Pray for Marriages (An Attitude of Gratitude)

 Greetings Prayer Warriors,

Many of you are getting ready to travel or just stay home for Thanksgiving. You may be hosting or being hosted, but either way it is a time of preparing and welcoming, or arriving with gratitude. Holidays can be a time of both joy and stress. Which one predominates, depends on your preparation.

Ground yourself in prayer. Ask for help if you need it. Offer to help without being asked. Develop an attitude of gratitude. Every minute God gives us in this world is a gift, and everyone he brings into our lives is for a purpose, so spread kindness and joy! Focus on what you love about everyone, especially your spouse. Consider voicing that gratitude!

Always seek what is good [both] for each other and for all. Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:15-18

Most of all, don’t forget to gather around the table, bow your heads, fold your hands in prayer, and give the Giver your thanks, for His gifts are plentiful and abundant! (Even our crosses are a gift to be revealed!)

You adorn the year with your bounty; your paths drip with fruitful rain. The meadows of the wilderness also drip; the hills are robed with joy. The pastures are clothed with flocks, the valleys blanketed with grain they cheer and sing for joy. Psalms 65:12-14

Thank you dear Lord, for such blessings, and the blessing of these prayer warriors; those that pray often and even those who have only prayed once. Bestow on them abundant graces, especially in their marriages and within their family.  Meet them in their needs, temper them in their wants, surprise them with your compassionate and extravagant  love. Hear the groanings and gratitude in their hearts, and lead them to greater joy. Accept our collective prayers of thanksgiving and may they bring you delight and be a soothing balm for your Most Sacred Heart. Amen.

Peace, Joy, and Love, 

Janet

 

Increase in gratitude. It’s contagious! Pass it on!

Pray for Families (Sacrificial Love)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

Each of you has at least one family member you worry about. Regardless of the why, it is easy to feel helpless. Yes, we can do something. Prayer is an action that not only helps them, but calms us! Personal sacrifice, such as fasting for a time period, from anything you love (food, video games, etc.), and abstinence, abstaining from something you really enjoy, when given up in offering for another, is a beautiful and acceptable gift to God.

Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship. Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:1-2

Such living sacrifice is transformative to whomever you ask God to bless. However, just as our progress isn’t visible with every grace given, temper your expectations by sacrificing more for a family member (or two).!

Lord, when we imitate your sacrificial love, we know you find it most pleasing. So take each  gift of our self-denial, accept the gifts of our gratitude for each joy, and receive them for the good of our family. You hear our prayers both spoken and unspoken. We trust in the generosity  of your grace. Amen.

With prayer and fasting, [they] commended them to the Lord in whom they had put their faith. Acts 14:23

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Pray and fasting are the perfect pairing. Pass it on! 

Pray for Marriages (Mindful of the Lord)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

When we love someone, we will endure injustices, slights, inattentiveness, and all the other human flaws. We may be upset, but we give the other person some grace, especially if those behaviors were not meant with malice. Yet, when perhaps there is some malicious intent, we speak up regarding our displeasure, but then it is for our love of God, that we bear the momentary pain and seek to forgive. 

For whenever anyone bears the pain of unjust suffering because of consciousness of God, that is a grace. 1 Peter 2:19

Without a dependence on God, how much of our response might be rage, flaming arrows, and words and behaviors that we can’t take back? Let us first work on our own imperfections so that we might increase in virtue and speak with kindness. Strive to build a greater reliance on the Lord, that you may learn temperance, fortitude, and perseverance. 

A soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse one breaks the spirit. Proverbs 15:4

Do not return evil for evil, or insult for insult; but, on the contrary, a blessing, because to this you were called, that you might inherit a blessing. 

1 Peter 3:9

Lord, teach us your ways! Since there is ample opportunity within marriages to offend you in both sins of commission and omission, help us to first gain custody of our tongues! In our daily prayers, infuse us with your love, that it may overflow to our spouse in word and deed. May we be quick to forgive and forget offenses, as we too hope for the same. Keep us from focusing on our spouses flaws, but rather understanding and reforming our own. Guide us in the path to perfection, for only in You can we even gain sight of it! Jesus, we trust in You!

