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!