The Miracle of Prayer

Amazed would be the word. I'm so excited about what God is teaching me and confirming to me through these Miracle Mondays. I had half this post written before going to our Sunday night service. At the end of the service, we put in action what God has put on my heart for this post. I am overjoyed and humbled by how God cares for each of us!

Now to the topic at hand. Next week is the National Day of Prayer. The mission of the National Day of Prayer Task Force is such:

The National Day of Prayer Task Force's mission is to communicate with every individual the need for personal repentance and prayer, mobilizing the Christian community to intercede for America and its leadership in the seven centers of power: Government, Military, Media, Business, Education, Church and Family.

This year marks the 58th year that it will be observed.

I am grateful for the freedom to pray, but I am most grateful for the ability to pray. See, prayer in itself is a miracle. One of my favorite parts of the Easter story is this:

50And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. 51At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split.

Do you know what the curtain (veil) being torn represented? Simply put, direct access to God. We have this miraculous gift of being to speak with our Creator any time we wish. We don't have to go through another human; we enter His presence through Jesus Christ. I just think that is amazing, and yet I fear we don't recognize, or sometimes just don't take advantage of that opportunity. Our Creator, the Creator of all living things, wants to talk with us. He wants us to share our feelings with Him, share our hurts, our triumphs. He wants to bless us through prayer if we will just let Him!

Prayer can do amazing things. Now, I'm not saying God's going to do everything you ask. And He may even provide His answer in a way you were not expecting. He certainly has in my life. But He wants to hear from us, and He wants to speak to us, if we'll be still enough to listen. God wants to teach us through prayer; He wants to widen our perspective. He wants to open our eyes to what He is doing around us and show us who we can touch and bless. We can only know these things if we are having daily, ongoing conversations with Him.

My sweet sister is definitely an example of what prayer can do. She has been through an incredibly hard journey the past year. I believe she would agree with me that she could have in no way withstood this situation without prayer. It has blessed me so to see the impact prayer has had on her, both those interceding on her behalf, as well as her own prayer time.

My heart was broken this weekend as we saw some neighbors this weekend. They have a real and desperate need for prayer for a situation. We would have never known had our paths not crossed. It has me wondering how often we share our needs with others. How many people do you come in contact with daily? How many of those people are you praying for? Each of us have prayer needs, some big, some small, depending on the timing. I think one of the ways we fail people is neglecting to pray for them. An essential part of the Christian faith is interceding for one another. Sharing each other's burdens.

Now for the fun part! Go to the comments section under this post, list a prayer request, and I will pray for you this week. You can leave your name or you can post it anonymously. It doesn't matter to me. God knows who you are. What matters is that you'll have one more person praying for that need this week. I'm serious about this -so please post some comments so I'll have some extra people to pray for this week!

Have a Miraculous Monday!


National Day of Prayer

Spring, Beautiful Spring

I love Springtime! New life is breathed into God's beautiful creation. Everything is so colorful. It just energizes me! I had to take pictures of our beautiful azaleas by our front door.





I really wanted to get a picture of the girls by these beautiful flowers, but here's why that's not going to happen:

 

Yep, with these beautiful flowers come a host of great big bumblebees. So maybe we'll take some pictures by all the dandelions. . .

Cutie Pies

I got a few cute pictures over the weekend. . . .

The girls in their new Princess bedroom at Grandmom's:



Having fun at dinner:




I'm pretty sure that molar back there is the reason we haven't been getting our beauty rest around here:



I never knew Playhousedisney.com could be so exhausting:

Miracle Monday

Today is the start of something exciting. I was going to start a series today with something funny, but God changed my mind this morning. Because He seems to like throwing me curve balls.

I've been praying about how to use this blog. And I really feel like I want this to be a ministry. So "Miracle Mondays" is born. Mondays are hard days for most of us. Whether you've had a great weekend or a hard weekend, an exceptional worship time on Sunday, or maybe it's rainy; there's just something about Mondays. So I want to use Mondays as an encouragement. 'Cause every day we live for Christ can be miraculous.

So on Mondays I'll be posting miracles. Maybe there will be a link. Or two or three. Maybe I'll ask a friend to share. And in coming Mondays I'll share some of my stories. God is doing miracles today, and they can be such an encouragement to us.

Last night our pastor shared a little bit about what he sees as the future of our church. And it's exciting. And I believe that it can happen. And it will be miraculous if it does. Not in the far-fetched miracle sense, but in the GOD DID THAT sense. But the catch is that we will have to let God use us. You see, God is in the miracle business. He wants to work miracles today, and He wants to use us. But He doesn't have to use us. God can do what He wants to do without us. Don't you want Him to, though? Don't you want to be used of God to help perform a miracle?

And that's my challenge to you today. Be the miracle. Perform a random act of kindness. Write that note to someone to let them know you've been praying for them. Call someone and ask how you can pray for them. Donate your time. Donate your stuff. Ask God for direction. He'll give it to you. You may not see how it can be a miracle, but it may be to that other person. The point is to let God use you. Cast aside what you have going on in your life for a few minutes and let others take center stage.

If you do, I'd love to hear about it. Post a comment and let me know what you did. You'll find that even if you don't find out how it impacted someone else, it will impact you. Let's be a miracle today!

Music Bargain

This morning I checked on a blog I usually do, Baby Cheapskate. Right now you can get 150 Fun Songs For Kids for .99 at Amazon! We already have some of these songs on our Wee Kids CD's (thanks, sis!), but who can resist three CD's worth of good children's music for .99? I guess those without kids, right? :) Just wanted to pass along the good deal!

Happy Easter!

"He is not here; He has risen!"
Luke 24:6

May you truly feel His presence this Easter, for we serve a risen Savior!

Wow. Our God is amazing!

Theological Lessons From a Four-Year-Old

I love that my oldest is at the age to ponder the things of God. Her child-like faith continually teaches and challenges me. Yesterday on our way home from the store, "G" asked, "Does God laugh when we do silly things?". I told her I think He does; He likes seeing us having a good time. I told her that God is happy and sad, just the way we are. She was surprised at this, but accepted it and locked it into her little head as something new she knows about God now. Then she asked, "Does God get grumpy?"
"No," I immediately replied. But it made me think, and I've been thinking about it ever since.
As Christians, we are called to be "transformed into His likeness" (2 Cor. 3:18). However, how many times do we, with our sinful nature, express characteristics that are definintely not Christ-like? Grumpy, stressed, mad (in a not so righteous way); I could go on and on. God has freed us of the bonds of our sin, and yet it's so easy for us to slip into those actions and thoughts that are nothing like Him. My challenge to you, and myself, is to push away any of those characteristics that are not like Christ and live a life that reflects that it is being "transformed into His likeness"! It's a much better life.

Here We Go!

This is my little bloggy place. It was created about two months ago, so I guess it's about time I posted something. This will hopefully be a place to record and share special times, people, places and thoughts. I guess at least my family will visit every so often to see updated pictures!

And now, since my "big girl" just had a birthday, we have a trip through the years in pictures. Don't worry, she's only four. :)

Just home from the hospital:

One Year Old:

Two Years:

Three:

And, Four:

Where, oh where, does the time go? It's amazing to see her turn into a little lady. I'm not quite ready for it, but it's coming regardless. I just pray I cherish every minute.

Hopefully I'll update often. We'll see how often those sweet little darlings let mommy have a break. :)