Pray for Marriages (Judging)

Dearest Prayer Warriors,

Your email inboxes saw a reprieve from my blog last week, but I hope the Spirit still stirred you into praying for marriages and families.

Have you noticed that hardly a week can pass without you hearing of a marriage in trouble? That is why all of you are so cherished, because marriages are desperately in need of your prayer.

While doing some vacation reading, the following quote jumped off the page at me.

If you take the time to judge, you don’t have time to love.
~Blessed Mother Teresa

If one is busy judging it interferes with their ability to connect with that person. This harmful attitude can stem from self-righteousness as well as that deadly sin, pride. As a result one’s heart becomes damaged and it affects their ability to love as Christ loved.

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. Eph 5:1-2

If you are married, do a self-examination of your own marriage. If you are single, chose the marriage of a couple in need, and pray for them this week. As always pray unceasingly.

May the blessing of the Lord be with you each day.

Peace, Joy, and Love,
Janet

Challenge a friend to stop the judging and turn to love. Forward to a friend.

Pray for Families (Forgiveness)

Greetings Prayer Warriors!

Summer means lots of family time. When togetherness starts to feel like sandpaper, it’s time to smooth things over with a little forgiveness. It is a long word that is often difficult to implement, especially in families where opportunity abounds. One might admit that sometimes holding a grudge feels good, although fleetingly. A lack of forgiveness eventually becomes the sandpaper in one’s own life. It will separate, create conflict, and perpetuate anger.

Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Luke 6:27-28. 36

The Lord calls us to forgive, because He forgives us and wants to show us the depth of His mercy. Can we be any less merciful toward those seeking forgiveness from us?

Contemplate what Christ might say to you.

Avoid feelings of anger and animosity and instead look upon those who hurt you with loving eyes.

Those prone to evil need love. Hate would only become the fuel for more evil.

Pardon disarms revenge.

A person’s armor is discarded when love prevails.

When I show my love to you, do you not then break down the wall you put between us?


Make forgiveness a family road trip. You might discover an unanticipated oasis.

Peace, Joy, and Love,
Janet

Invite others on the road trip of prayer and forgiveness. http://simplyinspiredprayer.blogspot.com/

Pray for Marriages (Finding Freedom)

Happy Independence Day Prayer Warriors!

True freedom lies in the surrendering of oneself to the will of God.

And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family. Leviticus 25:1

Be free, yet without using freedom as a pretext for evil, but as slaves of God. 1Peter 2:16

Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and refreshed - else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die. ~Dwight D. Eisenhower

For you were called for freedom, brothers. But do not use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh; rather, serve one another through love. For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Galations 5: 13-1

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 2 Cor 3:17

True Freedom, begins and ends in love. Love your spouse. Pray for marriages.

Peace, Joy, and Love,
Janet

Surrender to freedom. http://simplyinspiredprayer.blogspot.com/

Pray for Families (Love as the Mortar)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

I came across this gem and had to share it (bold added by me), because it really brings light to why we pray for families every Friday.

“All that you succeed in doing to support the family is destined to have an effectiveness 
that goes beyond its own sphere and reaches other people too, and has an effect on society. 
 The future of the world and of the church passes through the family.” Pope John Paul II-Familiaris Consortio

This is something to really contemplate.

If the future of the world passes through the family, and in our society families are breaking down at an alarming rate, God is being erased from education, and morality is no longer being taught, what does the future hold?

God created families to be foundational and secure. Family members are to be present to one another, sharing their time, talents, and treasure. Love shared within the family reflects the love God has for each of us. It is through the unconditional, selfless love experienced in the family that we first come to know and understand what God truly is – Love. We are to be His reflection to each other so that each family member can experience the love of God and then take that light out into the world.

If one doesn’t experience love in the family, and can’t share what they didn’t receive, will there be a loss of love in society – a loss of God?

God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him. 1 John 4:16

Prayer is our most effective weapon against the breakdown of the family, and for the future of our society. Warriors, grab your weapon!

