Category: prayer

Abundance!

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

~ John 10:10

“If any single phrase of Scripture is meant to capture the essence of what our experience with Christ is meant to be like, abundant life says it better than anything else, in twelve little power-packed letters.

Many of us believe in it -in theory- in the abundant, ever-filling, overflowing life that Jesus came to offer us. We believe it’s hopefully waiting for us out there somewhere, at some point…if we could ever get past this bump in the road. If we could ever just feel better for long enough stretch of time. If we could put this circumstance behind us, or pay our car off, or get through this wedding, or find steady work, or lose the weight we’re struggling with. We think if we can just make it till the end of this year and turn the corner on a new one, we’ll be ready for it. We can see it out there, once we’re not so tied up with what’s here.

Abundant life, here we come…if.

It turns out, however, abundant life is not something you experience in the absence of difficult, trying, challenging situations. Abundant life is what Jesus offers you right in the middle of them. Abundant life is something the Spirit enables you to have when all else is wrong, disheveled, or uneasy around you. This, in fact, is the state in which His abundance is best seen and experienced.

“The thief” -the Devil- is bent on using difficulties to “steal” from you, to “kill and destroy” your peace and confidence, so that you’re consistently waiting on abundance if and when things change. His sinister tactic keeps you focused on all that is wrong, blinded to your current access to abundance. And yet because of Christ and your intimate relationship with Him, you heart-your entire life-can still be overwhelmed with an inexplicable, simultaneous hope and peace-filled stability, even when all else is disheveled around you.

Abundant life is the smile that creeps to the corners of your lips when God fills your heart with a peace that runs contrary to your reality. Abundant life is the sense of divine adventure that pulsates in your soul, even while you’re sitting in a square, gray cubicle doing a job that comes nowhere close to tapping your potential. As soon as you tap into the available, Spirit-empowered reservoir that is a fountain of living water bubbling up inside, He raises a banner of hope in your heart and mind. As you trust Hi to do this, something called abundant life actually shows up, right in the middle of the dreariness.

Your marriage may be hanging by a thread; your finances may be a disaster; your child may be living a reckless, rebellious lifestyle; your doctor may have shown you an X-ray you never wanted to see with your name on it. But your God is here. Your God is able. And He offers abundant life, ready to be brought to the regular rhythms of your life right now, in this, in you.

Believe it.

And live in light of it today.

What evidence and hints of “abundant life” have you been ignoring in the midst of your current circumstances? What would walking in Christ’s abundance and living by His Spirit look like today? Ask the Lord to allow the swell of His life in your life today.”

~ Priscilla Shirer, Awaken, Day 53 Built for Abundance

“In Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever.” Psalm 16:11

“All the streams of Judah will flow with water, and a spring will issue from the Lord’s house.” Joel 3:18

“He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power.” Isaiah 40:29

I pray this brought you peace, hope and joy while you move into the abundance that Jesus Christ offers today and for eternity.

Praying for your Children

My Mother gifted me a book titled, “Power of a Praying Wife,” before I was married in 2006. I was so blessed by the practical, step-by-step approach offered. Once I had children I found the book, by the same author, that was geared for parents. I purchased the Kindle version and wrote all 31 down in my prayer journal. I wanted to share a few of my favorites with you today:

  • Love & Acceptance; God, family, peers and others – Jeremiah 31:3b Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you. Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
  • Godly Friends & Role Models – Proverbs 18:24 A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Proverbs 27:6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. Proverbs 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.
  • Instilling the Desire to Learn – II Timothy 2:7 Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things. Daniel 1:17a God gave them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom
  • Destroying an Inheritance of Family Bondage – Exodus 34:7 …keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation. II Timothy 2:26 …and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will. Romans 6:18 And having been set free from sin, you become slaves of righteousness.
  • Speak Life – II Timothy 1:13 Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Psalm 34:13 Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit. Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.

I’d love to hear about what you find keeps you going during prayer time. And don’t forget…