God sings over you!

Happy Monday, pray-ers. As we kick off another work week, I'd like to remind you of one of God's sweetest promises. This comes at a dark and frightening time for much of the world with the people of Japan struggling to survive amid continuous aftershocks and tsunami threats. The instability affects the entire world economically, environmentally, and physically.

Your situation might not be as newsworthy as a tsunami or a 9.0 earthquake and it might not impact tens of thousands, but it might feel just as terrifying to you. Each life is valuable to God. Each person's trauma breaks His heart. As you read the following Scripture and the prayer that follows, take time to meditate on it. Allow His promise to soak into your heart and change your outlook.

"The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3:17

Dear Father in heaven, thank you for your promises. Please save us. Show us how you delight in us and rejoice over us. We need the quiet that comes only from you. Draw us close in these unsettling days. May we return your love and faithfulness. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Praying for you all,
Shelley

Praying according to the Scriptures

"Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples." So He said to them, "When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Luke 11:1-2

And my prayer is pure. Job 16:17

One thing we want to do here is teach you how to pray according to the Scriptures. There are so many aspects to think about when we begin praying this way, but one of the most important is praying in Jesus' name. What does that mean?

Think about the things you know about Jesus. Even the unbeliever knows His name, knows His nature. Jesus is love, peace, and POWER. It is undeniable the things He did while walking the earth - the people He touched, healed, blessed. And though Jesus was kind about most things, He was firm about everything. He prayed expecting to see results. He knew the power at work in Him - because it came from the Father and was His own - and He instructed His followers to recognize that power also.

"If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him" (John 14:7).

"And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever - the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him for He dwells with you and will be in you" (John 14:16-17).

So, praying in Jesus' name is to pray with purity, love, and power. It is to talk to God and expect to see a change. If we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we have the Spirit of truth dwelling with us and in us. The most powerful force in the universe. The Spirit of the One who indeed created the universe. Shouldn't our prayers reflect that power and love and grace?

Think about that as you go into prayer. If you are asking inherently selfish or harmful things, or things otherwise against God's will, be prepared to wait for God to answer it. Be prepared for Him to work a change in your heart.

If you want nothing to do with prayer, think about it anyway. Consider your reasons for avoiding that Power or for misusing Him.

And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites... Pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. Matthew 5:5, 6