We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19

Keep praying for marriages new and old! None are immune from the snares of the Evil One!

Peace, Joy, and Love, 

Janet

Build the army of prayer warriors and pass it on! 

Pray for Families (Building the Fortress)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

There is something wonderful about the innocence of childhood.  For the most part, we feel loved, protected, and provided for, and thus see goodness all around us. As we grow in maturity, our eyes are slowly opened to reality, a mix of sweet and sour as we encounter different personalities, different cultural norms, and different environments. When we mature spiritually, we begin to sense a different realm, one of good and evil. We encounter their influence on ourselves and those around us. This can be confusing, overwhelming, and concerning to say the least.

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 6:12

It’s painful to see family members go astray, led by the darkness of this world. Yet, we too are not immune from this same influence, as Satan delights in destroying marriage and the family. The Lord, however, has provided us weapons for battle, so let’s utilize them. 

Therefore, put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground. 

Stay in a state of grace, and reconcile with our Lord frequently. For the devil hates the holy.

So stand fast with your loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness as a breastplate,

Read Scripture daily to hear the voice of God.

and your feet shod in readiness for the gospel of peace.

Bear good news; Proclaim Christ is King!

In all circumstances, hold faith as a shield, to quench all [the] flaming arrows of the evil one.

Frequent the sacraments to augment your faith, hope, and love.

And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Ephesians 12:13-17

Have faith that the victory is His, and share the Good News of salvation. For if we stay grounded in Christ, we have nothing to fear. 

Blessed be the LORD, my rock, who trains my hands for battle, my fingers for war; My safeguard and my fortress, my stronghold, my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge. Psalm 144:1-2

Pray, for the Evil One finds loathsome the names of Jesus and Mary!

The LORD is far from the wicked, but hears the prayer of the just. Proverbs 15:29

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Help others be battle ready!  Pass it on! 

Pray for Marriages (Managing Priorities)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

My hope is that your prayer routines are so fixed, that my many recent lapses of missing these prayer reminders, go unnoticed.

Each day is a series of managing priorities. The hope is that our decisions to order our day are grounded in prayer. We must be on the lookout for the Evil One who loves to derail us. But what should be prioritized is not always clear. Do we pursue a worthy spiritual venture alone, or spend that time with a spouse? Volunteer with the church, or help a child with their homework?  Build relationships with those who don’t know Christ in hopes of one day facilitating a conversion, or instead spend that time in prayer? The Lord has a plan for you. Ask the Holy Spirit for discernment here.

Love righteousness, you who judge the earth; think of the LORD in goodness, and seek him in integrity of heart. For the spirit of the LORD fills the world, is all-embracing, and knows whatever is said. Wisdom 1:1, 7

What are your negotiables and what are your non-negotiables in your marriage? If the Lord is not your foundation, how easy would it be to constantly go astray? Spend some quiet time with the Lord. How can you better honor your marriage? Your family? In what ways can you accomplish that without dishonoring God, but rather glorifying HIm? (Hint: Missing Mass to watch football with your husband doesn’t fly.  Neither do kids select sports team schedules relieve you of your Sunday obligations). 

Now the Spirit explicitly says that in the last times some will turn away from the faith by paying attention to deceitful spirits and demonic instructions. 

1 Timothy 4:1

For I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want. Romans 7:19

Lord, help us find the silence in a noisy world that seeks to drown out your voice. Shepherd us when we go astray and guide us to the Truth. Help us live our vocation of marriage as you designed it, and grant each spouse the grace of daily conversion. Help us to forgive, especially when we cling to unforgiveness like a life vest. Give us the grace to surrender our wills to yours so that we may become a shining example to the family that you have gifted us. May your blessings be abundant! Amen.

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Keep praying and pass it on!