Heavenly Father, may our love be the mortar to each family stone that you lay. Strengthen us in our love, so that we may reinforce all that we build upon the foundation that is you. Patch up for us what has crumbled. Help us recover the missing stones. In your mercy, rebuild each family, become our cornerstone so that we may become a source of your love and a beacon of your light throughout the world. For this we humbly pray. Amen.

Peace, Joy, and Love,
Janet

Invite a warrior to pray. Pass it on.

Pray for Marriages (Celebrate the good)

Greetings Prayer Warriors!

Yesterday was the Feast of Corpus Christi (Latin for Body of Christ). This was the feast day upon which I launched my prayer blog one year ago. (My actual emails have been hitting your mailboxes for 20 months.) Praise God! So I am in a celebratory mood of praise and thanksgiving. Let us celebrate in prayer the many blessings He gives us and praise Him for the example of good marriages.

Nothing is more beautiful than watching a marriage completely centered in Him. His love shines through the couple with amazing light, a beacon of hope for all who struggle.

So we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually parts of one another. Romans 12:5

Lord, we ask you today to abundantly bless those marriages where you have been placed at the center. May they be living witnesses to your glory manifest in them. May we be encouraged and strengthened by their example of mutual self-giving for the building up of each other. May all of us as the living Body of Christ, have the fortitude and faith to encourage each other to always walk in your ways, to help each other when we fall, and to be generous with our forgiveness and love, beginning in our own homes. We ask this in the name of your most precious Son, Amen.

Peace, Joy, and Love,
Janet

Invite others to celebrate. Forward this invitation.

Pray for Families (Anchor in the Storm)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

I spend a lot of time contemplating families and family life. There is so much irony that exists. Family members both rock the boat and can anchor the family at the same time.

Think of each family as a sailboat in the ocean of life. Sailing starts out as such a pleasant experience. Then a storm hits. Just when you think you have tied all the knots securely, over time, some become loose resulting in sails that take you way off your intended course. Suddenly everyone thinks that they are the captain, which can lead to being completely lost at sea. While the temptation at times might be to declare mutiny and throw the unruly members overboard, we intrinsically know that instead we are called to love. Love unconditionally.

In their distress they cried to the LORD, who brought them out of their peril, hushed the storm to a murmur; the waves of the sea were stilled. They rejoiced that the sea grew calm, that God brought them to the harbor they longed for. Ps 107: 28-30

Our compass in life must be Christ. He will help us navigate the seas of life, as He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. We need to become beached upon His rock, our firm foundation. He is the gentle voice in the storm, if only we still our soul to listen.

Dear Lord, as the waves of family life ebb and flow, grant us the grace to be patient, love unconditionally, and allow you to shine your guiding light through us. May we provide life rings to all those family members who are being tossed by the waves. Keep them tightly tethered so that through us, they may see you, the hope of all salvation.

Peace, Joy, and Love,
Janet

Throw out a life ring. Forward to a friend.

Pray for Marriages (Grace in abundance)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

Let us awake in joy knowing that the Spirit dwells in us!

This Monday morning, whether in life or in marriage, whatever is weighing you down, causing you heartache, stealing your peace, or making you less charitable in word and deed, hand it over to the Lord so that you may not carry it alone.

Rejoice. Mend your ways, encourage one another, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. 2 Cor 13:11

That’s easier said than done, you think. Consider that you are not alone.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the holy Spirit be with all of you. 2 Cor 13:13

We are given all that we need; Grace in abundance, the love of our Creator, and the fellowship and guidance of the holy Spirit.

My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness. 2 Cor 12:9

Dear Lord, we pray that you bless all marriages. We ask that you be generous with your grace, lavish us with you love, and guide us with your Spirit, so that we may be a reflection of you to our spouse and they to us. When we feel challenged and weak, may we know that you are just strengthening and perfecting us for the journey. Lift us up Lord, that we may praise you always. We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord. Amen.

Peace, Joy, and Love,
Janet

Lift up a friend. Invite them to prayer.