When Katie was two, we were teaching her how to say grace. She had just finished up when Keith leaned over and whispered to her, “tell Mommy she’s pretty.” Katie promptly put both hands together again, closed her eyes, and said, “Dear God, please make Mommy pretty. Amen.”
But most of my girls’ prayers tend towards this: “Thank you that we had a good day today. Please help us to have fun tomorrow! Amen.”
Granted, it’s not that bad, but you know what I mean.
And I have decided this isn’t good enough. So here is our plan to really teach them to pray:
If we truly want to see the Holy Spirit transform our communities, here’s how we can prepare ourselves for His coming
Only God can transform a community, but there are several things we can do to prepare for His arrival. Here’s a short list of considerations.
1. Picture true success.In short, a transformed community is a neighborhood, city or nation where values and institutions have been overrun by the grace and presence of God; a place where divine fire has not merely been summoned, it has fallen; a society in which natural evolutionary change has been disrupted by invasive supernatural power; a culture that has been impacted comprehensively and undeniably by the kingdom of God; a location where kingdom values are celebrated publicly and passed on to future generations.
2. Discern your condition.Obscured Jeopardy Syndrome is a condition that prevails in communities where serious illnesses are not readily discernible. The primary symptom is a false sense of security, and the only remedy is to ask God to help us see things as they really are. This revelation helps us avoid superficial assessments based on how circumstances are affecting us personally, as well as what prior experience has taught us is normal.
Most of us flushed whatever physics we learned in high school from our memory on graduation day, however the same Sir Isaac Newton who once grieved us can actually help us answer the following question: What is the efficacy of our prayer?
Jesus says, “Ask and you shall receive.” Yet how are we supposed to process that? Do my prayers save souls? Do my sacrifices “win grace” for others?
Grace, by definition, is always sheer gift. So do prayers actually “work”? To put the question bluntly, is there anything in “fighting for righteousness” for me or for anyone else?
What do you call it when a woman finds freedom in prison? Hi, I’m LysaTerKeurst for Proverbs 31 Ministries.
I sat in a hushed courtroom, tears rolling down my cheeks, as my dear friend learned she’d be going to prison.Tina had been caught up in a real estate scheme she never fully understood and would pay a steep price. This precious mother of two was now prisoner number 4579942.
"And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." (Romans 5:5)
Don't ever worry about not having enough love inside you. The Word says God's love is shed abroad in your heart by the Holy Ghost. God's love is in you. What you need to do is make a decision to let it flow.
Pray this prayer today.
"In Jesus' Name, I make a fresh and strong commitment today to live the life of love, to let the tenderness of God flow through me and heal the wounded hearts of those I meet.
"Father, teach me to love even when things go wrong. To be patient and kind when the children are underfoot. To overlook the spiteful words of an angry spouse. To rejoice when someone at the office gets the raise that I thought I needed. Teach me to talk in love, to lay gossip quietly aside and to take up words of grace instead.
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)
I have always been a bit uneasy with James 1:2 where Jesus followers are encouraged to “consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds”. When I find things in God’s word that are hard to understand I “camp” on them for a time and ask God to reveal His wisdom.
Recently I taught four sessions at a weekend women’s retreat. One of the sessions included the wise counsel of 2 Corinthians 12: 9 & 10 where Paul tells us the words the Lord spoke to him when he asked about something that was deeply challenging him in his life. The Lord’s reply was, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.”
Paul goes on to say that because of God’s promise to be his strength right in the midst of his weakness, he can “delight in difficulties”!
Often when people define disability, they speak on what a person cannot do. And although what they say may be true, we must remember the ‘ability’ in disability, because we are ‘able’ in He who is more than able.
Hi, I'm Joni Eareckson Tada; thanks for joining me for "Joni and Friends.”
You often hear me talk about my wheelchair, but hopefully every time I do, you hear a lot of “ability” whenever I say that word “disability.” Always look for what you are able to do; I like that word “able.” And there is no one more “able” than our wonderful God, right? In fact, the apostle Paul stated it best: "I know I have believed and am persuaded that He is able!"
I was curious about what the Bible has to say about God being able, and you’re going to be surprised at what I found. I discovered more than a few wonderful little verses that focus on God being able. They encouraged me so much and I just know these “able verses” will bolster your faith, too.
"And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all." (Acts 4:33)
Most of us don't have any idea what grace really is. Oh, we know some basic facts about it. We know we were saved by it (Eph. 2:8). But we don't even begin to understand the real power it can release in our lives now, today!
If you want to get a picture of what grace can really do, look at what happened to the early Christians in Acts 4. They'd been threatened by the religious leaders of Jerusalem and commanded not to speak or teach any more in Jesus' Name. So, they were praying about the situation.
Roughly, what they said was this, "Now Lord, we've been threatened, but we aren't about to quit preaching and go hide under some religious rug. Just turn the power up, give us boldness, and we'll go on."