Pray for Marriages (A Special Calling)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

Being in the workforce has its challenges. One must deal with a plethora of trying personalities, learn to collaborate, yet strive to separate and highlight your accomplishments for advancement. No matter how difficult the day is, you always know you can leave that environment once your shift ends or the work is done.  

Marriage, however, is uniquely different. Those who the Lord designates for marriage are called to a special vocation through which they are serving the Lord. While you may also serve the Lord through your profession, in marriage you serve the Lord by honoring your spouse. It’s not a 9:00-5:00 shift,  but a 24/7 lifetime. It is not a space where you brag about your accomplishments, but rather one where you humble yourself, and unify as a team in collaborative harmony. This is in spite of any disagreements, snarky remarks, or self-serving behaviors.

My child, when you come to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for trials. Be sincere of heart and steadfast, and do not be impetuous in time of adversity. Cling to him, do not leave him, that you may prosper in your last days. Accept whatever happens to you; in periods of humiliation be patient. Sirach 2:1-4

Anyone who has been married for any length of time knows that self-denial on behalf of another can be both challenging and rewarding. Serving another is difficult when you are not in the mood, tired, and you too are in need of nurturing. You can easily expand the list, but could you endure and persist without collective prayer on your behalf?  

Woe to timid hearts and drooping hands, to the sinner who walks a double path! Woe to the faint of heart! For they do not trust, and therefore have no shelter! Woe to you that have lost hope! What will you do at the Lord’s visitation? Sirach 2:12-14

Raise your hands in prayer, kneel in humility, and simply pray for marriages. You will be blessed with a daily refreshment of grace, that will embolden you in faith, and hope, and shelter you in love!! 🙏🏻

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Each prayer matters. Pass it on! 

Pray for Families (Divine Guidance)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

Life is a series of decisions. Some bring joy, some bring regret. With spiritual maturity, we eventually learn that if we wait on God, listen to His voice, and follow His will, we will have peace with our decisions. 

Of course that sounds so easy, but it definitely has a learning curve. We may hear the Lord’s voice within our hearts, in scripture, or through others, or even in other ways. However, sometimes we  hear the wrong voice and are misdirected. 

Beloved, do not trust every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they belong to God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1

So when personal or family decisions go haywire, don’t self-flagellate, but humble yourself and return to prayer.  In time, your discernment will improve and God’s voice will become more recognizable. 

Every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus does not belong to God. This is the spirit of the antichrist that, as you heard, is to come, but in fact is already in the world. 1 John 4:3

Lord, help us to hear your voice. Shepherd us as we attempt to guide and lead our loved ones towards holiness, toward You. As we read your Word, help us to be attentive to your voice. May our own voice decrease, and may Yours increase. When we are seeking affirmation, awaken us to the many ways you speak to us. Bless us and our families, and may we find peace knowing you always accompany us on this journey. Jesus, we trust in You!

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Be still, listen, and ask Him who to share this with. Then, pass it on! 

Pray for Marriages (Facing “Climate Change”)

Greetings Prayer Warriors, 

When one marries, they are in awe of the love they’ve found. Their new love continues to blossom and grow as they nestle into a home and lovingly dote on one another. Then change enters in, perhaps after the birth of a child, or 2 or more. The focus is redirected, but  love broadens, and the roots go deeper.  However, unexpected climate shifts such as droughts (financial strains), monsoons (external family demands, sickness, deaths), and earthquakes (trust issues) can pressure test the relationship and make one question whether there is unity or division.   

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to think in harmony with one another, in keeping with Christ Jesus. Romans 15:5 

In time, the house empties again. Some look at their spouse and question why they didn’t nurture that relationship like they did in the beginning. Others look in the mirror and realize they lost themselves somewhere along the way. Still others so wholly embraced their parental role at the expense of their spousal role, that they feel lost and alone as an empty-nester.  

At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known. 

1 Corinthians 13:12

Yet there are still those marriages who are a beacon of light, who kept their number one their number one, and are subsequently having fun and enjoying new adventures with their spouse. Praise God for their witness!

Wherever you are on the journey, know that the Lord walks with you, guides you, and will renew and refresh you. He will be your joy and your peace if you let Him.

