will dissipate in the Heart of Jesus.Thus, let us humble ourselves and  pray this prayer petition for our loved ones and  our family members.

O Sacred Heart of Jesus, I fly, I come to Thee, throwing myself into the arms of Thy tender mercy. Thou art my sure refuge, my unfailing and only hope. Thou has a remedy for all my evils, relief for all my miseries, reparation for all my faults, Thou canst supply for what is wanting in me in order to obtain fully the graces that I ask for myself and others. Thou art for me, and for us all, the infallible, inexhaustible source of light, of strength, of perseverance, peace and consolation. I am certain that my importunity will never weary Thee; certain, too, that Thou wilt never cease to aid, to protect, to love me, because Thy love for me, O Divine Heart, is infinite. Have mercy on me then, O Heart of Jesus, and on all that I recommend to Thee, according to Thy own mercy, and do with us, for us, and in us, whatsoever Thou will, for we abandon ourselves to Thee with the full, entire confidence and conviction that Thou will never abandon us either in time or eternity.  Amen.

Though the mountains fall away and the hills be shaken, My love shall never fall away from you nor my covenant of peace be shaken, says the LORD, who has mercy on you. Isaiah 54:10

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Contemplate His love for you and pass it on

Pray for Marriages (Loving the One)

Greeting Prayer Warriors,

When things aren’t going well in a marriage, it is so easy to allow  bitterness, anger, hatred, resentment, and negativity of all kinds, fill you up. Then it just spills out of every pore of your body, rages from your mouth, affects all your emotions, and does nothing to uplift your relationship, but rather contributes to its destruction.  

No foul language should come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for needed edification, that it may impart grace to those who hear. All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling must be removed from you, along with all malice. Ephesians 4:29, 31

Perhaps all the anger is justified, but you are still called to imitate Christ, not Satan!

Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun set on your anger, and do not leave room for the devil.  Ephesians 4:26-27

By seeking the Lord’s help, we can grow in humility by emptying ourselves of all that is unseemly, thereby making room for all the goodness and graces the Lord desires to fill us with. As we abandon our pride and self-righteousness, it will allow the Lord to clothe us with his virtues. We are made for so much more. We are called to be a reflection of His love within our marriage and to be a light to the world!

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: one body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of your call. Ephesians 4:1-4

We are one body, for we were made one in marriage. Pray that you may grow in your love of the one, by loving the ONE.  

Keep praying for each other!

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

When we love one another we love Him. Pass it on!