For I know well the plans I have in mind for you—oracle of the LORD—plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope. Jeremiah 29:11

Lord, you always bestow special graces on marriages, because they are designed to reflect the love of the Trinity. Bless all newlyweds and help them build a firm foundation of love in You. Grant the virtues of endurance and perseverance to parents of expanding families. With every climate shift in marriages, send your angels to soften the soil to allow for the roots of their love to grow even deeper. Help empty-nesters to rediscover their true identity in You. Finally, bless those marriages that so deeply reflect your love, while nurturing back to health those marriages that have lost their way. Amen.

For nothing will be impossible for God. Luke 1:37

Peace, Joy, and Love, 

Janet

Shelter in place in His loving arms. Pass it on!

Pray for Families (Igniting Faith)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

As I watch the MLB play-offs, I stumble upon these passages, and how I want to believe!

Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

On so many levels we are called to faith! While I await for the realization of my hoped for outcome in the play-offs, I have even greater hopes for my family members. 

Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. Luke 11:9

Lord, help us to never lose faith and be the spark that ignites those family members without faith. Keep our hopes high, especially when we tire of knocking. Grant us the grace to persevere in prayer, seek your will, and never tire of interceding for our family members (and ourselves)! For it is by faith, we may know of your love, compassion, and mercy. Be our strength, every second, minute and hour, for without you, we can do nothing. We praise your enduring love! Hear and answer our prayers! Amen.

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Ignite the faith of another. Pass it on! 

Pray for Marriages (Making Room to Love and Pray)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

While I took a week off from blogging, I hope that you didn’t take a week off of praying!  

Praying takes commitment. Praying for marriages takes desire! It seems easy enough, but without a routine, it easily gets delayed, pushed aside, or forgotten. We must ask ourselves, when we miss our prayer time, what is truly filling that space? Of our time stealers, can any of it be considered useless baggage? 

Next, what is taking time away from investing in your marital relationship? Material baggage? Emotional baggage?  Frivolous activities? Ask the Lord to help you see what needs to be tossed aside, because it may be less obvious than you think. Maybe it’s your lack of faith, your frustration in prayer, that makes you gravitate towards the “useless baggage”?

How long, O LORD, must I cry for help and you do not listen? Habakkuk 1:2

The Lord’s timing is never ours. We pray for one another’s marriages because everyone hits a dry spell every now and then. We pray that all  persevere in prayer and become more virtuous spouses. 

 I ask that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone. 1 Timothy 2:1

Lord, abundantly bless this group who has been praying for such a beautifully long time. We praise you for the many fruits received as a result of our collective  prayers, yet still  petition you for an avalanche of graces, especially in those marriages most in need. Strengthen us for the journey, that our commitment may not waver in prayer or in marriage! Help each of us to become a beacon of hope for others, as we lift our voices to you in endless thanksgiving. 

May the eyes of [your] hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call, what are the riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones. Ephesians 1:18

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Your prayers delight the Lord! Pass it on! https://simplyinspiredprayer.blogspot.com/

Pray for Families (Prayers, Redemption, and Praise)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

We have many hopes and dreams for our family members. Our love demands the best for them. Yet, we don’t get to decide the circumstances of their adult lives.

Life is a series of choices. The Lord knows what our choices will be, good or bad. But regardless, he can turn the worst of choices into good. For He is God, and we are not! I have both heard stories about and directly witnessed bad choices that result in bad things, yet in time, and with the patience, the prayers, and the faith of supportive family members, the Lord weaves bad situations into beautiful new outcomes. He can make everything a redemption story!  

For I know well the plans I have in mind for you—oracle of the LORD—plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope. Jeremiah 29:11

Let us praise the God who never gives up on any of His children!  

Yours, LORD, are greatness and might, majesty, victory, and splendor. 

1 Chronicles 29:11

Lord, while we doubt and worry and fret about loved ones, give us the faith we need to trust in you, the wisdom to give you all of our worries, and the patience to wait upon Your timing. We praise you, Jesus, for your tender love, enduring patience, and unparalleled fidelity to us.  

Praise the LORD, for he is good; for his mercy endures forever; Praise the God of gods; for his mercy endures forever; Praise the Lord of lords; for his mercy endures forever. Psalms 136:1-3

Sing praise, sing praise! Jesus we trust in You!

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Prayers fuel change! Pray without ceasing and pass it on! 

Pray for Marriages (Fulfilling God’s Plan)

 Greetings Prayer Warriors,

My inspiration comes from many places, but when I was drawing a blank as to what to write, I prayed. I remember hearing part of Erica Kirk’s speech at Charlie’s memorial. She spoke so  eloquently about God’s call for marriage, that it seems appropriate to share a few excerpts here.

“To all the men, [...] embrace true manhood. Be strong and courageous for your families. Love your wives and lead them. Love your children and protect them. Be the spiritual head of your home.“

Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is head of his wife just as Christ is head of the church, he himself the savior of the body. Ephesians 5:21-23

“But please be a leader worth following. Your wife is not your servant. Your wife is not your employee. Your wife is not your slave. She is your helper. You are not rivals. You are one flesh. Working together for the glory of God.” 

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath of water with the word. Ephesians 5:25-26

“Women, [...]  be virtuous. Our strength is found in God's design for our role. We are the guardians. We are the encouragers. We are the preservers. Guard your heart. Everything you do flows from it. 

With all vigilance guard your heart, for in it are the sources of life. Proverbs 4:23

“There was no keeping score between us. We were a team working together for the same mission. I never wanted to be the one standing between Charlie and the task that God prepared for him.”

In any case, each one of you should love his wife as himself, and the wife should respect her husband. Ephesians 5:31

Lord, our Savior,  help us let go of our stubbornness, pride, selfishness, and anything else that stands in the way of us being a good and holy spouse. May we embrace our marital oneness by uplifting  one another, working in tandem and challenging the other to live a life for the glory of God.  Send us torrents of your grace, for we are weak,  Be our strength, as we trust in your merciful love!

Peace, Joy, and Love, 

Janet

Encourage one another and pass it on! 

Pray for Families (Living the Gospel)

Greetings Prayer Warriors, 

Pondering the life of the Apostles, I have greatly underestimated how difficult their role in spreading the Gospel must have been. There were no Christians when they started other than Jesus’ early disciples, thus the resistance they must have encountered to the Gospel of Jesus Christ is unimaginable. 

Fast forward to today, and many are still hostile to the Gospel. It’s hard to speak publicly about Christianity. Thus, I admired Charlie Kirk who worked to bring Christian values back onto college campuses, by showing kindness and compassion, and speaking the truth in love. Like Christ, many were changed by his witness, while others hated his gospel message and the call to transform their lives. 

Whoever teaches something different and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the religious teaching is conceited, understanding nothing, and has a morbid disposition for arguments and verbal disputes. From these come envy, rivalry, insults, evil suspicions, and mutual friction among people with corrupted minds, who are deprived of the truth, supposing religion to be a means of gain. 1 Timothy 3:5

Indeed, preaching the Gospel is an age-old challenge, but one that is powerful when lived out loud. Of note, those who knew Charlie were changed by his actions and who he was, not by his words alone. In many ways, he radiated Christ. We must too, for that is what will transform the hearts of our loved ones, especially family members.  

Yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me; insofar as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me. Galatians 2:20

Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. John 12:24

He must increase; I must decrease.” John 3:30

Prayer will get us there. Don't let up!

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Lord, make us good disciples!🙏🏻 Pass it on! 

Pray for Families (Healing and Unification)

Greetings Prayer Warriors, 

It’s  been quite a week of happenings, and I imagine many of you are still processing all that you have read, seen, and heard. What God allows is hard. Yet, senseless death is incomprehensible.

Satan is trying to create division via his many minions, yet, by overplaying his hand, people are starting to unify. All should feel safe to travel on public transportation without fear of being murdered. All should enjoy exercising their freedom of speech as guaranteed by our constitution without repercussions. While many are stunned, even more are silently hurting. When refugees get stabbed on trains, and those who speak of God’s love and the importance of marriage and family get targeted, what is one to think?  

Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in heaven. 

Luke 6:21-23

May all of you hear God’s call to prayer. While He calls us to pray for the grieving spouses, children, and families of those who were murdered, He also calls us to pray for all those in this world who are suffering due to the loss of a friend or beloved family member. 

Lord, have mercy on us all, your beloved children!  Guide us to truth, love, and forgiveness, and bring back the joy we have lost. May we praise your merciful love, and never fear to speak truth, now and forever.  Amen. 

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Be bold! Pray for the saints and the sinners! Pass it on!

Pray for Marriages (The Great Surrender)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

God’s ways often defy logic. Perhaps that is because He is above logic, boundaries, and outside of time.  He does what is loving and just, even if we don’t understand it.We may rebel, scream in defiance, and secretly think He doesn’t understand, defaulting to following our own will.  Do we not sometimes feel that way? Does it cause us to silence the voice of God and the promptings of the Spirit, especially in marriage?

Consider Joseph, spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  His head told him to leave the pregnant Mary, but as an honorable man, not to bring her shame. Yet, in the end, he followed the will of God, even though it was contrary to what a respectable Jewish man would have thought to be proper.  He knew to stay, he may have been ridiculed, mocked, and shamed along with Mary, for she obviously was pregnant out of wedlock. Yet, his trust in the Lord prevailed.

Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. Matthew 1:18-20

You may know of marriages, perhaps even your own, where your whole being is telling you to leave, move on, sever ties. You may think many of your friends and family would truly understand “the why”. Yet, what if the Lord asked you to stay? What if you looked like you were crazy to stay? Quite the dilemma? Ask St. Joseph to pray for you, that you too may know the will of God. 

Let us pray for those seeking to understand God’s will in their marriage. What might He be asking you to change?  

Lord, you have placed each of us on a journey, one of seeking, discerning, and endless surrender to your Divine Will. In your mercy, be generous with your grace, remove the darkness that clouds our intellect, and soften the hardness in our hearts.  Help us to first change ourselves before we beg that you change the other. May we intercede in prayer endlessly on behalf of our spouse and our family, and may you grant us the humility to surrender our will to Yours. Jesus, we trust in You!

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Lord, have mercy on us, and grant us the grace to conform to your will! Pass it on!

Pray for Families (Finding Joy Along The Way)

Greetings Prayer Warriors, 

As I watch the world evolve daily, it looks so very different from the one I grew up in and I am not quite sure what to feel. However, I do worry for the generations behind me.  As much as I appreciate some of the evolution, I don’t care much for the revolution. Many things I find quite distressing, such as there seems to be a growing lack of common sense, lies are called truth and truths are called lies, the youth are taught what to think, not how to think, and historical norms are being replaced by immoral ones. While that may be one level of stress, add to that your daily challenges, unexpected roadblocks, unplanned detours, and before you know it, “life” is stealing your joy! 

But we aren’t going to allow that to happen, for we know the source of joy!

This week, I am going to ask that each of you focus on praying for your own family’s needs, including your own. Do an inventory of where each family member needs God’s blessing and direct your focus there.  Spend each day in prayer, petitioning the Lord, while also thanking Him for all blessings. And when you are feeling down, never forget the good news.

“Behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” Luke 2:10

We have great cause for joy! We have a Savior, who atoned for the sins of ALL of mankind. He loves us and will never leave us. He is our help, our companion, and our strength.

Let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place of your dwelling, That I may come to the altar of God, to God, my joy, my delight. Then I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God. Why are you downcast, my soul? Why do you groan within me? Wait for God, for I shall again praise him, my savior and my God. Psalms 43:3-5

Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, and there you will always find joy. Soon, the storms of life will become but a passing distraction in comparison. 

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Keep on praying!  Pass it on!